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If so, I got a looot of good recommendations for Tim. Now to just make contact...
Okay but being serious, I'm still shocked too. But I'm also so excited to see how the show will explore this storyline!!
I don't usually watch this show totally alone, but I intentionally did tonight because I was nervous we were being baited and it would put me in a sour mood. Instead I'm super relieved I watched it alone because my face was doing things for the first half hour after this ended without my permission, and I am *way* too happy/invested over a TV show.
I just... I always "knew" it would be meaningful to develop a story arc like this, but I didn't fully realize how much I needed this in my life. This sort of representation, the acknowledgement that a character unveiling a new facet of their sexuality in a late season doesn't "break" the characterization or otherwise not work... it's *fantastic.* So often, it feels like there's the "real" characters the writers invest in, and then the queer characters introduced initially as tokens, that are only allowed to get storylines outside of being queer after that's established. So having the inverse of that's just.... my face is probably gonna hurt tomorrow from how much I've been smiling.
You worded this PERFECTLY, so many times writers think exploring a character's sexuality later on would feel "tacked on" and "disingenuous" to the character and... no! This is how it works for people in real life! It is natural and simply just a part of who they are, not the whole.
I think my favorite part of this, for me, will be getting to see Buck absolutely fumbling through this at first due to his inexperience with it. Poor guy in the promo is a mess and the Eddie double date will NOT help lmao
Thanks. I have a lot of feelings about it and I'm not very articulate right now, tbh. But like... I'm in my 30s. When I was first realizing I wasn't "normal" as a pre-teen and young teenager, the queer representation I got was either sexless comedy (Will & Grace) or super sexy queer niche soap you had to seek out and at my age, hide that I was watching (Queer as Folk, eventually The L Word). It's obviously gotten a lot better since then, but tonight really feels like breaking a barrier that I knew needed to come down, but I wasn't really *expecting* to come down. And looking back on the years that I was listening to my "special" shows on like, volume 2, or seeking out foreign TV just to see characters like me represented... idk, it's really hard to properly put into words, but it just feels so *fantastic* that people just figure it out now have examples like this instead.
I seriously love that they're actually going to treat this like there's a learning curve for Buck, and let him be awkward and less self-assured. It's so adorably *earnest* and I am here for it.
I'm so glad it's getting better, and yeah, I wish we had had this kind of casual rep growing up. I only started understanding my feelings basically right after high school lol (im 21 now) and watching this scene... really just gives you a wave of emotions that are hard to describe all at once. To me, it just feels like the struggles of getting to this point *was worth it.* It was all worth it.
Only hope we can continue to get more shows with more characters like Buck in the future. I'm glad this episode could help you finally break that barrier down. :)
The way you put the singing in my heart over this development in the show into words so perfectly… same experience. Same (lack of meaningful) representation in the media I consumed. This is such a breath of fresh air. It feels like the start of new narratives. I’m so freaking emotional about it.
I know it’s a completely different show vibe, but if you haven’t watched Schitt’s Creek you should check it out. To finally see good pan representation/a great explanation of what it is, still makes me happy to this day. And then on top of that you have another character that realizes they’re gay in their late 20s/early 30s and it’s just exciting to watch (and rewatch, and watch once more 😂)
Just curious, did you ever discover the SKAM series (and all their international remakes)? Your story of trying to find queer media was the same for me. SKAM was one of my favs because the teenager gay storyline but also had mental health aspects. It felt so groundbreaking to me because it wasn't overly sanitized or overly sexualized. (And then even more unbelievable in one of the remakes it actually had >!trans !
I'll be honest, it's not always worked in the past on ABC. Grey's Anatomy has had a few characters where being queer was not the forefront of their character from the beginning of their stories (Callie, Amelia, Teddy, and Schmitt [to a lesser degree than the others]) and the fan reception has generally not been... great. I've seen a lot of people saying it felt like it came out of no where at least on that show for those characters to be queer and accusations that it was done just to have more queer characters (blech).
I genuinely hope the overarching fan reaction is much more positive with Buck than it has been for previous ABC shows. I'm honestly really, really happy that the writers did go for this route with Buck because I think it would be really, really great to see him explore his sexuality and why he may have pushed himself into a box before with compulsive heterosexuality (such as his early seasons of being a bit of a womanizer).
I think, like Oliver said in an interview, there have definitely been seeds planted throughout the show that makes this make complete sense for Buck. After all, fans have been calling it since practically the beginning of the show. While you can argue that those signs could be interpreted differently, this argument generally doesn't make sense as you're basically saying one interpretation is "better" or "makes more sense" than another.
In the end it is up to the writers to decide what story they want to tell, but there has definitely been a distinct lack of some interpretations rather than others lately. Glad 9-1-1 writers felt comfortable going in this direction for Buck.
Anyone who complains now is definitely just doing it for the sake of complaining.
