multi-trash

and eddie comes in and calls him out!! because he cares about buck more than any other adult in the world!! he reminds buck that other people exist and need his love!! because he knows buck has so much love to give!!

and eddie’s begging for it!! he’s begging buck to take a step back out of that selfishness and stitch him back together!! because he knows buck can and will once he realizes someone needs him!! because all Buck’s ever wanted is to be needed!! and all eddie’s ever wanted is someone to love him enough to fix the broken pieces inside of him!!

Welcome season 5, what a great kick off we got with ep 501!

Now, the first personal scene we have ends with Chim telling Maddie, “it’s gonna get better,” and her agreeing, but it makes it clear things at present aren’t good. We know this, that’s where we left Madney off last season. But then this scene transitions into Eddie being teased by the 118 about this step forward he’s taking with Anna. He looks very uncomfortable, just like we last saw him with her in 413. So even the way that it works, this transition between the introductory personal scenes for the season, tells us where Eddie is right now isn’t good, but it will get better.

And the 118 teasing Eddie scene is such Buddie fodder! First, we have Buck looking jealous and not the least bit happy for his best friend, like he should be when said friend seems to have found a love good enough to commit to. Then Eddie is SO highly uncomfortable (it’s even reflected in his physical expressions and tone) and very insistent this step he’s taking with Anna doesn’t mean anything. On top of all that, this type of scene is very common. Someone’s getting serious with a partner and gets teased by friends who are genuinely happy about this turn of events. The person brushes the teasing off, but secretly is really pleased and happy, as is revealed by hardly contained smiles and later scenes. That’s not the case here, and comparing this scene with how it would usually play out if this relationship was one Eddie and Buck are both content with is what highlights their reactions and just how unhappy both men are with Eddie becoming more committed to Anna. Almost like they’re secretly in love with each other? At the very least this suggests they both know Anna and Eddie are not the right fit. To make that really obvious, the scene mentions Shannon’s funeral when it didn’t have to in order to explain why Chris is getting a new suit, but it serves as a subtle reminder for the void that Eddie is trying to fill for his son by staying with Anna.

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Okay, this is small, but I love it so much: Buck and Eddie work together underwater, which means they have to communicate wordlessly in how they operate to get the trapped vic out. I wrote a very similar scene in my Buddie AU, Blue Against Blue, because I felt it reflected a part of who Buddie are, which is essential to why we love them so much: they complement each other naturally. They get and sense each other even underwater, when they have no words and their senses are overloaded. And they can still work together so well, that they manage to save a life. These battlefield boyfriends ride again and I missed that hardcore!

~

That unhappiness we saw in Buck when Eddie talks about Anna, I find it interesting that we witness that before we’re shown his intimate scene with Taylor. The scene appears to present them really happy and fulfilled spending their night together, but because of the scene order, we already know that in the background, there’s what looks like Buck’s jealous reaction to Eddie and Anna. So are things as good with Buck and Taylor as they seem? The scene starts with Taylor more focused on a possible news story (not even a sure one, Buck makes that clear) than on him and it ends with her cutting off the whole make-out session for the sake of the same maybe-story. She doesn’t have to, there’s no emergency even if there is a story. Nothing wrong with that, she’s passionate about her work, but in a scene that is supposed to be about passion in the bedroom, it shows what gets her going more. (On a side note, she also taps into his private phone without asking for permission first, which is something that probably bothers me more because the show has a tendency to have women overstep boundaries with Buck, like the therapist in ep 102 or Abby getting Buck’s phone number from the incident report, and then not acknowledge that. This phone thing is obviously not as big, but I just really wish the show would address this repeated pattern at some point). It’s a small crack that we see through this scene. Taylor obviously cares about Buck. But her job does come first, even over Buck, which suggests that despite appearances, just like with Eddie and Anna, these two are together, but it’s partly because there are matters they’re not addressing. What’s interesting is that this brings us back to a theme from earlier seasons, of Buck and Eddie’s dating life paralleling each other. Not only does the theme continue, in a sense, this episode’s similarities of their love life make it  run even deeper.

