‘9-1-1’: Ryan Guzman Says Eddie’s Learning More About Himself in Season 7

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Well, at least one Diaz might have some luck with love in 9-1-1 Season 7.

Yes, the first responder show kicks off its first season on ABC with a three-episode cruise ship emergency—did you expect anything else from Athena (Angela Bassett) and Bobby’s (Peter Krause) honeymoon?—but things might get even more dramatic off the clock for Eddie (Ryan Guzman) this season. He may or may not be able to make a new relationship work, plus he has to deal with the fact that his son, Christopher (Gavin McHugh), is growing up and dating.

Guzman previews the storm possibly to come.

What can you preview about the three-episode cruise ship disaster and the 118 going to help?

Ryan Guzman: Chaos, chaos, and chaos. I think Tim [Minear] does an incredible job with just throwing every obstacle that he can think of our way; just when you feel like they might save the day, then, here’s another. He is a master at his craft, to be honest. As we’re going to see, it’s not going to be any easy feat trying to find or save Bobby and Athena, and amongst this whole pirate situation, there’s a massive storm happening at the exact same time. There’s just so much going on.

What does Eddie want in his life this season? He seems settled professionally, but will that change?

I think up until now, Eddie’s used his professional life as an escape and a way to divert from his own emotional angst. Now, I feel that he has found home at his workplace and also is getting a sense of who he is as an individual. And really as I’m doing this new season, I’m falling in love with the character all over again because I’m seeing shades of Eddie that I’ve never seen before, and it’s been really fun to play some of the humor and some of the levity that Eddie offers. There’s so much that’s going to be, I think, elevating Eddie this year, and a lot of it’s going to be coming from his use of his community.

He asked out Marisol (Edy Ganem) at the end of Season 6. Is she still in the picture?

She’s still in the picture, yeah. We’re trying to figure out where she lies in the picture. Is she staying in the picture? Is she leaving the picture? We are just starting to tackle that right now actually.

Eddie and relationships haven’t exactly worked out. Do you think this is something that could work out or something that’s the stepping stone he needs to something that could work out?

I don’t think it was ever the girl’s problem. There was no real big issue with Ana [Gabrielle Walsh]. It was Eddie, and Eddie had still so much to learn about himself and understand about himself that I think that this year, he’s starting to understand what that is and live in it a little bit more. So it’s actually offering a little bit more hope in his relationship status.

Disney/Chris Willard

Eddie and Buck (Oliver Stark) are going to be helping Christopher with dating problems. First of all, it is wild that Christopher’s old enough to have dating problems.

Ridiculous, yeah. I remember reading that in the script, and I looked at Gavin and I’m like, “Wait, how old are you again?” It’s insane. He’s a man now. He’s so tall now, and his voice has changed a little bit. His mannerisms have changed. Just when you think the kid couldn’t get funnier, he got funnier. But yeah, the two worst people that you could pick to try and give relationship advice are giving relationship advice to Christopher. [It’s] the blind leading the blind. I really don’t understand it, but I think that’s what makes it fun and what the audience is going to actually love.

And Eddie can probably figure out stuff about his own life while doing that.

Yeah, maybe there’s some parallels in there where he can figure it out and use in his own life. I think it’s a therapy session for him and Christopher.

And he has to think about Christopher when it comes to any of his relationships, like with Marisol.

Yeah, that’s another layer to it. How does she fit in with the whole dynamic? Is Christopher more happy for Eddie, or is Christopher actually liking who Marisol is? That’s all stuff we’re going to investigate this season.

Christopher growing up has to affect how Eddie’s looking at his own life, too. 

Yeah, I think that’s the next obstacle for Eddie’s personal life as far as relationships in his family: seeing his little boy become an adolescent teenager and now going into being a man of his own. At some point in time—and I feel like I will get to this point way later on in my own personal life—you do have to trust the child. I’ve heard it from so many other individuals that you’ve done as much as you possibly can and now it’s less about teaching them, it’s more about guiding them and hoping that they stay in the right direction. And yeah, I think the fear of truly letting go and allowing Christopher to be his own individual will be a massive obstacle for Eddie.