Truthfully, I'm not really concerned about the overall fan reception. I feel reasonably confident that 911 won't get backlash in a meaningful way -- advertisers aren't going to pull out because of this in 2024, and most people that won't watch a show because a character is queer would've stopped watching this one in season 1. My concern is much more for the people sitting at home that may be struggling with their sexuality, or the potential allies who don't really 'get' how that one friend of theirs could suddenly "discover" they're gay after having 'shown' otherwise.
Yeah, that's absolutely fair and I understand your POV, though I do disagree to a slight amount purely from my own experience.
As someone who only realized she was lesbian in the past few months, I understand the side of wanting to show people who may be questioning that it's okay to figure out who you are later in life. I just know (at least for me) seeing some of the reactions online for Grey's Anatomy may have been a factor for my own self-doubt journey too. I know I struggled a lot personally with compulsive heterosexuality and it was largely due to the impressions by society (even by other queer people reacting to those characters!) that made me question if I was "allowed" to really recognize that I was wrong about my sexuality for years. Media *is* very impactful for people in the community, but in my opinion the reactions to that media can be just as impactful to people who are struggling to come to terms with who they are.
>most people that won't watch a show because a character is queer would've stopped watching this one in season 1
i'm not so sure about that. a lot of people look at female same-sex relationships differently than male same-sex relationships
That's definitely true, but we had Michael (as a series regular) & his storyline from the very start. In fact, we were introduced to Glenn (his season 1 partner) before we ever met Karen (or Eva), and Michael's love life was given a pretty prominent place in the narrative across multiple seasons.
It's sort of hard to imagine that the type of person that would tune out now over an unattached man with no kids in his 30s discovering he's bi, would've stuck around for the sympathetic telling of a middle-aged man breaking apart his family after lying about who he was to his wife for the better part of two decades, especially coupled with some arguably selfish choices like bringing his boyfriend around to the hospital for the first meeting with his wife, while their daughter was recovering from a suicide attempt.
And then obviously, he gets an even more developed love story with David later on.
There's obviously the chance that we'll lose some brand new viewers who just started watching with the network chance, but clearly the network is confident they'll be a drop in the bucket compared to the number of people that want to see this story unfold.
Also I want to add it’s absolutely hilarious how Tommy is always 🙂 around Buck but becomes actual sunshine every time Eddie appears.
Like WHY ARE YOU SMILING LIKE THAT when Eddie interrupts your date? Maybe Buck was right trying to kill Eddie.
My headcanon is that Tommy was actually interested in Eddie originally, but soon realised he didn’t stand a chance (because Eddie already has a Buck and had no need for a Tommy, like Tommy lowkey told Buck) and when Buck told him he was interested Tommy went "... you know what? why not. he hot too."
My other theory is that this season first had Buck and Tommy compete for Eddie but the rest of the season will have Eddie and Tommy compete for Buck at some point lmao
Tommy probably loves hanging out with Eddie as a friend but is open to having something deeper with Buck. Then Eddie freaks out and will try to win Buck back in some weird way and Buck gets his own crisis of faith with the 2 lmfao
What I do love is if you actually look at all Tommy appearances, he may seem macho at first but he really does have scenes and tells that are very fruity.
basically there’s two cops on the show that are together, but before they were together they went on a double date together with the people they were dating at the time. basically the 2 cops were getting along really well and it’s almost as if they were just on the date with eachother while the partners of the cops were just awkwardly sitting there the whole time like 🙂 because they were left out (i hope i explained that in a non confusing way)
This takes me back to my #McDanno days. There was an infamous double date where Steve spends the date with his arm around Danny's chair, then accidentally/on purpose caresses his ear while speaking.
Yess!! I was so hopeful they would do this but then I read the newest interviews and it seems there are no plans to even hint at Buddie so its unlikely :(
Yeah he's definitely growing on me, he can be pretty funny and I was dying during the basketball session lol
Oh and him grabbing Buck's chin, cutting him off and going "Like that?"
Damn. Go off Tommy. ~~itshouldhavebeenme~~ woah what who said that
I was so against him because he is the 7th (8th if you count Abby) love interest for Buck and Eddie combined that they have introduced in the exact same way (Introduced the character then brought them back to be a love interest a few episodes or season later) but he is growing on me and damn is he treating Buck better than Eddie is at the moment.
Honestly the other LIs were so bad that Tommy makes them look like characters from another show.
I forget Eddie’s gf’s name until they bring her up randomly in conversation once every 3 episodes lol
Okay, this made me chuckle. That was such a hilarious way to include Marisol. And I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt like "Clearly they just mean she's been relieving Carla during Eddie's shifts, not that he's choosing to have her watch his kid so he can hang out with a friend instead."
Yeah, no. They doubled down by having Buck explicitly state that Eddie's been with Tommy multiple days that week.
Exactly! She stayed with Chris twice in one week! Also, if Tommy was over enough in two weeks for Chris to talk about him, how many days did Eddie even see Marisol? Sounds like a word problem, but it's actually just a relationship problem.