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I have to give a small shout out to the scene with Bathena, Henren and Mavid. I love that these three couples, straight, gay and lesbian, are all treated equally and as a part of one extended family. Beautiful! And I think that in an ep co-written by the show-runner, it’s also a part of why we have faith that 911 can be courageous enough to give us Buddie as well, eventually.

~

The dressing room scene at the store truly vibrates with awkwardness. Everything about it is off, even the way Eddie reacts to Anna suggestively flirting with him, at best he’s humoring her (down to his “sure” at her wanting to add in a tie) and not very pleased about it. As we know, they’re there with Chris (why is she talking dirty when Eddie’s son there? So weird, especially as she’s an educator), the whole dynamic of these three together, I can’t help comparing it to Buddifer since we’ve seen that trio together more than once. Buddifer are so good together, happy, domestic, Buddie are co-parents effortlessly, Chris is beaming and enjoying himself, it’s all such a screaming contrast to how uncomfortable Eddie looks throughout the scene with Anna at the store, and how even Chris is highly unhappy. Anna isn’t directly interacting with Chris either (seriously, Buck is more Eddie’s co-parent than his own gf) nor is she that comfortable in this situation, since the second the shop worker calls her mom, she looks uneasy and denies both being Chris’ mom and even that she’s Eddie’s gf, calling herself “a friend” instead. Seriously, how have Anna and Eddie lasted together as long as they have?

~

Then we get the panic attack. Let’s take a second to appreciate that in 413, Carla told Eddie to ‘follow his heart’. Eddie the dumb denial boy still chose to stay with Anna, then lo and behold, he thinks he’s having a heart attack… But what stands out to me about this scene? Well, most (not all, but most) panic attacks don’t result in people physically falling down. The fact that Eddie did makes it visually similar to his fall after he was shot. But is his panic attack just about being shot? What triggers it is Anna being referred to as Christopher’s mom, not anything remotely similar to the shot, and as Anna comes closer to Eddie to check up on him, we actually hear his heartbeat going further up, not starting to slow down. Anna is the main issue. And how hilarious is that, given how quickly Eddie let Buck into Christopher’s life, made him a co-parent and even made sure Buck had a legal standing in Chris’ life? But then, this is even  further emphasized by the specific way the panic attack echoes Eddie’s fall during the shooting. Being shot can be a contributing factor, of course, but there’s also the fact that when Eddie was shot, Buck was there, a steadying presence, maintaining eye contact with Eddie, watching him the entire time until Buck could save him. Once again, this is a choice. Because Eddie realizing he shouldn’t be with Anna could have unfolded in so many different ways, but the show chose one where it’s really emphasized how things are with Anna compared to what they’re like between Buddie…

~

The scene at the doctor’s is even more awkward than the one in the store, which has to be some kind of a new world record. “Any new stressors?” the doc asks and the camera shows us Anna. In addition to Eddie being highly in denial (even ending the scene with “I don’t panic”), we also get him saying “it’s been great,” to the doc. But he doesn’t stop there, he then asks Anna for reassurance, “Right?” while sounding like the least convincing human on earth. Interestingly, she looks back at him, also awkwardly, and doesn’t reply. Coupled with her earlier denying being his gf, this makes me think she’s not as in the dark about things not being right between them as she might have seemed at the end of s4.

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I just have to stan Chris being a tiny, precious king, calling his dad out. “You got shot!” You go baby, show your dad what you’ve learned from your Bucky (as demonstrated later in the ep) about not taking any of Eddie’s BS…

~

I was sure the air traffic control scene would reflect Eddie’s panic attack back to him and it did. What I did not anticipate was Eddie, when noticing the second controller going into a panic attack, touching Buck’s shoulder on his way over. We have a long list of unnecessary touches and almost touches between these two on the job, the likes of which I can’t remember between any two other members of the team. HOW am I expected to think that this is all purely platonic? Please, they need each other’s presence and comfort on a physical level. The stuff of fanfic legend.

