Hen/Karen
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Henrietta "Hen" Wilson/Karen Wilson |
| Alternative name(s): | Henren |
| Gender category: | F/F, femslash |
| Fandom: | 9-1-1 |
| Canonical?: | Yes |
| Prevalence: | Moderately (often background tagged) |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Hen Wilson/Karen Wilson (Henren) is a canon femslash pairing in the 9-1-1 fandom.
Canon
Henrietta "Hen" Wilson is a main character on 9-1-1 and a firefighter paramedic for the 118, Karen Wilson is a rocket scientist. They are married at the beginning of season one and have an adopted son, Denny. The viewers learn much later in the show's run that they first met after being set-up by Hen's fellow firefighter paramedic, Chimney, who was Karen's neighbor at the time.
Fans of the series are often keen to see more screen-time for Henren; with Karen being a supporting character and not part of the main cast, their combined story-lines often get less screen-time than the other canonical relationships within the main cast. Fans had been asking for a "Henren Begins" episode ever since the first "Begins" style episode of the show was aired. When the episode finally aired in season 6, titled "Tomorrow", it was generally very positively received by fans on social media.
Other story-lines for Henren tend to focus on their family in some way, with some being received more positively than others by the fandom. Every so often there are single episode story-lines which tie together deep and emotional themes or topics with light-hearted events; for example, in season five episode "FOMO", Karen is experiencing uncertainty about herself, her identity, and how she is changing as she gets older, worrying that she doesn't know how to have fun anymore. After learning that someone has stolen their credit-cards and is using them to run up a tab, Karen and Hen race out to track down the thief and have some fun in the process.
Fandom
Henren is a moderately well-liked pairing within the fandom, though the amount of focus or activity in their pairing tags is variable depending on the platform. For example, Henren is more popular, especially in GIF-sets and episode discussions, on Tumblr.
Episodes such as "FOMO" often have scenes in GIF-sets because there were multiple scenes of Hen and Karen happy and enjoying themselves. Alternatively, episodes with a lot of angst and hurt/comfort, such as "Tomorrow", where Karen's life was in danger, are also frequently included in GIF-sets.
The arc of Hen and Karen's relationship, especially given the rocky start to the show and the cheating story-line — discussed below — is a common topic in long-discussions and meta about their relationship. While there are criticisms of some of the tropes used in Henren story-lines, the general opinion is that the writing for the couple improved season-on-season, leading up to the highly-anticipated "Henren begins" episode.
They put Henren begins at the two week break bc they knew we’d need time to recover
I'm so happy we're finally getting the long overdue Henren Begins episode. They both deserve it and Karen deserves her spotlight
There are very few lesbian relationships on mainstream television where both women are Black, so Hen/Karen as a couple are much loved representation amongst many fans. Additionally, the representation of their family, including the important communication that happens across the generations (from Denny to Hen and Karen to Toni, Hen's mother) is also appreciated and discussed in meta-posts.
Henren is quite literally amazing. Two black women, both lesbians, both not the standard of beauty in Hollywood, being the softest, sweetest, and sexiest couple on the show? Hell fucking yeah.
Name another network show that has a black lesbian couple that is married and in an overall extremely healthy relationship and while they do underutilize Karen in my opinion the henren moments we do get are fucking beautiful. We even got a fade to black scene this season and a renewal of vows last season. And they love each other and communicate and have a full fucking family on top of the found family they have with the firefam.
Criticisms of and from the fandom
Cheating story-line
Fans were disappointed in the first season of 9-1-1 when the main story-line between Hen and Karen was conflict based on Hen cheating on Karen with her ex, Eva. In particular, many fans were frustrated that the story-line involved harming a relationship between two Black lesbians by having one cheat with their white ex. Given the scarcity of Black sapphic relationships portrayed on TV, the inclusion of the cheating story-line felt like a particularly poor decision.
I think first introducing us to Karen through Hen's cheating with her ex was strange. Definitely not starting off as a strong couple. And yes, it shows their growth as a couple, but it was just a really weird way to start off Henren.
i think a choice was made giving the cheating storyline to the black lesbian couple. i think it was fundamentally out of character for hen, i think it did karen so, so fucking dirty and she deserves the absolute world, and i think it muddied the beautiful element of henren in the show to begin with.
The cheating story-line would be referenced multiple times throughout the show to-date, which caused mixed feelings. Some fans hated being reminded of a story-line which was so at odds with the direction Hen's characterisation took, while others thought it made sense to be referenced given the impact it had on the relationship[1].
