A new season of 9-1-1 means another chance to watch the evolving storyline of Edmundo “Eddie” Diaz.
Since his introduction during 9-1-1 Season 2, Eddie has been a valuable member of the 118, mostly seamlessly settling into a family of firefighters who welcomed him into their tribe with open arms.
Eddie’s journey thus far has been fraught with highs and lows, but he’s overcome many hardships and has continued to work on becoming the best version of himself and growing into the person he wants to be.
So, what can we expect from Eddie during the series milestone seventh season? We went straight to Ryan Guzman to get some answers.
Guzman’s portrayal of the embattled Army medic turned first responder has been met with acclaim from many fans, who’ve grown to adore the earnest, hardworking, devoted father.
Eddie is a complex human being, which is a very relatable trait. Guzman spoke highly of the way writers have crafted Eddie’s story, which has allowed both viewers and even himself to learn new things about the character.
“You know what I love about good writing and programs? There are parallels to our day-to-day lives,” Guzman said. “So, it’s not just me learning about Eddie; it’s the whole audience getting to see themselves in Eddie, and I’m right there with them.
“I’m watching a show with them, and I’m understanding; that makes sense; maybe I should do that more in my life.
“So, credit to the writers in the writer’s room that they know what they’re doing, and they’re subconsciously feeding us ways to better ourselves and be more humble and loving individuals and communal individuals. There’s plenty to learn from Eddie.”
9-1-1 Season 6 found Eddie dealing with the continued ups and downs of the job and a son growing up right in front of his eyes.
And heading into 9-1-1 Season 7, we’ll see another side of Eddie we haven’t seen quite yet, as Guzman explained.
“I believe Eddie’s coming into a more hopeful version of himself. Over the last six years, we’ve understood who Eddie isn’t because he was presented as this almost mythological individual where he got this medal, and he is this perfect army guy paramedic and all these incredible feats.
“But underneath all of that, he was actually a very distraught and traumatized individual, and over the past couple of years, we’ve started to understand what that was.
“And I’ve spoken on this before, but the exact moment that was the change for Eddie was when he destroyed his house and had nowhere to run.
“You saw Eddie at his lowest moment, and from there, it’s been an incremental climb to figuring out who he is outside of this title that everybody else has given him as this war hero.
“And I’ve really come to love the layers that Eddie has gone through, and within this next season, I think he has a more established version of who he is, and with that, that’s offering him different layers that we’ve not been able to really enjoy.
“And I’m excited to show the audience what we have in store with Eddie.”
One consistent thing for Eddie has always been his loving relationship with his son, Christopher.
When we first met Christopher Diaz, he was just a little boy who adored his father and whose father adored him right back. But as Christopher has grown, so has that ever-changing parent-child dynamic.
“Well, we teased a little bit. Christopher has now put himself in the dating pool, which is scaring the hell out of Eddie,” Guzman said when discussing what we’ll see from the beloved pair this season.
“And since Eddie has a horrible history with his own relationships, he doesn’t know where to go, so the whole father-son bond is now being tested yet again. Christopher’s coming into his own individuality, while at the same time, so is Eddie, so he has no legs to stand on when he’s giving him advice.
“I believe that Eddie is reaching out to Buck and like-minded individuals, which, again, he is probably not the best person to reach out to because Buck’s dating history has not been successful, in the least bit, but he’s doing as much as he can with what he has.
“And I believe that offers a lot of humor in a very what could be drama-filled moment.”
Speaking of Eddie’s past relationships, I described him as having mixed results when it came to dating, which Guzman told me was “a nice way to say that.”
But at the end of 9-1-1 Season 6, Eddie was wading back into the dating scene and felt ready to pursue something with Marisol, someone he’d met on a prior call.
So, why did Eddie feel it was the right time to date?
“I believe these are all very relatable stories, and I don’t feel like individuals necessarily find the right partner; I feel like they become the right partner,” Guzman clarified.
“And I see Eddie doing that. I see him through this moment of release in season five and him having to really be honest with himself and honest with his community, i.e., Bobby and Buck and everybody else that he’s told his story to, that he’s seen layers of himself that he never saw before.
