Do we even need meta posts at this point? This show is just… skipping the meta and writing its own fanfic. For example, the fact that during two eps that deal with Eddie not yet following his heart and, as a consequence, thinking he had a heart attack, we get a heart transplant rescue. Interestingly, when Manny the medic mentions the heart, it’s Eddie who’s closest to it, Eddie who reaches out for it and tries to grab it, but he fails to, which is why this is followed by one failed attempt by Hen and a successful one by Bobby. The essential, symbolic aspect here is that Eddie, dangling on the edge of the abyss, couldn’t reach and save the heart on his own. It can easily be seen as symbolic to where he’s at romantically right now, and as an indicator that Eddie will need help from others in order to be able to resolve his own love life issues.
Good God, when Ana shows up with Chris, my brain just about melted already just over the fact that there is hardly any interaction we see between the two of them, while Eddie and Buck both come in immediately and one after the other we see them hugging Chris (their son!) in the exact same way. So much so that I just had to gif it. But just as importantly, can we talk about the fact that Buck was at the chargers station, doing his duty, all serious with his clipboard (I love this new tradition of having clipboard!Buck at least once per season, 911 you’re doing great sweetie), so why is he even there, by the trucks? He must have heard Chris calling out “Dad!” and came in swiftly with Ravi in tow. Excuse me, I’m just gonna go cry over these two dads and how much they love their son that they can’t contain it and they both have to rush to him right away!
Oh, another small, but seemingly meaningful detail we get here? When Eddie is picking up Chris and hugging him, we see Ana in the background, smiling at the cuteness of this father and son duo. When Buck comes in and does the same thing, we see Eddie to the side, and yep, he’s smiling at them and the cuteness, too. He KNOWS Buck is Christopher’s other father, no legal guardianship activation needed.
~
And then everything that happens in the scene with Ana is just straight out of fanfiction. For real.
We discover Ana, despite dating Eddie for almost a year, has never been to the firehouse. Even now that she did come (uninvited, might I add), Eddie avoids introducing her to the point where even Ravi’s like, “Oh man, this is really awkward, Diaz” and Ana ends up having to introduce herself… Still can’t save them from all that awkwardness, especially as the panic attack starts setting in… Right in front of her salad, Diaz! This time, the panic is not over Ana being called Christopher’s mom, it’s over her being assumed to be Eddie’s wife. This isn’t just Eddie panicking over how Ana would fit into the Diaz family, it’s specifically about their romantic relationship, no two ways about it. Then Chris says, “not yet!” and it sounds like he means it’s just a matter of time, but it could also imply he doesn’t actually want that to happen, and this is his way of expressing it without hurting the teacher he does love. Don’t even get me started on the way Buck looks immediately at Eddie with a smile that’s not 100% genuine (the forehead not being a part of a smile is helps differentiate a genuine smile from a false one, this just doesn’t come across as Buck’s usual beaming). Then there’s Buck’s focus on Eddie the second there’s even the faintest hint of something wrong with him (let’s not forget, Eddie manages to avoid going into a full blown panic attack this time, and yet Buck reads him right away). The way they’re so in tune with each other always makes me wanna cry. Lastly, Eddie unceremoniously dumps Ana on Ravi, he doesn’t even show his own gf around the station, not even after the obvious awkwardness of him missing the mark on introducing her to his colleague. Basically, Eddie proving that being “dumb denial boy” really is his superhero persona.
I just love the animal conversation in the firetruck. It shows us so many things at once: that Eddie knows Buck incredibly well, that he can easily explain why Buck is so aware of every animal in the zoo, that he’s shown to know Buck better than anyone else on the team, that he speaks for Buck and explains things for him like a spouse would explain their partner’s little eccentricities (just like in 309 when he explains Buck’s fascination with natural disasters), that even as everyone else is exasperated with Buck right off the bat, Eddie is fully grinning (seriously, compare Hen not even paying attention to what Buck’s going on about while Eddie is soaking up every word and loving it), he’s just so smitten with everything about Buck, and of course that we get to hear that yes, Buck spends that much time with Chris. This is pretty significant in itself, but it also represents maybe the biggest thing about Buddie in this entire episode: the constant contrast between Ana and Buck, it’s practically screaming at the audience. Everything that Ana is supposed to be in Chris and Eddie’s life, but it makes Eddie panic, Buck IS, and it makes Eddie beam with joy. If the way Eddie looks at Buck in this scene isn’t love, IDK what is. And this show doesn’t either. I have raved in the past (in my first round of Buddie meta) about the speed and ease with which Eddie lets Buck into the Diaz family and how well Buck fits in, and I’ve said back then that Eddie is a closed off guy, so this is pretty special, what he has going on with Buck from practically the start. But the whole storyline with Ana emphasizes it even more and the choice to highlight just how close Buck is to Chris and how much Eddie adores everything about this man, even the stuff other people roll their eyes at, in the same episode in which we see Eddie almost choking over his gf getting even an inch into his real life… cinematic poetry.
