The realization moment.

The knitting club are all of Buck's previous relationships 😶

The guy is obv Tommy. The black women is Natalia. The one that ran a car into the house is Taylor. The grey one is Abby and the last one is Ali.

I don't know if it mean anything or if it's even make sense, but would love to know what you think?

You my lovely friend get all the gold stars for connecting the dots and I can assure you it very much means something - rather a lot actually!

I’ve been a bit distracted by the Eddie of it all to focus my attention on the deeper meanings of the Buck arc in this episode - beyond the obvious. But you have made me shift my attention to Buck and now it is all clicking into place and I am obsessed! 🤓😎

I love when the show does this because it is exactly like back in s5 when the various ways Eddie’s army buddy’s all died tied into all of the ways Eddie had been hurt/ his near death experiences.

Ok so lets go over this in some detail - the knit club are all representations of Bucks previous relationships - and I don’t think their positions in the final scene at his house is an accident either - nor their knitting projects! I’ve written on the pictures who is representing who to make it easier.

Like you said the guy - Artie - is Tommy, the black woman - Mabel - is Natalia, the red head - Carol - is Ali, the car driver with a contact out of place - Blanche - is Taylor and the white haired lady who visually looks like the oldest - Faye - is Abby. This little plot line of Bucks is also yet another example of Buck learning life lessons from old people he meets on calls - we can add this knit group to Mitchell and Thomas, Red, etc who have all been pivotal in getting Buck to where he is now (and in my personal opinion are all being used as a key parts of getting Buddie to canon because Eddie has tangentially been part of those plot lines/calls as well).

There are a few other things going on that indicate who they are as well - the fact they sat Faye and Archie across from one another - Abby and Tommy, the fact they all have different lengths of knitting which correspond to how long ago the relationship was- Archie has the shortest, Mabel the next shortest, then Blanche, then Carol and then Faye has the longest (its impossible to tell in this screenshot, but her knitting does reach down her legs towards the floor and out of sight. We also get Faye and Blanches knitting bags on display - suggesting they came into their relationship with Buck with baggage (not that the others didn’t, but we never really got shown it on the show with any of them and before any BT’s come for me - Tommy didn’t have baggage because he himself didn’t see it as such - he owned it and it didn’t seem to bother him or impact his relationship - his baggage came from the relationship with Buck- as in his hang ups about Eddie being competition).

A few other things of note in the scene before I get into the meaning of it all! All of the knitters are widows - representing a definitive end to those relationships and therefore a definitive end to- no way back for all of Bucks past relationships as well - which is also tied into the fact that he is in a grey sweater with a heart on - things get greyed out when they are over or no longer accessible - but are still visible. Bucks knitting is two shades of blue - both of which are his blue and can be seen as representing his bisexuality without needing to make the knitting a bi flag.

There is also a pitcher of lemonade on the table - a play on the adage ‘when life gives you lemons make lemonade’ which is about making the best of a bad situation and can be seen in the context of Buck as him making peace with his past - which is what the entire plot with these oldies is about - I shall explain!

But before I do I also want to point out the yellow and blue in this scene - because when you start looking there’s so much of it! The yellow wool on the table, the yellow and blue napkins next to the lemonade the yellow and blue cushions we can see, the yellow pot with a spider plant on the mantle, the blue rug and my personal favourite and the thing that is making me feel a little bit feral - there is a yellow stitch marker clip on Bucks knitting as you can see in the picture below!

Ok lets look at the oldies plot line for Buck in a bit more detail and explain why each of them is one of Bucks previous relationships and what it all means!

Let’s go in relationship order and I’m going to try to keep it brief!!