~

Of course Buck would notice that something’s off with Eddie. He always does, they both do, they’re so in tune with each other, always have been!

And of course he next gets the truth out of Eddie (which is significant, remember that at the end of the doc scene, Eddie was still in denial, but at the sight of Buck worrying so much about him, he has to admit the truth, that he didn’t have a heart attack), which is such life partners material right there. But what I love even more is Buck’s surprise that there could be something going on with Eddie that he’s not informed of. Literally, his indignant face screams, “Love of my life, you’ve been keeping stuff from me, your husband?” And then of course he proceeds to call Eddie out on his BS, demonstrating where Chris got this ability from (check out the gorgeous gifset that the amazingly talented @judsonryder​ made for this “like father, like son” take).

More than that, after the store scene proved how much better Buck is at being Christopher’s other parent, at the hospital he’s also acting like more of Eddie’s romantic partner than Eddie’s own gf did, even though she was actually present when the panic attack happened and Buck wasn’t. I’m done, I can’t with all of this obviousness! I swear to God, if Buddie never get together romantically, they will still canonically be the most married couple ever on 911. And that’s despite the fact that they have some serious competition from every other established couple on the show!

The baby names talk that Chim has with Buck and Eddie obviously gave us the biggest, cutest Buddie moments of the ep (with that leaning together against the truck as Eddie talks about naming Chris, those shared knowing looks and laughter at the end, even the way they walk off together). What I really like about it is the choice of who’s in it. Hen is right there on the scene, she’s a parent, she might have been a part of naming Denny while she was still with Eva. Buck is def not a parent and has no experience naming children (and we all, clearly including Chim, remember his not so imaginative suggestions in ep 404), he really shouldn’t be a part of this conversation. Yet the writers didn’t make it Eddie that Chim consults or Eddie and Hen, they chose to make it Eddie and Buck. Because Buddie are a unit. Invite Buck and you’ll be inviting Eddie. Consult Eddie and you’ll be consulting Buck, too. It is known.

If you’ve read my weekly meta posts before, then you know I always take a second to scream about Buddie being battlefield boyfriends. We get that here, too. When Bobby gets to the driver’s car, Buck and Eddie are already working on it together, and later when extricating Albert, we get to see not only the two of them doing it together, but also the looks and the reassuring non-verbal communication they share as they do. Bestest firefighting husbands ever!

I find it interesting that right after Bobby narrates in the background about someone being at the bottom and finding there the clarity needed to pull themselves back up, we see a short scene of Eddie hugging Chris. Obviously Eddie was affected by having to rescue Jacob, the kid from the accident. But Chris wasn’t featured in any other way in this ep. It felt very similar to me to the way that we got a short, lovely scene with Eddie and Chris at the end of 402 with Carla narrating in the background, after Chris wasn’t a part of that ep at all, nor of 401 (which 402 is the direct continuation of). BTW, it’s not the only parallel between the openings of 4a (402) and 4b (409): both also have a climax which is a birthing scene intercut with a scene where a life is in danger and that ends up being saved. In 402, that birthing scene involved Chim and led to him being able to step up as a future dad, and in 409, Chim was there at the birthing scene and it’s when he finally got to meet his daughter. I’m saying, these eps were built to parallel. So it’s no accident we got in both of them those little added Chris and Eddie scenes showing the love between the Diaz boys, seemingly out of nowhere at the end of the ep, with the meaningful narration, about unbreakable bonds in 4a and about the need to fight to get out of a low spot in 4b. I feel like this is a part of the build up towards whatever conclusion Eddie’s arc will have in season 4 overall. I’m really looking forward to seeing the rest of it play out. 

