‘9-1-1’: Arielle Kebbel on Lucy’s Lucky Save, Relationship With Buck & More
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 5, Episode 14 “Dumb Luck.”]
It’s pure luck that firefighter Lucy Donato (Arielle Kebbel) is able to catch a woman falling past a window in the latest 9-1-1 episode — and that woman later saves the victim on another of the 118’s calls.
But Lucy can’t help but obsess over the fact that it was just luck that saved that woman’s life, and fellow firefighter Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark) tells her of the man he couldn’t save on the roller coaster. He realized that it didn’t matter what brilliant hypothetical he came up with, he’d still be dead. All they can do is take the wins when they get them because their luck can change tomorrow.
Kebbel takes us inside this episode and teases what’s ahead for Lucy and Buck (with that kiss still hanging over their heads!).
We saw a different side of Lucy in this episode.
Arielle Kebbel: I love this episode for a number of reasons. It’s a moment where we get to see a glimpse of the layers of Lucy. I love that she has that moment with Chimney [Kenneth Choi] after the rescue where they share a laugh and that laugh is the relief of the save and the dumb luck and that eye contact of, “Hey, we just did something together.” Not only does she get off on that, but she really appreciates that. So there’s the high of that and the connection of that. When you go through these big saves with people, that’s what bonds them.
Then the aftermath, which is the layers of, “Can I do it again? Did I just get lucky? These are people’s lives on the line. It’s not a game.” And [there are] the insecurities of being a part of something new: “Am I part of the 118? Am I enough? Can I do it again? Was it just dumb luck?” Those are all very human questions to ask. Anyone who starts a new job or new school understands. It’s very relatable.
FOX
Also, that save was playing on TVs everywhere.
There’s also that moment of, she’s really proud of her save and wants to celebrate it, but is the 118 gonna celebrate her save? Are they gonna feel like, who is this chick? She really wants to be a part of this group, and how does she do that? I had a wonderful conversation with a female firefighter advisor, and she is a real life Lucy. She is the top of her class. She’s a total badass.
I asked her, “Dd you ever feel uncomfortable being number one of your class? ‘Cause that means you were ahead of the male firefighters. How did that feel? Did you get treated with respect? Did they haze you? Was it complicated? What were the internal dynamics at the fire station?” We had this great conversation and it was really interesting to hear her talk because she was very unapologetic. She was like, “This is what I love to do. This is what I’m here to do, and I’m gonna do it to the best of my ability and that’s that.” I was like, wow. So I think in that respect, this firefighter advisor — and also Lucy — is teaching me a thing or two, because I don’t know that I would have the guts to be that brave.
Lucy talks to Jonah [Bryce Durfee] about the 118 and the reporters. Why? Because he understands, as someone who was at the 118, more than anyone else would?
From my understanding, the writers wanted to set up a moment to show that kind of understanding of the outside looking in and the outside perspective. When you step outside of the adrenaline-pumping 118 rescues, what does it feel like? What does it look like? They wanted Lucy to have a friend to have that relatable conversation with — and to also show her excitement around this, but also her insecurity. Anytime you’re going through something new, especially if it’s something you really want, that’s the time the insecurities pop up the most.
FOX
How does Lucy feel about Buck? Is that complicated by the fact that he does seem to be the one she knows the best at the 118 and so romantic or not, he’s becoming a significant part of her life?
The number one priority is always the rescues, and then underneath that, there’s the playful back and forth. Some moments, it’s more poking fun at each other. Other moments, it’s like, is there something there? Everyone’s very close and a tight-knit family there and going through these rescues. The rest of it is a question mark. At this particular time in the series, it’s more about Buck and Taylor [Megan West] figuring out what they need to figure out.
In this episode, you get to see a moment of the support that Buck is able to show Lucy in the “Hey, I’ve been there too. I know what you’re going through. Let me lend you a shoulder to lean on.” It’s a nice moment because it’s setting up the first time you see some depth between them not only after the kiss, but also just all these rescues and the new team at the 118. Moving forward, there’s an episode coming up where then Lucy’s able to turn around and offer Buck a supportive hand. It’s a nice moment to have because as talented as Lucy is, she’s still new to this team and so having that support is meaningful.
What else can you tease about that moment of Lucy offering Buck a supportive hand?
It’s a big episode, and it’s definitely an emotional episode for Cap.