Abby - represented by Faye - the one who is the newest member of the- and who they’re filling in on all the gossip - this can be seen as a sort of play on Abbys role as dispatcher - hearing the information - she’s also the one who then tells the firefighters what is going on initially

Ali - represented by Carol - the owner of the house the stitch and bitch is taking place in - which corresponds to Ali being the one who finds Bucks loft with him - which all the rest of Bucks relationships (obviously except Abby) occupy in some form alongside Buck

Taylor - represented by Blanche - is described as wearing short skirts and being a bit of a drama queen and inserting herself into places she doesn’t necessarily belong and cheating - using information to gain sympathy etc - she crashes her car into the house and is claiming to be blind due to a missing contact lens - this plays out on a couple of different levels. Firstly the car crash echos the Taylor helicopter crash where Buck rescued her - she came crashing into his life and caused major disruption. As for the dislodged contact lens - that is indicating that Taylor isn’t paying proper attention, that she is carrying on steamrolling through life without consideration for others - a play on her not having all the information - the full picture when she makes her decisions relating to her career especially - also showing that Taylor never saw Buck for who he was but for what he could get her career wise. I like to think the red of the car is an indicator of Taylor being a red flag and the comment Eddie makes about someone losing their license is a subtle suggestion that Taylor is going to lose her career because of her failure to have morals, but that might just be me projecting!

There is also the fact that it is Eddie and Ravi who are dealing with the medical issues here not Buck helping Eddie - which you think might be where they’d go with Buck claiming to be injured - Ravi is there because Buck dating Taylor (and all the various people he has dated to be fair) was very much connected to his fear of abandonment - of being left alone without anyone and Ravi is the physical embodiment of those issues Buck struggles with. As for the Eddie aspect of it all - it being the left contact lens, and it being a temporary issue that’s essentially non medical makes it an easy fix and suggests that when Buck (and Eddie) is getting to a place where he’s going to see things through a new lens and that it will all become clear. I also think it’s a reference to the goat yoga call back in s4 - which was also a fairly easy fix and was also a play on the same theme (just a slightly more gross one!) and ultimately lead to the Hildy coffee maker prank and the flirty nature of Buck doing that and actually happens just before Taylor reappears and Ana comes on the scene as a li - almost as if its foreshadowing Buck and Eddies clouded perspective and failure to see each other as an option - which culminates in the Shooting arc and then into the blackout - whihc is also a play on blindness!

Natalia - represented by Mabel - the one who makes comments connected to death and is the one claiming to have heart issues when she sees Buck - which is a play on the fact she came into Bucks life when he was brought back from the dead

Tommy represented by Archie - the fact he’s a gay man makes this one pretty obvious as to why he is Tommy - but he is also completely unbothered by the accident going on around him - he just lies there carrying on with his knitting much like Tommy is just there and not really actively engaging in things with the 118 or Bucks life. He’s also portrayed as dour and sarcastic and makes comments about not making a fuss when he lost his husband last year unlike Blanche who apparently is - which is very reflective of Tommys attitude about just moving on and forwards and leaving what’s gone in the past.

All of them are shown as only interested in his looks and body - not in him as an actual person which nicely contrasts Eddies concern for him in the locker room scene at the beginning of the episode - his concern is for Bucks body - but not for what it looks like or can do - because of the fact its injured - its a metaphor for him being interested in Buck beyond the surface and also in his pain as well as his joy and wanting to be part of both with him.

Ultimately the entire thing is a metaphor for Buck making peace with his past and his past relationships, its about him embracing who he was in the past and finding a way of reconciling that with who he is now - who he is becoming and taking what he learnt from those past relationships and applying it to his present/future so that he doesn’t make the same mistakes - in many ways its about him figuring out he can say no, that he can put his own needs first or expect them to be part of a relationship rather than sacrificed for the other persons wants nad whims, its something we’ve already seen him doing when he turned down the unicorn couple - old Buck would’ve just gone along with what they wanted and wouldn’t have questioned the lack of consent over the situation - just as he did in all those previous relationships. Those relationships all took something from Buck at the time - this was about Buck finally getting to take something from them himself.

