THIS was the last frame of the episode and you're closing on buddie, really?
Eddie Diaz with a hand on his heart, smiling while he's feeling all the love he has for the people he's lost? Reconnecting with his faith but on his own terms, as we've seen throughout the episode? This is an Eddie who is feeling instead of repressing, who is being open to seeing the world in a different way, seeing himself in a new way. He's testing the waters, taking the temp. He's leaving room for the unknown. He's listening to his heart.
This episode was a necessary step in Eddie's journey before he can get to a place where he can realize and act on his feelings for Buck. This was a step towards buddie, not something that contradicts it. We're moving in the right direction. Just... let the show cook.
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Oliver Stark’s Interesting Instagram Behavior pertaining to Buddie Part 3
Hello friends!! Welcome to my Oliver Stark’s social media analysis part 3! If you’re new here and have no idea what I’m talking about, I uncovered a pattern of Oliver’s social media habits a few years ago. And he hasn’t really steered away from those habits. I’d say it’s actually solidified my theory this season especially. If you are interested in my previous posts, here’s part 1, and here is part 2!
I’ve formulated a very detailed timeline of his activities on Instagram for the entirety of season 7. I’ll share each one and why I think it’s important, and why it leads me to believe that Oliver is consistently partaking in this pattern of his. One thing I will say that’s a bit different this time around than the other times is his focus on Ryan this season. He’s posted Ryan the most I’d say from everyone else in the cast, which is a first. So that was something that I found super interesting while documenting his posting habits. It is completely up to you to takeaway what you will from this. It is completely up to your interpretation and I do want to emphasize that this is just what I believe based on every single thing I’ve gathered. I’m not trying to shove my opinions onto anyone. I’m simply sharing the pattern I’ve discovered, and how he’s literally never changed it once. Take what you will from this very long post! And once again if you read it all, thank you so so much 💜🫶🏼
December 29, 2023
First thing Oliver shares to his IG story is the official 911 Season 7 poster. He adds a cute swimmer clip art to his story. But this is the first thing that was released and he shared for this season.
He also shares the actual teaser trailer on his Instagram as a post.
January 12. 2024
Oliver completely changes his Instagram layout, his bio, and his profile picture. Makes it more professional, basically lets us know he’s going to be using it for the show only.
January 18, 2024
Oliver shares the 911onABC’s cute reel of Ryan, Oliver, Aisha, and Kenny celebrating 118 day! This was a BTS while they were filming 7.01!
January 31, 2024
This is the first actual BTS story Oliver posts of the season. It has zero context and it’s of Lou, Ryan, and himself on the boat while they’re filming 7.03. Literally he pans to Ryan last minute to show he’s also there and that’s it. 
He also shares and posts the official trailer for season 7 in which includes the Buddie scene in 7.01 which we later find out it was them coparenting Christopher in that scene.
Important to note that this is also the day in which Oliver unfollowed pretty much everyone he was following except for the main cast members of 911. That left him following 7 people, which further confirmed that he would be using his Instagram for professional purposes. Some even theorized he may have gotten a PR manager to manage his IG but it was never really confirmed.
February 2, 2024
We get the first post on his photography page in a while. He was rather quiet and deleted all his photographs. He casually posts a black and white photo of a basketball on a basketball court.
We then found out later on that this was a BTS while they were filming 7.04. It also happened to be a big Buck and Eddie scene from that episode in which they were filming.
February 5, 2024
Ryan posts a black and white photo of himself on the boat, taken by Oliver. Oliver then comments “Captain 🫡” on the post. Ryan also comments the same thing back. It was sorta giving teasing/flirty vibes. This was taken during the filming of 7.03!
February 7, 2024
Oliver posts the first official entire cast photo to his Instagram. This is the first promotional photograph on their new network.
February 10, 2024
Oliver shares a post to his story of NY Times Square which had new promotional material for the new season on their new network. Encourages anyone who happens to see it in person to share it and tag the cast members.
February 14, 2024
Starts his official 30 day countdown by posting a small promotional still of Buck, to his story.
February 16, 2024
He shares a story of him taking photos of Anirudh while filming 7.04. He then mentions how he may possibly share those photos to his photography page later on.
February 17, 2024
Oliver shares a black and white photo he took of Ryan and Kenny during the helicopter scene from 7.03.
He then shares a photo of Buck with a basketball while filming the Buddie basketball scene in 7.04. He confirms that scene will be in 7.04. He even makes a joke and captions it “Get your head in the game”
February 22, 2024
He shares a cute BTS video of Ryan, Anirudh, and himself while filming 7.04. He mentions his little limp lol. The video shows Ryan and Oliver very much in sync. This is also the scene in which we got good Buddie content with Buck showing jealousy over Eddie’s budding friendship with Tommy.
February 23, 2024
Oliver shares a BTS of the entire firefam filming 7.05. It’s the first photo of all five of them.
February 25, 2024
Oliver continues his countdown with an actual post to his IG of Buck with his thumb up.
Something I found funny was that there was a photo of Ryan a few days prior doing the same pose. I don’t know if one was making fun of the other but I found it interesting nonetheless so I thought I should share!
Oliver also posts two photos he took while filming to his photography page. The photos were of Ryan and Kenny.
February 29, 2024
Oliver shares a still of Buck from 7.01.
After watching the episode, we find out that this was the grenade scene he filmed with Ryan which was a callback to Buddie’s first grenade scene in 2.01.
He also shares two other pictures to his story this same day. One is of Buck with the actual grenade. And the other is of a BTS where it’s Kenny, Ryan, and himself.
March 1, 2024
I’m still not sure what exactly happened to warrant this but on this day Oliver posted two stories to his IG. He said he was deactivating his Instagram and then a few minutes later changed his mind.
March 3, 2024
He shares a black and white BTS photo of Kenny.
March 4, 2024
He shares a selfie of himself and Brad, who co-wrote 7.04! I believe it was taken during the filming of 7.04.
He also shares the official 911onABC’s Buck promotional still to his Instagram (I didn’t have a post dedicated to his story alone but this was the photo!)
March 5, 2024
Oliver shares a black and white BTS of Peter while filming 7.03.
He also reshares a video of the cast celebrating 100 episodes of 911!
March 6, 2024
Oliver makes a post both celebrating 100 episodes of 911 and expressing his gratitude for all the love and support.
He also makes a post with his cast poster along with a Buck promotional still and it’s the official one week countdown!
March 9, 2024
Oliver posts a story with himself and Brenna Malloy who co-directed 7.05! This was taken during the filming of his coffee date with Tommy.
He also shares two photos he took of Aisha while they were filming 7.06.
March 10, 2024
Oliver shares 911onABC’s Buck’s official portrait post to his story.
March 11, 2024
He shares the official full trailer for the season to his story.
He then accompanies it by sharing another Buck promotional still.
March 12, 2024
Oliver makes a post to his Instagram, sharing photos taken at the premier party. He mentions 7 seasons working with the great cast and crew.
March 13, 2024
He also shares this cute little video to his story, where you clearly see Ryan and Oliver having a little moment during the party! Clearly they said something to each other which made them both smile/laugh like that!
March 14, 2024
This was the premier day and the day Oliver took over 911onABC’s Instagram. This was by far the most content we got from him!
He starts off by letting everyone know he will be taking over the official IG. Lets everyone know he will be doing a Q&A!
He then shares the “A Day In Oliver’s Life” video, which was mainly scenes they filmed during 7.04. In the video there’s both Ryan and Lou.
This was the First question he answers during his takeover lol.
He answers another question and posts a Buck still from 7.04! Which was literally during the Buddie gym scene at the station. Where you know Buck was trying to get Eddie’s attention 😂
During the takeover, he mentions how he’s going to be watching the premier episode live with a few cast members.
A thing to note was during his Q&A, he answered a question about his favorite karaoke song and he answered with “What I Like About You” by The Romantics. This was a strange choice but we found out later on that Buck and Eddie actually sang this very song in the cut Buddie karaoke scene during 7.06!!! Like he literally gave us a huge Buddie hint casually while answering questions on the 911onABC’s Instagram lol.
He then shares a black and white photo he took of Ryan and Anirudh while they were filming 7.06!
He posts a story with Kenny and Ryan at Ryan’s house. Those two were the cast members he was referring to!
Oliver shares another reel that was taken during the premier party.
He shared quite a few stories of Kenny and Ryan, but the things he chose to share were what was very interesting. Like I mentioned he usually refrains from posting Ryan to his IG. This season it was the opposite of that. He shared a story of Eddie shirtless from 7.01. then casually shared the pizza they were eating and panned on Ryan. Even in the end he was showing Kenny who was joking about next week Ryan being shirtless again and Oliver once again showed Ryan’s reaction to that. This is a stark difference to his prior IG patterns!
March 15, 2024
Oliver shares a reel 911onABC posted of the cast answering questions to his story.
March 20, 2024
Oliver posts a quick little Instagram story of Ryan and himself about to take on a press tour together.
Ryan shares the story and then Oliver reshares his story of the reshare to let us all know they did two hours of press together. This was a great day for us lol.
March 21, 2024
Oliver shares 911onABC’s post of Ryan, Kenny, and Oliver in the station changing room with the title “The Three Judases”. We later find out that it’s from 7.02 in with the scene with Aisha!
March 23, 2024
He shares a black and white photo of Aisha hugging Ryan while they’re getting their hair/makeup done for the day! You can see Oliver in the shot as well. It’s such a wholesome photo.
He also shares a few photos of Kenny, Aisha, Ryan and himself while filming 7.02 to his story.
March 25, 2024
Oliver shares the official Bachelor/911 crossover trailer to his story. That also happens to be the 7.04 episode which was a HUGE episode for Buck.
March 26, 2024
Oliver posts a funny meme of Buck standing that someone made lol.
March 28, 2024
Oliver posts three pictures of Buck to his story counting down to the 100th episode. All of them were of Buck looking hurt/jealous and every single scene was important moments between Buck and Eddie.
March 31, 2024
Oliver comments on someone’s IG post of the Buck and Eddie still from Buck’s loft of them embracing to clarify that it will be a part of episode 7.05.
We later find out it was a very important Buddie scene, in which Buck comes out to Eddie 🥹
April 1, 2024
Oliver shares to his story the BTS filming of the helicopter scene from 7.03.
April 2, 2024
This is the day we get news of the season 8 renewal! Oliver shares the announcement to his story alongside other cast members. (This post had both his and Ryan’s!)
He also made an Instagram post sharing some photos he’s taken of the entire cast during various scenes. Two of them were of Ryan alone. There was also one with the actual Aisha and Ryan hug from a few days prior.
April 4, 2025
This is the day of 7.04 which is “Buck, Bothered, & Bewildered”. This was a HUGE episode for Oliver considering we finally got Buck realizing he’s bisexual. He made a post to his Instagram of Buck and captioned it “Thank you all for loving Buck as much as I do... 100 episodes in it's been an honour and a privilege. ❤️”
This photo was actually taken while he was filming a scene with JLH in 7.05. The same scene in which he was coming out to her and talking about how he lied to Eddie. And Maddie tells Buck that he’ll tell Eddie when he’s ready. I mean a lot of Buddie talk in that scene in my opinion!
April 5, 2024
Oliver shares the sunset Buddie still 911onABC posted to their page. He didn’t share anything else about his big kiss with a guy, or anything else for that matter except the one post I mentioned previously. But both he and Ryan shared that picture of them to their IG stories!
April 6, 2024
Oliver posts an IG story with a PSA talking about Buck’s sexuality and how the show is very inclusive. He calls out people who had issues with it and mentions he’s “humbled and overwhelmed with the positive reaction.”
This also happens the be the same day we find out the cast was filming for a future episode of Celebrity Fanilt Feud. He made that story on his way there.
Oliver shares a quick story of himself, Aisha, and Ryan at Celebrity Family Feud. There’s absolutely no context, just wanted to show who he’s with.
I will say, I found the five members they chose for Celebrity Family Feud to be quite interesting because 4/5 are canonically queer members. So the fact that Ryan was there was really interesting to me.
April 7, 2024
Oliver shares the 911onABC reel of Oliver, Ryan, and Lou filming the basketball scenes.
April 10, 2024
He posts a story of him and his dog and chooses the song “So Long Honey” in the background. This was interesting because of the lyrics.
He then shares a beautiful fan art of Buck holding the bisexual flag to his Instagram story.
He also posts a still of Buck severely hungover from episode 7.06! Which was also a scene in which Buck and Eddie wake up after their night of partying to find Chim missing.
April 12, 2024
Oliver shares a story about an upcoming interview he did with Jeff Conway. The story included a still of Buck standing outside of the restaurant where he was left after his disastrous first date with Tommy.
He then posts black and white photos of Aisha and JLH he took while they were filming 7.06.
April 14, 2024
Oliver wakes up and chooses violence by sharing not one, but two pictures of he and Ryan dressed in their matching bachelor party fits. He posts it to his Instagram.
We obviously knew this was going to be a good episode for Buddie and we weren’t mistaken because it was so wholesome and funny. So I’m glad he was excited to share any and all BTS of those scenes with Ryan.
April 16, 2024
Oliver shares that he filmed a podcast for The Zach Sang Show by posting photos with the hosts. The podcast was a really good one where he answered some wonderfully asked questions about his current storyline!
April 17, 2024
Oliver posts a small story of himself at home on his laptop ready for more press.
April 19, 2024
Oliver starts a series of posting when his dogs are on set with him. They accompanied him a lot the last few weeks of filming. This was Bear and Jade on set!
April 22, 2024
911onABC posts a photo of Oliver and Lou from Buck and Tommy’s date in 7.05 captioned “Give me all the Tevan content”. Oliver does not share it to his Instagram but does comment “All the what now content? 🤨🧐”
April 23, 2024
Oliver posts a story of his dogs on set while he’s getting his hair and makeup done. Their makeup artist and Peter are playing with his dog. You can see Ryan in the background as well.
April 24, 2024
Oliver shares some art work done by a fan. It’s a collage of things and most of those things have Christopher and Eddie or scenes related to them.
April 25, 2024
He posts a photo of Bear on set and you can see the dress blues in the background. This was done during the filming of 7.09.
I’d like to note that he did share a lot of content while he was filming this episode. Which happened to include a big Buddie scene when they talk in the kitchen. So something to keep in mind!
He has also been liking a lot of fan art this day and a few days prior. He did also like some Bucktommy art work as well. But this collection has some recent ones including a major one where Buck and Eddie are nakedly embracing and the caption is “Scar crossed lovers”. So like, take what you will from this.
April 26, 2024
Oliver posts then quickly deletes a BTS of himself singing karaoke in 7.06.
He then comments on a Buddie inspired tattoo that a fan got! It was a beautiful tattoo and his comments were so wholesome 🥹
April 28, 2024
Oliver shares a “Buck Begins” fan art to his story. This specific scene just so happens to be the very moment before the 118 come find him and help him out.
April 29, 2024
Oliver beings his regularly programmed workout videos at the ass crack of dawn. Posts a workout video of himself.
He then posts a video of he running with his dogs at like 5 am. All this on the same day they were filming the medal ceremony in 7.09 lol.
April 30, 2024
He shares another story of him working out with his dog at 3:30 am.
Then shares a story where he’s taking his dogs out on a walk.
Finally shares another story of Bear on set again with their makeup artist Julie.
After all the workout/dog content, he posts BTS photos he took during the filming of 7.06.
There’s a distinct photo of Ryan where he’s the sole focus in the picture.
May 2, 2024
After 7.06 airs, Oliver posts this BTS of him having fun during the hangover montage.
He also posts he and Ryan having fun with the champagne bottles while filming 7.06.
May 3, 2024
He continues giving us drunk Buddie content by posting another BTS video where you see Oliver ripping Ryan’s shirt.
May 4, 2024
He shares JLH’s story about how she mentions how fun Ryan and Oliver’s scenes were during the hangover montage. He captions it “Or…you could come partying with us.”
Now this is up to interpretation. He posts a story of his dogs with him in his trailer. It’s a late night and Ryan had also posted that he was filming at the same time/day. It’s possible they were filming together, it’s possible they were not. But given he typically does share when he’s filming with Ryan, it’s safe to assume it was one of the last Buddie scenes we got!
May 10, 2024
He literally shares the domestic Buddie scene from 7.08! No caption, nothing else. Just that cute little moment with Buck and Eddie.
May 15, 2024
He shares Brianna Baker’s story to his Instagram story. It is a selfie of the both of them who happened to be on the Fox lot at the same time.
May 16, 2024
He shares another story that Brianna posted which was another selfie of the two of them. This was taken while he was filming the finale scenes.
May 17, 2024
Oliver posts his final 911 season 7 related post that is a BTS. It’s a photo of Buck taken by their PA Allison. It’s taken while he was filming the final scene in the finale. He captions it “That’s a wrap”.
May 22, 2024
He posts a story partaking in making fun of Kenny’s new blonde hair, alongside with Ryan! They’re calling it their hiatus hair!
Out of all the released stills that came out this day, Oliver only shares one still to his Instagram story and that is of the whole Buckley Diaz family. I mean it also includes Marisol but I mean he chose to share the Buckley Diaz boys! Nothing else including a still he could’ve shared with his on screen love interest.
May 23, 2024
Oliver finally posts a still of he and Aisha from a scene in 7.09. He makes a joke about how she’s staring at him with so much love!
Oliver does not share anything else leading up to the finale. No stills, no promotion, nothing. And I mean he did have some great wholesome content with Ryan and Gavin. He also had a scene with Lou. But he refrained from sharing anything. The only thing he did do is like an Instagram post about the Buddie scene where Buck comforts Eddie while Christopher leaves them. I mean if this doesn’t speak volumes then I don’t know what it does.
Sorry this got away from me! If you’ve made it to the end, I appreciate and adore each and every one of you! There were some minor things such as multiple dog posts I left out because it wasn’t particular to the show or his posting habits! Once again I’d like to emphasize that this is simply a pattern I’ve uncovered for a few years now and he seems to be always following it. And once you really look at everything he has posted, it’s hard not to think how it really does confirm he does so in relation to Buddie. But again, these are simply my thoughts and opinions and everyone is welcome to take away whatever they would like from all of this! I’m simply providing a detailed analysis of everything he’s done! Hope you all enjoyed reading it as I have documenting and writing this up 💜
Something something Eddie being shown in the latest episode as being obsessed with the “chain of command”. A focus and emphasis on the way things should be to the point where you have to disregard your own feelings or emotions about it. Something something Buck taking the opposite stance and saying things should change and be influenced by personal emotions and being the one whose embraced the queerness of his identity. I feel like it’s a good metaphor for Eddie’s relationship with Buck maybe he’s aware in some way that it is weird and intense but he can’t fathom it as anything but platonic because he’s never considered himself as anything other than the default. Straight. You don’t question it you just follow what you know. What they tell you. Emotions don’t play into.
And Buck keeps telling Eddie this season to open up and find a partner because they are able to open up to each other so easily, but because Eddie’s straight so their relationship isn’t romantic. So of course Buck doesn’t have feeling for Eddie. And perhaps haunted by Tommy’s words about Eddie being competition Buck is desperately trying to prove their relationship is normal and platonic. So Buck is pushing Eddie to find a partner to prove that their friendship is normal and he isn’t hopelessly in love with his best friend. But here’s the thing. Eddie can’t. So they are presented with this reoccurring fact that Eddie can’t sustain a deep relationship with anyone but Buck (and the rest of the 118 but the other members aren’t in Eddie’s will) and then when left with that they have they have this one question that is constantly haunting the narrative. The question of why.
Then Buck gets angry in this ep because Eddie is so obsessed with how things should be. Maybe even on a subconscious level Buck is frustrated with Eddie. Like hey if you weren’t so rigid and let emotions play a part of the context maybe you’d see that our relationship is fucking weird. Even making the argument that Buck is repressing his own feelings for Eddie’s sake because he doesn’t want to drive Eddie away but he can’t be normal about him either. So it all manifests as this subconscious frustration at having to repress himself to maintain their friendship.
From the very beginning of the season Buck has been freaking out about his relationship with Eddie even though there’s no apparent reason for it. Mainly this is seen in his jealousy over Eddie’s friendship with Hen.
It feels like he’s asking Eddie to meet him half way. To let Eddie feel his emotions because Buck can’t stop feeling his own and he wants to know he’s not crazy. To prove that Eddie cares about him as much as Buck cares about him. This builds on last season with their whole fight about Eddie moving away and Eddie having to reassure Buck that “it’s not nothing to him”
I think Buck and Eddie are both actively avoiding looking at their relationship head on precisely because 1. And most obviously there’s nothing to question they’re just two normal best friends (this is more catered to Eddie) 2. everything would change if they did (this is more catered toward Buck)
But Buck being the more sensitive one and queer is the one who is most uncomfortable with this dynamic even if he’s in denial of his own feeling for Eddie and that’s why he has this weird tension with Eddie this season. Even with nothing threatening their friendship. Subconsciously Buck is repressing himself to maintain their friendship but it leaves Buck in this strange place of wanting but not wanting at the same time. Sure if Eddie were queer there might be something there. But he’s not. So there’s nothing to explore. Right? Except if they did it Buck’s way. They stopped repressing and disregarded labels and just looked at the feelings or interactions between them and what they mean to each other they would be forced to admit they are more than friends. But because they are playing on Eddie’s idea of repression and following command they can’t.
And thats where all this frustration and this odd tension between them has been coming from the entire season. But most apparently and prominently when sitting across from each other paired up amongst the other couples. Which was certainly a choice.
If you'd asked me how I felt at the end of S8 the answer would've been disappointed but hopeful.
Now I'm just...disappointed. You can claim there's a lot of visual metaphor in the recent episode but when your two "best friends" aren't talking to each other, presumably have lived together for the past 7 months yet make no mention of it—
(I mean c'mon, Chris doesn't give us a single "I miss Buck" throwaway line? Buck has to ask incredibly politely what they're doing for Halloween instead of knowing already?)
—and this episode's complicated entangling with religion as a way to feel closer to the people we love? This felt more like an examination of grief (you know, that thing we do with Eddie every season because lest we forget his character is mainly Single Father with Dead Wife?) than a nudge forward towards Buck.
I'm being uncharitable but also I'm a bit tired of being charitable. I'm tired of "trusting in the writers" when the writers are not proving they are trustworthy. At the end of this episode Eddie ultimately returns to faith as a way forward, not necessarily by way of the church but by way of tradition and family. It does skew religious, which to me skews away from queer.
I dunno man. I can't believe No Homo Season 6 had Buck making cookies for Chris' class and this season we're getting the Buck-and-Ravi show that skips any mention of a CANONICAL SEVEN MONTH Buddie family.
We don't talk enough about how when Eddie was arrested, the first person he thought of calling was Buck. He only called Lena because he couldn't legally call Buck. We don't talk enough about what this means.
Eddie didn't want to call anyone else from the 118 because he was worried about their reactions or his job yet he wanted to call Buck who is part of the 118 and works with him because he's secure in the knowledge that Buck would never judge him. That Buck will always come to bail him out of any situation (in this case, literally). He knows that whatever he needs Buck will drop everything to come for him.
Also he wanted to. Eddie wanting anything for himself is a very rare occurrence. Which explains why he was so mad at Buck; because he wanted but he couldn't. Buck did this to him. He carved out a space in his home and in his heart and just when Eddie thinks he can want this and have it, Buck decides to sue the department and takes that option away from him.
"When you decided to sue the department to make cap the bad guy, did you stop for a minute to think what that could do to us?". The 'us' being him and Buck. The 'us' being the trust they've built between them. The 'us' being Eddie wanting Buck's help but Buck not being there.
These little subtle things that we don't talk about much, the things unsaid, those are the things that make Buddie that much more lovable to me.
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tommy's character, bucktommy's inherent flaws, tommy & eddie as mirrors and buddie endgame; a (lengthy) meta analysis
honestly, what's really confirmed my feelings about tommy (and the imminent bucktommy bones -> buddie pipeline) is that there have now been multiple opportunities for the writers to actually make tommy a likeable/serious love interest for buck and they just…haven’t. because while fans are naturally going to overanalyse every little thing, the vast majority of the show's audience are regular viewers who consume the show at face value and don't think twice about it -- so if tommy was intended to be buck's endgame or anything remotely close to it, they'd absolutely want to make the most of his (very limited) screen time to present him in the best light they could. think about karen, the only non-main LI, and how she was introduced to us -- despite hen's cheating, we can see how dedicated karen and hen are to each other and how karen is a complex character in her own right who is immediately easy to root for and love.
comparatively, when we look at tommy's s7 appearances and specifically his interactions with buck, it becomes abundantly clear that there isn't really much depth to their relationship at all. which is fine! it's just... you know. fine. let's get into it.
following the cruise arc, we watch tommy through buck's eyes in 7x04 where he's basically wining and dining eddie -- flying him to vegas, getting them front row tickets to a fight, sparring with him in muay thai, playing pick up basketball with him -- tommy and eddie are so similar (which we'll come back to later), and we even get that line from eddie about how well they "click." as the audience, we are being subconsciously told to align tommy and eddie together -- and furthermore, we are told that tommy can easily make grand gestures when he wants to. now let's compare that to the bucktommy moments of the season.
bucktommy's first date: tommy makes a shady comment that would have outed buck if eddie or marisol caught onto it and then proceeds to abandon him on the sidewalk because he thinks buck isn't "ready" for a relationship with a man
i'll be objective here -- i understand in a show like 911 there's always going to be "unnecessary" relationship conflict for the sake of drama and i can also see how buck trying to play off their date as platonic to eddie might have put a bad taste in tommy's mouth. but we hear from tommy himself that he struggled with being open about his sexuality when he was at the 118 so he could have absolutely extended some sympathy towards buck for not wanting to come out on the spot to his best friend -- especially when tommy fully knows how important of a role eddie plays in buck's life. at the very least, he didn't have to leave buck alone on the curb. this isn't me trying to woobify buck because yeah, he's a grown man, he's fine -- but that doesn't mean it still isn't a bit of an asshole move.
the bachelor party: tommy doesn't dress up for the theme and dismisses buck when he's clearly disappointed about him doing so
tommy showing zero interest for the bachelor party buck planned is practically the writers waving a massive red flag in front of the camera -- him having to leave because he's on call is an understandable 'conflict' plot point but why not have him show up in an 80s themed outfit? it wouldn't have changed anything except that he and buck would have had a positive interaction; buck would have been happy that tommy cared enough to make that small gesture and it could have been a cute way to establish their relationship as one built on mutual effort. (btw, the bucktommy hospital kiss could be seen as a big gesture, sure -- but from a more practical viewpoint knowing how rushed this season had to be, it was also just an easy way for buck to "come out" to the rest of the 118 without having to spend too much episode airtime on it.)
the medal ceremony: tommy says 'enjoy it while it lasts' (which, LOL) and also is not shown reacting to buck receiving his medal. he also has a conversation with henren in a deleted scene.
again, i'm going to try to give tommy the benefit of the doubt -- i'm not saying he has to be sunshine and rainbows all the time and i have no issue with a character having a snarky/sarcastic side. but when his screentime is so minimal, every line of dialogue matters. and it's pretty damning that the writers aren't taking those few chances to give us something to appreciate about him. with buck, tommy makes a dismissive comment for literally zero reason, and with hen and karen, who are rightfully looking out for their friend, tommy refuses to take them seriously at all.
bucktommy's dinner in the finale: buck displays some vulnerability about losing bobby, and tommy... really doesn't seem to care.
honestly i refuse to rewatch this part of the ep because it really icks me out on another level but iirc: buck says he's glad bobby's okay because bobby is like the father he never had -> tommy says "your father's alive" -> something something joke about daddy issues. ignoring #that joke entirely, it's really insane to me that they have tommy even acknowledge the nuclear bomb that is buck's relationship with his parents. yes, we had a bit of a ham-fisted 'redemption arc' in s6 but that doesn't negate the buckley parents being absolutely heinous and the fact that buck verbalises how bobby played the role of the father figure because philip didn't -- all for tommy to basically deny that to his face -- is absurd. tommy has expressed on multiple occasions that he's jealous of the 118 family bond, so this line is just... very interesting to me.
now, let's recap all these events and bring eddie back into the mix!
post-bucktommy's first date, buck is more torn up about the fact that he lied to eddie than the actual date to the point that he has to vent to maddie about it. he then comes out to eddie, who is incredibly supportive (and oliver and ryan make some very curious acting choices indeed). eddie is reiterated as one of buck's most significant relationships.
pre-bachelor party, eddie is the one to suggest he and buck dress in matching (queer-coded) costumes. he then stays by buck's side at the party when everyone else leaves and although we'll never get to see it (tim minear i'm inside your walls👹), they sing an absurdly romantic karaoke song together. eddie is reiterated as one of buck's most significant relationships.
during the medal ceremony, when the camera pans to each member of the 118's love interest/family, it is eddie we are shown smiling at buck, not tommy. this is especially interesting considering we get buck reacting to tommy. i honestly can't get over how a reciprocated tommy reaction would have been an easy yet significant moment to cement bucktommy as a relationship, but they gave us eddie's instead (with chris in the background and marisol conveniently obscured, mind you). eddie is reiterated as one of buck's most significant relationships.
in the final episode, when eddie is experiencing his personal worst nightmare, buck is the one at eddie's side every step of the way. buck talks to christopher, buck reassures eddie (without judgement), and it's made clear that buck will be there for eddie, whatever he needs.
at every possible opportunity, we the audience are being implicitly told that eddie is buck's person. he is his place of support (buck having his more vulnerable coming out scene with eddie rather than his sister); he has buck's back (the bachelor party); he is his family (medal ceremony reaction), and ultimately, this goes both ways (finale).
some other things worth noting: when buck has his coming out scene with maddie, she tells him he's confused about his feelings in a way that seems to indicate she's talking about his feelings towards eddie ("if you there's something you need to tell eddie, you will"). in bobby's conversation with buck in the firehouse, he's verbally supportive of tommy and even asks if buck is going to see him, but buck goes to eddie's house instead. these were deliberate choices made by the writers; eddie has been consistently intertwined in bucktommy's relationship both overtly and subtextually throughout the entirety of s7. and let's not even get into the whole 'evan' thing, because that could be a whole other post in itself.
from the first moment we start to learn about tommy's character (beyond his... coloured past), we find out that he and eddie are practically mirrors. why not make tommy and buck share similar interests? why not give them something to bond over? why present tommy and eddie as almost identical in every way? because tommy is a placeholder for eddie. buck's initial bisexuality journey can't happen with eddie when eddie still hasn't come to terms with his own feelings. so, in the meantime, tommy is the "safe" choice in buck's mind because buck has nothing to lose with tommy whereas he's got everything to lose with eddie. buck can't confront what he truly wants yet because the risk factor is far greater and it's been repeatedly asserted that buck has an issue with people in his life leaving -- he would never do anything to jeopardise his relationship with eddie.
but ultimately (and in my opinion, fairly soon), we are going to get that moment where it "clicks" for buck and he realises that it is eddie he has feelings for. and when that happens, there's basically only one way it can go. we know buck can't keep secrets from eddie; we know eddie is going into s8 feeling "isolated"; we know tim loves making his characters suffer before they can be happy. in my mind, the narrative is going to go something like this: buck feelings realisation -> pining buck era -> eddie healing journey and a reevaluation of what buck means to him -> some insane life-threatening situation that really doubles down on how buck and eddie care more about each other than anyone else because it is 9-1-1 at the end of the day -> love confession induced by their dramatic near-death experience -> #BUDDIE_CANON !
when we factor in how there was a possibility of eddie having the sexuality arc this season instead, how tim has said buddie is one of his favourite dynamics of the show, and how supportive both oliver and ryan are of the ship, i really can't see how everything isn't building to buddie endgame. every other main pairing of the show has had seasons of development, of conflict, of bonding moments. buck and eddie have gone through that with each other time and time over (tsunami/lawsuit/shooting arc etc), which is why every other random love interest that's introduced for either of them falls flat in comparison. they quite literally are exactly what the other person needs; buck wants the stability of a home, a family, and unconditional love; eddie wants someone he can trust, a caretaker for his son but also a partner. buddie is the ship the audience wants to root for, because we know they work! now that we have canonically bisexual buck and eddie finally having to face his complicated feelings about losing shannon, buddie isn't just the logical conclusion -- it's the inevitable one.
Rewatching 9-1-1 over the hiatus has been a TRIP, especially since my little brother has joined my rewatch as a first time viewer.
We’re at season 5 now, near the end where Eddie is going through his mental health crisis. Buck just brought Eddie to the equine therapy center to see Charlie again. I knew what was coming, but I was really reminded just how much Buck loves Eddie. I see it all the time, Buck going out of his way for Eddie (which is reciprocated, but not in the same…outward way), but he LOVES Eddie. And honestly, seeing the way he acts around Taylor- there’s literally no comparing it. He kisses Lucy, then essentially traps Taylor into staying by asking her to move in with him (which is CRAZY and absolutely one of the top evilest things that man ever did), and then two episodes later goes out of his way to help Eddie in the midst of Eddie’s mental crisis.
And I get it! Eddie is just his best friend, and Taylor is his girlfriend. He’s known Eddie longer, and there’s a sense of trust there that doesn’t and can’t exist with any girlfriend (or boyfriend) that Buck would have, but that’s kind of my point. There is NOTHING Buck wouldn’t do for Eddie, and that just won’t exist for any future love interest. We see that a lot with Tommy in seasons 7 & 8.
I’ll talk about Eddie now for a minute. This is actually something my brother noticed, so I’ll say something that he said to me earlier. Eddie loves Buck in a more subtle, blink and ya miss it way. Christopher is the greatest example of this- Chris is Eddie’s BEATING HEART, and he keeps trusting him to Buck. Eddie also just knows how to comfort Buck, or talk sense into Buck, or just generally get through to him in a way that literally nobody else can. Eddie KNOWS Buck, and knowing him is loving him.
Anyway..the rewatch is going well! Brother says season 5 is very depressing, which it is. It was my main complaint about it while I was watching. I quite like season 5 on a rewatch though! The depressing parts are easier to stomach now that I know what happens.
okay but. what if the whole competition thing was never really the same story depending on who you ask?
for tommy, eddie was “the competition” in a romantic sense.
for buck, tommy was “the competition” for eddie’s attention, or maybe just the threat of eddie making a new friend.
but what if eddie—when he eventually finds out about the whole “competition” scenario—is just bitter or shocked? like really? buck actually thought i’d ever choose tommy over him? because in eddie’s mind, that’s not even the same category. there’s no contest. buck’s his best friend. tommy could never compare. (and honestly, eddie going cold turkey on tommy after the breakup says it all.)
so you end up with this hilarious tragedy: everyone is playing their own private game of “competition,” but the rules aren’t the same. tommy sees romance. buck sees friendship being threatened. eddie doesn’t see a competition at all—because for him, buck already wins, by default.
and here’s the kicker: eddie didn’t fully clock why buck was acting so territorial on the basketball court. he just brushed it off as buck being a little unhinged, a little dramatic. but imagine later, when he realizes buck genuinely thought eddie chose tommy over him. like—what if that makes eddie stop and think, did i not make it clear enough how important he is to me? did i let him believe he wasn’t permanent in my life?
because sure, eddie once told buck “you matter.” but maybe he never made it clear enough what that actually meant. and maybe buck, always insecure about his place, just… assumed.