That little moment when Buck and Eddie give Bobby the “sure” nod, and so in sync, before they laugh together! Please, these are sassy HUSBANDS being sassy together. How can we not stan?
Then we get another scene where I just adore everything… Eddie is on a bunk and Buck knows him so well, he can tell that Eddie’s not really sleeping, that Buck can come right up to him and start the conversation about what Buck is worried about. The worry itself and the insistence on finding out what’s wrong with Eddie (even when Eddie’s reluctant) where friends or colleagues would normally back down is obviously the stuff that the best marriages are made of. The way Eddie responds, that just like I pointed out in the 501 meta, it’s Buck’s worry that forces Eddie to admit the truth, both that what he’s been suffering are panic attacks and that the real reason for them is Ana, not the shooting. I also love Buck’s initial reaction. His “Since when do you panic?” echoes Eddie’s response last week. That’s not a small thing, they both know how cool and collected Eddie can be, even under fire. It points out exactly why it was initially hard for Eddie to accept that these are panic attacks (in addition to the macho BS). So Buck’s first reaction not only shows how well he knows Eddie, it actually also validates Eddie’s own initial reaction and thus, makes him feel more at ease going forward and sharing even more. This is just another part of why they work so well as a couple, err… team. It’s beautiful to see Eddie being able to admit the truth to Buck, but then Buck turns it around and dishes out the truth right back at him: that Eddie isn’t in love with Ana and shouldn’t stay with her just because Chris loves her. Eddie, in his mind, is being a good dad and grateful for what Ana has been through with him and, as I’ve said in my first round of meta regarding ep 210, Eddie is a man of duty. He sees an obligation and he wants to meet it.
Buck, who wears his heart on his sleeve, counters this sense of duty by bringing in feelings, and what’s the right thing to do emotionally. He complements and helps Eddie, forces him to listen and look at things from a different perspective, in a way no one else could. The exact words Buck uses are “I have been Ana” which are so interesting, ‘coz yeah, textually they point to Buck’s past romantic hurt, but they also cast him in the spot of Eddie’s gf. We’re not the only ones comparing the two, Buck himself makes the comparison between them and subtextually, this also brings up the differences between Buck and Ana. Where she failed to truly capture Eddie’s heart even months into the relationship (and while being more successful than any other woman since Shannon), Buck has been in the same position, of being new in Eddie’s life and having to “earn” Eddie’s trust and a place in the Diaz family, but Buck actually succeeded in that, where Ana failed, and a huge reason why is because Eddie willingly gave Buck his trust and that place in his and Christopher’s life. By using these specific words, the show basically begs us to notice what things should have been like between Eddie and Ana, and forces us to acknowledge that Eddie already has all of that, with Buck.
Lastly, the show tops itself, by following this scene with Chim opening up to Hen. It’s subtle, but you can see here the difference between what two loving but platonic friends being there for each other looks like in comparison. Hen checks in on Chim, but she isn’t completely preoccupied with Chim and Maddie’s home life in the same way that Buck’s focus, in the middle of what characters have repeatedly called “the end of the world”, is solely on Eddie’s wellbeing. Hen does care, she wants to know what’s up with Chim, she asks questions and gets him to spill, but it’s gentle probing, not a spouse digging into what’s going on with their partner. Also, this is just one scene. Chim’s entire story with Maddie’s PDD isn’t linked to Hen in the same way that Eddie’s arc with the panic attacks over Ana is linked to Buck. Then when it’s time to offer advice, Hen does so without inserting herself into the situation in the way Buck did when he cast himself in the role of Eddie’s gf in order to get to his best friend and point out what he should do. Buck and Eddie are friends, yes. And friends should be valued and celebrated! I adore every friendship on this show. But Buddie are also each other’s life partners and a juxtaposition of scenes like this is where you can really see the difference.
~~~ Thank you so much to the astounding @judsonryder for making my meta better with your gifs! If you like my perspective on Buddie, you can find more of my meta and fics here. Thank you for reading and for any like, comment and of course reblog! Writing these posts takes a lot and it makes me so happy whenever I see people enjoying them. xoxox
stormborns
ellievsbear
discoholicmusic
kianamaiart
prguitarman
dailybridgerton