The other thing with this is the way it all sits in parallel with Eddies own auction arc - the fact Eddie was hiding in a temporary closet as he tried to get out of something he didn’t want to be subjected to and so brought himself. It’s a symbol of him choosing himself rather than being pushed into some sort of relationship or dating that he doesn’t want - he’s living his life on his own terms and its also symbolic of an end to him dating women - they don’t interest him or serve his needs in the right way and ultimately it was the Eddie in the closet who achieved all of that - which is revealing on its own - letting us know that Eddie won’t be in the closet for much longer - the closet he’s currently occupying is a temporary one which has no doors or sides, it is just a rail - Eddie is removing the obstacles and walls that have kept him trapped. I also like to think that him asking Maddie to buy him on his own behalf is a nod to the fact he would’ve asked Buck to do it if he could’ve but knows that Maddie would help him out in Bucks place - which is in and of itself amusing to me for the simple reason that Maddie has already clocked that Buck is in love with Eddie even if he’s denying it to her currently - so of course she’s going to help out - but again that is just my head canon at this point in time!

This also feels like the show is putting out a marker to denote that there will be no more Buck or Eddie dating people they met on the job in some way - that this is the end of that as a theme they’ve been using for the entire show because we’re moving into a new phase for both of them - this is truly the moment they are getting off those infernal hamster wheels we’ve been going on about!

Then finally we have the positioning of each of them in Bucks living room - the two on the couch with him had the biggest impact on his life, they are the two relationships we see him put the most effort into and the ones that help him see what’s he wants in a relationship - they are the ones that to all intents and purposes led to couch theory (Abby because their break up Buck didn’t understand was a break up happened on the couch and kept him clinging to the remains of that relationship - plus the next time we see him outside of a work setting connected to a couch is the one he is carrying into Maddies with Eddie - I really could write an entire thesis on couch theory because when you start connecting the dots its truly insane the way it all fits together!). All 5 relationships help him in some way and they all matter in their own way, but the relationships with Abby and Taylor are the ones that carry the most significance in Buck figuring out what he is looking for (and before the BT’s come at me again - Tommy helping Buck unlock the fact he’s bi is not relevant in what Buck is looking for in a relationship that was purely about him figuring out both men and women are an option for him romantically and that has nothing to do with the actual nitty gritty of a relationship - in fact his bisexuality is the part of romantic relationships he has had the least amount of struggle with - he just accepted his bisexuality with barely any issue!) Abby helped Buck figure out he could do long term and be all in and want to support through the bad times as well as the good, that he wanted to step into the mess, and that he could have both friendship and romance/sex within a relationship - that it doesn’t have to be one or the other. While Taylor helped him with stability, in some ways she’s kind of an expansion of Abby, just with that added element of stability that Abby never had. But ultimately she was self serving and always put herself and what she needed/wanted first - doing what was best for her and not for her relationship and that was Bucks line in the sand because that’s not what he needed in a partner and that taught/gave him the capacity to be the one to end a relationship on his own terms for the first time.

That’s why they are on the couch (that Buck chose for himself) while the others are on individual chairs - they’re still an important part of his journey - and have a place at the table - but they are less impactful on him in his journey to find love.

