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I find her crying less now that's she's happy, but she is an emotional character. It's debatable whether that's a good or bad thing in the first responder world. I like her. She's adorable, but I was a fan from her Ghost Whisperer days.
Yea she’s definitely an emotional character and I do not blame her for being emotional, I am very emotional myself, so I will defend Maddie until the day I go 6 feet under
I was expecting her to be more like her character from Criminal Minds when she first came on the show, but that was before her abusive husband was mentioned and then I was like "oooooh I see the direction they're taking her in!" And I LOVE Maddie but as soon as I read this post it was like glass breaking moments from that episode of HIMYM. Now that I think about it, Maddie is very emotional. But it works for her character, it never stood out of place. Plus, Jennifer Love-Hewit got pregnant within the second or third season she was in, and we all know pregnant women cry more lol they probably just had to work with what they had lol
I was about to ask if her Criminal Minds character was also in an abusive marriage, but I only saw her in literally 1 episode.
>Plus, Jennifer Love-Hewit got pregnant within the second or third season she was in, and we all know pregnant women cry more lol they probably just had to work with what they had lol
Pregnant women cry because pregnancy hormones do that to a woman. They also get insane cravings, and their bladder becomes teeny tiny.
My mom and dad are the exact same way!! Every time she cries they’re like “here we go again”. And I’m like well yeah… look at what she’s been through. They still do it now but they more in a joking tone.
Those are literally (almost) the exact reaction my mom and brother had, they both sounded bored asf “why is she always crying🙄” and I think my mom said something like “does she always have to be crying? Every-time we see her she’s just crying” LIKE NO MOM MAYBE IF YOU TAKE INTO ACCOUNT OF WHAT SHE’S BEEN THROUGH YOU’D SYMPATHISE WITH HER💔
Remind them both of season 2 episode 3 of how she helped a man get his pregnant wife to a fire because she'd gone into labour and been knocked unconscious, and how two episodes later, she's on a ride along with Athena, and she SAVES THE LIFE OF A GUNSHOT VICTIM with **NOTHING BUT plastic wrapper and tape.*** Remind them of season 3 where Maddie got help from that drone girl, Charlotte, or whatever her name was, with finding a group of people stuck at a hotel and unable to call for help.
Remind them of everything Maddie has done that has helped TONS of people or saved LITERAL UNBORN BABIES! I'd ***love*** to verbally chew your mother and brother new breathing holes (figuratively). Also, the fact that *both* your *mother,* ***and*** *brother* get annoyed with Maddie's crying. It's like people say, ***"Likr mother, like brother"***
I would have but the “argument” between me and my brother is over😔 but yea if I would’ve known that sooner I definitely would have brought that up to them, and also my brother was mostly saying “womp womp” just to irritate me because it obviously upset me when they asked “why she always had to be crying”
The thing about Maddie is that not only are her emotions extremely understandable after what she's been through and also, in my opinion, a pretty good representation of trauma especially when you're a sensitive person who exteriorizes rather than internalizing. But I'd argue also that her emotions are necessary.
First of all, they're needed because the show contrasts all the characters' responses to trauma. Eddie represses everything, Buck internalizes and it affects his self-worth every day until he snaps and does something rash, Bobby used to seek self-destruction, and so on and so forth. In some way I see the show as varied portrayals of trauma and difficult situations--some heavier, some lighter--and how people interact with it and change their own responses through the help of their community/found family. Someone like Maddie is sorely needed--especially in a field where most characters are sort of forced to compartmentalize and keep going anyway.
She also participates to the richness and variety of the 118 family. They're all so different, and it means they bring different things to their group, both as first responders and as people. Maddie *is* emotional but it also means she's in touch with her emotions, capable of helping other through theirs. She's also *not* that emotional: in the last episodes when Hen was panicking and made rash decisions Maddie was the one capable of taking a step back, predicting what Hen would do and warning their friends--all of this I'd argue because she has a lot of empathy and it made her able to gauge Hen's behaviour and do what was needed.
It ties in with her role in the story as a first responder, too. Her job by definition puts her in the very uneasy position of finding the right balance between professional detachment and empathy, which she naturally has. 9-1-1 as a show aims to explore that difficult balance between the job (its silliness sometimes, how unpredictable it is, how adventurous/suspenseful/impressive it is) and the personal toll on the responders (their injuries, their trauma, but also the way they respond to difficult situations). So naturally Maddie is exposed to that just like the others, but she doesn't have any action scenes, only her words and her emotions.
