Oliver Stark Talks 9-1-1 Halloween Episode, Buck’s Upcoming Relationship ‘Difficulties’ & More

If there is one holiday-themed episode to go all out for, it’s Halloween. 

9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5 was all about the ghastly day and those leading up to it, as the 118 firehouse turned into a haunted house, and Buck unknowingly triggered a curse! Only Buck, am I right? 

The hour was a silly affair, even by 9-1-1 standards, but the lightheartedness gave way to heart-pounding drama as the 118 found themselves at the scene of an accident they never saw coming. 

9-1-1 has always excelled at mixing humor and seriousness, and this hour was an outstanding balance of the two. While Buck was handling a curse, Hen and Karen were dealing with real-world difficulties, and then later, the near-death of their son, Denny, who was involved in a serious accident. 

All’s well that ends well, but overall, it was a rollercoaster of an episode, even for Buck, though the ‘Billy Boils’ curse was a much lower-scale calamity. 

We had to chat with series star Oliver Stark about all things Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley and this Halloween installment, which gave him and the cast ample opportunities to flex those comedic chops. 

Getting to showcase both the lighter moments and the heavier ones is something Stark has always enjoyed about the long-running procedural drama.

“One of my favorite things about the show is that within a 42-minute episode, we’re able to kind of encapsulate all of those things,” Stark said. “There’s very much a silly, bordering on ridiculous plot going on, and then mirroring that is a really deep and heartfelt and heavy storyline.

“And the fact that both of those things can coexist within one episode is one of my favorite things about the show. I really enjoy being on either side of those, but when it’s very clearly defined which one is which, I think it is fun as the actor.

“I know, really, until the end, I’m in the silly plot. And that’s fun to embrace. And then it does have some grounded moments towards the end. It’s a joy to embrace those genres and themes on the show.”

Several beats throughout the hour feature Buck and Eddie having fun moments playing off one another, something Stark and Ryan Guzman always excel at.

In particular, there was a scene with Buck in the hospital flanked by Tommy and Eddie, which was played for laughs.

And those kinds of scenes are something Stark loved to play.  

“It’s great,” Stark told me. “This show is very unique in that you can almost go too far, and it still feels like it’s pitched within the universe of the show.

“There are choices from an acting perspective you can make that I think on some TV shows would feel outlandish, but within the world of 9-1-1, they still feel fitting. So, it’s fun.

“You get to push that envelope and be playful, which, at the end of the day, I think most of us get into this industry because that’s what we enjoy: playing and just imagining and coming up with these things together.

“So yeah, it’s great, and I always encourage more of it. And sometimes we find that line, and we fall on the wrong side of it, and we have to pull it back, and that’s just part of the process.”

Speaking of Tommy, the two spend much time together during the Halloween episode. Buck dealt with his curse, and Tommy lent an ear, though he didn’t firmly believe in the power of Billy Boils.

The relationship, which began during 9-1-1 Season 7 Episode 4, has been moving along.

When asked about the impact of that relationship on Buck, Stark said, “I really enjoy that in many respects Buck is now living in his truth, right?

“He’s a much more authentic version of himself. And it’s not that he was ever consciously lying about who he was, but he didn’t quite know how to step out of that bracket. Obviously, this relationship has been instrumental in his finding out more about himself.

“And whether or not Tommy ends up being the forever partner for Buck, he will always have been his first. And there will always be, I think, huge importance placed upon it for those reasons.”

As for what’s to come for the pair?

“I think we’ve been pretty open about some, which I love, some difficulties in their relationship ’cause obviously, relationships are hard in moments,” Stark said.

“And Buck and Tommy are still learning about each other, and oftentimes, when you are learning about relatively new partners, you can discover something that can be a little jarring. And that’s something we’re going to lean into.

“Then it’s up for the people in that relationship to figure out how to navigate through and past it.”

While Tommy may be the new person in his life, Buck had a past before him, and seeing as how 9-1-1 loves a throwback, I wondered who from Buck’s past Stark would like to see make a triumphant return.