While we’re on the subject of these oldies and how they represent Bucks various romantic partners, I also want to quickly talk about his costumes throughout his relationships - specifically the fit on and how it has changed across the seasons - i say quickly but we all know I am about to write an essay. I generally tend to take season 1’s costumes with a bit of. Grain of salt, because it was the first season and they were very much figuring out all the elements of who the characters were/are, but we do see Bucks clothes generally fit him pretty well, whilst also being somewhat youthful and with an air of naïveté to them, along with the overall look being a bit disjointed - almost as if he doesn’t have a specific style - because he is figuring himself out. Through season 2 we get some of the same elements - that he’s still trying to figure his identity out, but we start to transition into a more mature/ adult wardrobe for him - the fit is pretty good for him, but like in season 1 its a little bit variable depending on the episode - but by the end of season 2 we seem to have this really good balance of style, fit and also colour - we really see the jewel tones that have become a key part of his costumes start to come into their own. All of this ties in with where he’s at romantically - the undefined and in flux nature of his relationship with Abby and the age gap aspect works in tandem with his s1 costumes as I described above, while s2 we initially get a sort of continuation of that before we start to see the tight fits connected to Taylor and the slightly more comfortable looser fit style connected to Ali. Out of all his partners, Ali is the one who he has the best fitting clothes with - but season 3 is when we see Buck in the best fitting clothes we see him in across the seasons - he’s single for the entire season and his clothes fir him the best! We start s4 with his clothes fitting pretty well, but as soon as Taylor comes back into the picture, we start to see the transition that continues through s5 - with clothes that are too small - we see the shirts with buttons that are clinging on for dear life and the short trousers - that I have written about being like he is in the short trousers children are put in until they reach the age where they become ‘men’ and are able to start wearing full length trousers (called britching or breaching!). Through s6 we are still in the slightly too small category, but we’re much closer to the s3 fit and in season 7 we go from his clothes fitting well through the first 4 episodes and then they become too big from his first date with Tommy onwards. I wrote at the time how this was showing us Buck not really fitting in his skin anymore - in the same way the too small clothes meant the same thing - but because he was outgrowing who he was and had been - the clothed he was wearing being too big - loose and baggy - somewhat ill fitting highlighted that he had unlocked a new part of himself and was now on a journey of growth - so he fit himself with this new part of himself. That has carried n throughout s8 - with a general progression towards fitting well - which we’ve continued on through season 9 - as each episode ticks by we are seeing less and less ill fitting clothing and we’re almost back to perfectly fitting costumed Buck.

Right This got waaaay longer than I intended it to - it started my brain firing on many levels and I needed to make some notes on a few other things that clicked as well!!! Hopefully I make sense and it’s interesting! And thank you @onkidahonki - you dont know how much joy you brought me be sending this ask! 💜💜💜

Tagging a few others who might be interested in this as well. @lover-of-mine @satvojihusana @lemotmo @leothil @peabodyandsitcoms @spotsandsocks @super-powerful-queen-slayyna @fruityfirehose @icebergeddie @chaosandwolves @eddiediazdelosmuertos

📍TL;DR: Based on canon clues and real-world LAFD structure, Tommy Kinard is most likely a 🎖️Fire Helicopter Pilot V—the highest pilot classification. His career path is unusual: he started in suppression at the 118 before transitioning into Air Ops using his Army flight experience.

-----------------At your own risk- Lets Spiral-----------------------------

While the show hasn’t explicitly stated his rank, there are enough visual, behavioral, and contextual clues/crumbs to build a solid case for where he fits within the LAFD—especially given the real-world structure of Air Operations.

Similar to Tommy’s military-to-LAFD career timeline, this is meant to be both canon-compliant and grounded in how the real LAFD operates, in order to build a plausible theory around Tommy’s role, rank, and seniority. It’s part character study, part structural breakdown.

🔍 Canon Facts/Clues (What We Know)

Tommy is introduced in S2 as a ground firefighter at the 118, and reintroduced in S7 as a helicopter pilot at Harbour Station.

In 7x04, he tells Buck that he used to be a pilot in the Army.

He has over 20 years of service in the LAFD (stated on-screen based of begins episodes).

He has taken helicopters out without formal clearance (7x03, 8x15). While reprimanded afterward, the fact that he has the access and autonomy to do so is notable.

He is seen launching without escort, clearly trusted to operate independently and justify his decisions after the fact.

He casually offers to teach Buck how to fly (7x04), suggesting he holds—or is qualified for—a trainer or flight instructor designation.

In 7x06, Tommy arrives at the hospital in turnout gear, soot-covered, after a fire at Angeles Crest. Raising questions about whether he was working suppression or Air Ops.

In 8x15, Tommy performs evasive maneuvers while being pursued by military helicopters—diving low, climbing high, and weaving between towers—as part of an aerial diversion to buy time and deflect pursuit.

In 7x03, Tommy helps Hen bypass red tape by taking a helicopter without official approval, offering only a vague line about Central Bureau and brushing off objections from Melton.