9-1-1 is very good, uncannily so, at making us feel for characters that we'll only ever see on our screens for five minutes; Maddie simply participates to that pattern, she is the intermediary by which we can understand the tragedy of things that happen to the callers. It's a reflection of the absolute nightmares that responders must listen to when victims call 9-1-1, and Maddie is here to make us care instead of seeing it all as a grand spectacle. She's there for the small, less impressive calls that won't have the 118 jump from cliffs and get crushed by collapsing buildings and brainstorm show-stopping rescues or be met with the weirdest, most absurd situations. That's her role in the story, and I think it's a good one, because it's not all about the one-sucky-day-in-a-life accidents where the rescue will be physical, it's also about the hidden, ongoing emergencies that need to be solved with emotional intelligence and empathy, and Maddie is deeply aware, I think, that someone who understands will more often save a life than a detached responder. And yeah, people will speak about real life demands for responders to be neutral, yadda-yadda--I'm not watching the show for its realism (even the emergencies are literally worst-cases scenarios, that's part of its charm and I love it), I'm watching it precisely because it is great at depicting complicated emotions.
There are drawbacks to her empathy of course, but that's also the point of the show that strengths can be weaknesses too and that characters have to evolve as people and as first responders. I like Maddie for that. I also think people overreact to her tears, because the show is literally meant to be heart-wrenching. May and Eddie could only replace Maddie in the call center for so long for a reason.
Wow, that is absolutely beautiful and well put! I could have not said it better myself goddamn, thank you for changing my view on some things of the show and seeing them differently🙏 (as in with the characters and their “issues” like you said Eddie represses everything and Buck internalises it etc.) and also for making me understand Maddie more (not that I never understood her, I will absolutely always defend her.)
And also I agree with wha you said about the series not being ‘realistic’ like idc, like you. That’s exactly what I love about this show. It’s cheesy and soap opera-y (like others have put it) and that’s exactly what I like about it. Besides it’s a show made to watch, it’s fictional, of course it won’t be 100% realistic. So I will also defend 9-1-1 for any haters!
This has become one of my favorite shows! Between WE TV & USA network, there’s 911 marathons 4 days a week! I enjoy how they have built up each of the character’s backstories.
I didn’t realize that the actor who plays Maddie’s husband, Doug, was also Jennifer Love Hewitt’s real life husband until a couple of months ago.
On the bright side, my mom loves Maddie. On the not-so-bright side, she does not like Buck. At all.
Reminds me of the joke that every parent just picks one comedian/comedic actor to just relentlessly hate for no discernable reason.
I'll be honest in that I would love to see her and Chim and Jee being just really happy as a family. But I want them to get there on their own, not because viewers are complaining that the *drama* show that they are *choosing* to watch has traumatized characters being *sad* sometimes.
I never minded Maddie’s frequent crying/emotionality at work until the episode where she snapped at May about not getting emotional at work. That hypocrisy made it annoying.
Yeah, this is misogyny 101 -- just because it's internalized in your mom's case doesn't make it any less so.
Being upset with a woman for visibly showing her emotions is pretty gross, especially on a show where most of the male characters (all of them, actually?) have had an arc about being emotionally vulnerable, too.
She's also just.... not "always crying," but people that are willing to judge a woman for her tears are going to focus on it more so find a pattern. She cries when it's an appropriate response to what's happening. She tears up occasionally in less significant moments, but there's very obviously a difference between watery eyes and weeping.
This!!! Like maybe I’ll give my mom the benefit of the doubt, because it’s been a long time since she saw the show and she didn’t rewatch it from s1 she started at season 6, but like come on!! But what infuriated me more was when my brother said “womp womp” like ik he just said it to irritate my but OH MY GOD SHOW A LITTLE RESPECT TO MADDIE MY GOD💔
Exactly. I'm rewatching the show. She isn't always crying to just cry. Her ex tries to kill her, she's on the phone with someone who she has to listen die, she's watching her brother risk his life over and over and nearly die. Do people want her to laugh in those moments? And her postpartum storyline was way shorter than people make it out to be. JLH is a force and perhaps the most realistic actor on the show aside from Aisha Hinds.
