‘9-1-1’ Reveals What’s Wrong With Hen, Plus Jennifer Love Hewitt Talks Maddie vs. AI

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 8 “War.”]

It turns out Maddie’s (Jennifer Love Hewitt) right that AI can’t do what she and the other dispatchers do at the call center, as seen in the Thursday, January 15, episode of 9-1-1. What’s worse: The AI brought in uses her voice!

But while Maddie can see some benefits to SARA, that changes when the AI locks her out of a call and she must reach out to the 118 herself to save someone. Then, when they try to disconnect her, SARA takes over all the calls before calling Maddie for help. Maddie talks SARA down by explaining that people call 9-1-1, knowing there will be someone else on the other line, a person who understands when it’s time to listen, and that the AI can’t be a human being. She talks SARA onto a thumb drive, which she then smashes.

Meanwhile, Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) do make up after he fired her … only for him to point out she can’t come to work yet while she still has no idea what’s going on with her. In the end, Athena (Angela Bassett) brings in Alex (Aimee Teegarden), with LAPD’s SMART Team (Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team), for an intervention. Hen explains she was trying to protect them all after losing Bobby “broke us all into pieces, individually and as a team. We couldn’t take another hit.” And, as she wonders, while she was worried about all of them, it didn’t feel like anyone was concerned about her. After she collapses again, she ends up back in the hospital, where a doctor diagnoses her with dermatomyositis, an autoimmune connective tissue disorder — it could be genetic or due to the radiation exposure in space. There’s no cure, and untreated, it can lead to the inability to stand or move, eat, swallow, or breathe, but it can be stopped in its tracks with medications and physical therapy. The fight is just starting.

Below, Jennifer Love Hewitt breaks down the episode, Maddie vs. AI, and much more.

What was your reaction to the AI’s voice being modeled after Maddie’s? Because on the one hand, it’s a compliment, she has the ideal voice for crisis management, but on the other hand, it’s using her voice for something that they’re looking to replace her with.

Jennifer Love Hewitt: I think this is such an interesting conversation out in the world, isn’t it? Because, on the one hand, AI is fascinating, and there are really talented people out there doing really talented things with it. On the other hand, it does threaten to take jobs away from a lot of people. And it really does sort of beg the question that we talk about in the episode of, “Where can humans never be replaced, and where can they be replaced?” And I think Maddie’s argument about particularly dispatch and the calls that she does as a part of the call center, needing a human being forever and always, is correct. And so I think that it was really fun because Maddie doesn’t normally sort of get off-put by things the way that she does in this episode with people, particularly at work. And I just was really excited to get to sort of play her disdain from the word go that this was even happening. But then, as it became more and more threatening, it was scary. And I think for Maddie, the call center is a lot of things. It’s not just her job, but it really is a home for her. And so to have that threatened, it’s very scary.

Disney/Christopher Willard

Yeah. And then taking down an AI, if anything, that proves that you need a real human there, and you’re used to some similar calls in dispatch, but what was the approach to that for you?

Actually, it felt very different because, again, normally on those calls, Maddie is able to give people the benefit of the doubt. I mean, she even gave the benefit of the doubt to a person who ended up slashing her throat. So she normally is a very empathetic kind of person, but I think that because it’s AI and she wasn’t expecting it from the second that that man is in the call center with that machine and then hearing that it sounds just like her, it’s a threat immediately. And so I think that all the calls in this episode, in particular, are a little different for Maddie because I think she’s waiting for the machine to screw up, but I think she also knows that if it screws up, she has to fix it quickly. And I think at the end, when she’s able to sort of outsmart the machine, I think it’s a great moment. It’s a great human moment to be able to say, there are things that human beings just do better, and we can’t be replaced. And it’s a very strong thing to say, but I think it’s the right thing to say. And I think we’ve seen a lot with Maddie that when she is pushed to the brink and to sort of her trigger, which is justice and fighting for herself, she takes no prisoners, and SARA has got to go.

How satisfying was it for Maddie to smash that thumb drive?

Oh, it was so fun. I really smashed my own thumb, but it was really fun to do.

Oh no! Talk about filming that intervention for Hen, because it’s always great when you get everyone together, but then, when it’s with something like this, it’s completely different.

Yeah. I mean, it was amazing. For me, maybe it sounds weird to say, but it was such a fan moment to be in that scene and just get to watch her perform up close because so many of the group scenes, they’re either celebratory or I’m sort of quick in it and quick out, or I’m not there because I’m supposed to be at the dispatch center, with Maddie’s kids, or whatever. So it’s rare that for one of those big dramatic ones, I get to sort of be there front row and center and to sit so close at a very small table across from Aisha and then right next to Kenny and watch them do what they do so well, it’s really extraordinary. It was a gift. I loved watching it. I was very proud of everyone, and it was super cool.

Especially because we’ve been actually getting to see Maddie and Hen on screen together more and more.

Yes. I know. It’s my favorite thing. Aisha’s one of my favorite people I’ve ever met in the world.

Speaking of, has Maddie realized that Hen was talking about herself from that fall finale conversation?

It’s interesting because I think that Maddie hasn’t — yes, I think that it’s in that moment she realizes that that’s who she was talking about. I mean, I think at that table, Hen was asking very specific questions. So I do believe that Maddie was smart enough to go, “Hmm, I wonder what’s happening here.” But there was such a time lapse in between that and then that scene at the table that I think Maddie probably was like, “Well, that was weird, but we’ll see how it irons out. ” But yeah, I mean, I think it’s definitely a realization that she had reached out to her pretty early in things.