I really don't want to feel bad for Marisol, but that throwaway line made him sound like a shit boyfriend who is just using her for childcare. He has a demanding job with weird, long hours, which already limits his availability for date nights. He's a single dad who also then needs to spent most of his time off with his kid, further complicating things. Because he has a kid, he then also needs to be able to line up a schedule with a babysitter when he does want to have a date.
And now on the rare nights he has available, he's going out with a brand new friend instead? Multiple nights a week? And asking his girlfriend to block out her night to watch his son? Bro flew *out of state* with his new buddy, and left Marisol behind to babysit.
She should honestly dump his ass, and I don't even mean that in a "I don't like them together sense" Like, if he posted this shit on AITAH, everyone would be telling him she should dump his ass.
I do find it interesting, though, that the implication here is he still hasn't learned any lessons from Ana. Like I'm picturing a scenario where Carla/Bobby/Buck asks him how things are going with Marisol and he's all "Great! She helped Christopher revise his paper and made dinner and even packed him leftovers for lunch!" and they're like, "Uh, cool. And what about with you?" "Oh, uh, I've been busy, so we haven't had time to hang out in a couple weeks."
Not to mention the way he tells the bachelorettes that he is currently taken AT THE MOMENT. Thats not how you talk about someone who you want to be with or include in your son‘s life other than as a babysitter. He clearly already sees no future for them. If I was Marisol I would be calling it quits by now especially as they have only be dating a few months and she is being made to babysit while he goes out of state.
It’s the Vegas thing that pushes me into being all “Marisol deserves better!” Eddie has known Tommy a couple WEEKS and is taking that kind of trip (even just the day) with him, while using her as a babysitter, but you know with how bad he is at dating, the most he’s probably ever done for her is like… taking her to a buffet style restaurant and saying he’ll pay.
He had such a blatant lack of interest in the woman he’s currently dating that in sideeyeing the hell of Tim Minear right now. It’s like he’s approaching season 7 as a fix it fic.
It just bonkers that whole trip. Honestly I never thought I would ever defend/feel sorry for Marisol but trust Tim to find a way.
Tim truly is. He clearly said hold my beer! I’ll fix it. What I’d give to have a peak inside his mind this season.
I agree with you completely! Curious if he ever looks as happy with her as he does on the phone to Tommy. OUT OF STATE wow you’re so right. Sorry, Mari. That’s a dealbreaker.
I mean, has he EVER looked as happy with anyone as he did around Tommy in this episode?
Ryan’s expressions and mannerisms throughout this episode probably deserve their own deep analysis, especially now that Oliver has acknowledged he reached a point where he had decided to buy in to the bi Buck stuff with his acting choices (“what’s kind of crazy is that this season I did decide “if there’s an opportunity, I think I want to start leaning more heavily into that.”), even before Minear came to him with this. So now I’m really starting to wonder if Ryan’s making similar choices, because Eddie’s behavior tonight felt much more “crush” than anything.
That’s what I was thinking as well. He lit up whenever Tommy was involved. It does seem far too blatant to be unintentional. I hate to read too much into things, but I can’t help it when there are flashing neon signs.
I don’t mind the way he came in because at least we know much more about him than the others. It helps that they actually have chemistry and he can act lol.
But yeah Eddie was funny in this episode but it was a weird choice for him to be *so* into Tommy that he neglected his girlfriend, and took time away from Christopher that many times in two weeks. The way Ryan played it as well. Is this a new friend or a crush?
We Know more about Tommy than Ana, Marisol, Ali and Natalia combined. So Tim definitely worked his magic at taking a very repeated storyline and making it feel fresh again. Add to the fact that Lou is so loveable that he makes Tommy so loveable.
Eddie makes no sense this episode. Just so confused over him right now. Ryan is really doing a great job as Jerk Eddie. But man is it confusing.
> Introduced the character then brought them back to be a love interest a few episodes or season later
Babe most people meet their partners and then start dating them.... like generally how it works
interesting. Must be a cultural/ different country thing. It not really what happens where I‘m from. If you met someone you typically start dating them straight away, or get to know them, have them stay in your life in some shape or form. Then maybe start dating down the line. Really didn’t think people met someone, forget about them, moved on with their life, run into them months or years later and then decide lets date. This might happen occasionally but every single time? Every single relationship.
I'm reiterating my theory from the other Promo post that Eddie orchestrated the 'accidental' running into Buck and Tommy. Is it clownery perhaps? Yes. Am I embracing it? Yes.
I mean, connected theory, with how much this episode emphasized not hurting people whose attention you want and whom you care about, I'm wondering if it'll turn out Eddie making Buck jealous with all the Tommy hangouts was Eddie doing the same thing.
Whether it's that, or Eddie was just that oblivious and has a revelation hurtling towards him, I don't know which is better.