After a moment of reflection, he said, “I’m trying to think which character would be best for this, right? If Buck ever got to a place where he and Tommy were on a break, I don’t know.

“I like the idea of Buck putting himself in queer spaces ’cause we’ve not really seen that of him yet. So, I don’t know, maybe he’s in a gay club or something.

“And with someone like a Lucy Donato or something, like an ex-partner who is now there to help shepherd him and boost his confidence. Yeah, I would love to see maybe something like that.”

We’ll have to see if Stark gets to see something like that happen for Buck in the future, but one thing we’re seeing right now is Buck continuing to excel on the job.

For Stark, when asked about a misconception he feels people have about Buck, he was direct to the point.

“I think Buck is often underestimated in the sense of I think people think he’s dumb, and I don’t think he’s dumb at all,” he stated.

“I think he’s maybe guileless sometimes, but really, we’ve seen time and time again that he is extremely knowledgeable about a wide-ranging spectrum of things and oftentimes has used these facts that he happens to know to help people in danger.

‘So yeah, I think people often underestimate his intelligence when I think he’s a bit gung-ho and naive perhaps sometimes, but not stupid by any means.”

When I suggested Buck may jump without looking sometimes, Stark agreed, stating, “Sure, and you know there’s something to be said for that.”

We got a front-row seat to Buck’s knowledge during 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 1, when Buck’s bee knowledge saved the day on more than one occasion.

It’s those kinds of quick-thinking skills that would transfer well to a future leadership role.

“I think we’ve shown that his professional advancement is hugely important to him,” Stark said when asked about what the future might look like for Buck professionally.

“When I think of a leader and some of the traits that I would like a leader to have, Buck ticks many of those boxes. So, if we’re lucky enough to continue the show, maybe that’s something that we could see him take steps towards.

“I don’t know how LAFD works; I don’t think they have lieutenants like they do Texas or other places. So, I don’t know quite what that would look like.

“But whether or not it’s in an official way or not, I certainly see leadership qualities in him. And we talk about him leaping before he looks sometimes. I do think he’s learned over the years to tone that down or at least channel it in a more productive and healthy way.

“So yeah, I think he’s growing into more and more of a leader as the seasons go on.”

While he’s certainly shown a lot of growth, we’ve seen Buck chasing after something in seasons past.

In 9-1-1 Season 6, he set forth on a ‘say yes’ quest after reading The Age of Absolutely and was also on his own pursuit of happiness.

But eight seasons in now, Stark doesn’t think Buck is chasing anything anymore. And that’s a good thing.

“I don’t think he’s chasing anything too actively, and I think that’s quite a nice place to be in. We find him in quite a content spot.

“I guess at the beginning of the season, he was trying to find his footing again because we had the new captain, and that shook up his world a little bit. But now that Bobby’s back, Buck is in quite a content and happy place.

“And not that he doesn’t want for more, whether that be the professional advancement or whatever, but I don’t think he’s running after it. He’s quite content and settled in where he is for the moment, which is maybe one of the first times we’ve seen him like that.”

Buck may be settled now, but he does leave a few kids unsettled during the 118 haunted house, where he sees him ripping off poor Billy Boils’s arm when trying to give the kids some candy.

In the spirit of Halloween, I had to know Stark’s favorite costume, and his answer did not disappoint.

“So, Halloween’s not very big in the UK. We have it absolutely, but it is not as beloved as it seems to be over here. However, when I used to work in a retail store, we used to sell video games.

“We were asked to dress up for one Halloween, and everybody went quite big with their costumes. All I did was wear one contact lens that whited out my whole eye. So it was very subtle and, therefore, I think, slightly more realistic.

“I got asked to take it out because kids were scared of me because if you go big with the costume, it’s obviously fake. Whereas my one kind of creepy eye was troubling some of the children in the store.

“So that’s one of the only times I think I’ve done proper out-and-out Halloween dress, and I had to take it off.”

***This interview has been edited for length and clarity.***

You can watch 9-1-1 on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.

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