Maddie Buckley, formerly known as Maddie Kendall, is a main character on 9-1-1 who works as a 9-1-1 dispatcher in the Los Angeles area, and is the older sister of Evan Buckley. She debuts in the first episode of the second season of 9-1-1 and is portrayed by Jennifer Love Hewitt.
History[]
Early Life[]
Maddie and her younger brother, Evan Buckley were born in Hershey, Pennsylvania.[2] She lived with her brother Daniel Buckley and their parents, until Daniel was diagnosed with juvenile leukemia in 1989. After testing negative as a possible bone marrow donor for her brother, her parents had her younger brother Evan Buckley in 1992 to be a savior sibling, but the cells didn't graft and Daniel relapsed and died. After Daniel's death in 1993, the Buckley family packed up all of his possessions, moved to Hershey, and made Maddie promise not to tell Evan the truth. In 1996, Maddie took Daniel's bike from the garage, took the training wheels off of it and attempted to teach Evan how to ride without them, resulting in Evan scraping his knee and them being scolded by their parents. After that, she took to taking care the wounds he sustained during his many stunts as a skater. In 2004, after Evan was grounded for faking a signature on his permission slip to try out for the football team, Maddie drove him to where they used to live, with the intention of telling him the truth, only to be interrupted by a phone call from her then-boyfriend Doug Kendall. She decided to tell him that Doug was accepted into medical school in Boston, and that he asked her to join him in nursing school, going at night so she can work during the day to pay for it herself. After many violent moments with her husband Doug, she decides to leave him and flee to Los Angeles. In Merry Ex-Mas, she reveals that she only hated Christmas because Christmas Eve was the day she decided to leave Doug for good.
Moving to L.A.[]
After getting away from her abusive husband, Doug Kendall, she runs to Los Angeles to hide out with her brother, Evan Buckley, after not seeing him for over 3 years. She winds up living with him in the apartment he’s watching for Abby. Although she is trained as a nurse, she doesn’t want to put other people in danger from her abuser. Evan comes up with the idea that she should apply to work as a 9-1-1 operator.[3]
On her first day at the job, Maddie fields calls after a major earthquake hits. Standout calls include one where she helps an expectant father stabilize his unconscious wife—who had started active labor—and direct them to emergency services and one where she suggested to the caller that the odd light cloud the caller saw was the Milky Way.[4][1]
Doug's Return[]
Doug manages to track Maddie down in LA, and he fools Chimney into thinking he's Jason Bailey and befriends him. Doug stalked him and stole his wallet, thus learning where Maddie lives.[5]
When Doug learned from Chimney that he was going on a date with Maddie, he became enraged and went to Maddie's apartment, where he violently attacked Chimney by stabbing him multiple times in the stomach. He then confronted Maddie and kidnapped her.[6]
Doug later told Maddie that he was unsure if he had killed Chimney but believed that he would bleed out. However, Buck happened to arrive minutes later, dialed for assistance and rescued Chimney. Soon after, with Athena, Josh and Buck's efforts, they started tracking Maddie via Doug's phone. As they were running out of fuel on their rental vehicle, Doug stopped at a gas station, and killed the cashier trying to help Maddie when she attempted to escape. He then got rid of his phone by dropping it into a passing cargo truck, throwing the authorities off of their trail. A sheriff managed to discover Doug's rental car information which Maddie had left in the bathroom of the gas station in an attempt to pass a note to the cashier, which the authorities exploit to locate Doug's rental vehicle.
Though Doug cut the phone lines at the lakeside cabin where he had taken Maddie, Maddie managed to ambush him with a fireplace rod and escaped again into the woods, just as the authorities closed in on the abandoned car. Doug chased after her, telling her that she couldn't run away from him forever, and fired the remaining 4 rounds in the revolver, but they all missed. Without other options, Doug resorted to stabbing Maddie multiple times with a switchblade. Eventually, the knife was knocked away from him, and Maddie grabbed it before he could it get it back, repeatedly stabbing Doug in the chest and killing him. Buck later arrived with Athena just as Maddie made her way out of the woods and the authorities secured Doug's corpse. Maddie is reunited with Buck, who informs her that Chimney survived being attacked by Doug, and an ambulance comes to transport her to the hospital.[7]
Pregnancy and Postpartum[]
Maddie and Chimney get pregnant and welcome their baby girl, Jee-Yun Buckley-Han. Unfortunately, Maddie starts suffering from postpartum depression after Jee's birth which causes her to quit her job as a dispatcher. It gets worse by the fifth season and the medication she's taking isn’t working and her being isolated due to Chimney being busy at work doesn’t help. An exhausted and medicated Maddie gives Jee a bath, but she falls asleep for a second and Jee slips under the water. Maddie quickly wakes up and gets her out of the tub before she drowns, then takes her to the hospital afterwards. She blames herself for nearly letting her baby drown and decides Jee is not safe with her, so she drops her off at the firehouse. She leaves Chimney a video message and leaves town for six months, not telling anyone where she went.[8]
Relationships[]
Howard Han[]
Chimney and Maddie quickly developed a close friendship, fueled by their shared interests and sense of humor. Buck noticed their closeness first, but the couple eventually became aware of their attraction to each other and started to date. In "What's Next?", they found out that Maddie was pregnant and in "Blindsided", their daughter was born and Maddie named her Jee-Yun. Following the birth of their daughter, Maddie started to suffer from postpartum depression and eventually decided to leave Jee-Yun with Chimney and left to Boston. Six months later, they reunited in Boston, and on their way back to Los Angeles, they both realized that they've grown apart and decided it was best to end the relationship. In the season 6 premiere, Let the Games Begin, Maddie tells Chim “She’s done running.” They get back together at the end of the episode. In "Love Is in the Air", Maddie and Chimney become engaged.