🚁 How Most LAFD Pilots Get There

In real life, becoming a helicopter pilot in the LAFD follows a specific and highly competitive path:

Most candidates begin with military flight experience or are already civilian-rated pilots (e.g., with commercial or instructor licenses).

However, even military pilots must first complete four years of full-time suppression duty within LAFD before becoming eligible for Air Ops roles—there are no direct-entry exceptions.

That said, their military flight hours and FAA qualifications do count toward pilot certification requirements, making them strong candidates once they transition.

They are hired into pilot trainee roles (Fire Helicopter Pilot I or II) and must pass rigorous evaluations.

Air Operations is a separate track—pilots do not typically come from suppression (ground firefighting) units.

As a result, most LAFD pilots have never served on engines or trucks.

Pilots usually work 12-hour shifts (day or night), typically on a 4-on, 4-off schedule, and remain on-call at the airport rather than responding on the ground.

🧩 Real-World LAFD Air Operations Structure

LAFD helicopter pilots are classified under the following civil service ranks:

Fire Helicopter Pilot I or II - Pilot Trainee Roles

Fire Helicopter Pilot III – Entry-level pilot

Fire Helicopter Pilot IV – Senior operational pilot

Fire Helicopter Pilot V – Training/lead pilot (sometimes informally called “chief pilot”)

These ranks are lateral to suppression-side ranks like Firefighter, Engineer, or Captain. While pilots typically don’t carry the "Captain" title unless cross-trained—but senior pilots often operate with comparable authority within their unit.

🧭 Why Tommy’s Path Is Unusual

Tommy’s trajectory breaks the mold in several important ways:

He began his LAFD career in suppression, working as a firefighter at the 118.

Only later did he transition to Air Ops, requalifying based on his Army flight experience.

This kind of cross-track shift is rare—most suppression-side firefighters never move into aviation roles, especially after years on the ground.

🔄 Update (Post-Publication): As clarified by a kind commenter, all LAFD helicopter pilots must begin in suppression roles. So Tommy’s path actually aligns with departmental requirements.

What still makes him stand out, though, is how long he remained in suppression—over a decade—before switching tracks. That kind of deep dual experience is rare.

He’s probably one of the few who might have earned credibility in both areas: the fireground and the flight deck.

This dual-track background probably makes him a unique versatile asset with extensive experience to the department.

🧵 What That Tells Us About Tommy

Tommy’s military aviation experience likely included high-risk flying, tactical decision-making, and possibly training roles—skills that directly translate to LAFD Air Ops.

He entered the LAFD through standard firefighter routes—like all Air Ops pilots must—but instead of transitioning to aviation early, he stayed in suppression for over a decade before requalifying as a pilot. (But why?! 💭🤔)

That makes his path both rare and earned.

His ability to take out helicopters independently, despite the fallout, signals a level of seniority and operational trust only afforded to top-tier personnel.

His offer to teach suggests a CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) license or LAFD-equivalent designation, reinforcing that he may also serve in a training or mentoring role.

Tommy might still be dual-certified (implied by full turnout gear after the Angeles Crest response. (Or the show forgot he’s a pilot?!)🫨🤐)

His evasive flying during the diversion mission —dodging military helicopters —points to tactical or combat-style flight training. Possibly special ops. (So sexy.😘)

He’s senior enough and holds enough field authority or just bold enough to fake it to casually override protocol with a “You didn’t get the call?” deflection.

🧠💥 Conclusion: Most Likely Rank 🎖️

Tommy Kinard is almost certainly a Fire Helicopter Pilot V, or at the very least, a senior Pilot IV on the cusp of promotion. He’s not formally titled “Chief Pilot,” but functionally operates as one—with over two decades in LAFD, firsthand suppression experience, and the kind of authority and autonomy that reflects a deeply trusted position and seniority to push limits.

