#on this 8pm network procedural about to close its 8th season

[ironworked]

...

I think it's fair to say that is the impression the audience is getting while they watch the show, and we find the message often reinforced in post-episode interviews (I'd say both have gotten increasingly explicit this last year, too):

ETC

Credit to @ineedmojoe for the compilation of quotes! You can check out more interviews here at @/911actually

Eddie being gay would mean doing the 'coming out later in life' storyline for the 4th time on the show. It would mean doing it with one of the 2 remaining main bachelors (or The Only one).

It would mean retconning/rewriting/recontextualizing the Shannon-Eddie relationship because Eddie would need to come to terms with all that before any new relationship and because the audience would need it too (whatever our feelings/opinions on this couple, it's been present or haunting Eddie's and Chris's stories for years).

It would mean 3 out of 7 (adult) mains on the show would be queer, putting 9-1-1 on par with Brilliant Minds, if I'm not mistaken; can you name another network show with that queer-to-straight ratio?

It would make 3/5 members at the 118 queer.

At the tail end of s8 when Eddie is repairing his relationship with Christopher. Or on a NINTH season.

All while GLAAD says this. And particularly with regards to Latine characters: "Of the 64 LGBTQ characters counted on primetime scripted broadcast, only 4 characters (6%) are Latine, a decrease of 2% from the previous study. Of those 4 characters, none are leads, and only 2 of them are series regulars."

Even leaving aside the narrative itself, would there be a reward for all this work and all this risk, when the show already 'boasts' queer rep?