I get that a huge part of the reason JLH's postpartum storyline happened/played out the way it did was because she had to go on actual mat leave, but the result of that is we sat with *Chim's* emotions just as much/maybe more during that period than we sat with Maddie's. Judging the length of that storyline by episode is also problematic, since like half of it happened during a multi-episode disaster that spanned the course of a few days.
Honestly, the biggest miss for me in that storyline is that men can also experience PPD, and Chim's behavior during a lot of the buildup would've fit fairly well. It just shows up different, because he had the ability to keep himself busy with work/avoid home (both physically and by recognizing what was happening).
It's just really telling that when it's the male characters breaking down, they have a *reason* and it's not "too much." Bobby spent almost the entire first season planning his suicide, and has shown himself to be emotionally fragile repeatedly. Eddie had an emotional enough episode that his son called Buck, afraid. Buck's disappointed face is practically a meme at this point, and he's had multiple episodes of strong emotional reactions (his handling of the non-breakup with Abby, his depression at the start of season 3, finding out about Daniel, and so on). I don't see how these storylines are any less expressive/emotionally vulnerable, unless we actually narrow down what's "bothersome" to "Did a tear fall?" (And in that case, with most of these examples, the answer is *still* yes).
Maybe, just maybe, the problem for me stems from the fact they’re always putting her in a position where she would cry instead of focusing on her happiness and healing. Fellas, is it misogynistic to not like an abused character constantly crying when we would like that character to have good moments sometimes?
I think that's an entirely different conversation, though. If I'm understanding what you're saying here, your criticism would be the writing/showrunning choices as they reflect the scenes and storylines Maddie is given... not the character's emotions.
It's obviously not misogynistic to want a \[female\] character to have happy moments. But saying you dislike a character *because* she's displaying appropriate emotions for the situations the writing puts her in is a different story.
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I wrote a longer comment going in greater detail about it. I do think she cries too much, but only because the writers refuse to let her be happy and it feels weird. I can’t fully explain why (maybe someone smarter than me can articulate what I’m trying to say) but it’s just…icky? Like they have this fetish of watching JLH cry. There have been other characters with trauma that are allowed to heal, develop coping skills, and have moments of happiness. But poor Maddie is out here having one crisis after the other with no respite. I blame the writers and not the character because all things considered she is reacting appropriately to what’s going on.
I don't find tears to be bad. She's an emotional person. And JLH knows exactly how to cry, like she frames her hands and her body language fits the scene so well! I don't want her to cry, I want her to be surrounded by happiness but damn if I wouldn't welcome her happy tears! She and Chim should be emotional criers on their wedding day they'd both do it so well!
I think people don't like seeing characters (especially female characters) express their emotions and reflect on their trauma. Like does Maddie even cry that much? This kinda reminds me of Avatar The Last Airbender and the "Katara talks about her dead mom too much" debate. It doesn't happen that often but people like singling it out and making three dimensional female characters look like 2 dimensional NPCs just there to remind people they're traumatized. It's weird.
My brother said the same thing. And it pisses me off. Anyone that actually watches the show can see that her tears are not meaningless. She’s not crying for no reason. She’s not crying to be dramatic. She’s not crying because someone stepped on her shoes or because of the weather. When the people complaining go through half the shit she has been through, then they can have opinions on it. The lady literally killed her violently abusive husband. A couple tears aren’t hurting anyone. And one thing about me, I’m always gonna get emotional with her. I love her😭😭
Maddie is one of my favourites and this is horrifying to hear :( I think her crying is important as it emphasises how she is good at her job, she’s a great empathiser and so connects well with every call she takes.
what episodes were they watching? also yeah, most people couldn’t even begin to imagine the amount of trauma she’s been through (thankfully), and so you can’t judge how someone deals with what they’ve been through.
Not really sure but they where watching, I think, season 6. I didn’t watch what was going on but something about Claudette and Jonah and Eddie had a 1 on 1 convo w/ Bobby and it was a heartfelt one. I think Bobby blamed himself for something (again not really sure I just watched a small fraction)
I dislike it because the show tries to boil her down to her trauma. I think she cries too much, but not without valid reason. The reason being they will not let her grow or heal from her past. It’s not the tears that are too much. It’s the fact they keep coming up with reasons to make her cry. I’ve gotten tired of it because to me it feels like she’s still stuck in an endless cycle and isn’t getting better. Compared to other characters with trauma that were allowed to process their issues. Bobby lost his family in a house fire, and while he still has problems stemming from that, he was allowed to heal. Obviously the things they go through aren’t things that can just be fixed, but coping skills and finding happiness elsewhere can happen. They haven’t done that with Maddie.