Evan Buckley[]
Buck and Maddie are nine years apart[9] and they are shown to have a very close relationship. Maddie states that she used to change Buck’s diapers and give him baths however. Maddie initially moves in with younger brother Buck after leaving her abusive husband, Doug. She fully trusts Evan and his friends to protect her. Although she eventually moves out of Buck's (Abby)'s apartment, the siblings remain close, visiting each other regularly.
Trivia[]
- Maddie was an ER Nurse for 8 years. This has been stated in several episodes including "7.1", "Help Is Not Coming", "Awful People", "Sink or Swim" and "The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1".
- Maddie refers to herself as Maddie Buckley as well as Maddie Kendall. She is referred to as both in the same episode.[1] She later implies that now, since moving away from her abusive husband, she goes by Maddie Buckley again.[2]
- She is referred to as "Maddie Buckley Kendall" on the check from Doug's assets after his death.[10][11]
- However, when the call records are being reviewed in "Home Invasion", Maddie is identified as "M. Buckley" in the dispatcher logs, suggesting that she has only used the last name of Buckley since Doug's death.
- Athena jokingly called her "Buckette" in the episode "Awful People" as a reference to her being the sister of Buck.
- Jennifer Love Hewitt and Brian Hallisay (Doug Kendall) are married in real life.
- Her full name, Madeline Kendall, was revealed in "Fight or Flight" as it was seen on the missing persons alert that was issued for her after she was kidnapped by her ex-husband Doug. The alert also listed her as being 5'3".
- However, in 9-1-1, What's Your Grievance?, she said that her name Maddie is not a nickname but the name on her birth certificate.
- Jennifer Love Hewitt was really pregnant during season 4 with a boy named Aiden.
- As a result, Hewitt is absent for eight episodes in season five due to being on maternity leave after giving birth to Aiden in September 2021.
- Maddie was identified as "Maddie Kendall" in promotional material used for seasons two through five. Season Six was the first time that the name "Maddie Buckley" was used in promotional material for the character.
- Maddie is a fan of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette".[12]
Appearances[]
| Season Two | |||||
| "Under Pressure" | "7.1" | "Help Is Not Coming" | "Stuck" | "Awful People" | "Dosed" |
| "Haunted" | "Buck, Actually" | "Hen Begins" | "Merry Ex-Mas" | "New Beginnings" | "Chimney Begins*" |
| "Fight or Flight" | "Broken" | "Ocean's 9-1-1" | "Bobby Begins Again" | "Careful What You Wish For" | "This Life We Choose" |
Note:
* denotes archive footage only appearance.
| Season Three | |||||
| "Kids Today" | "Sink or Swim" | "The Searchers" | "Triggers" | "Rage" | "Monsters" |
| "Athena Begins" | "Malfunction" | "Fallout" | "Christmas Spirit" | "Seize the Day" | "Fools" |
| "Pinned" | "The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1" | "Eddie Begins" | "The One That Got Away" | "Powerless" | "What's Next?" |
| Season Four | |||||
| "The New Abnormal" | "Alone Together" | "Future Tense" | "9-1-1, What's Your Grievance?" | "Buck Begins" | |
| "Jinx" | "There Goes the Neighborhood" | "Breaking Point" | "Blindsided" | "Parenthood" | |
| "First Responders" | "Treasure Hunt" | "Suspicion" | "Survivors" |
| Season Five | |||||
| "Panic" | "Desperate Times" | "Desperate Measures" | "Home and Away*" | "Peer Pressure*" | "Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1" |
| "Ghost Stories" | "Defend in Place" | "Past is Prologue" | "Wrapped in Red" | "Outside Looking In" | "Boston" |
| "Fear-O-Phobia" | "Dumb Luck" | "FOMO" | "May Day" | "Hero Complex" | "Starting Over" |
Note:
* denotes archive footage only appearance.
Note:
* denotes voice only appearance.
| Season Six | |||||
| "Let the Games Begin" | "Crash & Learn" | "The Devil You Know" | "Animal Instincts" | "Home Invasion" | "Tomorrow" |
| "Cursed" | "What's Your Fantasy?" | "Red Flag" | "In a Flash" | "In Another Life" | "Recovery" |
| "Mixed Feelings" | "Performance Anxiety" | "Death and Taxes" | "Lost & Found" | "Love Is in the Air" | "Pay It Forward" |
| Season Seven | ||||
| "Abandon ‘Ships" | "Rock the Boat" | "Capsized" | "Buck, Bothered and Bewildered" | "You Don't Know Me" |
| "There Goes the Groom" | "Ghost of a Second Chance" | "TBA" | "TBA" | "TBA" |
Gallery[]
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