Jack Gibson (Grey Damon) is going through it, once again, on Station 19. The firefighter was officially informed in Thursday night’s episode that he won’t be able to be a firefighter anymore because of his head injury and subsequent CTE diagnosis. Even a doctor’s second opinion didn’t change Jack’s chances of getting back on the rig.
“Sadly, I was prepared for things like this because Jack has already been through the wringer a few times, but it is still kind of wild,” Damon told Parade in a recent interview. However, the actor has already found a silver lining about Jack’s diagnosis. “I will say, I wasn’t completely sad about now wearing all that heavy gear anymore.”
What happened to Jack Gibson on Station 19?
Thursday’s episode, “Good Grief,” featured Jack trying to accept his new reality. It was an emotional ride as he struggled not to jump in to help his friends and former co-workers when they needed it. In the past, Jack has been known to self-destruct when he doesn’t know how to handle a major obstacle in his life. Damon thinks the final season will showcase how much Jack has learned from those past mistakes.
“I feel that Jack has been through these things and saw the outcome of how it affects other people. He paid attention a bit more after he’s been through heavy stuff,” the actor explained. “That’s at least, in some way, kept him on the straight and narrow. Then there’s the clinic and whatnot, but I suspect he’s going to be a bit more on it when it comes to getting his stuff together.”
Damon has his own challenges coming up in the season as he adapts to playing Jack with a traumatic brain injury. The actor admits that nailing the physicality of Jack’s injury was tough to figure out at first.
“It was a learning curve to adjust to his new condition in terms of being affected by the tumble and readjusting to the world. He has to learn to walk again and use his left side again. It’s not really operating like it should be. I would be in scenes, getting emotional and stuff, and then be moving his left arm when he shouldn’t have been able to do so,” Damon said. “Eventually, I started putting my hand in my pocket to remind me to keep control…The biggest challenge was trying to be respectful and convey [Jack’s injury] in as realistic a way as I could make it.”
Is Gibson leaving Station 19?
“Good Grief” ended with Jack signing the bottom of the firehouse kitchen table, a tradition for firefighters when they were ready to leave the station. Damon couldn’t reveal exactly what Jack’s next career moves are, but he has some ideas where the former lieutenant can lend his talents, and fans can rest assured that he’ll still be part of the show.
“I don’t see Jack being someone who is content sitting behind the desk and helping out in that way, though it is a very important aspect of the job,” he hypothesized. “Jack is a bit of a go-getter. Thankfully, he helped develop this clinic for Dean. Maybe that becomes a bigger full-time job. It’s for the writers to decide, but I would think it would be interesting to see if Jack could somehow get involved with something that would be helpful in the head trauma area.”
We are sure that we will see Jack land on his feet somewhere in the public service sector, but Damon does have one final plea for the writing team. It involves another resilient animal.
“I don’t think they would ever give it to me, but I would love for Jack to have a Dalmatian firehouse cat. I just think that would be cool,” Damon said of his final season wish list for the character. “It would love Jack more than everyone else, and everybody would be jealous. It would look like a Dalmatian and have the spots like a Dalmatian, but it would be a cat.”