“And with that, I don’t know if he liked who he saw, so he took steps towards who he wanted to be.
“Now that we’re revisiting this character in season seven, we’re seeing that the relationships really haven’t changed, but he’s changed. He’s able to receive a little bit more.
“He’s able to be a little bit more honest with himself and maybe slow things down because he would much rather instinctually want to just get into another relationship and be monogamous with one individual and then hope it works out.
“He’s taking more calculated steps, so I believe there’s some hope there for Eddie just based on the fact that he has a better sense of who he is.”
While the potential developing relationship with Marisol will be something to watch this season, Eddie has several key relationships that have helped his personal growth.
In particular, Buck and Bobby, whom Guzman mentioned as people within Eddie’s community, have been paramount in Eddie’s journey along with his father—and that relationship’s been re-examined throughout the series and rather important for Eddie to understand.
“I feel like, as a man, we get a lot from our fathers, even if you didn’t have a father. That speaks volumes, too, because the absence is now challenging a young man to step into this role as a father or step into this role as a man,” Guzman replied when asked how these relationships have helped Eddie and will continue to into the new season.
“And a lot of us are positioned in that role when we’re not ready for it, so I think Eddie did his version of that, and by going to the military and trying to be his own man and be the tough guy and be the one that doesn’t show emotions, that was his embodiment of who a man should be.
“And then over the past couple of years, we’ve seen that get destroyed, and through the act of confronting his father, he realized his father wasn’t even that man.
“There’s so much to pull from that, and I think that resonates with a lot of men out there, and a lot of men don’t get that conversation with their dad, so I’m so honored to portray that on television and give some sense of that to the world.
“But then there’s the communication with your friends and your community that, given where men are at in today’s society, we don’t really know how to communicate with each other and how to be vulnerable in front of each other.
“So, again, I appreciate that through his arc, he’s been able to reach out to Bobby, cry in front of Bobby, and share with Bobby things that he possibly would never share with anybody because he’s in a trusted space.
“And then go to Buck and say, ‘I trust you with my child, and I see how much you put in for my son; this goes beyond friendship, and I love you to the core.’ To have that sense of vulnerability is a sense of strength that has been shown.
“And we haven’t invested too much into the Hen and Eddie or the Chimney and Eddie relationships, but I think that’s coming. I think he’s slowly but surely spreading his wings and finding his comfort with everybody in his community.”
Speaking of Eddie and Chimney, it’s something fans, myself included, have longed for. And Guzman agreed.
“Me and Kenny reached out to Tim at one point and said, “Is there any way we could work this in? I think there’d be some good stuff in there,” he said.
Perhaps that’s something we may get in the distant future, though in the interim, we’ve got a lot to look forward to as it concerns this next chapter in the 9-1-1 universe.
Though, Guzman was tight-lipped about what he could tease for us, and for good reason.
“I can’t really tease too much for the season; I’ll get written off,” he joked.
“What I could do is, because of all the craziness that happened in our real world with the pandemic and the strike and how that’s affected everybody, we all came back with a sense of urgency and hope and gratitude for what we do.
“And that’s including everybody from PAs to the entirety of the crew, to the writer’s room and all of the cast. So we are excited to come back and more than motivated to be on this new network of ABC. That has integrated into everything that we’re filming thus far and is giving us that spark again.
“You’ll see all the great things you love about our show but then amplified because the characters are just being lived in more.
“And as far as Eddie goes, he’s done a lot of deconstructing, now he’s going to be constructing, so now he’s building off of what he’s learned thus far. And through that, we will see different layers of who Eddie is. We’re going to see a lighter side of Eddie.
“We’re going to see how he has a little bit more fun and that he doesn’t have it all figured out, and that’s okay, and there’s some humor in there from that.”
A lighter Eddie Diaz is certainly something to look forward to during this truncated season. And we’ll be here all season to hopefully laugh alongside Eddie and break down all the biggest plot points.
***This interview has been edited for length and clarity.***
Remember, you can watch 9-1-1 on Thursdays at 8/7c on its new home on ABC.
Whitney Evans is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lover of all things TV. Follow her on X.