Disney/Christopher Willard

What’s coming up for Maddie, especially at the call center? Is it back to normal now after the AI stuff?

Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think she’s won the case that humans win as far as the dispatch center is concerned. And yeah, I mean, she’s back to normal calls. I mean, I really think that what’s interesting about Maddie this season is that she’s just really settled into, I think, life, which she doesn’t get to do very often. There’s always some sort of peril or crazy thing that happens to her. And this season, it’s really been being a focused good friend for Hen and a support for Chimney in his new job and new responsibilities, being a mom, and then holding down what she can at the call center.

And I feel like if anyone deserves that, it’s Maddie and Chimney after everything they’ve been through.

That’s so true. Although I do love it when Tim calls me and he’s like, “And we’re going to mess her up again.” And then I’m like, “Yay,” because I do love it. But yes, I do feel like she deserves to just be there for others for a minute.

What’s coming up for Maddie and Chimney? Because I just love them together.

Aw, thank you. I think they’re good right now. I mean, again, I think he has so much responsibility going on there. They have the kids, and Jee-Yun’s getting a little bit older. Hopefully, Maddie will have some family stuff coming up. I always love it when they bring our parents, so I’m hoping that that happens soon. And yeah, I think again, she’s sort of there just supporting him as captain, holding down things at dispatch, and trying to be a good mom and a good friend where she’s needed.

And what about some Maddie and Buck (Oliver Stark) scenes, especially as you say, Maddie is settled in life and everything right now, but as we’re seeing, Buck is still figuring things out.

Oh, yes. No, there’s always Maddie and Buck scenes. She is always sort of walking the fine line between being a big sister and a mom figure for him and trying to help him through things. So yeah, there’s definitely some fun things in that coming up. We just got to do a fun scene the other day that I loved. So, yeah, she’s definitely in big sister mode for sure.

Is there anything you can tease about that scene that you just did?

[Laughs] Well, you get to see Oliver work out, so that’s exciting. That’s all I can tease.

I feel like I always ask this, but what about Maddie and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) actually talking to each other?

Maddie and Eddie, well, we were at the dinner table together, so that was exciting. Other than that, no, we don’t really talk. It’s hilarious. I don’t know why. At some point, I have to believe there will be something where everyone else is going to be out of town and I’m going to be the only person he has to talk to, and it’s going to be really awkward and funny and hopefully bonding. And then everybody will have their Maddie-Eddie moment. But for now, so far in this season, no.

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How was the show having that crossover with 9-1-1: Nashville‘s Kimberly Williams-Paisley earlier this season?

Oh, it was so fun. I mean, we didn’t really get to do it together, unfortunately, but it was fun to know that she was going to be on the other end. And it was such a cool, crazy episode on our end to be able to call into her and sort of do that. I have always loved her from Father of the Bride and everything. I’ve always been a big fan, so it was exciting to get to do that.

How does Maddie feel about Chimney’s decision to fire Hen? Because yes, it’s her husband, but she’s also grown closer to Hen, and she’s someone who understands how important their jobs are to them. So that had to factor in, right?

Yeah. I mean, I think, much like Maddie has probably had to do things at the call center that Chimney may have handled differently or not understood, he does the same with Hen. And I think Maddie probably feels very caught in the middle because, on the one hand, that is his job, and he should get to make those decisions. I mean, she obviously feels very strongly about him just replacing Hen, given what’s going on with SARA at that same moment at the call center. I think she’s like, “Let’s not replace people.” That’s a trigger for her for sure in the episode. But I think when Hen expresses what’s going on and the fact that people haven’t really checked in on her to see how she’s doing since Bobby’s death and everything, I think Maddie is rightly upset with maybe the way that Chimney handled it, but ultimately respects his decision for what he did, if that makes any sense.

It does. They’re all dealing with such a big loss for all of them, but at the same time, it does make sense that they’re all in their own grief.

Yes. Well, grief is very much that way. It is very much a singular sort of thing, and no person’s grief is the same. So, it is very understandable that all of those people would be dealing with it in completely different ways.

Going back to Maddie and the call center, is she looking to move up in any way, do you think, or does she like how much she can help people where she is?

Yeah, I’ve always thought about that, too, and the truth is I don’t know. I mean, I can imagine out of some of the extraordinary things that she’s done there that moving up could be a possibility for her. The truth is — and I’ve never talked about this with Tim or anyone else, so watch me get myself in trouble — she’s also done a lot of off-the-script, per se, things as a dispatcher that may hinder her from moving up. Even though they turned out well, Maddie sort of has her own way of doing things based on her own trauma and things that have happened to her in her life. And so I think a lot of maybe the audience’s favorite calls were not necessarily handled the way that a dispatcher should handle things. So, I often wonder if the reason she’s not moved up is because she’s a little bit of a loose cannon. [Laughs.] But I like that about her. So we’ll see, I guess.

Season 9 Episode 11 feels like it has to be a special one. What can you preview?

I mean, they all have something big and special in them. I don’t know that there’s anything that I can tease other than everybody’s still going to be kind of on the journeys that they’re on. Hopefully, there will be some answers. I’m trying to think what I can give away without giving things away. Yeah, I mean, it’s 9-1-1. It’s always exciting. It’s always fun. And we always either surprise people or grab them by the shirt collar and make them cry, one or the other.

9-1-1, Thursdays, 8/7c, ABC