9-1-1 Season 6 Bucks Its Own Trend, Introducing Major Life Changes And A Relatively New Face To The 118

Where there's a new season of 9-1-1, there will always be a devastating crisis threatening the people of Los Angeles. But the Fox procedural is doing things a little differently this year.

"We've moved away a bit from the giant, multi-episode disaster," executive producer Kristen Reidel tells TVLine. "Those are a little hard to find once you've done an earthquake and a tsunami." Instead, the Season 6 premiere (Sept. 19, 8/7c) is more of a "traditional" 9-1-1 episode "with a big fun case and a bunch of other little cases."

Of course, this is still 9-1-1, so that "big fun case" happens to be a blimp (co-piloted by Beverly Hills, 90210's Gabrielle Carteris!) crashing into a soccer stadium.

"It's easier to rescue people when you're on the ground than when you're 50 feet in the air and the thing is moving," Reidel notes, adding that the whole ordeal will be escalated by "the general panic that accompanies something crashing into a stadium."

When something like this happens, "people's first assumptions are not always accurate," she says. "It's usually that we're under attack, so we're going to play a little bit with that on the Athena front."

Read on for more Season 6 scoop, including a new-ish member of the 118 and an emotional look back at how a fan-favorite couple got its start, then drop a comment with your own hopes for the future of 9-1-1.

As a couple, Bobby and Athena are "doing well" when Season 6 picks up, though Reidel warns that "Athena's going to face a bit of a challenge in the early part of the season, and Bobby's going to be there to help and support her. We're going to see the two of them together as a team. There will be bumps in the road for them, but those two really are our rock — as a show and for the 118."

But with May off at college and Harry staying with Michael and David in Miami ("Harry isn't full-time with us at the beginning of the season"), Bobby and Athena are "kind of empty nesters" for the first time. "We hope to have a little fun with them. We saw a little bit of that before, when May had to learn to knock before she entered."

Fresh off his breakup from Taylor, "Buck is going to be single for a bit," Reidel says. "Buck has always been a person who defines himself by the way other people see him. That's why it was so important for him to be a firefighter. He always looks to others to see whether he's failing or succeeding. His journey this season is him figuring out who he wants to be for himself — what he needs, what his purpose is in life, what's required to make him happy — in a way that comes from within, not from an external force or factor or girlfriend."

After letting us enjoy Hen and Karen's vow renewal ceremony last season, 9-1-1 is showing more love to the couple by giving us "an episode where we see how Hen and Karen met and became the couple that we know today," Reidel confirms.

Despite rumors online, however, the episode is not titled "Henren Begins."

As much as we'd love to see Maddie and Chimney jump head-first back into a relationship, we're relieved to hear that they're taking their time to ensure they get it right this time.

"There's some great stuff in the season premiere for the two of them," Reidel says. "They're not quite back together at the start. They're still trying to figure it out when we find them. There's a little bit of fear in each of them — a fear of getting back together and having it be wrong — but one of them has to take the bull by the horns."

Professionally speaking, Eddie is in a "good place" when we pick back up with him in Season 6, Reidel says. "He's back at the 118, and he's happier and healthier than before. Now he can focus on moving forward in a good way."

His home life, however, is another story.

"We'll see him learning how to be the dad of a kid that's becoming their own person," Reidel says. "For so long, Christopher was the kid who idolized his dad. But as kids get older, they want to be independent and make their own decisions. Christopher doesn't necessarily want to be with dad all the time, so Eddie's going to have to learn how to let go a little."

The good news: Reidel is hopeful that we'll see Arielle Kebbel back as Lucy Donato.

The bad news: It won't be anytime soon.

"At the start of the season, Lucy is not [with the 118]," Reidel explains. "She has an injury, so the character will be out for a few episodes. The hope is that we'll be able touch base with Lucy later in the season and have her for a few episodes."

Another familiar face you shouldn't expect to see — at least not right away — is Albert. After getting out of the firefighting game, Chimney's brother expressed an interest in changing careers, partially because his portrayer (John Harlan Kim) was cast in the pilot of ABC's L.A. Law reboot. Because the pilot ended up not going forward, Kim is now free to reprise his role. But will he?

"The hope is that we'll be able to make our schedule and his schedule work," Reidel says. "I'd love to see him back this season. It's just about finding the right time and the right story to bring him back."

One new-ish member of the team is Julie Rosen (played by Gilli Messer), whom we encountered for the first time in last season's "Ghost Stories" episode.

"She's one of the other firefighters and paramedics that work with the 118 but aren't always on the same shift as the others," Reidel says. "She's not a regular cast member, but she's someone we will see from time to time throughout the season. When the need arises to have another paramedic, you will definitely see her. We're mixing it up here and there."