Is Connie Britton Leaving ‘9-1-1’?

Will Connie Britton return to 9-1-1 for season two?

During Wednesday’s first season finale, Abby (Connie Britton) mourned the death of her mother, who had been suffering from dementia and died after a pulmonary embolism at the end of last week’s episode.

The 9-1-1 operator is consoled by boyfriend Buck (Oliver Stark), and viewers find out she was once a member of the Olympic swim team.

As Buck bragged about his stable relationship with Abby to his colleagues, he is confronted by a mysterious woman who claims he ghosted her, but he has never seen her before. He realizes that someone has been using his picture to catfish women online.

Upset about Buck’s alleged behavior, Abby begins to wonder who she is now that her mother is gone. She reveals to Buck she bought a ticket to go to Dublin, Ireland, and that she plans to be gone for a while, not just to fulfill her mother’s dream of traveling, but so she can find herself.

“I think somewhere along the way I started caring so much about everybody else that I stopped caring for myself,” Abby tells Bucks. “I used to be person who would travel the world swimming in competitions, and I demanded so much from myself… I feel like I need to find that again.”

“I’m happy for you, almost as much as I’m sad for me,” Buck said, breaking the hearts of millions of 9-1-1 fans.

Viewers last see Buck and Abby hugging goodbye as she goes into the airport.

“I’m going to be right here when you come back, okay?” Buck says to Abby.

Ahead of the episode, executive producer Ryan Murphy revealed to TVLine that Britton initially signed on to do the show for one year as a favor to him.

“We’re in the process of renegotiating her deal so she can come in and do a couple of episodes to keep her character alive,” Murphy said. “She really loves the cast and crew and she’s very hopeful that that can happen… in the interim, we will be casting other parts in that call center. We’re going after big names.”

A spokesperson revealed to TVLine confirming Britton is in talks to return for the second season as a guest star.

However, Murphy said he is optimistic Britton will still hold a prominent role on the series during season two, comparing her contract negotiations to those of stars from his other hit shows.

“I think the days of actors signing seven-year contracts and then not being able to do anything but that one particular show are over,” Murphy said. “Sarah Paulson was a regular on two shows of mine at once, and she went and did two movies in between. Actors have much more power and maneuverability than they had before. And I think that’s a good thing.”

Abby and Buck are one of 9-1-1‘s fan favorite couples, we’ll have to wait and see how Britton’s few appearances will affect the relationship in the upcoming season.

9-1-1 will return for a second season in fall of 2018 on Fox.