It’s not quite the same, because Albert is an adult, not a kid, plus he wasn’t Buck’s responsibility at the time of the accident, yet I couldn’t help thinking of how much more devastated Buck was when he had to tell Eddie that Chris was missing (to the point of almost being in denial about having to face Eddie) than when he had to tell Chim that Albert was in an accident and unconscious. Albert is Buck’s friend, current roommate and family through Madney’s bond. Buck is obviously upset when he hears Albert was in the pile up and does everything possible to help him. But when he tells Chim the news, it’s still not the near breakdown he had over Chris. And the show chooses to cut off without us seeing how Buck tells Chim the news. This show tends to frame the off-calls drama within family units. Bobby and Athena will have to deal with his alcoholism, Karen and Hen have to deal together with the possibility of losing Nia, and so on. Buck is a part of the extended Madney clan, but his biggest drama played out with Eddie and Chris. Much like Buck was framed with them as a family unit in the Xmas dinner scene in ep 310, and even though it’s not official, they’re a family, too.

Petition to have Sk8 The Infinity address all the hip hop, black, and African American culture they reference/take inspiration from. Especially the things they use to make the show more beautiful/cool looking such as the graffiti, street art, 80s 90s black fashion, etc.

Sk8 has already shown they're comfortable with the history of certain skateboarding moves (ollie and the ariel), along with other skating fun facts like its intersections with other sports (snowboarding). Just finish it out and credit all the black creators who paved the way. 🛹 🛹 🛹

I do adore that Bobby naturally pairs off Buddie twice in this ep and the way they move together as one as they walk to their task. It’s small, but I am forever here for how in sync they are when they work as partners.

* * *

I had an anon who sent in an ask regarding how we see Eddie repeatedly confiding in Buck about his love life, but not the other way around, at least not on this topic and not on screen. I answered that we could deduce that he did so off screen, but I’m glad this ep finally provided us with such a moment on screen too, when Buddie are hunting for the turkey. Buck also mentions his therapist during this talk, which we know, but it serves as a nice reminder of just how fully these two open up to each other.

* * *

Buck and Eddie went from murder mystery detectives in ep 404 to turkey hunters in this one, set to the soundtrack of a western. I swear that it’s like the show wants us to write every possible Buddie AU. But then I also enjoyed that even though it was Michael and Bobby as a duo who set off this small adventure in crime solving, we had detectives!Buddie being told off by Athena in 404 and her telling “amateur detectives” Michael and David off here (yes, I know she was unhappy with Bobby too, but when she’s spewing off, the scene only shows Michael and David, and specifically in a rather couple-y moment, as David helps Michael up). It’s a very interesting framing, I think. ;)

* * *

I’m sure everyone’s talked about how… eyebrow raising it is that the show has Buck and Eddie starting to date again at the same time, but let me recount how long’s been going on for, this thing where major changes in their romantic life are happening at the same time. Eddie reconnects with Shannon in ep 207, the ep when Buck realizes he needs to let go of Abby, with him starting to date again (Taylor and Ali) the very next ep. Then the next big change is in 217, when Eddie loses Shannon (as she asks for a divorce and then is killed). Buck loses Ali the very next ep, in 218. Then the two of them spend ALL of season 3 single, which is… almost unprecedented that a show would keep both of its only single regulars without a date for that long. But seriously, at least one of them could have been shown to be dating, yet neither was was. And then when they do start dating, it’s again in two subsequent eps. It’s like the universe, I’m sorry, the show is screaming at us that these two storylines are somehow connected…

* * *

There’s a small parallel between Buck and Eddie at the start of the ep: they both get mistreated by women. Eddie is full on harassed on a call by one of the rocker moms (first verbally and then she actually slaps his ass) and, while a lot less severe, Buck is mistreated by Veronica who chooses to interpret every single thing he says as having the most malicious intent possible (my guess is she wasn’t into him and instead of just saying so, she attributed bad intentions to him to justify her rejection). He returns from his date so deflated, he’s kinda ready to give up on dating by deleting his dating app. If he’s so easily discouraged by one bad date, it’s almost like he’s not fully into the idea of going out with new people; like he wishes he could instead just jump into dating someone who knows him and would treat him right. And who’s right there, also in need of someone who would treat him right? Consider the contrast, how Buck was kind of a jerk in 201, but Eddie still gave him the benefit of the doubt that he’s a ‘good guy’, while Buck heard ‘Whatta Man’ playing out as he eyed shirtless Eddie, but didn’t treat him like a piece of meat, and instead ended up admiring him for his professional skills… No one would treat these two better than the other one.

