9-1-1 Recasts Harry: Here’s the Story Behind That Season 7 Surprise
While the world collectively processes Buck’s sexual awakening on Thursday’s 9-1-1, let us not overlook another major development from the ABC procedural’s 100th episode: they recast Harry!
Athena was understandably gobsmacked when she awoke to find her son cooking breakfast in her kitchen. Not only did she think he was still living with Michael in Miami, but she barely recognized her all-grown-up little boy, now played by Elijah M. Cooper.
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Marcanthonee Reis, who has portrayed Harry since 9-1-1 premiered in 2018, “was sort of ready to move on,” showrunner Tim Minear explains to TVLine. “I reached out to Marcanthonee, who hadn’t been around for a minute, and I pitched him this story. I think he loved the story, but was just ready to do something new.”
Minear took this as an opportunity to rethink the character, recasting him with an actor who appeared slightly older. (“Ironically, I think the actors are about the same age,” Minear says with a laugh.)
“Part of this story is about not recognizing your own kid, so it also felt like not a pun and not a joke,” he adds. “If you’re going to bring in a new actor in a beloved role, you want to acknowledge the fact that something has changed. So it felt like an organic way to introduce this new Harry into a story where Athena is saying, ‘I look at my kid, he’s grown so much and I kind of don’t recognize him.'”
That theme presented itself twice for Athena this week. At home, Harry had a warrant out for his arrest due to a conflict with a convenience store owner. And in the field, Athena encountered a woman with facial blindness who mistook her own son for an intruder before shooting him dead.
Though Harry managed to avoid jail time, he isn’t totally out of the woods. He has to complete 100 hours of community service, and he’ll be doing it under his mother’s watchful eye.
What do you think of 9-1-1‘s new Harry? Grade the show’s 100th episode below, then drop a comment with your thoughts on the milestone hour.
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