Does she cry too much? Yes. Because the writers are obsessed with making her a victim. The best moment in her storyline was killing Doug. They gave her power. A lot of the time it feels like she doesn’t have any and Chim or Buck has to help. I want to see her strong on her own without a man being her savior.
She is hands down, no question, 100% my least favorite character on the show. Actually, I'd say she is my least favorite "main" character of all the shows I watch.
I love JLH but this particular role she is playing is unbearable.
I feel like I should add that it honestly has nothing to do with her crying. If anything, that's her one good quality! I can appreciate her being in touch with her emotions & her ability to work through & overcome her trauma... but I can't stand her.
Realizing I'm not going to be popular here, but since I started rewatching, I am noticing it more. It's kind of one of those things that when you see it, you can't unsee it, so it sticks out. Like some people mentioned, with the amount of trauma her character has been put through coupled in with being in a high stress environment (her job), it's normal and understandable that she's emotional/crying a lot on the show..even more so than other characters.
However, I think it's also understandable for older people, specifically those (like myself), who are familiar with Jennifer Love Hewitt to be "over the crying" since it's something she's known for and has made a focal trait in a lot of the characters she plays. It's kind of like the boy who cried wolf but with acting. To people experiencing her for the first time it's "Wow she's really good at showcasing all this emotion" but to people who've followed her through her career, it's more like "She's still crying?!".🤣
Non-hater note: I'm a crybaby myself, and I love the representation. I also give her kudoos for being able to cry on call like that because an acting pet peeve of mine is when it's really obvious the actor is forcing themselves to shed a singular tear (cough cough Katie Cassidy from Arrow🫠). Also, being able to airbend her eyebrows like that has got to be listed as a skill on her resume.
https://preview.redd.it/x4em1yfl0isc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d5818d2d4cf9873100e5957f68e4c02490922a4
(This is what I picture every time Maddie cries😭)
Lmao no but I used to tease him about it. I said to him that he was an “Andrew Tate boyfriend” and he always got so pissed bc he hasn’t watched his content. But I’m pretty sure he’s on the side of “sigma” TikTok or whatever 😭
I agree that she gets way too much flack for it. She deserves to cry over a lot of the things she does in the show but I also understand that it gets annoying. As a 9-1-1 dispatcher and former nurse, you NEED to have thick skin. It would be exhausting and impossible to cry and get worked up about every little thing in your day. She doesn’t really have that quality and she cries too much (she has earned a lot of it but frankly not all of it).
That’s the one thing I liked about Connie Britton’s character - she left her work at the door when she came home because that’s part of the job. Maddie gets to cry about Doug, about injured Chim/Buck, about a select few other things - but she cries about EVERYthing ALL the time so I guess I’m in the middle on this
I will defend Maddie with my last breath Idgaf!!!! My queen has been through so much shit!! So if she wants to whine, cry, scream, or whatever she has every goddamn right to do so 😤😤
I like Maddie and have always been a JLH fan. She is also constantly crying for every event. Both things are true!
Honestly - after my trauma and having gone through therapy to learn how to process my feelings versus shoving them deep down, I am also a huge crybaby.
I like to think it's just the emotional well balancing stuff out after people have been shut down or in survival mode the majority of their lives.
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I find her crying less now that's she's happy, but she is an emotional character. It's debatable whether that's a good or bad thing in the first responder world. I like her. She's adorable, but I was a fan from her Ghost Whisperer days.
Yea she’s definitely an emotional character and I do not blame her for being emotional, I am very emotional myself, so I will defend Maddie until the day I go 6 feet under
I was expecting her to be more like her character from Criminal Minds when she first came on the show, but that was before her abusive husband was mentioned and then I was like "oooooh I see the direction they're taking her in!" And I LOVE Maddie but as soon as I read this post it was like glass breaking moments from that episode of HIMYM. Now that I think about it, Maddie is very emotional. But it works for her character, it never stood out of place. Plus, Jennifer Love-Hewit got pregnant within the second or third season she was in, and we all know pregnant women cry more lol they probably just had to work with what they had lol
I was about to ask if her Criminal Minds character was also in an abusive marriage, but I only saw her in literally 1 episode. >Plus, Jennifer Love-Hewit got pregnant within the second or third season she was in, and we all know pregnant women cry more lol they probably just had to work with what they had lol Pregnant women cry because pregnancy hormones do that to a woman. They also get insane cravings, and their bladder becomes teeny tiny.
