‘9-1-1: Nashville’: Hunter McVey Talks Blue and Taylor’s Relationship and ‘Continued Turmoil’ at the 113 (Exclusive)

Spoilers ahead for Season 1, Episode 10 of 9-1-1: Nashville (“Let It R.I.P.”)

Thursday’s episode of 9-1-1: Nashville turned up the heat for Blue and Taylor, and Hunter McVey talked to PopCulture.com all about it.

In “Let It R.I.P.,” Blue (McVey) and Taylor (Hailey Kilgore) bonded over food, music, and much more.

The two shared a moment at the firehouse when Blue was making food, and Taylor served as his taste-tester. Even from a distance, both Ryan and Roxie could tell that something was brewing between them, so much so that the two hounded Blue afterwards to warn him to shut it down because HR would not be pleased. This led to Blue, who admitted to feeling there was something special about Taylor when he first met her, to act weird around her.

They had a pretty awkward conversation later on, and even though Blue tried to avoid her, Taylor wound up asking him out. It was a sticky situation, but McVey said if he were in Blue’s shoes, it wouldn’t be too much different.

“Me being a little bit of a socially awkward person in my past as well, probably something similar,” he said. “I probably wouldn’t have known how to handle it because it’s a pretty tough dynamic when the Hart family and his newfound relationship with his brother and his father are so important to him, but then you have someone like Taylor come along, which he’s never had before up to this point in his life and is bringing so much joy to him and so much love. It’s definitely a difficult line to walk, not wanting to interrupt the family dynamic and do his job well with the 113, and also not wanna ruin something that could end up being beautiful and the love of his life. So it’s an interesting line that he’s walking, and I don’t know if I could’ve handled it any better than him.”

Speaking of ruining something, it didn’t seem like their relationship was going to go far after Blue met a cop named Jalen during a call, who just so happens to be Taylor’s roommate, and the two were obviously very close. Taylor, however, didn’t seem to see anything wrong with it as Blue kept dropping hints about how upset he was, even though he said nothing was wrong. However, it turned out that Jalen has a boyfriend, so there was never anything to worry about.

Luckily, Blue confessed his feelings to Taylor, who reciprocated those feelings right back, and even though things could be tricky with HR, it seemed like they were willing to give it a shot. They both just needed that extra push, and there will be much to look forward to as the season continues.

“Those scenes, especially where Blue had no idea about Jalen and his relationship with Taylor, you could really see, I think, some of his insecurities come out, and I think it’s very relatable in a lot of senses to what a lot of men and women face in relationships,” McVey explained. “And so I’m glad we got to portray it that way, and I know Blue was super excited that the circumstances worked out in the way they did. And Taylor reciprocated those feelings. And so I will tell you it’s not all smooth sailing, and there’s some dicey moments and some more moments you can expect that are similar to that.”

A new relationship is not all that Blue is dealing with. He recently moved up the ladder to probationary firefighter at the 113, and since we first met him in the series premiere, he has gone through quite a lot. He nearly died, he’s getting closer to the Harts and really starting to find his footing at the firehouse, so watching Blue become a probie was an emotional moment, and not just for the characters.

“It was a very heartwarming moment for me to see Blue officially become a probie and get his patch,” McVey shared. “It almost brought me to tears watching the audience members and all the other cadets also enjoyed Blue becoming a probie because it’s just such a difference from the start of this, where Ryan didn’t even think it was a good idea for Blue to be in the fire department. And we’ve had so much back and forth with Don and Blue and the Harts. So it was a beautiful moment for me to watch as the person playing Blue.”

So what’s next for Blue Bennings? “I think you can expect continued turmoil, controversy, some silly dynamics that Blue does not purposely bring on himself or his family,” he revealed. “But he’s a little bit of a silly goose sometimes, and he doesn’t mean to be.”

9-1-1: Nashville still has a handful of episodes left of the first season, so it’s hard to tell what exactly will be in store, but it sounds like it’s not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. Fans will just have to tune in when new episodes return on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC, streaming the next day on Hulu, to see what happens.