So I love the concept of an Eddie & Theo opening emergency of season 10 to parallel the tsunami arc.
But, what if I raise you with a Buckley-Diaz family emergency.
Early on in the episode we establish that’s it’s been a busy summer, and that Eddie has been stepping in heavily to help Buck whose been so nervous about fatherhood (you know, since he’s the first time he’s admitting to being a parent even if he’s been one for 8 years 👀). Maybe even as early scene if they all at Buck’s eating breakfast or something before Buck and Eddie go to drop them off at school/daycare. Anything so that the audience is aware they’ve been spending a lot of time together as a family unit.
We have a normal first episode for the most part, but by the middle of the episode we get Buck, Eddie, Chris, and Theo. It’s Chris’s birthday, and they’re celebrating together because that’s what Chris wanted. (Which you may think is odd for a 16-year-old, but I think Chris might request it, especially if they’ve really been amping up the family vibes all summer.)
They’ve gone to the zoo, and Chris has been showing Theo around and giving him all the facts (like Buck taught him), and Theo is just in awe of Chris and follow him everywhere. When they’re feeding the giraffes, Eddie goes to take their photo while Buck hangs back a bit. A zoo employee comes up to him and says, “Wow, you have got the most adorable kids.” He freezes a bit because he’s heard that before, but before he can say anything besides a quick, “Thanks,” they add, “And wow, you really said, ‘Copy, paste didn’t you? They both look just like you!” Buck blue screens a little thinking about BOTH boys being his kid.
Anyway, when they’re on their way home from the zoo that’s when we get the emergency. Maybe it’s a sinkhole on the highway, or a bridge collapse, or mass power outage that blacks out the whole city, a volcano on the highway, etc. (Idk, what haven’t they done at this point besides an alien invasion?)
Episode two picks up and we get the rest of the 118 who are on shift handling the emergency from their perspective, while we get off duty Buck and Eddie and their boys being in the thick of the emergency, and having to navigate it as a team. They help other people around them, the boys helping out when they can. Mainly Theo distracting people who are in pain with stories, and Chris passing over supplies from the truck’s first aid kit.
In the last few minutes of the episode though, something happens to Theo and Chris while Buck and Eddie are actively trying to help someone else and they get separated (sinkhole drag them farther down, the bridge collapses more where they are and takes the care they were waiting patiently in, etc).
Episode 3 picks up with Buck and Eddie in a full blown panic, but knowing they have to fight to get their kids. In this episode we get some big brother Chris and little brother Theo bonding. Let’s say Theo is scared and Chris tells him about the tsunami and how Buck kept fighting to save him, and that Buck (and Eddie) will never give up trying to get to them. Oooh Bonus points if we get Chris and Theo on the phone with Maddie at dispatch and Maddie is freaking out because they’re clearly safe, but also unsafe and Buck and Eddie’s phones are in the car with the boys so they don’t have any idea.
Anyway, we get both Buck and Eddie freaking out, but leaning heavily on each other to try to get to their boys. I’d love a line line from Buck that’s like, “Why is it that every time I take a kid out somewhere something bad happens? First Chris, now him AND Theo? I’ve gotta be cursed.” And when Eddie replies, “You’re not cursed, Buck.” You know, because Eddie doesn’t believe in all that even if he’s worried out of his mind about the boys. “Fine, maybe it’s not a curse. But, maybe it’s a sign I’m not cut out for this.” And when Eddie asks, “Not cut out for what?” We get Buck answering, “Parenting.” Eddie of courses insists that isn’t true only for Buck to reply with, “Eddie the only reason I’m even afloat right now is because of you. Without you helping me with Theo i would have been in over my head all summer.” In which Eddie can hit him back with, “If it weren’t for you helping me with Chris, I’d have been in over my head for the past 8 years, Buck.” So, an acknowledgment of their co-parenting now and BEFORE. (Bonus points if Buck brings up what they do employee says about both kids looking like him…)
In the process of their hunt, they meet up with the 118. Maddie’s been in touch with Chim saying she’s got the boys on the line and they’re okay, just stuck so they all get Chris and Theo out together. Big happy group hug with all four of them reunited.
That night they go back to Buck’s place that night and all fall asleep on the living room floor because Theo didn’t want to be away from any of them so soon, so they’re all curled up with blankets and pillows and fall asleep. The episode ends with Buck and Eddie still awake, watching over the boys as they’re sleeping between them (Chris in an oversized Superman tee-shirt and Theo in Spider-Man PJs). Theo’s back is snuggled up next to Buck’s side but his hand is holding onto Chris’s arm.
Eddie asks him, “Do you remember what I told you after the tsunami, about Chris?” When Buck shakes his head, Eddie says, “I told you that I’d failed Chris more times than I cared to count. But that I love him enough to never stop trying, and that I know you did too.” Buck nods, letting it come back to him now. “Feeling like you’re failing as a parent. That’s normal, Buck. But don’t ever tell me you’re not cut out for parenting again. Because you love both of these kids so much that’s you’d fight anything for them, natural disasters included. You never stop trying. That’s what they need.” When Buck asks, “both of them?” Eddie just yawns and replies, “Yes, Evan. Both of them.” Eddie goes to sleep after that, but the episode fades to black with Buck starring at the ceiling, muttering, “Oh.”
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