Warning! Spoilers ahead for the Season 9 finale of 9-1-1, streaming now with a Hulu subscription.
The ninth season of 9-1-1 has come to an end on the 2026 TV schedule, with the finale having aired this past week Thursday. All in all, that major installment certainly sets up what’s sure to be an interesting tenth season. The season’s final episode features some major surprises and, amid all of that, it also sees Buck making a very big decision that that will surely change his life forever. After the fact, cast member Oliver Stark weighed in on Buck’s future, and I’m already concerned about what may lie ahead.
Season 9 ends with Buck deciding to foster his biological kid, Theo, after his friends, Theo’s parents, die in a tragic accident. (For context, Theo was the product of Buck’s sperm donation to the couple a few seasons back.) Now, Buck is going to have his hands full going into Season 10, and not just because little Theo is a bit rowdy. When asked by People about Buck's feelings on becoming a father figure to the toddler, Stark had a different perspective on the whole situation:
Dad is a strong word. He's stepping up in a place that there is a void and Theo needs someone to step up and Buck is doing that. I don't think Buck is viewing it necessarily in this moment as I'm a dad now.
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It’s been clear from the beginning of the series, that Buck loves kids, and that was especially clear when Eddie and Christopher came into his life. However, fostering a child is a whole a different story. Buck is about to have someone who's dependent on him, and that's surely not going to be easy. Of course, what's more is that this is already a delicate situation, and Theo probably still doesn’t completely understand all of the more nuanced details of his new parental situation.
For now, it sounds like Buck will just be someone that will be there for Theo and take care of him; he just won’t necessarily be the kid’s father in a traditional sense. Stark (who crossed over into 9-1-1: Nashville this past season) also said this:
I think we have space to get into finding out who is or who isn't in Theo's life and why Buck needs to be the one to step up. But yeah, I don't think Buck is yet in the mind frame of I'm this child's father now. I just think he feels like he has an obligation and a duty to be there, seeing as it's his friends that died. But I think he's certainly intimidated and aware of the magnitude of the position he's stepping into.
Of course, it’s hard to tell if this foster situation will eventually turn into an adoption. While I'd love to see all of this turn out well, I still can't help but think about everything Buck has been through. Buck has dealt with addiction and, of course, parenthood could be tough due to his obligations as a firefighter. And those variables aren't the only reasons why I'm concerned about what's to come. Stark went on to tease the legal hurdles that will come into play for Buck 's foster parent status in Season 10:
There are going to be more difficulties…. I think there's going to be some emotional and possibly legal difficulties that he finds himself in. And just as we watch him navigate what the foster situation may be, and as we learn more about that foster situation, I think there'll be some difficult times for Buck ... but we like difficult times with the characters. It's interesting.
So, needless to say, fans do have some reasons to be a bit anxious about what this all means for Buck moving forward. Buck's a character who can form an attachment with someone or something pretty easily (like that beagle in Season 8). Fostering Theo is going to be difficult and, while he has the 118 for support, there's ultimately only so much they can do. Here's hoping everything works out for this burgeoning little family.
As of right now, it’s unknown when 9-1-1 will return for its tenth season, and plot details have definitely not be divulged. I'm hoping concrete details will be revealed sooner rather than later. But, until then, I'm just going to be theorizing about what's next for Buck and Theo.
