‘9-1-1’ Season 9 Finale Puts Eddie Diaz Through Hell, But Is Ryan Guzman Actually Leaving the Show?
Few network dramas have leaned into high-stakes chaos quite like ‘9-1-1’, the ABC procedural created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear that has built a reputation for putting its beloved first responders through the emotional wringer season after season. The show premiered on Fox in 2018 before moving to ABC in Season 7, and has grown into one of the network’s most dependable Thursday night anchors. Season 9, however, has pushed that formula to its very limits, delivering a string of gut-punch moments that left the fanbase genuinely unsure who, if anyone, would make it out intact.
The penultimate episode of Season 9 ended with Athena (Angela Bassett) being shot by a corrupt detective named Hooks amid what he had told her was a raid of a mob house. With Bobby’s recent death still fresh, the prospect of losing another major character heading into the finale felt genuinely devastating for anyone who had been watching. The episode left fans dreading a season-capper that would demand tissues from the first frame.
Then the promo for the Season 9 finale, titled ‘Hearts and Flowers,’ landed and suddenly Athena was not the only one fans had to worry about, as ominous footage revealed Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman) bleeding out and struggling to operate a hospital elevator. In the actual episode, Eddie was simultaneously bleeding out in that elevator after being stabbed by an assassin sent to finish off Athena and eliminate anyone who had gotten in the way of the trafficking ring behind the season’s central case. For a character who had already spent much of Season 9 sidelined in Texas, it felt like the show was building toward something permanent.
It was not. Eddie was found and saved after the Athena situation was resolved, and showrunner Tim Minear explained that the moment was designed to land the season’s villain while also addressing something central to Eddie’s internal arc throughout the year. By the finale’s closing time jump, both Eddie and Athena had made full recoveries, Athena had been promoted to detective, and Buck had officially become the legal guardian of Theo, setting up what promises to be a major storyline heading into Season 10.
The real drama surrounding Eddie this season, though, has been less about in-universe danger and more about whether Ryan Guzman himself is planning to walk away from the role. Speculation ramped up after Guzman posted an Instagram Story from the Fox lot at the Season 8 wrap, saying, ‘Eddie Diaz, signing out.’ This sent fan forums into a spiral, with many fearing that their favorite character was dead. The video, it turned out, was a farewell to the filming location itself, as Disney had opted not to renew its lease on the Fox lot and would be moving all productions, including ‘9-1-1’, to Burbank.
Sources confirmed to Deadline that Guzman is expected to continue with the ABC drama and is not leaving, with the actor appearing to lean into the conspiracy theories on social media rather than signal any genuine exit. Fans on Reddit and elsewhere pointed to the fact that Guzman had already been posting about Season 10 filming as further evidence that Eddie Diaz is very much still part of the 118’s future. With the show now gearing up for its tenth season and a new spinoff, ‘9-1-1: Nashville’, expanding the franchise, the universe has rarely felt busier or more alive.
After surviving everything ‘9-1-1’ threw at him this season, from Texas exile to a near-fatal stabbing in a hospital corridor, Eddie Diaz seems to be sticking around for the long haul. Given how close fans came to losing him in ‘Hearts and Flowers’, where do you think the writers should take Eddie’s story in Season 10?
