Viewers have been engrossed in the sometimes tumultuous, always intense journey that has been Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Chimney’s (Kenneth Choi) relationship since Season 2 of 9-1-1. The couple started a new chapter in tonight’s Season 7 episode when they got married, and in typical emergency responder form, things did not go according to plan.
In an interview with Parade, Hewitt stated, “It made perfect sense when I knew what the ending was going to be.” “I think Maddie and Chimney should tie the knot in a hospital. And with everyone in the room, that makes the greatest sense for them.
The great day came to an abrupt end in the appropriately named “There Goes the Groom” episode when Buck (Oliver Stark) and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) discovered that Chimney hadn’t just left the bachelor party he didn’t want to attend—he had literally vanished. It turned out that he was walking the streets of Los Angeles in a hallucinating condition as a result of having been exposed to viral encephalitis two weeks earlier during a rescue. Throughout the episode, Chimney walked around Los Angeles in a stupor, thinking it was almost twenty years earlier. Tormented by flashbacks of Maddie’s violent late ex-husband Doug (portrayed by Hewitt’s real-life spouse Brian Hallisay), Chim found himself back at his old place of employment, triaging a destroyed farmer’s market, and ultimately returning to the house of his adoptive parents, all while the 118 fought against the clock to find him before his exposure-related brain damage caused him to pass away.
Hewitt remarked, “It was amazing when [creator] Tim [Minear] told me that I was going to go into the call center in my wedding dress and try to find my husband.” It’s very wonderful and very Maddie. I truly like how proactive and determined she was to get him back, not only about whether but also about when.
The actress expressed her excitement at her spouse Hallisay’s return as Doug, saying she “can’t wait” to share her thoughts with the audience.
“At first, Tim and I had discussed it because I was wondering if he would return for Maddie in a dream since that was the only other marriage she had ever had. I was worried that this might set off something for her. How did that wedding day unfold? Hewitt clarified.
“I thought it was brilliant when I realized that he wasn’t returning to me, but rather that it was happening in Chimney’s brain. It’s clear he’s been holding on to something from his own trauma with Doug, and I believe that’s how Doug affects people.” He is the kind of person who sticks by you. Given who Doug is, I believe it is highly meaningful that he returns to him during a particularly trying and depressing period in his life.
The actress, who has been married to Hallisay since 2013, stated that her family found it particularly fascinating that their father was returning to 9-1-1, dressing like Santa Claus, and stabbing someone. They cherished it. We don’t adore Doug, but we do love Daddy; there are some Doug supporters in our home.
As the show progressed, viewers were taken back to several painful moments in Maddie and Chim’s lives, including her postpartum depression and his rebar injury. However, in the end, those instances acted as a reminder of the characters’ progress.
Hewitt stated, “They are destined to demonstrate to one another—or to have it demonstrated repeatedly—that they will always be reunited and everything will be alright.”
She continued, “Kenny and I are as thrilled that Maddie [and Chim] finally get their moment as the audience is.” We’ve been hoping for it and waiting for it just like everyone else. This was the ideal time, in my opinion. This season, in my opinion, is the most stable Maddie and Chimney have been apart, and I believe that’s crucial to the love story because it prevents two shattered people from entering into another relationship, which is perhaps what we would have witnessed sooner.
Chimney and Maddie made the decision to have an unplanned wedding when he was admitted to the hospital and given treatment. Hewitt claimed to have loved shooting the sequence and to have finally received a framed portrait of the entire group.
It was hilarious, she recalled, “because we all looked at the size of the room and thought, ‘There’s so many people, like, how many people are in the scene and how are we all going to be put in there?'” “Well, that made for a humorous rehearsal. I’ve been in a scene with practically every single character on the show for the first time in its existence.”
That sort of mirrors her character’s development and maturation themes from Season 7. Hewitt said, “I think Maddie’s had a big season because you will see her with the other 118-ers, because Maddie has had a really hard time opening up.” “She was hiding from a lot when she came in.”
What is the overall sentiment this season toward Maddie? Hewitt recalls an experience that seems rather blissful.
“I decided not to let Maddie cry at the wedding, and I wanted her to cry because I was so happy for her,” Hewitt said. And I thought, ‘Perhaps she just enjoys herself too much.'” It seems like she can’t stop smiling, therefore maybe she can’t even shed happy tears.”
There are no unresolved issues and Maddie and Chimney are completely in sync for the first time in the history of the program.
“I believe that they will be first responders in this situation, and the emergencies may occur around them rather than to them,” Hewitt remarked. “Which would be lovely.”
