We’ve seen time and time again the 118 work together to save each other and civilians, and in the 9-1-1 Season 9 finale, they do both — with the lives of two of their own hanging in the balance. And like the show’s previous finales, this one also ends with some major moments, including one for Buck. TV Insider spoke with Oliver Stark about just that and more. Warning: Spoilers for the 9-1-1 Season 9 finale ahead!

In the penultimate episode, Buck’s friends who had him be their sperm donor, Kameron (Chelsea Kane) and Connor (Colin McCalla), came back into his life after he and the 118 rescued their son, Theo. But tragedy struck, and both adults were killed in an accident. By the end of the Season 9 finale, after Harry (Elijah M. Cooper) remarks that everyone they know either has a kid or is a kid, Buck makes a major decision and brings Theo into his home.

“I think Buck is at a little bit of a sticking point in his life looking for movement and now obviously Theo has been orphaned, which is obviously a terrible thing. And I think Buck looks around him and sees all of his friends and his family with kids and feels at a place in his life emotionally where he can show up for somebody in that sense,” Stark tells us in the video interview above. “Obviously there’s not a usual connection between the two. It’s not what you would usually encounter, but there is some kind of bond there or tie. And as we move forward into the next season, I’m sure we’ll learn more about extended family and why Buck is the one that is able and necessary to maybe step up in this situation. But yeah, I think they’re both in need and Buck can really be there and I think will learn a lot about himself through Theo.”
 

Stark is “reluctant” to use the word father, noting that right now, he’s just fostering. “I don’t think Buck is, at the end of Season 9, thinking, ‘I now have a child.’ I think he thinks, ‘This was my friends’ child who is now parentless,’” he says. “I don’t think Buck is going, ‘OK, now I’m a dad.’ And I don’t know if that’s what it will turn into, but I think it will be important to show the difficulties involved with that process.

Watch the full video interview with Oliver Stark above for more about the finale and Season 9, including Buck and Eddie’s (Ryan Guzman) road trip episode.

Elsewhere in the episode, Athena (Angela Bassett) survives her surgery and the gunman after her in the hospital, thanks to quick thinking by May (Corinne Massiah) — who ends the season in a nursing program — and Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody) to hide her. Detective Hooks (Josh Stamberg) told Anatoli that Athena shot and killed his dad at the end of Episode 17 when it was really the corrupt cop. Hooks is caught trying to finish the job himself in the hospital. Athena recovers and makes a major move of her own: She ends the season as a detective!

Eddie is stabbed by Anatoli while praying in the hospital chapel, and he spends the episode bleeding out in the elevator after the hospital is put into lockdown due to an active shooter. Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) are busy saving a life and reminding us just how great these two are when they work together, while Buck and Harry are focused on getting to Athena with her the target. The 118 finds Eddie at the end, and he, too, is going to be OK. He also continues to help the migrants, who, for the most part, are giving asylum in exchange for their testimonies against their traffickers. He also sets up the star witness with his parents in Texas.

What did you think of the 9-1-1 Season 9 finale and Buck’s decision? Let us know in the comments section below.

9-1-1, Season 10, TBA, ABC