9-1-1

First, I know we’ve been getting Buckley-Diaz family scenes for a while now, including moments that have just Buck and Chris present, taking on a parent-child relationship, with Eddie no where in sight. So this is nothing new, but I do think the writers constantly include these moments, and frankly, are getting more explicit with the parent-child nature of the moments because they want to establish Buck as a second father figure to Chris in a way that can’t be contested. For instance, Chris having such a pivotal scene with Buck in the hospital after the lightning strike. The way it was framed, the dialogue, the real focus given to Chris’ words, Chris’ insistence to see Buck, and Eddie going around the rules of the hospital to get Chris in the hospital room- it was a big deal. Also, the way the camera focused on Eddie crying while listening to Chris talk to Buck - another interesting choice. Then we have the less intense but very domestic scene of Buck and Chris baking cookies for Chris’ class (with Eddie not around). This was something they could’ve very well just not shown or shown between just Eddie and Chris (or even all three!). But they didn’t want to do that. They chose Buck to be the one to bake with Chris (and not just for fun because he wasn’t babysitting him, it was for his class!) and I think it’s to further establish the kind of relationship the two have - a relationship that exists outside of Eddie. A relationship where Buck takes on roles that people would expect Eddie/the father to be taking on (and not to undermine Eddie and his fatherhood in anyway, but to really show how Buck has become so intertwined with the Diaz boys and how they’ve become intertwined with him). Overall, both of these scenes in my opinion depict a pretty explicit parent-child dynamic and I do think even the GA audience probably saw it as such —without needing to read too much into it.

Second, through this season, particularly the second half, we’ve had many moments around fathers—estranged, found-fathers, adoptive fathers, father-like figures etc. We briefly saw Chim and his father and the discussion of how he wasn’t there and Mr. Lee (another man) was, we saw Buck’s father come back after a while & in that same episode we had Bobby being explicitly established as a father to Buck, we had Denny’s storyline with his biological and I guess, estranged father, and we’ve had the sperm donor storyline which also creates this idea of a two father figures. Connor being the actual father of the baby (who’ll raise them) and Buck being the sperm-donor/biological father. There’s also this uncertainty they’ve showed with Connor and taking on fatherhood and then Buck sort of determining his role (if he feels there is any) beyond being a donor.

AND and, to add, there was also this mention of “a man cannot raise another man’s child/a man should raise his own child….” by Chim’s dad in response to Buck being a sperm donor which I thought was interesting because in this whole show, pretty much, many men (and women) have raised or are serving as a parental figure to a child/children (grown up and young) that are not biologically their own. In some cases, they are the only proper father figure present in the kid’s/adult’s life (Bobby with Buck, Mr. Lee with Chim, etc), and in other cases, they’re serving an additional role that works in conjunction with the biological, very present and wonderful father (ie: Bobby and Micheal with May and Harry, and one could strongly argue, Eddie and Buck with Chris) , and essentially creating a family (Grant-Nash Family, Buckley-Diaz family).

In Eddie’s House:

- Buck coming to Eddie’s home during his panic attack & breaking into the room after Chris called him to let him know something’s going on with his dad

- Buck helping Eddie patch up the the walls of his bedroom because “he’s good at fixing things”

- Buck coming over to Eddie’s to seek refuge from everything going on around him after the lightning strike and falling asleep on his couch in a matter of seconds :)

- Buck and Eddie’s dimly lit and wholesome kitchen conversation about the lightning strike & shooting all while Eddie was causally making sandwiches and doting on Buck

- The family dinner they had with Taylor, but it didn’t feel like she was even there/felt like an outsider

- Buck staying over to take care of Chris after Eddie got shot (making breakfast, sleeping on the couch, etc) even though Carla was available

- Buck breaking the news about Eddie to Chris, followed by him breaking down when he found out Eddie was okay

- Buck being there with Eddie while he was packing for his trip to Texas

- Eddie coming home to Buck after his date with Ana & them having a little debrief about Chris & Eddie telling Buck that he’s a miracle worker

- Eddie coming home to Buck helping Chris (without Chris actually being there) with his assignment about hearts (the assignment he misunderstood) & then fondly holding up both drawings

- Buck and Chris playing video games in the living when Eddie comes to turn them off. Then Chris trying to bargain with Buck to play at his home, followed by the co-parent exchange of looks between Eddie and Buck

- Buck telling maddie that “it’s Eddie’s house” and that he’s “not a guest”

- The time during Christmas when Hen and Eddie were talking about Christmas and their kids & the scene cut to Eddie fondly looking over/smiling at Chris and Buck making their little Christmas crafts

- Buck being the one to bring Eddie home to his surprise party after the hospital, opening the door for him, and fondly watching Eddie and Chris hug after all that time (all the while both of their girlfriends were in the background but really, not their at all)

- Buck trying to get Eddie to come back to the 118 & Eddie telling him to “move on because he has”

In Buck’s Home:

- THAT 3x09 kitchen scene (that was followed by the whole lawsuit and divorced husbands arc) with Buck apologizing and their fun little banter (while drinking beers)

- Eddie coming into Buck’s home (bc he has a key) to drag him out of bed and get him motivated again by forcing him to spend the day with Chris

- Eddie helping Chris with his homework at the dining table while Buck cooks them Bobby’s famous lasagna and the two talk about the couch :)

- Chris seeking refuge in buck and his place by going over after Eddie tells him about Ana

- Eddie, Buck, and Chris playing videos games in Buck’s living room and eddie saying that that’s “his kind of therapy”

- Eddie coming over to help Buck ice his black eye and giving him some advice (even though Buck’s gf exists at that point) about how Chim knows Maddie in a way he can’t understand (while drinking beers)

- Eddie talking to Buck about Chris’ skateboard situation (while drinking beers) -> (followed by buck coming up with a way for Chris to ride a skateboard)

- Buck and Chris making cookies for Chris’ class with Eddie no where in sight :)

- Eddie telling Buck there’s no one in the world he trusts more with his son, than him (after the tsunami) all while looking at him intensely in the eyes

- Buck’s voice over/the background song about coming home at the end of the tsunami episode followed by Eddie and Chris knocking at the door