Is Jennifer Love Hewitt Leaving ‘9-1-1’? Maddie’s Heartbreaking Storyline Took a Turn

Meredith Jacobs October 5, 2021, 11:24 am

Jennifer Love Hewitt as Maddie in 9-1-1 — FOX

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 5 Episode 3 “Desperate Measures.”]

While the majority of the blackout episodes of 9-1-1 Season 5 was focused on Sergeant Athena Grant (Angela Bassett), they also offered a look into just how much Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) is struggling at home, with her postpartum depression and her and Chimney’s (Kenneth Choi) daughter. And it all led to a shocking moment at the end.

After leaving him a voicemail — in which she didn’t tell him about taking Jee-Yun to the hospital (she’s fine) — she takes her daughter to see her dad. But Maddie doesn’t stick around at the firehouse. Instead, as Chimney learns after Bobby (Peter Krause) calls him in, Maddie just dropped her off and left a video message for him.

“I’m sure that you are confused, hurt, and probably really scared. I don’t know what to say. You don’t need to go to the police or come looking for me. I’m not in any danger and no one is making me do this,” Maddie said. “But Jee is not safe with me. Not now, and maybe — I know that you’re going to take really good care of her. And she’s better off without me. I love you. I love both of you, and I’m really sorry.”

But there’s no reason to think Hewitt is leaving the Fox drama. Rather, it’s likely to explain her absence since she recently had a baby (much like FBI did with Missy Peregrym in Season 2.). And based on what showrunner Tim Minear had to say about Maddie after the premiere, this is far from the end of this storyline. After the “serious turn” in Episode 2, expect “some real reverberations and ramifications for the beginning and the middle of the season,” he teased.

Based on the promo for the next episode, Chimney’s not about to give up on her. “I’m trying to figure out what happened to your sister,” he tells Buck (Oliver Stark), who says, “Nothing happened to her. She just left.” Watch it above.