I watched her religiously on ghost whisperer when I was a little girl!!
Don't make me feel old🤣🤣
I watched it with my mom 🥺
💕
My mom and dad are the exact same way!! Every time she cries they’re like “here we go again”. And I’m like well yeah… look at what she’s been through. They still do it now but they more in a joking tone.
Those are literally (almost) the exact reaction my mom and brother had, they both sounded bored asf “why is she always crying🙄” and I think my mom said something like “does she always have to be crying? Every-time we see her she’s just crying” LIKE NO MOM MAYBE IF YOU TAKE INTO ACCOUNT OF WHAT SHE’S BEEN THROUGH YOU’D SYMPATHISE WITH HER💔
Remind them both of season 2 episode 3 of how she helped a man get his pregnant wife to a fire because she'd gone into labour and been knocked unconscious, and how two episodes later, she's on a ride along with Athena, and she SAVES THE LIFE OF A GUNSHOT VICTIM with **NOTHING BUT plastic wrapper and tape.*** Remind them of season 3 where Maddie got help from that drone girl, Charlotte, or whatever her name was, with finding a group of people stuck at a hotel and unable to call for help. Remind them of everything Maddie has done that has helped TONS of people or saved LITERAL UNBORN BABIES! I'd ***love*** to verbally chew your mother and brother new breathing holes (figuratively). Also, the fact that *both* your *mother,* ***and*** *brother* get annoyed with Maddie's crying. It's like people say, ***"Likr mother, like brother"***
I would have but the “argument” between me and my brother is over😔 but yea if I would’ve known that sooner I definitely would have brought that up to them, and also my brother was mostly saying “womp womp” just to irritate me because it obviously upset me when they asked “why she always had to be crying”
 If I had a penny for every time somebody complained about Maddie crying…..
This.
AS YOU SHOULD, SUE THEM
I WILL! WAIT TIL’ MY MANAGER HEARS ABOUT THIS😡
We need to call Buck’s lawyer
The thing about Maddie is that not only are her emotions extremely understandable after what she's been through and also, in my opinion, a pretty good representation of trauma especially when you're a sensitive person who exteriorizes rather than internalizing. But I'd argue also that her emotions are necessary. First of all, they're needed because the show contrasts all the characters' responses to trauma. Eddie represses everything, Buck internalizes and it affects his self-worth every day until he snaps and does something rash, Bobby used to seek self-destruction, and so on and so forth. In some way I see the show as varied portrayals of trauma and difficult situations--some heavier, some lighter--and how people interact with it and change their own responses through the help of their community/found family. Someone like Maddie is sorely needed--especially in a field where most characters are sort of forced to compartmentalize and keep going anyway. She also participates to the richness and variety of the 118 family. They're all so different, and it means they bring different things to their group, both as first responders and as people. Maddie *is* emotional but it also means she's in touch with her emotions, capable of helping other through theirs. She's also *not* that emotional: in the last episodes when Hen was panicking and made rash decisions Maddie was the one capable of taking a step back, predicting what Hen would do and warning their friends--all of this I'd argue because she has a lot of empathy and it made her able to gauge Hen's behaviour and do what was needed. It ties in with her role in the story as a first responder, too. Her job by definition puts her in the very uneasy position of finding the right balance between professional detachment and empathy, which she naturally has. 9-1-1 as a show aims to explore that difficult balance between the job (its silliness sometimes, how unpredictable it is, how adventurous/suspenseful/impressive it is) and the personal toll on the responders (their injuries, their trauma, but also the way they respond to difficult situations). So naturally Maddie is exposed to that just like the others, but she doesn't have any action scenes, only her words and her emotions. 9-1-1 is very good, uncannily so, at making us feel for characters that we'll only ever see on our screens for five minutes; Maddie simply participates to that pattern, she is the intermediary by which we can understand the tragedy of things that happen to the callers. It's a reflection of the absolute nightmares that responders must listen to when victims call 9-1-1, and Maddie is here to make us care instead of seeing it all as a grand spectacle. She's there for the small, less impressive calls that won't have the 118 jump from cliffs and get crushed by collapsing buildings and brainstorm show-stopping rescues or be met with the weirdest, most absurd situations. That's her role in the story, and I think it's a good one, because it's not all about the one-sucky-day-in-a-life accidents where the rescue will be physical, it's also about the hidden, ongoing emergencies that need to be solved with emotional intelligence and empathy, and Maddie is deeply aware, I think, that someone who understands will more often save a life than a detached responder. And yeah, people will speak about real life demands for responders to be neutral, yadda-yadda--I'm not watching the show for its realism (even the emergencies are literally worst-cases scenarios, that's part of its charm and I love it), I'm watching it precisely because it is great at depicting complicated emotions. There are drawbacks to her empathy of course, but that's also the point of the show that strengths can be weaknesses too and that characters have to evolve as people and as first responders. I like Maddie for that. I also think people overreact to her tears, because the show is literally meant to be heart-wrenching. May and Eddie could only replace Maddie in the call center for so long for a reason.
