Because the spouse of a primary responder, Karen Wilson is used to listening to tales in regards to the 118, however she’s by no means gotten to see the group in motion… till now.
“Karen is normally simply there to supply perception or assist, so this episode was stunning to me,” Tracie Thoms tells TVLine of Monday’s 9-1-1. “They wish to hold issues below wraps on this present, however once they blocked out my accessible days, I used to be like, ‘That’s plenty of days!’ Then I lastly learn the script, and I simply sat there with my mouth open. I couldn’t consider it. To see that Karen was in the midst of an enormous disaster was thrilling. After which I obtained nervous and overwhelmed and humbled. All of these feelings flood in, as a result of immediately you study that the folks you’re employed for consider in you and belief you in a method that you just didn’t even know they did.”
This week’s episode put Thoms’ character entrance and middle when an explosion at her lab resulted in a near-death expertise — and she or he was one of many fortunate ones.
“I’m very pleased with how she dealt with herself,” Thoms says. “She might have panicked, however she didn’t. She had the presence of thoughts to know the hazards forward of her, so she was in a position to save extra folks. She additionally obtained to see the 118 in a method she’s by no means seen them. How fortunate for her that Bobby must be the one to come back across the nook — that her household ought to save her.”
Thoms by no means actually felt that Karen was in mortal hazard (“I might hope they’d inform me one thing like that earlier than I get the script”), however she admits that the thought did cross her thoughts: “It is a very dramatic present. They’ll kill anybody off. They must hold it recent and hold the viewers on their toes.”
The episode additionally took us again greater than a decade, providing glimpses into the earliest days of Hen and Karen’s relationship, which turned out to be a full-circle expertise for Thoms on a number of ranges. “Initially, Aisha Hinds and I’ve identified one another for about 20 years,” she says. “We’ve identified one another by way of plenty of issues, in order that made this all simpler to play.”
Thoms additionally sees plenty of her youthful self in flashback-Karen. “I was very Sort A and buttoned-up,” she says. “I graduated summa cum laude from Howard College with a 3.96 GPA. I used to be very, very strict with myself. I used to be very very similar to Karen. I perceive her. However issues occur in life that educate you to not sweat the small stuff. It was enjoyable that this was Karen’s journey, but additionally mine. It was enjoyable to see how far I’ve come, and the way far she has come when it comes to how she views the world and realized to let love into her life in a method that she wasn’t in a position to do even 10 years in the past.”
The entire expertise helped Hen to comprehend that she didn’t need to return to medical faculty if it meant not being a firefighter. She loves her life as it’s, and she or he doesn’t need something to alter — a sentiment Thoms definitely shares. “Their partnership is a lovely factor to observe,” she says of Hen and Karen, “and a lovely factor to play.”
Your ideas on Monday’s Karen-centric hour? Season 6 so far? No matter’s in your thoughts, drop it in a remark under.
