9-1-1 Buck finally gave a formal origin story on Monday – and it was even darker than we could have imagined.
Buck is still aware of the discovery that he and Maddie have an older brother who died of cancer. He also learned this week that he was only conceived in the hope that he would be a bone marrow match for Daniel. The Buckleys’ twisted (and completely too ordinary!) Plan worked for a short time until Daniel finally returned and died, at which point the family moved away and never spoke of the tragedy again.
A series of flashbacks of Buck and Maddie’s childhood and young adulthood expanded into their close relationship, including how Maddie Buck almost told of Daniel when she first left home to attend nursing school in Boston with Doug living. (Ugh, Doug.) We also saw that the brothers and sisters almost walked away years ago, but an abusive Doug made it clear what he would do to Maddie if she left. (Again … Ugh, Doug!) However, she donated Buck to her beloved Jeep so he could leave town and start over – a gift that eventually took him to Los Angeles.
Oliver Stark breaks down below 9-1-1‘s long-awaited “Buck Begins” episode, including the moment he looked in the mirror and thought, “Oliver, you made a big mistake.”
TVLINE | I started wondering if Buck would ever get a ‘Begins’ episode. He was so young when we met him, I did not know if he would have enough of a backstory.
[Laughs] I agree, right? Buck had just started at the firehouse in the pilot, and we found out everything through his eyes. So I did not know if [a Buck origin story] would be an essential thing, but then [showrunner Tim Minear] was like, ‘I got the idea for it.’ I understood why it was necessary. It immediately made so much of what we know about Buck.
TVLINE | What was your reaction when you first saw it unfold in the text?
More than anything I was actually impressed [the writers] could think of something that summed up so much we’ve seen through the years of Buck. The more I thought about his behavior in the past, the more I was like, ‘Oh, now it makes sense why he always does these things, and why he has this heroic complex. “I thought it was brilliant. I also did not know that some families really have babies for this reason. It was very striking.
TVLINE | Yes! I had to Google to see if this is true, and they really do!
The way Tim put it to me was, ‘They basically have a baby for parts.’
TVLINE | Before the truth became known, fans had some wild theories about Buck’s family secret, including Maddie actually his mother.
[Laughs] Yes, I’m not quite sure why so many people are attached to one. She really is not that much older than him, so there would have been a lot of darkness to explore there. It is safe to say that this would never be a secret. … I saw a few people absolutely capture what it was, and at what point did I ask myself, ‘Who in the author’s room has a secret Twitter account?’
TVLINE | Have you met any of the actors who played Young Buck?
I meet the middle one, the skateboarding one. He’s 14, so he’s just this cool kid who’s probably going to walk around on his skateboard anyway. The coolest part of seeing it [younger versions] saw how my birthmark was made up on all their faces. Like: ‘There you go. Now you are me. ‘Because there was so much talk about the program, it would be quickly noticed if we left it out.
TVLINE | How is this experience going to affect Buck’s future?
It is important to know what it is that is holding you back so that the fact that he can begin to understand why his relationship with parents has always been so hindered, and why he has always felt this lack of belonging, he can finally begin to move it and heal and restore these relationships and re-establish these bonds. It was just so devastating to learn the news, it’s just going to be good for him. We will therefore see a new, more capable Buck.
TVLINE | He will have enough to talk about in his next therapy session.
Yes, and I think that’s actually a very important thing for the program to touch on. Whoever you are, whatever you are going through, if you have the privilege of being able to go to therapy, that is a beneficial thing. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve seen him keep it a secret in the first few episodes, but I like that the whole fire department knows he’s in therapy right now. This is a good message to post out there.
TVLINE | I have always liked Buck, he is strong yet sensitive.
Absolutely. They do not exclude each other. You can be one thing in one moment, then another thing in the next, and they do not take away from each other. Humans have many facets to their being.
TVLINE | One of the facets is Buck’s incredible 2015 look. Can we talk about that for a moment?
[Laughs] I was very eager to push the boat on it and make it an extreme phase in his life. But as soon as I had everything – the leathery brown, the highlights in my straight hair – I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, ‘Oliver, you made a big mistake.’ However, I think it has achieved what we were trying to do there. He tried to find himself, literally trying different hats throughout the episode to find his place and his purpose.
How do you feel about Buck’s twisted backstory, now that we’ve got the full picture? Then rate the special episode below leave a comment with your thoughts below.