Hunter McVey Talks Blue’s Risky Decision and How He Feels About Don and Dixie

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for 9-1-1: Nashville Season 1 Episode 5 “Lost Children.”]

Now, it’s time for the Harts and Bennings to move forward together after the latest 9-1-1: Nashville episode. Blue (Hunter McVey) lets his parents, Don (Chris O’Donnell) and Dixie (LeAnn Rimes), know in the worst way that he knows that his father didn’t just find out about him — by walking out of the skills test to become a firefighter.

Blue then refuses to take their calls but does respond to his half-brother, Ryan (Michael Provost), though he brushes off the fact that their father is facing some serious consequences at work since he vouched for him. It’s not until he intervenes when he sees a drunk driver — by putting his car between hers and a group of kids crossing the street, ending up in the hospital — that the conversation he, Don, and Dixie need to have happens. Dixie apologizes for lying to him and keeping him and Don apart, while Don points out that saving people is in his DNA. His act of heroism has also earned him a spot in the fire department, and yes, since Blue wants to work alongside his father, it will be at the 113. But does anyone else think that Blythe (Jessica Capshaw) would have something to say if she heard Dixie refer to Don and Blue as “my boys”?

Below, Hunter McVey unpacks the latest episode and where it leaves Blue’s relationships with his parents and brother.

When he walks out of the skills test, it’s a choice that’s purely driven by anger at that point because he’s still processing what he’s learned about Don and he seems OK with living in that for the time being. But at what point was he starting to regret that decision that he made to leave the skills test, would you say?

Hunter McVey: There was a moment after that where Blue, he takes off for the night, no one really knows where he is at, they can’t get in contact with him, and it’s a scary sight because it’s not really normal for him. So I think the thing that really got him to think differently about it was the diner meeting with Ryan because Blue realized that hey, with our differences, and even though that this is not the most traditional situation, Ryan’s the only one that’s in the same situation as Blue where he did not know of this as well. So he’s in the same boat and I think that even makes our bond stronger was that initial conversation where he met with me in the diner after kind of my night of processing. But yeah, I think 12 or so hours of anger, regret, and rethinking your entire life. But up to that point, yeah, I would say that was the big turning point.

Disney/Jake Giles Netter

Why was he willing to meet with and talk to Ryan?

I think it was because Ryan is the only one in a similar boat. And so at this point, can he trust his mom? Who knows? Can he trust his dad? Who knows? Can he trust Mrs. Hart? Who knows? But all Blue knows is that Ryan was in the same boat. Ryan had no idea that he had a brother for all these years. And so I think Blue realizes that, hey, if you got someone else here in the same position, then you should capitalize on and take advantage and maybe talk about it. And so I think it was very, very great for Blue to have Ryan in that situation being in a similar spot.

But it seems like he didn’t get what he exactly wanted from that conversation. He wanted something else from it by the time he had left, right?

Yes. By the time we had left the diner, things got a little bit different. But I do think there was some moments in there, especially — one of my favorite moments in that diner scene was when Ryan had the breakfast order where that’s a moment where it kind of caught us both where we’re like, maybe we are brothers, where we have a little bit more in common. So yeah, not exactly how we expected the conversation to go, but there were a couple moments in there that I think that meant a lot to Blue.

Blue chases after the drunk driver to the point that he puts his life on the line to stop her from hitting a group of kids. Had he thought any of that through, from following her to getting in his car to finally putting his car in front of hers? Was there a moment where he actually did think through five steps ahead of what would be coming next? Or was it just spontaneous?

I think you may have seen in the previous episode that Blue really relies heavily on his instincts. And so I don’t think he was thinking five steps ahead. I don’t think he could consider really the consequences of maybe what that would do to his family if he’s not making it through that car crash. But Blue is very driven by helping others by doing the correct thing. And I think he makes a lot of sacrifices that take the consequences out of the equation where it may be a little bit more impulsive in Ryan’s word, a little bit more instinct in Blue’s words. But I think a lot of those decisions that are made on instinct are needed because if you had enough time to process them, they may have not ended in the same way.

Blue is told Cammie (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) to pass along a message to Dixie, but nothing for Don. What would he have said and why didn’t he pass along a message?