Jack Zeman / FOX
Is that the fire at the call center?
It sure is. I’m also really looking forward to that episode. There’s a lot there. It’s emotional for everyone and it was my first fire episode. And I was fortunate enough to have some pretty intense scenes with Cap, played by the absolutely wonderful Peter Krause. I just loved it.
What can you say about the dynamic between Cap and Lucy in that episode?
There’s definitely some deep bonding between the two of them.
The show keeps setting up the potential for Lucy and Taylor to cross paths: the extra couch, Taylor trying to get an interview. What can you say about the two women interacting?
[Laughs] The writers know what they’re doing.
How might Buck handle that?
Good luck, Buck!
FOX
He has yet to tell Taylor that Lucy was the one he kissed and Lucy doesn’t know any of this, so she’s in the dark.
That’s just it, right? Lucy’s focused on the 118 and how she does her best work there. This other thing is completely outside of her. Although she was the driving force behind it, at this point, it’s completely a Buck and Taylor mess.
We saw Jonah leave because Chimney returned. Is Lucy at all concerned about her future at the 118?
Lucy’s smart. She understands how she first came on the team and now that team is evolving and changing and absolutely that’s a possibility. I also feel like Lucy’s the type of person that wakes up every day and does her best and then that leads her to her next thing. She’s one of those people that, because she’s so dedicated to just being in the moment and doing her best, the next thing naturally comes to her. She very much wants to stay a part of the 118, and she sees her place there, but also really respects both Chimney and Eddie [Ryan Guzman], and there’s a really nice moment towards the end of the season between Lucy and Eddie and you get to see Lucy gets it. They love Eddie. They love Chimney. There’s magic when this team comes together. More than anything, she wants that. She’s really happy and wants everyone to come back together and then it’s like, is it just that the 118’s growing?
Speaking to that, there’s also a scene coming up in the fire truck where we get to know a little bit more about Lucy and her backstory and she comes from a family of all brothers. She’s starting to open up to the 118 a little bit about her past. They’re starting to learn a bit about her and what makes her who she is. When we learn this backstory, we start to understand how she’s such a go-getter, in the moment kind of gal today.
Will we be meeting Lucy’s brothers?
That’d be fun. We’ll see.
What else can you say about the episodes leading up to the finale and the finale itself?
They get bigger, faster and more action-packed leading up to the finale. The drama is definitely building. Everyone always says they love the firetruck moments because you get to see a different piece of all the characters and I get why they love those scenes. There’s something really special that happens when everyone’s in the firetruck, sharing a little more personally. As fun as the action is, I think those slower, more intimate moments [are] what continues to build the heart of this show.
9-1-1, Mondays, 8/7c, Fox
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Comments are closed on this story.
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I don't know what show Arielle is watching because Lucy was absolutely insufferable this episode. The acting for her is so flat, it's borderline uncomfortable to watch and it puts the lack of chemistry she has with the rest of the 118 on full display. The scene with her and Jonah was such a waste of time, when we could've seen more of Eddie's storyline, or Maddie and Chimney's storyline with Jee, which both felt incomplete. The conversation with Buck did not make me care about her in the slightest, and was just such a cringey and, frankly, tonedeaf thing for her to lament about when she not only saved the girl, but there are other characters with actual problems that got their time cut short because of her. I'm absolutely dreading these moments with Buck, Bobby and Eddie that she supposedly has. If the show knows what's good for them, they'll cut those scenes and reconsider what exactly they're trying to do here with her. She needs to go, and fast.
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I am so over Lucy and her storyline doesn't make sense. Now we are going to learn more about her? Please, make it stop! Ravi is right there! And that BL conversation would have been more emotional and better between Ravi and Buck because Buck is Ravi’s mentor!
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If the writers knew what they’re doing we wouldn't be stuck with any of this ridiculous storyline
It sounds like it will be a lot of wasted screen time in the future. We still haven't seen Chim and Buck talk, but let's find how many brothers Lucy has.
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Yes especially to your last point. I’m still annoyed the Chim and Buck apology happened offscreen and we haven’t seen them interact. But they have no problem having Lucy take up precious screentime. It’s ridiculous. We don’t even know anything about Karen’s family or backstory and she’s been around since season 1. Nothing about Ravi’s family either but they’re already discussing us maybe having to meet Lucy’s family? I’ll pass.
