‘9-1-1’: Oliver Stark Teases ‘Fresh New Cycle’ for Buck in Season 7 (Exclusive)

9-1-1 on a new network, meaning that Evan Buckley will soon be back on our screens. Oliver Stark plays the lovable firefighter on the first responder drama, who goes by “Buck,” and just like with the series itself, Buck will be starting fresh. The beloved character has gone through a lot these last six seasons, whether it’s a ladder truck falling on him or getting struck by lightning and much, much more.

Stark spoke with PopCulture.com about what to expect in the highly-anticipated upcoming season on ABC, most notably what Buck will be up to. Following his latest near-death experience last season with the lightning strike, Stark says that Buck will continue to deal with the aftermath of all of this built-up trauma.

He shared, “I think it’s always a thing that weighs heavy on him, and we’ve seen so many iterations of Buck over the years, but at the same time, he gets stuck in the same loop, so while he thinks he’s a fresh new version of himself, he keeps falling into the same traps. And I think trying to put the previous season and the physical and mental trauma we saw him going through behind him, I think Season 7 is truly going to be a fresh new cycle for him where he breaks those old habits, and he really finds something new in his life to push him forward.”

One of those things that definitely pushes Buck forward is his relationships with his friends and his family, including Christopher, Eddie’s son, played by Gavin McHugh. The premiere episode will see Buck and Eddie help Christopher with his dating woes, and Stark can’t get enough of those scenes.

“I light up every time I read a script, and there’s a scene with Gavin just because I enjoy making those scenes with him, but I also enjoy watching those scenes with him as an audience member,” Stark explained. “I agree that that Buck and Christopher dynamic is a really beautiful one, and we do get to see that play out early on in the season. I believe in the premiere episode where Buck gets to step into this semi-co-parent role where, he is almost like the fun uncle where you need a good cop and a bad cop.

“And Eddie has for some time had to probably fill both of those roles, and now Buck gets to come in and lighten that load that Eddie carries and take on some of that responsibility for him and really be there for his best friend and lend support.”

Speaking of the fun uncle role, Oliver Stark is hoping to see more scenes of actual Uncle Buck with his niece, Jee-Yun, and maybe even Buck with his own kids someday. “The two little girls that play Jee are such bundles of joy, and I love that aspect of Buck as well,” Stark said. “I would love one day to see Buck with a child of his own because we’ve seen it since the first season, he always lights up around children and there’s obviously this parental urge within him. I have no doubt that at some point, we’ll have more scenes with her, and we’ll get to see actual Uncle Buck.”

Aside from getting more co-parent and Uncle Buck, Stark teased that after the cruise ship disaster, “there’s some really cool Buck stuff that I’ve been having a really great time digging into and uncovering. I don’t want to speak too much on it, give away what it might be, but I think it’s really the right direction for Buck and it’s something that I’ve really enjoyed having the chance to explore with him.” Particularly in Episodes 4 and 5, so fans will want to keep an eye out.

It seems like Buck will be getting into quite a lot this season, and it’s going to be interesting and exciting to see what happens. Since there are only 10 episodes for Season 7, there is only so much that can be included. There is no telling what will happen, especially for Buck. Fans probably already have their theories going around, and they will soon find out how it all goes down when 9-1-1 Season 7 premieres this Thursday, Mar. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC’s 2024 spring schedule.