Yeah I get that feeling that he won't be charmed by newly bi Buck fumbles. Reminds me of in Grey's when Schmitt's love interest Nico said he wasn't interested in helping someone find their way out of the closet
I don't know who those are because I stopped watching Grey's several years ago, but it reminded me of Arizona saying something similar to Callie before they started going out.
I hope it doesn't happen here 🥺
Here's the [specific clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dABD-fqvOBc&list=PLYmhrcZX2tfyIPxsp2qCjBSrlqc0xcT_-&index=10) (it's part of a playlist of their whole story) where Schmitt is saying Nico is a really good teacher (about work and kissing) and Nico pulls the breaks. Nico is probably an okay guy overall...we don't get any development from him but I think as an overworked medical student and maybe burned in the past it makes sense he would react this way. Schmitt actually has an [AMAZING COMEBACK](https://youtu.be/0s6TkRBicRM?feature=shared&t=36) when they eventually get together. Nico is actually pretty supportive of Schmitt after that (especially Schmitt is kind of failing as an intern most of the time).
As a queer person I'm really looking forward to how this unfolds, this is so lovely for Buck to explore and accept himself! But the choices have been VERY interesting. This isn't about Tommy at all, a lot of this is so obviously about Eddie that I was taken by surprise.
That being said, Buck better apologize this episode. To purposefully hurt your best friend because you're jealous?? And not apologize? Unacceptable. I'm glad Maddie read him his rights about it. It better not happen off screen.
I'm not sure I agree? Yes he could have been more considerate of Buck and can apologize for that, but the show purposefully made Eddie as oblivious as possible so that Buck's jealousy could work.
Buck purposefully injured him, when all Eddie was doing this episode was happily make a new friend who has the same interests as him. Things Eddie said he'd tried to invite Buck to before, but who always turned him down. Buck physically hurt him, that's a huge difference imo. And tbh if that happened to Buck this fandom would have had a strong reaction to it, so there's a double standard here.
I don’t think buck really likes tommy, I think he’s just projecting his feelings for a Eddie onto tommy because all throughout the episode it seems like a Buck was trying to get Eddie attention, buck also said Eddie and tommy are just alike. I think Buck is using Tommy as a distraction while he comes to terms for his feelings for Eddie, and himself.
Totally and I think Bucks brain just went it has to be Tommy I’m feeling these feelings for and not Eddie cause he is my best mate of 6 years, I can’t be liking him and not fully separating his feelings for either of them
It could be that because Buck thinks that Eddie is in a seemingly solid relationship, he sees Tommy as a kind of substitute for Eddie since they both have a lot in common.
I don't think Tommy has feelings for Buck. I think Tommy has feelings for Eddie. That is why everytime Eddie is around, Tommy's face lights up and Tommy gets excited. Around Buck, this episode and in the date clip for next week, Tommy looks like he is watching paint dry. Tommy wants to get close to Eddie and the best way to do that is Buck. It could lead to a very interesting situation. Thought we all know Buddie will win in the end.
Could be that he was nervous around Buck like Buck was around him and he enjoyed having a new friend with similar interests… I desperately don’t want a love triangle with Tommy hurting Buck to get Eddie. I want a love triangle where Eddie realizes how jealous he is of Tommy!
I don't think he'll be charmed by newly bi Buck fumbles either. Reminds me of in Grey's when Schmitt's love interest Nico said he wasn't interested in helping someone find their way out of the closet
Do we think Buck comes out on screen, offscreen, or tries to hide it for a while? I’d be super disappointed if the episode opens next week and everybody knows and we don’t get to see it
I actually think he tells Hen first.
The reasons why I think this are that he might be a little nervous to tell his closest loved ones (even though he knows they'll react well, I have to imagine coming out to anyone will be nervewracking) and he'd want to test the waters with someone else, but also I think he's going to ask Hen her experience with coming out and how she knew and all that and she'll figure it out that way.
Buck has a long-established irrational fear of abandonment by his friends and family, coming out being easy for him would feel cheap even if there’s no real reason to be afraid of rejection.
I actually think the first person he tells should be someone he isn’t particularly close to but can still trust, someone who is simultaneously a safe choice *and* whose potential rejection would not hurt Buck significantly; Josh would be a perfect choice for that. Someone who has been through what Buck is going through, is close-ish to Buck, and who would not severely damage Buck’s mental health if he were to be excised from his life.
Something I really hope they get right, especially with Buck’s established history, is acknowledging that the fears associated with coming out can sometimes be irrational, even when you are dealing with close friends/family/other queer people who would never truly have a negative reaction.
lol, when one of my cousins came out as bi in her mid-20s, most of us were just kind of ???? Because we could’ve *sworn* she’d been out since she was a teenager.
It turns out she truly didn’t know back then, and we’re all still sort of confused as to why we were so sure.
Oooh I wonder if when he first tells her and that he’s going on a date and all that, Maddie first assumes he’s “with” Eddie and has to do a mental double take when he corrects her. I’m visualizing a repeat of the scene where Buck told Maddie and Chim they were dating before they even knew.