He may not wear Captain’s bars, but between his dual-track career, leadership instincts, and ability to push protocol when it counts, he clearly stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the station’s most senior personnel. 💬 If I missed something or misread a clue, feel free to correct me (kindly)—or share your own version. Always open to digging deeper. After all… the writers clearly aren't worried about consistency. 😌

📎PS: 🤷‍♂️ All of this is, of course, pure speculation—built off canon clues/crumbs, real-world LAFD structure, and my completely healthy, not-at-all obsessive need to spiral over every background detail the show refuses to explain. I know 9-1-1 isn’t always that deep (and sometimes barely tries). Don’t worry, I’m seeking a therapist. 🙃👩‍⚕️ learning to chill.😎🪭

if you read till the end 🫡 & don't ask why we needed to know all this!

✨ Update: Added more canon evidence from 8x15 and 7x03 that reinforce Tommy’s seniority + elite training 👀🚁 (That somehow got lost in my Excel-to-Tumblr exchange. Damn. I need to stop. I’m putting myself in a time-out. Bye.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PS 2: Okay, so I did mess that up🤣—turns out all LAFD pilots need to start in suppression for 4 years, and someone kindly pointed that out (thank you!! 🙏). Just to clarify, this post isn’t absolute fact—I don’t have a firefighting background, just sharing what I could find. Also, I am not from USA. please take all of this with a grain of salt. this is just a fun exercise. I've now learned even more about fire department structures than I ever planned to.

this is the first time I've noticed that buck looks like margaret– because that's what grief looks like on his face, and her constant is grieving.

he often acts like his father in difficult moments with eddie (think the infamous shoulder squeeze and his quiet support while eddie has a mental health crisis, loses christopher, etc. just like philip has done ever since they lost daniel), but now with buck being this close to crashing tf out...

That's Eddie Diaz turning a corner on facing unpleasant emotions, at least in part. Coupled with how he "never felt that thing" (you're supposed to feel) at church and Abuela saying "You were looking in the wrong place"??? Queer codinggggg/subtext. The "30 years of therapy" slip/projection. Not to mention zero Shannon Diaz beating of a dead horse in the ep, and a lovely beat of her photo on the ofrenda, signaling that Eddie has, finally, worked through and is past that trauma?

9x05 was an essential character bridge for Eddie, completely needed outside of any kind of sexuality or romance arc.

This is a turning point that gives the writers the freedom to progress Eddie in whatever direction next, without being bogged down by trauma/grief/repression in the same way as before.

And, no, he's not going back to religion. As someone who became atheist after watching someone die who had it reaffirm life and honoring loss through living and remembrance? That end speech was aggressively secular/atheist coded, y'all. Eddie Diaz is going to be fine. (And gay, I still firmly believe)

this entire season has lacked emotional resonance. we’re not shown the important moments anymore, we’re just told they happened via seeing the result of the action. and that gap? it makes everything feel flat.

Yes, the ouija board is silly. But Buck is someone who has shown belief in the supernatural. And he’s drowning in grief and he just wants something to cling onto, something to hope for, which is what the ouija board gave him. It’s also a state of denial on Buck’s part — thinking that he really can talk to Bobby again, that he might actually be there in the house.

IMO, the episode wasn’t saying Buck was dumb for wanting to try a ouija board — because this episode was all about grief rituals and how humans need ways to connect, religious or not, with their loved ones who have passed.

The ouija board. The funeral. Praying after Abuela died. Athena keeping Bobby’s turnouts safe. Buck keeping a photo of Bobby and making Bobby’s recipes. And of course, Día de los Muertos.

These things aren’t going to bring someone back, they’re not going to automatically fix grief, but they help us connect to their memory. Even if it might seem pointless, humans need tactile things to help us through the grief.

These things give us something to do with the grief, a place for the grief to go. Like Chris said, it makes us feel like they’re still here.

By the end of the episode, IMO, Buck has shifted his grieving from a state of denial to something more positive: helping Dwayne and setting him up at an AA meeting. In the end, it wasn’t a ouija board he needed to connect with Bobby, it was kindness, which Buck is great at 🥹