The Madney wedding day was far from the day Chimney and Maddie envisioned when they decided to say, "I do."
After the big tease at the end of 9-1-1 Season 7 Episode 5, Buck and Eddie showed up to the Madney nuptials, looking like they'd had one wild night, and Chimney was nowhere to be found.
9-1-1 Season 7 Episode 6 picked up from that crazy reveal, and the hour subsequently filled in the missing pieces from that night before and answered the question so many had on their minds: where's Chimney?
Kenneth Choi has been with the series from the beginning, lending tremendous warmth to the ever-charismatic firefighter/paramedic, and Chimney has come a long way from the man we met in 9-1-1 Season 1, who was in a failing relationship and would almost lose his life.
Since then, he's met the love of his life, had a child, gotten engaged, and was on the cusp of getting married before an unexpected illness rendered him weak and unable to remember the past twenty years of his life.
It was an emotionally taxing hour, and we had to check in with the spirited and captivating Choi to discuss all the biggest moments and tease what's to come from this raucous Season 7, which is quickly barreling toward its conclusion.
This is a big episode for Chimney, and with seven seasons under your belt, you probably had a good idea that the Madney wedding wouldn't go perfectly. But what were you thinking when you saw the script? Were you prepared for it to go as wrong as it did?
No, I didn't expect all of this amnesia, and he doesn't know who he is, and his mind has jumped back, whatever, 20 years. I didn't expect any of that. I expected a curveball, not like seven.
At first, I was shocked, but then I was very excited because our showrunner, Tim Minear, had given me the bullet points of what Chimney would go through. And as an actor, the first feeling you usually have is, "Oh, how am I going to do this?"
Then, the second thing you do is get right to work, and that's where the excitement comes in.
I thought the hour was pretty genius and also devastating because Chimney had these moments where, even though he was struggling, he was still Chimney at his core. What did you think about that aspect of the story?
Even though he was struggling, there was still something pushing him and pulling him to get back to his family.
I think that's what Chimney is all about. He's someone since childhood who has had conflict and obstacles and curveballs thrown his way his entire life. And what makes Chimney so lovable, a fan favorite, is that he always overcomes; he always perseveres. No matter what the obstacle, he will overcome it.
He's kind of the comic relief, and he is because he masks all sorts of trauma and all these things going on inside of him with humor, as so many people do. And I think that's why people really relate to him.
As an actor, it's tremendous to play, right? You want a bunch of curveballs thrown your way.
Although I do want to say that I've mentioned a few times to my showrunner when I would say, "Can't they be happy for a stretch? Can they just be happy and joyous and lovey-dovey and romantic and wonderful?"
What does he say?
He says, "Well then, you'll be off the show because it's not interesting now, is it?" I just mean a few episodes. As an audience member and a fan of the show, I think a lot of people are like, just let them be happy. Just give them happiness.
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But I think they'll finally get some happiness now that they're married.
Doug was surprisingly a big part of Chimney's journey throughout this episode, which was surprising and almost a bit jarring. What do you think Doug represented for Chimney subconsciously?
Well, it's a push and pull within Chimney, right? Chimney's old dilemma, his entire life, has been, "I'm not sure, should I do this or should I not do this? Hey Cap, I'm not sure about this. Hey Hen, I'm really not sure about this. Do you think this is the right decision, or is this the right decision?"
That's sort of a manifestation of the Chimney character. So for such a big thing like getting married, I think that's that push and pull.
He's ready to be married and loves her, but anybody can have cold feet for such a big decision, and Chimney's character -- his history -- is littered with big decisions where he's always on the fence about what he should do.
So, when this sort of illness falls over him, that manifestation represents itself in such a big way because he's actually dying in the episode, right? At least, that's what they allude to.
As he's going down this dark tunnel, what would represent that the best is someone like Doug. So even Doug saying things like, "You don't deserve her, man. You absolutely don't deserve her."
That's something that every person thinks at one point or not, "Do I deserve her? Does she deserve me? Are we right for each other?"
It manifested in Chimney in such a big, grand way because of the viral encephalitis, because it was such a big decision. I thought it was a smart literary device to bring a character like Doug into his subconscious manifestation of this in such a huge, huge decision.
You mentioned this before when talking about Maddie and Chimney. Can they be happy? They've been through so much, but they always seem to come out stronger through everything thrown at them.
What do you think it is about that relationship that always allows them to come back together and get stronger?
I think it's true. They're that couple where Chimney and Maddie are truly in love. They belong to one another.
I said this before where there are some people that I know, probably you as well, it's not a lot of people, but sometimes you see people really in love, and I'll ask them, "How did you know that she was going to be your wife because you seem so happy?"
And they'll say, "The moment I saw her, I looked at my friend and said, I'm going to marry her one day."
That's that true love at first sight. And Chimney and Maddie have that.
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They're that couple that represents absolute true love for one another. No matter what the circumstance is, they find their way back to one another. And I think that's why audience members resonate with it. Because that's the key to a healthy relationship, isn't it?
No matter what curveball is thrown at you, if you commit, you have to find your way around it, through it, over it, under it.
You break it down, whatever it has to be, so that you find your way back to one another, which is why it's such a wonderful line at the end where Maddie says, "We always find our way back to each other, no matter what."
Do you think married life will change anything for the pair? Or do you think it's just going to continue to be Maddie and Chimney?
I'd like to say that it will change. I had this idea that once Chimney had a baby and he decided Maddie is his woman, that he's going to grow up and he's going to be more of this mature adult, but it hasn't really happened. [laughs]
And I think that's correct, though. Human beings don't just change like that just because you have a baby or you get married or whatever. The traumas still follow you.
So, even though they're married, are they still going to have a lot of obstacles to overcome? Of course, they are because every couple does. And I'm sure we'll see plenty of that in the future because that's just what the 9-1-1 world presents to all the characters.
What can you tease about what else we'll see this season on 9-1-1 for Chimney or in general?
I think Chimney and Maddie are going to coast a little for the rest of the season. Now that they've had their big trauma, they're going to have some happiness.
But I can tell you that will not be the case for some of the other characters. There will be some big obstacles and huge curveballs thrown at some of our main characters.
And I, as an audience member and fan of the show, I'm super excited to see these things unfold as well. I think you will, too. It's big stuff.
***This interview was edited for length and clarity.***
You can watch 9-1-1 on Thursdays at 8/7 c on ABC.