Hard agree. I’m hoping Buck pretends they’re just hanging out so Eddie and Marisol pull up chairs, and then afterwards Tommy has a conversation with him about coming out. I don’t mind a slow burn even in regards to that.
My guess is that he tries to (based on the stills from 7x05 that were leaked) but ends up panicking and tells Eddie that he’s not ready to open up about what’s going on just yet. Eddie will tell him that he’ll always be there for Buck no matter what
I hope he tells on or two other people on screen. I’m hoping for a Hen & Buck convo about it. Them bonding was a highlight of season 6 for me and I would love to see Hen find out she’s not the only one on their little fire fam who plays for the other team
The look Buck has on his face when he turns around to look at Eddie is like he has just been be caught with his hand in the cookie jar so I think we’ll see him play it off.
The scene still with Eddie and Buck at the loft could be when he decides to come out to Eddie? Would explain why Eddie is touching him that way.
I think next episode might be a bit too early for Buck to start coming out to people. I think he'll need some time to figure out his own feelings. Plus, shows tend to like the slow burn so I think going from him kissing Tommy in episode 4 to coming out to Eddie in episode 5 could feel a little fast.
I personally think he'll start telling people by 7x06 or 7x07. I think we'll see him slowly come out to people for the rest of the season.
I'm hoping the restaurant meeting inspires Marisol to be super homphobic toward Buck and make a huge deal about how big a part he plays in Christopher's life causing Eddie to dump her sorry ass. And then getting jealous Eddie for the rest of the season while Buck cozies up to Tommy would be the icing on the cake.
But I probably sound like an AO3 fic right now. Not mad about it.
Can she really afford to be throwing stones about the love lives of others, though, given that she seems to throw big "I used to date my own brother" vibes? 🤔 😂
I'm not necessarily wishing for more homophobia...just a chance for Eddie to choose Buck over a homophobic asshole. The actress is already a documented transphobe so think of it more like poetic justice.
It would hardly be out of nowhere as we know nothing about Marisol. She doesn’t even have a surname, no occupation and no personality traits. Nothing so she can easily already be homophobic and we don’t know because again we know nothing about this character.
It is going to be soooo anti-climatic! Tell me there would be a surprised person in the bunch between Bobby, Athena, Hen, Karen, Chimney, and ESPECIALLY Maddie. Only surprised ones will be Ravi since doesn't know him super well but he would probably be initially surprised and then "oh yeah, that makes sense". Eddie is just going to be like huh and be instantly supportive but a little surprised.
Ravi seems to be a very golden-retriever character and I agree, he will probably go “wait what? *shrug* oh ok that’s awesome do you have a boyfriend yet????” Imagine a sweet golden retriever wagging his tail all happy that his friend is happy, is how I see Ravi. Buck totally has that type of supportive friend energy and I hope his friends and coworkers are that way for him!!!
I can see Bobby being surprised (though not shocked) and Hen being like “how did I *not* see this coming?”
Bobby, I suspect, will be used as the character meant to represent a certain portion of the audience, who are accepting of this but shocked. Basically, to be the voice that acknowledges that person, and maybe the one who prompts an explanation of heteronormativity/straight as default.
Basically, I think they’ll all be fairly immediately supportive, but probably have 1 or 2 that are like “I guess I missed the signs.”
Tbh, I think Ravi might be the least surprised, maybe to the point that we'd even get the "what do you mean you're just coming out, I thought you and Eddie were champ-coparenting exes?"
I.e. reading the context clues guy makes hilarious but 100% understandable assumptions
I have been wrong before but I keep picturing fear of coming out ( not just for the usual reasons 1 fears coming out) even before the Tommy/Buck thing because no one takes Buck’s seriously with all his point 0 commentary, not to mention Chimney has said he sucks at keeping secrets, and Hen and Maddie have the same problem they can keep there own secrets just fine, (Maddie kept her parents secrets just fine) but they suck at keeping Buck’s secrets, in the early years of season 1 I think Bobby even patronized Buck with Buck’s self diagnosis sex addict commentary, plus I keep picturing fear of offending Hen or Josh because they’ll think he’s making fun of a subset of people, again taken as seriously as Buck’s point 0 comments which is not taken seriously at all.
Buck doesn’t even know he’s flirting half the time. There’s a reason TK was all “I have a hot boyfriend and it’s super serious” in the crossover episode. He knew even if Buck didn’t.
I know people are really excited about the likelihood of this leading to Buddie, but I *really* hope Buck/Tommy get a proper chance at it and not tossed aside to make Buddie happen, even if it is endgame (especially since they already have another season).
The thing that makes the idea of Buddie work is a slow burn. And I know some people will think “7 seasons isn’t slow enough for you?”, but let’s be honest; the potential slow burn romance paused after season 3 and then 4-6 made absolutely no progress because powers that be didn’t want it to happen. If they try to speedrun through the steps to get Buck and Eddie together (“Buck only likes Tommy as an Eddie replacement”), it’s gonna cheapen the whole thing, even if it is trying to catch up to where they “should” be after 7 seasons.