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ugh, stop trying to make her happen
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The only question that needs to be asked about AK is when the hell is she leaving the show.
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All I want to know is when is she leaving? Her character is eating up extremely limited screen time with boring, forced stories. There is NO need for her character. It's actually hard to watch.
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Why we keep being subjected to interviews by this actress about a character so universally disliked I don't know. This is NOT the Lucy show. This is about the entire crew and I am sick of the sight of her. Lucy was absolutely awful in this episode and how the show made her the centre of everything just makes me think, well, we're probably stuck with her in season six so there is no way I'll be watching any episodes again. Gifs and stills are enough.
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This woman doesn’t learn. She’s trying to make her character likeable (it should be done on the show, you know?) and instead she’s just making everyone hate her character and her attitude.
This is not the Lucy Donato show, she doesn’t even know how to pronounce her own name, let alone have any chemistry with the rest of the cast ensemble.
People tune in for the characters that have been on the show for seasons, not for a white woman that doesn’t bring anything to the show and whose main plot has been sticking her tongue down Buck’s throat.
We do not care about her and her cop family, we just want the 118 back and for unnecessary actors/actresses to leave the show. It isn’t that hard to understand.
Ryan and Gavin have been killing it with their storyline and instead we only get interviews of Arielle, who we don’t care about. Please let us hear about characters that are actually enjoyable.
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She's trying too hard to make herself a main character/the only character (much like RL does on Lone Star), and fans are not receptive to it. It's forceful and she clearly does not have ANY chemistry with any of the other main characters - except for Jonah somehow?? She needs to go and fast or else people will start tuning out.
We've heard so much about what has happened offscreen - Chim and Buck talking the punch, Eddie apparently apologizing to Bobby for what he said, what happened between when Buck and Eddie talked after Eddie's breakdown and the next scenes we see what can be assumed a few days later - but thank GOD we know that Lucy's family are all cops, and that her and Jonah can have a 4 minute scene about how they don't fit in at the 118 but we get 30 seconds of Karen/Hen/Bobby/Athena, and nothing with Eddie and Charlie when that could have been such a healing moment for BOTH of them.
Her scenes this episode felt extremely forced/not genuine - saying a woman should have died??? Like Buck said, take the win, he knows firsthand how fast things can go south.
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Make it make sense that Lucy, someone introduced less than a month ago on TV is getting more screentime, interviews, and backstory than Ravi, someone who has appeared on the show since season 4? Truly I would rather a poc get more screentime and backstory (we don't even know anything about Ravi's family) than a homewrecker white woman.
No hate to the actress but I'm beyond tired of Taylor 2.0.
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nobody cares about this boring character
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There better not be any romance between Buck and Lucy because that conversation they had last episode didn’t scream romance, it screamed were work colleagues and nothing else. He’s got more romantic chemistry with Taylor and that’s even limited.
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She’s the worst character on the show. We didn’t need any new characters! I would have much preferred learning more about Ravi then setting up this cheating storyline. At least he’s a compelling character
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I just want this second rate Fire Matron to go away! We already had the Buck Abby thing in season 1. We don’t need another older woman trying to salvage her youth with anyone in OG. Get Ravi in there and send LD packing!!
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I don’t like her because she doesn’t know how to be a firefighter she doesn’t act like a real Firefighter
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And she also doesn’t need to be kissing on buck because he already has a girlfriend I don’t care what y’all think but I definitely do not like her
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Why
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Jessica I don’t believe you watch the show because if you did you wouldn’t be saying things Maddie does
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I mean he has a girlfriend for Taylor is a nice girlfriend
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Thank you for this article. We are getting to see the other sides of Lucy's personality in this episode and learn a little bit more about what drives her out in the field. Arielle Kebbel is a great actress and doing a great job with the role. With Ravi, Lucy, Albert and Jonah, we are getting to see a new layer of the overall LAFD firefighting fam (and even Captain Mehta from the 133).
I like having more familiar faces on the show. I hope that we still get the focus on the main OG cast and rescues interspersed -- as we did in previous seasons. The first half of S5 was all over the place. Things are shaping up with the second half of the season. Thank goodness.
Loved all of the Eddie goodness this episode!! Loved Buck being Buck -- big heart and lots of confidence and being there for his fam and especially for Eddie and Christopher.
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