Reaching 100 episodes is a rare feat for any TV show, and a moment that no showrunner takes lightly: Joss Whedon killed off his main character in Buffy The Vampire Slayer for his devastating 100th episode, while Grey's Anatomy fans will recall Izzie's deceased lover Denny returned as a hallucination allowing for Izzie's heartbreaking realization that she had a brain tumor.
For 9-1-1 – which is marking its 100th episode on new network ABC – the show is also taking it seriously with an episode that incorporates everything the fans love; an off-the-wall emergency, in-jokes, and story arcs that will change the future of the show forever more.
"The 100th episode is a really great character episode," Oliver Stark, who has played Evan 'Buck' Buckley in all 100 episodes told HELLO!
"The heart of the show is the characters, right? The spectacle is lovely but if you didn't care about the people then the spectacle would wear off pretty quickly. We had these huge, chaotic, high-octane first three episodes of the season so to bring things down and have a more intimate character-driven episode is going to be a really nice breather and a way to honor these characters that we've spent seven seasons getting to know, and to really focus in on them – because they are the show."
Despite the suggestion from many that 9-1-1 is an ensemble show, Buck has always been, from the opening episode, the point of view character for audiences. It's therefore no surprise that the episode focuses so heavily on the character, or that the episode references his name ('Buck, Bothered and Bewildered', a rare moment where a character is named outside of the 'Begins' episodes,) and Oliver admits the episode will "further his character development a lot".
A large part of this development will focus on Buck's new friendship with Tommy Kinard (Lou Ferrigno Jr) who was a former member of Firehouse 118, working alongside Hen Wilson (Aisha Hinds) and Howard 'Chimney' Han (Kenneth Choi) before Buck joined the team. Tommy reappeared in episode three, working for LAFD's Air Operations and helping Buck, Chimney, Hen and Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman) rescue Captain Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) and Sergeant Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) from their capsized cruise ship.
His return will play out over at least several episodes, and Oliver teased how Tommy will bring out a side of Buck we haven't seen in a while.
"Tommy works at air support and Buck's going to be impressed, he's going to think that Tommy's really cool," shared Oliver. "The Tommy that Buck is going to meet is somebody that he's impressed by; Tommy has all these big toys, big helicopters that he flies around and Buck thinks that's really cool. That is classic Buck."
But the friendship won't be easy: "It's gonna bring up some feelings of almost jealousy at first because Buck's going to lean into that friendship and then maybe that friendship is going to be taken away a little bit, and he's going to have to figure things out because his friends tend to always be people that he gets to see all day, every day at the 118 and obviously that's not how friendship in the real world always works.
"You just have to trust that somebody's your friend, even if you're not speaking to them day in and day out, and I think it's going to be really fun to see that play out, and for Buck to discover a new friendship that isn't in his immediate world every single day."
In a Q&A with the Television Critics Association before the season premiere, Oliver teased that season seven would see his character going on a journey of self-discovery, and he told HELLO! this 100th episode will be the beginning of what he calls a "long-running [character arc]", and that this journey will not only impact Buck but his 118 family as well, and only for the better.
"More than anything, I think if [this development] is going to impact the 118 it will only be in a positive sense. Buck has real family to lean on in the 118 and he'll certainly be making use of that; it's a chance for them to all grow as a unit," he said.
"The bond that has been formed between the 118 is pretty ironclad and I don't think much could impact it, certainly not negatively at this point, and in episode five and episode six, we'll certainly see him making use of that support system, and learning more about those relationships."
9-1-1 season seven is a shortened 10 episode season due to the 2023 strikes, and ABC has renewed the series for an eighth season which is expected to return to screens in September for a normal-length season.
The rest of the season will also see Chimney and Buck's sister Maddie Buckley (Jennifer Love Hewitt) get married, which will mean the return of the Buckley parents, with whom Buck has a strained relationship.
Don't expect too much drama between the Buckley parents and their youngest though.
"It's nice that we have, to a large degree, moved past the trauma of their early years together, and I think it's good to show that there's often room for healing in relationships, that because there have been some trying times between them that doesn't mean that they can never recover and rebuild a relationship," Oliver mused.
"It will be nice to have them around for Buck, and they're certainly going to be in a loving mood because it's a wedding and weddings tend to bring out the best in people and there will certainly be some nice moments for the Buckley family."
The cast are, however, still filming the final few episodes of the season, and anything can change on network TV.
But Oliver is certain about one thing: "Buck's journey of self-discovery will, for sure, be a long-running [character arc] but I think I just want to see Buck settled, and proud, of his decisions, and to be able to walk tall and not feel like he needs to hide any part of himself and just be open to being the Buck that makes him."