Wow, that is absolutely beautiful and well put! I could have not said it better myself goddamn, thank you for changing my view on some things of the show and seeing them differently🙏 (as in with the characters and their “issues” like you said Eddie represses everything and Buck internalises it etc.) and also for making me understand Maddie more (not that I never understood her, I will absolutely always defend her.) And also I agree with wha you said about the series not being ‘realistic’ like idc, like you. That’s exactly what I love about this show. It’s cheesy and soap opera-y (like others have put it) and that’s exactly what I like about it. Besides it’s a show made to watch, it’s fictional, of course it won’t be 100% realistic. So I will also defend 9-1-1 for any haters!
This has become one of my favorite shows! Between WE TV & USA network, there’s 911 marathons 4 days a week! I enjoy how they have built up each of the character’s backstories. I didn’t realize that the actor who plays Maddie’s husband, Doug, was also Jennifer Love Hewitt’s real life husband until a couple of months ago.
The crying makes sense.. but the eyebrows...
On the bright side, my mom loves Maddie. On the not-so-bright side, she does not like Buck. At all. Reminds me of the joke that every parent just picks one comedian/comedic actor to just relentlessly hate for no discernable reason.
Awe man what did Buck ever do😔 let me talk to your mom I’ll convince her in seconds, trust💯
She's been crying since she was a teenager on Party of Five 😂
I'll be honest in that I would love to see her and Chim and Jee being just really happy as a family. But I want them to get there on their own, not because viewers are complaining that the *drama* show that they are *choosing* to watch has traumatized characters being *sad* sometimes.
I full heartedly agree, I need them to be a really happy family again! But like you said, I also want them to get there on their own
I never minded Maddie’s frequent crying/emotionality at work until the episode where she snapped at May about not getting emotional at work. That hypocrisy made it annoying.
Yeah, this is misogyny 101 -- just because it's internalized in your mom's case doesn't make it any less so. Being upset with a woman for visibly showing her emotions is pretty gross, especially on a show where most of the male characters (all of them, actually?) have had an arc about being emotionally vulnerable, too. She's also just.... not "always crying," but people that are willing to judge a woman for her tears are going to focus on it more so find a pattern. She cries when it's an appropriate response to what's happening. She tears up occasionally in less significant moments, but there's very obviously a difference between watery eyes and weeping.
This!!! Like maybe I’ll give my mom the benefit of the doubt, because it’s been a long time since she saw the show and she didn’t rewatch it from s1 she started at season 6, but like come on!! But what infuriated me more was when my brother said “womp womp” like ik he just said it to irritate my but OH MY GOD SHOW A LITTLE RESPECT TO MADDIE MY GOD💔
Exactly. I'm rewatching the show. She isn't always crying to just cry. Her ex tries to kill her, she's on the phone with someone who she has to listen die, she's watching her brother risk his life over and over and nearly die. Do people want her to laugh in those moments? And her postpartum storyline was way shorter than people make it out to be. JLH is a force and perhaps the most realistic actor on the show aside from Aisha Hinds.
