Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Maddie Han has withstood some of the worst traumas on ABC’s 9-1-1, a serious case of postpartum depression among them. So when she’s discovered to be missing by Chim (Kenneth Choi) at the start of this week’s episode, “Voices,” the 118 family jumps to a case of deja vu, especially after discovering that she is pregnant with her second child.
However, as the episode — the second in a two-parter that kicks off the latter half of Season 8 — runs on, it becomes clear that the situation is perhaps more complicated, and dangerous, than that.
“Voices” picks up just moments after the previous episode’s cliffhanger conclusion, with a majority of the 118 returning from Eddie’s (Ryan Guzman) goodbye dinner. When Chim’s calls for Maddie go unanswered, the 118 quickly scrambles to action. At first at a loss, context clues and even daughter Jee-Yun’s (portrayed by twins Hailey and Bailey Leung) key input help assemble the puzzle pieces together.
Read on to find out more about Maddie’s fate at the end of the latest 9-1-1 episode.
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The midseason premiere of Season 8, titled “Sob Stories,” saw Maddie, Athena (Angela Bassett) and newcomer missing persons detective Amber Braeburn (a razor-sharp performance by Abigail Spencer of Suits fame) chasing down a serial kidnapper and killer who’s been active and has evaded capture for around a decade. Kicking off with a chilling cold open that showcases Hewitt’s acting chops, Maddie receives a haunting call from a man who at first expresses a willingness to commit self-harm, but later is revealed to be the aggressor toward someone else, as a young woman’s pleading voice is heard in the background.
Maddie tries to connect with and deter the man, all the while coordinating with Athena and the LAPD to arrive at the traced location of the call. While empathizing with the caller’s moral dilemma, Maddie offers her own backstory of when she failed a young person she was supposed to protect (her daughter Jee-Yun). However, the camaraderie is short-lived, as the suspect gets wind of the authorities’ presence and cuts off the call with Maddie.
Later on, Maddie touches base with Athena, who offers an introduction to Amber. Maddie comes prepared with files on other victims who potentially match the killer’s MO, while Amber connects the dots with a longtime sex offender she has had on her radar but has never been able to nail down. After contacting the suspect Richard Bullock’s former partner, a police-wary Isabelle, they’re able to confirm that the weepy voice behind the call is his, leading Athena, Amber and a SWAT team to congregate at his hideout. Once again, they’re unsuccessful, as Bullock has deserted the location save for some evidence.
At this point, Maddie receives another call from the same sobbing, distorted voice. The situation escalates and it becomes evident that authorities may not be able to make it to their locale in time before Bullock murders his next runaway victim. While he claims he does not want to kill her, he begins discussing various gruesome facts, like his possession of a weapon and how it could take someone 10 minutes to die even with their throat slashed (this becomes important later). Maddie, springing into action — especially when Bullock name-drops her daughter — and with no other tools at her disposal, goads the man in crisis to point his gun at himself, to “slay the monster” within him in lieu of harming the girl and any future victims down the line. As a gunshot sound reverberates on Maddie’s receiver, she realizes with horror that she was successful.
Naturally, the game-time decision breaks Maddie, and she wrestles with the ethical implications of what she has done, of what it means to indirectly take a life to save another. While Athena comforts her, saying she was just doing her job, it’s clear that Maddie is carrying a darkness with her as she processes her choice. It’s still top of mind when she’s reading a bedtime story to her daughter and washing up the dishes later at night. At the episode’s conclusion, she hears a door swing open, calling to who she thinks is Chim, only to be attacked by an assailant from behind. With her head spinning, she looks up and sees none other than Amber, who chloroforms her.
Related: Everything to Know About 9-1-1 Season 8
What happened to Maddie on this week's episode of 9-1-1?
Going into this week’s episode, 9-1-1 boss Tim Minear teased that it constitutes “possibly one of the darkest episodes we’ve ever done.” And he was not wrong.
As the 118 struggles to figure out Maddie’s whereabouts, placing a missing persons report and scanning police radios, we see glimpses of Maddie pleading with Amber and trying to connect with her humanity. The situation is dire, and every time Amber leaves to consult with Chim and Athena — putting up the front of a “bloodhound” detective seeking justice — Maddie hurriedly attempts to free herself from her hand and foot restraints.
Throughout the struggle for survival, it’s revealed that Amber has a split personality, with one half of her not wanting to follow through with the crimes the other has set out for her to complete. That’s where the sobbing voice comes in, distorted by an application to make it sound more masculine and thus more realistic when it comes time to pin the crime on her patsy, Bullock. Jayna, the runaway from the last episode who survived and is recuperating in the hospital, is once again kidnapped by Amber — but not before she can provide Athena with some context clues.
With time running out, the 118 catches a break through a chance observation from Jee-Yun, who says she heard a female voice in the house before Maddie’s disappearance, leading everyone to make the connection that the detective may not be who she says she is. At the same time, Athena starts piecing everything together, looking at cases where near lethal amounts of chloroform were used on their targets, with Amber’s name never far from the scene of the crime.
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Meanwhile, Amber is growing impatient. To buy time, Maddie begs to have the opportunity to leave a letter to her daughter, to tell her that she didn’t abandon her this time. Down to the wire now, and with Chim at her door, Amber shockingly slashes Maddie’s throat in a fit of exasperated aggression after the two of them tussle. It’s a scene that knocks the breath out of the viewer, as a jarring realization dawns that, yeah, 9-1-1 went there.
A suspicious Chim talks to Amber, as yet unaware of the gravity of the situation until he gets a call from Athena, who is en route and tells him to act nonchalant while she reveals who Amber truly is. Too late though, as Amber goes on the offensive, attacking Chim. A nearly resurrected Maddie, clutching at her throat (told you it would be important!), makes her way up the stairs to fight back. Athena, appearing just in time, shoots Amber, saving the couple. All is well by the episode’s end (all things considered) as Maddie is recuperating in the hospital, barely able to speak but also in decisive recovery.
Giving some behind-the-scenes info about the episode, Minear joked in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “I just felt like it'd been a while since Maddie had been abducted, quite frankly. It felt like it was time to get her out of the house.”
Meanwhile, Hewitt added, “I think to whatever extent people consider Maddie a fighter and a survivor, you really have no idea. But it was also so fun. It's a really cool couple of episodes in that it's driven by females. Females are fighting it out, females are fighting like hell, females leave each other. It's directed by a female. It felt really cool. It felt like we were some badass bitches, as they say.”
Related: '9-1-1' Star Ryan Guzman Breaks Down Eddie’s Midseason Move To Texas: 'He's Found Self-Love Again' (Exclusive)
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