Oliver Stark Talks Buck Returning to the Dating Scene on ‘9-1-1’ (Exclusive)

Buck’s return to the dating scene on 9-1-1 took an unexpected turn!

On the midseason premiere, “Secrets,” Buck (Oliver Stark) and Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody) took Eddie (Ryan Guzman) out for a boys’ night, but Buck ended up being the one who made a pair of romantic connections. As the firefighter found himself intrigued by both a man and a woman, he was surprised to discover they were actually husband and wife.

At first, Buck thought the pair didn’t realize he was seeing both of them, but they shared that they practiced ethical non-monogamy and were interested in Buck joining them as their third. Although he was flattered, the firefighter declined as he told the pair he’s still learning how to be a “half” in a relationship.

Stark broke down the storyline with PEOPLE, revealing that the experience was a moment of “self-discovery” for his character.

“He learned about himself in that moment that he wants a person, right? He wants his person. He wants to move in the direction of being in something long-term and stable,” he tells PEOPLE.

The actor, 34, continued, “I think he’s realizing in that moment that actually he wants something that feels real and is meaningful, and that that’s his goal. So yeah, I think it was a big moment of discovery, self-discovery for him.”

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Since Buck came out as bisexual in season 7, Stark has been passionate about ensuring his character’s story is told as truthfully and positively as possible. This week’s storyline marks the first time Buck has explored his sexuality casually onscreen since his split from Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.), and Stark says he definitely felt some “nervousness” to get the story right.

“I think there were multiple different emotions that came up,” he explains. “Excitement [was] one of them. Nervousness because you always want it to go well. But yeah, I was excited for movement in Buck’s life.”

The actor added that he feels like Buck “is often there for other people,” noting, “In fact, that’s obviously how this storyline kind of starts, is him trying to get Eddie out there. And then yeah, he has this kind of dumped onto his plate instead … when I found out what it was, I was curious to see how it was going to play out, but I think it ended up in a really nice place.”

Buck’s unexpected dating experience may be his last for this season, according to Stark. “There isn’t, thus far, much of a continuation of the dating. I think that scared him off a little bit. And he kind of goes back to… he’s focusing on the job, and he’s focusing on his friends and his family,” he says.

Stark adds that there is a Buck storyline coming up that he’s excited for the fans to see. “9-1-1 is really great at throwing in twists and turns into these characters’ lives,” he teases. “And as we move deeper into the season, actually, there’s one storyline that I feel like I can relate to a little bit where there’s some doubt that comes into his [Buck’s] life about who he is and where he is going, as age does to us sometimes.”

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New episodes of 9-1-1 air Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu and Disney+.