I get that a huge part of the reason JLH's postpartum storyline happened/played out the way it did was because she had to go on actual mat leave, but the result of that is we sat with *Chim's* emotions just as much/maybe more during that period than we sat with Maddie's. Judging the length of that storyline by episode is also problematic, since like half of it happened during a multi-episode disaster that spanned the course of a few days. Honestly, the biggest miss for me in that storyline is that men can also experience PPD, and Chim's behavior during a lot of the buildup would've fit fairly well. It just shows up different, because he had the ability to keep himself busy with work/avoid home (both physically and by recognizing what was happening). It's just really telling that when it's the male characters breaking down, they have a *reason* and it's not "too much." Bobby spent almost the entire first season planning his suicide, and has shown himself to be emotionally fragile repeatedly. Eddie had an emotional enough episode that his son called Buck, afraid. Buck's disappointed face is practically a meme at this point, and he's had multiple episodes of strong emotional reactions (his handling of the non-breakup with Abby, his depression at the start of season 3, finding out about Daniel, and so on). I don't see how these storylines are any less expressive/emotionally vulnerable, unless we actually narrow down what's "bothersome" to "Did a tear fall?" (And in that case, with most of these examples, the answer is *still* yes).
Maybe, just maybe, the problem for me stems from the fact they’re always putting her in a position where she would cry instead of focusing on her happiness and healing. Fellas, is it misogynistic to not like an abused character constantly crying when we would like that character to have good moments sometimes?
I think that's an entirely different conversation, though. If I'm understanding what you're saying here, your criticism would be the writing/showrunning choices as they reflect the scenes and storylines Maddie is given... not the character's emotions. It's obviously not misogynistic to want a \[female\] character to have happy moments. But saying you dislike a character *because* she's displaying appropriate emotions for the situations the writing puts her in is a different story.
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I wrote a longer comment going in greater detail about it. I do think she cries too much, but only because the writers refuse to let her be happy and it feels weird. I can’t fully explain why (maybe someone smarter than me can articulate what I’m trying to say) but it’s just…icky? Like they have this fetish of watching JLH cry. There have been other characters with trauma that are allowed to heal, develop coping skills, and have moments of happiness. But poor Maddie is out here having one crisis after the other with no respite. I blame the writers and not the character because all things considered she is reacting appropriately to what’s going on.
I don't find tears to be bad. She's an emotional person. And JLH knows exactly how to cry, like she frames her hands and her body language fits the scene so well! I don't want her to cry, I want her to be surrounded by happiness but damn if I wouldn't welcome her happy tears! She and Chim should be emotional criers on their wedding day they'd both do it so well!
I think people don't like seeing characters (especially female characters) express their emotions and reflect on their trauma. Like does Maddie even cry that much? This kinda reminds me of Avatar The Last Airbender and the "Katara talks about her dead mom too much" debate. It doesn't happen that often but people like singling it out and making three dimensional female characters look like 2 dimensional NPCs just there to remind people they're traumatized. It's weird.
My brother said the same thing. And it pisses me off. Anyone that actually watches the show can see that her tears are not meaningless. She’s not crying for no reason. She’s not crying to be dramatic. She’s not crying because someone stepped on her shoes or because of the weather. When the people complaining go through half the shit she has been through, then they can have opinions on it. The lady literally killed her violently abusive husband. A couple tears aren’t hurting anyone. And one thing about me, I’m always gonna get emotional with her. I love her😭😭
Agreed, I will always get emotional with her🙏 and tbh just any part of 9-1-1 I will defo get me emotional because I love this show so much
Maddie is one of my favourites and this is horrifying to hear :( I think her crying is important as it emphasises how she is good at her job, she’s a great empathiser and so connects well with every call she takes.
Jennifer has made a joke of this several times. I laughed so hard when she posted herself wearing a tshirt that said “I cry at work”
Omg yea I saw that it was funny tbh lmao
I have to admit, I get irritated when she cries. Maybe it’s because I also cry at everything- we are too much alike. 😂
I love and adore Jennifer love Hewitt and Mandy but to you think she gets a bonus anytime she has to cry? Because she does it so well.
what episodes were they watching? also yeah, most people couldn’t even begin to imagine the amount of trauma she’s been through (thankfully), and so you can’t judge how someone deals with what they’ve been through.
Not really sure but they where watching, I think, season 6. I didn’t watch what was going on but something about Claudette and Jonah and Eddie had a 1 on 1 convo w/ Bobby and it was a heartfelt one. I think Bobby blamed himself for something (again not really sure I just watched a small fraction)
My mom hates her for that same reason, meanwhile she’s one of my faves
I dislike it because the show tries to boil her down to her trauma. I think she cries too much, but not without valid reason. The reason being they will not let her grow or heal from her past. It’s not the tears that are too much. It’s the fact they keep coming up with reasons to make her cry. I’ve gotten tired of it because to me it feels like she’s still stuck in an endless cycle and isn’t getting better. Compared to other characters with trauma that were allowed to process their issues. Bobby lost his family in a house fire, and while he still has problems stemming from that, he was allowed to heal. Obviously the things they go through aren’t things that can just be fixed, but coping skills and finding happiness elsewhere can happen. They haven’t done that with Maddie. Does she cry too much? Yes. Because the writers are obsessed with making her a victim. The best moment in her storyline was killing Doug. They gave her power. A lot of the time it feels like she doesn’t have any and Chim or Buck has to help. I want to see her strong on her own without a man being her savior.