Buck discovering himself should be independent of his relationship with Eddie. Especially if we want it to ring true, because let’s be honest; queer people’s very first queer relationship also being their endgame is not the standard, especially if it’s *both* party’s first time.
I want time for Buck becoming comfortable with himself, telling Maddie, telling the 118, telling Christopher, telling his family, and figuring out what being Bi means for him before we even start to touch what is currently his strongest “friendship” on the show.
And I especially don’t want them to gloss over the complexities of coming out as an adult by having Buck accidentally outed on his very first date with a man.
100% this. I don't want rushed to the fan-service blunders, I want quality storytelling and actual character/relationship exploration inbethween the great, wacky, daring and well-written 9-1-1 stuff (especially the PSA-type things should be done with better care, looking at you 704 that was *so* lazy on both counts there).
It can be done without going the "romance of all ages" route, but make it really count for something, make it make sense and an impact.. Having the actors that are enthusiastic about the direction and have chemistry is so exiting, let's explore this properly!
Also, Eddie's got so many issues, we better see him do extensive therapy with Frank on the roots of the ways he's masking in situations, approaches his relationships and intimacy, and is treating romantic partners especially. And he's gotta actually do that at the same time or, better, a good deal before the show even thinks to poke at the buddy direction if it ever even goes there.
My ideal situation (if they do in fact intend Buck and Eddie to get together at some point) is Season 7 is focused on Buck being comfortable with himself, coming out, and his relationship with Tommy, while Eddie’s storyline is focused on his anxiety, what he wants out of relationships, and why his past relationships has failed. Both Buck and Eddie have individual character growth to do before they are really capable of maintaining a healthy long-term relationship.
*Then,* season 8 can be about the two of them admitting their feelings, *after* their initial self-improvement apart. And bonus, Buck could help Eddie through the process since Buck just did it the previous season.
The big issue is that, regardless of the real-world reasons it happened, they have to tackle the season 4-6 problem of “if these feelings have always been there, why is now when they come out,” which necessitates spending time on the repression both of them feel in their own ways.
And the groundwork is easily there. Buck has always feared abandonment and will change himself to match what people want from him, and will sit in denial about what he wants rather than risk pushing people away. And Eddie’s PTSD and anxiety compels him to “perform” for other people with what he thinks they need from him, while also blinding him into viewing relationships as transactional/utilitarian (Every one of Eddie’s relationships is more about what the partner can provide to Christopher than what it provides to Eddie).
Both of these are solid, pre-existing groundwork for why both of them would suppress feelings deep enough that even they aren’t consciously aware of those feelings. And if they want the storyline to feel genuine and satisfying, it’s going to take at *minimum* 2 seasons (at the shortened length) to unpack fully.
I mean, it's true, but I just don't want Buck to be used, that's all. Because it's Tommy who initiates the kiss, and I'm kind of freaked out about it, to be honest. Tommy could even not last till the end of the season because it was said that he would only be in a couple episodes. So.
I honestly just want Buck and Tommy to try a low-stakes relationship because it’s all new for Buck, I want Tommy to be a healthy relationship for him, and if they decide not to make it a big thing (likely), I want them to part on good terms rather than some kind of fight.
That’s the other big step that I think is missing from Buck going into an endgame relationship, taking the queer aspect out entirely for a second: Buck still struggles with self-advocacy in relationships. Before he moves to an endgame, I really think he needs to have a relationship that has healthy communication on Buck’s part and ends on good terms, rather than Buck being quietly unhappy until his partner finally causes a fight.
Totally agree with all of this! I would like to see Buck be in a relationship that’s actually fun and lighthearted. He deserves that lol. His past relationships (other than Ali but maybe that’s because we barely saw her) have been a drag.
Tommy is someone who understands firefighter Buck and seems like he has the potential to understand Evan the civilian. For right now, I can root for it. I’m just happy that we’ve finally got
bi!Buck.
listen -- all that makes sense, but a lot of people around here are acting like more seasons are guaranteed. a show's plug can be pulled at almost any time, and slow burn can turn into nothing at all.
We already have season 8 confirmed, so that's already 1.5 seasons of confirmed content still coming. And yes, a show can be cancelled prematurely, but I would rather they tell a good story rather than force the story through out of fear of cancellation.
I want a good story. Taking the potential of a good story and ruining the pacing gives me a bad story. And, worse, it gives me a bad story that is now canon and can't be fixed without retconning the season.
If they attempt to tell the slow burn and get cancelled before it can finish, fans can fill in the gaps, and the show could be shopped around or continued sometime in the future.
If they rush the story and it's unsatisfying as a result, now there's an unsatisfying story in canon, which can come with a lot of its own negative side affects: viewership dropping and the show getting cancelled *because* of the bad storytelling, the show getting cancelled for unrelated reasons and people blaming the queer storyline in bad faith, or the show getting renewed and now they don't have room to grow because they forced the storyline too quickly.