* * *

My fave thing about the whole Veronica storyline is that usually, when a show sets up a male character on a date, it goes awful, but the woman does show intelligence and spirit, and then he suddenly discovers she’s his neighbor and he will have no choice but to be nice to her, it’s the start of a rushed enemies to lovers plot, where they’ll discover they actually like each other more than was apparent on their date. Yet here, even before the end of the ep, we get clues that it will be Albert she ends up with (he’s there at the end of the date to hear about her and also when Buck finds out she moved in, a reminder that she’s Albert’s neighbor too; Buck mentions to Eddie that Albert distracted her the day before; then he also brings him up with Madney, wondering what’s up with Albert). I find it so interesting that Buck is finally dating again, for the first time since 218, after an entire season of building single and the show building up to him dating again (with Abby’s return in 318 and the whole storyline in 404-5 that explains his feelings of being unloved and working on himself to leave that behind), yet this culminates with Albert finding a match? It’s almost like the show doesn’t want Buck to be dating random people, either. Huh. Imagine that.

* * *

Last small thing, but maybe one of my fave bits of the ep: at the end of it we see a moment of wordless communication between Hen and Karen (Hen just looks at her wife and Karen already knows how to answer their son on whether Hen’s mom is staying with them). Think about how many moments of such wordless communication we’ve had with Buddie…

I wanted to become a man worthy of your love!

(thank you from the bottom of my heart to @joe-alkaysani​ who was an absolute hero and made these incredible gifs before she even watched the new eps! You’re a star! xoxoxox)

I loved the little moments of Buck and Eddie working as one on the first call, fully in sync even in passing tools (just like in 402), but also their little chat during this is so nice, because Eddie admits what he doesn’t like to Buck, as well as what he would like to get for his home next.

If that wasn’t enough, Buddie were full on co-parenting, we’re shown they even have a role division (stern vs. fun parent), just like they have one in the field. I’m gonna stress, this isn’t friends hanging out. We really see that when we compare scenes of them with ones of Hen and Athena, including in this very ep. We always see those two ladies talking to each other, the show never bothers showing us them coming over to interact with each other’s kids. Because they’re just friends, while Buddifer are a full family unit.

This is further shown with the prank at the end of the ep. It highlights how much Buck is a part of this family unit, he has his own line of communication with Chris that doesn’t go through Eddie, with their own jokes and plans, and guh, he is just clearly so much more to Christopher than just his dad’s friend. The prank itself is funny and cute, but also? Eddie was hesitant to get something for himself just because he wanted it, rather than needed. Remember how bare his room is in 204 in comparison with Chris’? And under the guise of a prank, Buck made sure Eddie got to indulge for once. I heart.

When Buck wasn’t on a call, Eddie was not only indicating Buck’s weird trivia knowledge is rubbing off on him, which I love, but I also adore that he didn’t even have to explain who he’s referring to. Buck’s clearly on Eddie’s mind, even when he’s absent.

Despite the fact that we see a lot of firefighters from the 118 getting ready to go to Texas, I adore that Buck and Eddie are basically in their own little bubble, until Hen joins in. Also, where is the line we had in the promo for 403? “Do you think it will be weird, fighting fires with other partners?” TBH, I can’t swear it’s ‘partners’ and not ‘departments,’ but either way, it only highlighted to me, how much they are in their own little zone and I am disappointed it was cut out. This now joins several Tarlos scenes that were also used in promos and cut out from the ep, which to me says there is something sorta similar in the way 911 sees Buddie and Tarlos as selling points for their respective shows.

(crossover meta under the cut to save your dashes)