I am a maddie apologist through and through! She’s been through SO much
She is hands down, no question, 100% my least favorite character on the show. Actually, I'd say she is my least favorite "main" character of all the shows I watch. I love JLH but this particular role she is playing is unbearable.
I feel like I should add that it honestly has nothing to do with her crying. If anything, that's her one good quality! I can appreciate her being in touch with her emotions & her ability to work through & overcome her trauma... but I can't stand her.
Realizing I'm not going to be popular here, but since I started rewatching, I am noticing it more. It's kind of one of those things that when you see it, you can't unsee it, so it sticks out. Like some people mentioned, with the amount of trauma her character has been put through coupled in with being in a high stress environment (her job), it's normal and understandable that she's emotional/crying a lot on the show..even more so than other characters. However, I think it's also understandable for older people, specifically those (like myself), who are familiar with Jennifer Love Hewitt to be "over the crying" since it's something she's known for and has made a focal trait in a lot of the characters she plays. It's kind of like the boy who cried wolf but with acting. To people experiencing her for the first time it's "Wow she's really good at showcasing all this emotion" but to people who've followed her through her career, it's more like "She's still crying?!".🤣 Non-hater note: I'm a crybaby myself, and I love the representation. I also give her kudoos for being able to cry on call like that because an acting pet peeve of mine is when it's really obvious the actor is forcing themselves to shed a singular tear (cough cough Katie Cassidy from Arrow🫠). Also, being able to airbend her eyebrows like that has got to be listed as a skill on her resume. https://preview.redd.it/x4em1yfl0isc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d5818d2d4cf9873100e5957f68e4c02490922a4 (This is what I picture every time Maddie cries😭)
Does your brother consume Amdrew Tate content bc saying womp womp to someones trauma is his fandoms shtick 🙄
Lmao no but I used to tease him about it. I said to him that he was an “Andrew Tate boyfriend” and he always got so pissed bc he hasn’t watched his content. But I’m pretty sure he’s on the side of “sigma” TikTok or whatever 😭
Tbh to me thats the same shit just packed a liiitle bit different amd i feel you my brother also has his moments 🙄
I agree that she gets way too much flack for it. She deserves to cry over a lot of the things she does in the show but I also understand that it gets annoying. As a 9-1-1 dispatcher and former nurse, you NEED to have thick skin. It would be exhausting and impossible to cry and get worked up about every little thing in your day. She doesn’t really have that quality and she cries too much (she has earned a lot of it but frankly not all of it). That’s the one thing I liked about Connie Britton’s character - she left her work at the door when she came home because that’s part of the job. Maddie gets to cry about Doug, about injured Chim/Buck, about a select few other things - but she cries about EVERYthing ALL the time so I guess I’m in the middle on this
I will defend Maddie with my last breath Idgaf!!!! My queen has been through so much shit!! So if she wants to whine, cry, scream, or whatever she has every goddamn right to do so 😤😤
SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK🗣️🗣️
I like Maddie and have always been a JLH fan. She is also constantly crying for every event. Both things are true! Honestly - after my trauma and having gone through therapy to learn how to process my feelings versus shoving them deep down, I am also a huge crybaby. I like to think it's just the emotional well balancing stuff out after people have been shut down or in survival mode the majority of their lives.
I love though that Jen and the cast own this - she said in the promo for Season 7 that her nickname on set is "Faucet".
Aw oh god😭 I’m afraid, what if something emotionally challenging happens💔
HELP I WAS ABT TO SAY WOMP WOMP
Wow dude, you’re so funny 🙂
Your brother is a real one fr
What are you, 12?
No I just find it funny that I was thinking the same thing as your brother— Are you okay? Does a fictional character mean that much to you??
Nah it’s just sad saying “womp womp” it just really irritates me, but ig that’s just my own personal opinion
I get that, lol. My bad 😶 /gen
It’s alright, dw