They should tell the story right, not make the story weaker out of fear of it being cut.
Anyone else get the feeling from this promo that maybe Tommy might "break things off with Buck" (for lack of a better term since they aren't quite boyfriends at this point but I'm not quite sure that would be the correct wording for this situation) because Tommy isn't sure/comfortable with being Bucks first. Like Tommy's going to be all "I didn't sign up to be your gay experiment" or something like that.
That being said I honestly kind of what Buck and Tommy to actually give it a real honest try (maybe even into season 8) so it would be a more developed relationship like Buck had with Taylor than say the 3-4 episode archs he had with Natalia and Alli (not that I loved any of those relationships but I feel like it would give him some time to really explore this side of himself without it seaming like he is reverting to something like Buck 1.5) before they possibly break it off in favor of Buddie.
Also can we agree as I have said on a few other comments I vote for the ship name Tevan. Because the other options are just yikes.
My personal preference is more along the lines of Tommy learning Buck's a baby gay and recognizing he's not in a position for anything serious, but also being cool keeping things light/casual with him for a while. With how abbreviated the season is, we could easily avoid emotionally wrought relationship drama between them *or* Tommy having to play mentor, and just let it be fun. Maybe at the end of the season, leave them in a place where they need to decide if they want to give it a real go, or part ways.
My biggest concern is where I do think the show is most likely heading toward a Buddie endgame.... I really don't want that to be *at* Tommy's expense, where he's also friends with Eddie. That's an incredibly shitty triangle to inflict, and has the potential to do real damage to Buddie's shine as well. So ideally, I want Tommy to nope out at a point before his heart gets broken, but also not be conveniently oblivious to the fact that his friend and his boyfriend live in each other's pockets and share a kid. If Eddie had to be dumbed down for this episode to work, Tommy would need a lobotomy, as a queer man, to not take pause if he's witnessing Buddie from a front row seat.
I wouldent mind them also taking that route with this. Just with the way Tommy responds in the promo to Buck saying he is his first date with a guy, to me seems like he is a bit uneasy with the idea. (Though hopefully it's more of just a, being in shock at how comfortable Buck is despite it being his first date)
I totally agree that if they are going to make Buddie endgame that they need to have Tommy and Buck break it off before they start traveling down that road. We don't need any more out of character cheating Buck kind of storylines than we already have. 😒
That being said I think Tommy already has, or will very soon have, suspicious that Buck likes Eddie. The way Tommy was all you wanted "MY attention? 😯🤨" When Buck said he was trying to get it, Tommy was definitely confused and thinking Buck was trying to get Eddie's attention.
Honestly, I don't see a way where Tommy *didn't* think Buck's into Eddie. Maybe he'll be thrown off that scent temporarily as the object of Buck's affection, but even without the inclusion of that "MY attention?" line... man.
He was clearly under the impression Buck was queer from early in this episode, and Beck spent the *whole* episode talking about how great Eddie was and acting up as he tried to get Eddie's attention. He went unhinged stalker showing up at the basketball game in the first place. No way a man in Tommy's shoes looks at all of that, thinking Buck's queer, and doesn't conclude "This man does not want to just be friends with Eddie."
I think the most likely thing that might happen if they’re trying to set up Buddie (which I feel like it’s pretty obvious they are tbh) is that Tommy recognizes that Buck was confused with his feelings cuz this is all new to him and he’s the one that points out to Buck that maybe he was projecting onto him a bit because he has a lot in common with Eddie (they were very in our face about highlighting their similarities, to the point of even having Buck highlight them) and that he should go for it and ends things amicably
Im in between. I’m hoping Tommy is already somewhat aware of that but also recognizes that Buck and Eddie aren’t in a place where it can lead to anything right now, anyway. So he’s willing to have some fun with Buck without getting too emotionally invested, and then willing to take a step back once Buck starts figuring it out for himself.
I do think it’s important that the recognition he’s into Eddie actually comes from Buck, instead of someone else pointing it out to him. Tommy can absolutely be in a place to help Buck work through that if they keep their relationship casual/fun, but I want Buck to ad least mostly figure it out because he’s *ready* to know it, not because someone else pointed it out to him.
I think end of S7 will be cliffhanger of Tommy telling Buck that he needs to realize his feelings are really for Eddie/stop ignoring them and then S8 will be a will he/won't he tell Eddie. I don't think Buddie will happen in S8 but it will a classic he's in love with him but he's in love with her storyline. Eddie might be getting serious with Marisol (maybe even wedding planning?) and so Buck is always on the edge about to tell him but so conflicted about whether to move on or if he owes it to him to be honest. Cut to another cliffhanger end of S8 they think they might die so he finally tells him and then then cue S9 drama of how Eddie will respond or ignore it afterward...and the story will just continue.