Disney/Chris Willard

Speaking of Eddie’s family, is anything coming up with his parents? That relationship is so complicated.

Yeah, there’s so much to tap into that. I was saying this recently that we haven’t even tapped into his two sisters and their opinions on Marisol, and what they’ve done the past couple of years and his abuela is hiding secrets that we haven’t divulged yet into. And that his tia has really started to express a little bit more that, yeah, she was married before she ended up with her late husband.

Eddie was so surprised!

Which I love. All these kind of layers, these obstacles are what makes the show. And that’s all credit to our writing staff. And Tim obviously is an OG of the game. He knows what he’s doing, so he’s going to be doing more of that this year.

When I spoke with Oliver, he said that Buck’s most important relationship this season is with Eddie. Is Eddie’s most important one with Buck? Christopher?

I think it’s a balance of all. I think Buck and Bobby have been the ones he’s leaned on outside of Christopher. Christopher is the unspoken hero of the whole thing, with Eddie’s past and him losing his ex-wife right after he asked her to get engaged again—all these traumatic events happening to Eddie, and he was left with nothing. When he looked around, all he could see was Christopher. And Christopher was his beacon of light.

Outside of Christopher, it was really Buck. He was the next go-to, and I love that friendship. I love how he’s able to lean on another male figure and really be vulnerable with this man and allow himself to go there because in today’s society, that’s not really a thing. And I would love to see that more.

Especially how they started out, that first shift.

Yeah, I know, a sense of jealousy and this competition thing going back and forth, which is true to what we see nowadays. But yeah, I love that the build of that relationship has been more of breaking down the barriers and showing their vulnerabilities. And that leads into Bobby and having those tough conversations where he’s trying to hold back his tears and really ask for advice, but at the same time not ready to receive it. So I would say that, yeah, outside of Christopher, Buck would be the second closest thing that he can have as a relationship.

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Oliver also said that Buck and Eddie are being open and sharing things with each other that they may have been reluctant to share. Is there anything else you can preview about that? 

I have to give credit to the writing again. The past couple years, I think that they’ve done a great build that Eddie at his lowest moment where he’s breaking his whole house and scaring the hell out of Christopher, the person that comes to his aid is Buck. And when he has had this moment of release of all this anger and these emotions and this angst and all this stuff, he has nowhere to run to except for Buck and allowed Buck to see who Eddie truly is. And Eddie was a mess. I think at that moment, the friendship had a turning point and now has allowed Buck and Eddie to really share as much or whatever they’d want, the scariest things in the world they could share with each other. And we’re going to be seeing more of that this season.

Which of Eddie’s relationships is going to be challenged the most this season?

Marisol, this new woman in his life, however happy he is with her. He’s seen this before. We’ve all seen this before as an audience, that he can go head over heels for an individual, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s going to go anywhere, that it’s going to work out. So I think figuring out he can’t replace Shannon, and I think he’s been trying to fill this motherly role. “How can she be a great mother to my son and be someone that I can love, be intimate with?” I think he’s trying to figure that out as best as he can with Marisol. But it goes back and forth.

Episode 100 is coming up. Congratulations! What can you preview?

I have been reminded now over and over again by my fellow cast members that it’s not technically my 100th episode, it’s their 100th episode. [Laughs] Since I came on Season 2. But I’m so happy for everybody. It’s just more of what the show offers all the time. It’s just a great mixture of chaotic events, severe events with humor, and really heartfelt moments scattered throughout.

Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Chimney’s (Kenneth Choi) wedding is coming up. What are we going to see from Eddie during that? 

I think Eddie’s going to have a let go moment. He’s going to have some fun, I feel. He is going to have a great time trying to just let go and see where that gets him.

9-1-1, Season 7 Premiere, Thursday, March 14, 8/7c, ABC