Lack of screen-time for Karen and story-lines
As is too common with sapphic characters[2], while Hen is a main character, Karen is a supporting character. Karen appears in just four episodes in season one, and in 39 out of the 97 total episodes. This means story-lines involving the couple were often rushed or only focused on a single event, often involving conflict in their family.
i just now realized that henren usually only really shows up when there is an issue in their marriage. between their issues with eva, adoption, or hen cheating.
Some fans felt this improved as seasons progressed and Hen got more story-lines focused on her outside of the 118[3], but others have found these story-lines were still rushed.
Background pairing and being overlooked by the fandom
Due to the large fan-base around the achillean pairing, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (aka Buddie), the majority of Hen/Karen works on AO3 are them as a secondary or background pairing. It isn't uncommon for Henren to be involved in helping Buck and/or Eddie understand their feelings for one another. As of 13th September 2023, of the 27,851 works in the 9-1-1 tag, there were 964 works with Hen/Karen tagged on AO3, with 70 tagged with them as "otp: true".
Outside of AO3, frequently when there were posts on social media from the 9-1-1 official accounts about Hen/Karen, the replies were often heavily focused on fans discussing head-canons about Buddie or calling for Buddie to go canon. This was frustrating for fans of Henren, especially when people were accused of only caring about Henren to demonise Buddie fans. Discussions about Henren on social media can be easily derailed, either by fans only using Henren as a comparison for Buddie, or by people bringing up Henren to dismiss the fans who want Buddie to become canon.
Not people making a Henren post about Buddie. Henren deserves all the spot the poc lgbt couple of the show. With that said, when we getting henren begins??? I need it.
It’s always the “y’all never talk about Henren” as a way to shit talk buddie shippers from someone who has 0 tweets about henren….
Fandom racism and Hen-bashing
In fanworks, Evan "Buck" Buckley often features as the fandom woobie and is the subject of many whump or hurt/comfort fics, often on the hurt end. As part of the whumping or hurt inflicted on Buck, some authors portray Hen (and Chimney) as aggressive, mean-spirited, petty, or outright terrible towards Buck, very contrary to canonical portrayal.
Hen-bashing works are not common in the grand scheme of works, but in the context of there being a fairly low number of works which have Hen in a main role it is noticeable. Fans have discussed how many of these portrayals lean on racist stereotypes and ideas. Chimney-bashing (which is tagged more than 3x as much as Hen-bashing) is often discussed during these posts as well as the two characters, who are best friends in-canon, are often portrayed negatively together.
Y'all continue to show your asses in how you portray Eddie, Chim, and Hen in your various stories and creations and it’s not slick. You literally aren’t getting anything past anyone we see it for the sexist and racist garbage that it is.
It's amazing the amount of AU fics I see for 9-1-1 where Buck is suddenly being mistreated by everyone. I've seen more than one that turn Chim or Hen into outright bullies and terrible people from the beginning.
Common Tropes in Fanworks
- Family and domestic fluff - Given the general love for Hen, Karen, and Denny, their family and fluff around their family are common.
- Henren begins - Before "Tomorrow" aired, fans theorised and wrote a number of fics about their ideas of how Hen and Karen may have met.
Example Fanworks
Fanfic
- love on the brain by lizzybizzyzzz - Hen makes Karen a sexy firefighter calendar
- the rhythm of your heart by diabolicaldean - in the aftermath of the bridge collapse, Karen takes Hen home.
- serendipity by renecdote - A few short scenes as Hen and Karen fall in love and start their life together.
Fanart
- Pride Month Day 19: Hen and Karen Wilson from 9-1-1 [1] by thesquirrelqueer. Art of Hen and Karen with the lesbian flag wrapped around them for pride month.
- My dreams lie with you by Mellaithwen - A portrait sketch of Henren
Fanvids
- Henren - Now and Forever by LibraTheFangirl
- HEN & KAREN (9-1-1) | Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein by oneawkwardcookie
- Hen & Karen | Wild Things by AureliesBliss
TikTok Edits
- my girl by thadanezer
- you're the best part by euphoriclcve
GIF sets
- As Long as We are Both Here on This Earth by henwilsondaily. GIFs from scenes during Season 6, focusing especially on the episode "Tomorrow".
- 9-1-1 Sexy Moments Series: Hen Wilson & Karen Wilson S6 by diazly
- hen/karen + lover lyrics by eddiediaaz
Archives and Communities
- Hen Wilson/Karen Wilson tag at Archive of Our Own
- Henren tag on Tumblr
Other Fannish Resources
(Rec Lists, Big Bangs, Thing-a-thons, Holiday Exchanges, wiki links, etc.)
- henwilsondaily at Tumblr - A Hen focused tumblr, but Karen appears in GIFs regularly.
- Hen Wilson/Karen Wilson "otp: true" works at Archive of Our Own