One, I think it has to do with the timing before slamming into the vehicle. I don’t know if Blue had enough time for another line or two to mention or say his last goodbyes to anyone besides his mother. I think his mother’s top of mind. I think that his mother has been the only one that’s truly been there for him his entire life. It’s a beautiful dynamic even though there’s some deception in there and some things that Blue doesn’t know, he cares about his mother more than anything in the world. And so I think his biggest priority if something were to happen in that car crash is letting his mom know that he does not think badly of her. And he still, she’s the most important thing because if we would’ve ended on that note with nothing said to Dixie, then we would’ve been ending me yelling at my mom.

Disney/Jake Giles Netter

Blue does tell Dixie that he hasn’t forgiven her yet. What is it going to take besides time? Is there anything that can change that or is it really just about time at this point?

I think time heals a lot of things. I think only time can heal grieving, and time can heal past regrets and mistakes. And so if someone’s not ready to get over something necessarily, I don’t think there’s anything else besides time that can help. So if you’ve been fooled once or fooled multiple times, it can be a difficult thing to just get over and to forget. And so when you have something as big as a secret kept your entire life, I don’t think anything besides time can do it.

How’s he feeling about Don? Because he does want to start making up for time they missed out by being at the 113, so that’s a positive sign, but still there’s so much to process in that relationship.

Yeah, it’s interesting because obviously when you don’t know your father, you haven’t met until 20 plus years of life, you don’t know them as an individual, but there is obviously an innate connection there, an innate bond and a wanting and a yearning to have a fatherly figure. And I think that is the really cool part about Don’s story as well, is that he was in a similar situation and he knew what it was like to grow up without a father. And so he wants to make sure that he would not do the same thing for Blue because he’s been there, he’s done that, and he knows what that feels like. So with Don, there’s going to have to be some more time just like we had discussed. But I think Blue is very much prioritizing making his father proud, doing the best job he can at the fire department, and doing everything he can to continue to have a fatherly figure. Who wouldn’t want that?

How’s Blue and Ryan’s relationship going forward? Now they have to settle into the more everyday life of working together and getting to know each other.

It may be a better question for Ryan because I’ll tell you Blue liked Ryan and I think maybe it was able to be seen in some of the firehouse tours and those were some of my favorite scenes to shoot because the dynamic with Michael is so fun, especially when we can get some of those comedic beats in there. But Blue, I think, even sometimes for Ryan, even though the situation’s so crazy and he wants to hate Blue, it’s tough sometimes because Blue is really, really fond of his brother and he looks up to him and just like I do to Michael. So it’s going to be interesting and hopefully Ryan can let Blue in a little bit more.

Kimberly crossed over to 9-1-1. Are there any more crossovers coming up and do you have any dream 9-1-1 crossovers?

You are asking the wrong guy, I barely know what I’m doing tomorrow, so I would absolutely love if there’s some more crossovers. It was such a pleasure to have Oliver [Stark] in town and do some of those scenes and do some of the questions. And obviously they’ve just built — what an incredible universe they have built and we have big shoes to fill here. So if we were lucky enough to get any more crossovers and they want to make a visit to Nashville, we will greatly, greatly accept them and would be happy to have them. And I can’t wait to meet some of the figures on the original 9-1-1 as well.

Rashad [Raisani, showrunner] told me that there are going to be sparks between Blue and Taylor (Hailey Kilgore). What can you preview about that?

Well, I guess if Rashad told you it, I can speak on it a little bit, but yeah, Blue has found a beautiful woman. He’s found a woman that has a beautiful voice as well and is keeping him straight and in gear in terms of the fire academy, the department, and getting his stuff done. So the only woman that Blue’s had in his life to this point is his mother. And obviously it’s an interesting dynamic. So I think it’s very new for Blue. I think he does not want to sacrifice, obviously, his newfound career, his newfound love of firefighting and the newfound family dynamic and wouldn’t want to jeopardize it at all. But love’s a crazy thing. And I do know Blue is very interested in Taylor and who wouldn’t be, she’s got it going on, so we’re going to have to wait and see.

9-1-1: Nashville, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC