WeeWooBuddies

buckley-diaz family out, beach day 🏖️☀️

is anyone else seeing this???

8x17 / 9x15

I literally saw this & was like, “wtf did I miss?!”

I originally posted this as a thread on Twitter after 9x14, but I’m gonna be all about this for awhile and I’ve got thoughts on 9x15, so figured I’d share here too.

I was talking with a baker friend who hasn’t seen 911 this weekend because I wanted her take on how bad Buck’s baking actually is (verdict: he’s real bad).

When I described how I know he’s intentionally bad because we’ve seen Buck’s cooking mirror his self-discovery, I realized that Buck learned to cook from Bobby: he learned how to love himself, how to find his family, who he is from Bobby. He could love himself bc he loved Bobby and Bobby loved him. But now Bobby is gone. Buck can still love himself bc he knows Bobby loved him. He can still cook.

But Bobbys not here anymore. Now Buck has to learn how to love himself without Bobby, in a new way. He started learning with Tommy/and his bi-realization, but since then, he’s had to learn how to be alone again and how to love himself on his own. He’s teaching himself how to bake.

He’s not very good at it to start (the melted butter “scones”, the lemon loaves Chimney doesn’t eat, the cream of tartar-less snickerdoodles), but he’s trying. He’s not good at loving himself on his own without Bobby or without a relationship, but he’s trying.

And while others see his efforts, they only actually enjoy the recipes Bobby inspired, but mostly wait for Buck to get better at it, Eddie loves every single thing Buck’s baked so far. He loves all of Buck’s attempts at loving himself, no matter how amateur, bc he loves Buck unconditionally. In other words, Eddie loves him anyway.

I love the concept of Buck serving store-bought macarons in 9x14 to Eddie and Chris. He’s trying to present a Buck who is whole and able to love himself, but he just can’t put in any more effort right now. He buys macarons. They’re too perfect. The Diazes love him then too.

It’s unclear so far if Chris notices, but Eddie knows he’s struggling, knows he’s putting up a front. And he still meets him where he’s at. He doesn’t mention that they’re store-bought, not because he doesn’t know, but because Buck needs him to let him heal his way.

Eddie will keep eating the store-bought baked goods, bc he wants to be there when Buck tries to heat up a Costco cheesecake in the microwave & burns it - he’ll be there when Buck falls apart. He’ll bring him food while he’s at his worst and help him make it when he’s ready.

He’ll love Buck for Buck until Buck’s able to try again on his own.

I’ve got more thoughts on Eddie and food (specifically regarding flavor), but they’re not as well organized so I’ll leave it at that for now.

But long-story short, why do all of Buck and Eddie’s important conversations & fights happen in a kitchen? Because that’s where they learn how to love and grow, both on their own and together.

Buck can still obviously cook. But to be clear, Eddie has been trying to help him cook since Bobby died. In 8x17 Don’t Drink the Water, their kitchen fight starts with Eddie telling Buck that he thought Eddie was going to get the groceries on his way home. He isn’t just offering to get the groceries, he’s offering to help Buck carry his grief. Buck isn’t ready to accept help for various reasons including the Texas of it all, so he doesn’t let Eddie help, he doesn’t let him in, he gets his own groceries.

Finally yesterday, Buck let the 118, his family, love him for Bobby in his absence on the anniversary of Bobby’s death. This is more than the detox. It’s them all facing Buck’s grief for Bobby together, it’s his family helping him carry that grief. He let them cook for him. But specifically, he lets Eddie get the groceries.