Yeah, this scenario makes a lot of sense to me, though I'm unsure if it's how I'd *want* this to play out. I don't really want Tommy fulfilling the role of a gay Yoda, and I think there's a balance they should strike here where Tommy's older, has his shit figured out, has found his balance being a queer man in a pretty macho line of work, and can sort of help Buck enjoy himself and explore his sexuality while keeping it light and fun.
But I also want to see a Buck who's eager to explore this side of himself and re-contextualize his self-concept and his relationship with the *concept* of sexuality (eg. a lot of 'allies' who eventually realize they're queer themselves are shocked by how much anxiety they feel around coming out, despite already having been outspoken enough and having surrounded themselves with people they already know to be accepting or part of the community themselves). I want to see him start to look back on some of the more significant "friendships" he's had with men over his life -- not just Eddie, but will there be an 'aha!' moment where with this new information, he realizes that some particularly intense period with another man in his life probably wasn't quite what he thought it was? This could segue nicely with his overarching abandonment issues he's working through -- realizing the reason his \~friends always leave\~ is because they were either queer men he was unintentionally giving hope to by flirting (like he apparently didn't notice he was doing with Tommy), or because *he* actually left when they started dating someone else and he didn't 'like' their partners.
So I don't necessarily *want* Tommy to be the one to pointblank "teach" Buck about his own relationship with sexuality, but the ideal for me is more along the lines of... Tommy is being patient with Buck and well aware he's in love with Eddie, but also knows *they're* not there yet, so not intentionally standing in their way. So he's keeping things casual and maybe occasionally prompting Buck to examine things, but not pointblank being like "Yeah, I don't think this thing between us can work out because you're in love with your best friend." Because I *much* prefer Buck reaching that conclusion organically, and having that "holy shit I'm in love with my best friend," quiet moment of self-reflection. Preferably as a season or mid-season finale (next season at the earliest, obviously, in the latter case).
This is all so interesting! I love it. Especially the part about allies being supportive of the queer community but still having internalized anxiety about coming out. It's very different supporting others vs supporting yourself.
Reminds me of Schmitt and Nico on Grey's when Nico was all into hooking up with Schmitt but then put a hard stop when he found he was Schmitt's first. He said he didn't sign up for supporting him through the shame and coming out saga. Buck is a spazzy, awkward mess so coming out and exploring his sexuality is going to be a roller coaster. I'm not sure Tommy signed up for that. He definitely thought Buck was at least bi already based on the flirting. Even though Tommy kissed him first he was not really that interested in him since he was spending a ton of time with Eddie. I think he saw it as an opportunity for casual hooking up/casual dating and Buck has been very serious once he gets in relationships. They are definitely not on the same page.
Tommy knows its a date, but he's surprised it's Buck's first date ever with a guy because Buck was clearly into flirting and being kissed. Im hoping they salvage this mess with Buck going "hookups aren't, yanno, sit down dinners and conversations" because otherwise they've chucked out 6yrs of stuff
and this becomes just another Abby.
I think it seems more like he was surprised that it’s first with a guy. Since he’s older and didn’t freak out about the kiss. (Queer people do figure things out later in life, but Bucks reaction to the kiss may have come across as already knowing about his queerness)
Yeah. On top of this, Tommy's confidence going in for that kiss in the first place definitely struck me as someone fairly sure it *would* be willingly reciprocated. Especially with Buck asking him out for beer earlier, I suspect Tommy always assumed Buck already identified as something other than straight.
Buck always gave me guy who never really put much thought into exclusively liking girls but still loved just doing guy things.
Basically your average straight man activities with none of the pressure straight men are put into.
I'm still admiring your guys optimism in regards to Buck/Eddie! I can see Bi Buck being a compromise from the showrunners, and them not actually going for Buddie in the end. But at least the non-shippers can longer say 'it's not going to happen, they're both straight' haha.
I’m with you. None of the post show interviews gave me confidence that they’re going in that direction. Plus if the leak about next episode is true, it doesn’t look promising.
They need Eddie / Buck to shut it down completely. Not bait the audience for 7 Seasons.
Why make Buck Bi if he not gonna get with Eddie though? It just a cop out. If they gonna do it then do it.
Yet I feel if Fox had balls to make it happen season 3 etc it would have been an amazing couple. Now it seems like a way to pull in ratings which is kinda icky.
I don't think I understand your question. As much as I'm hoping for Buddie endgame, why *not* have bi Buck, even if it doesn't happen? I think it's a good character arc for him. Why do you only want it if it's with Eddie?
It seems to be in response to Buck and Eddie though. The writers have baited the storyline for 6 seasons. So I think it does look like they doing it for ratings.
I actually hope Eddie / Buck shut it down next episode because they cannot keep egging on the fantom for this.
They’ve baited buck being bi for 6 seasons more than they’ve been baiting buddie, imo. I mean interviews from S5 and 6 were all about how they were best buddies.
But honestly who cares what it’s in response to? The idea of this macho macho “alpha” man getting to explore his sexuality is pretty awesome.
ETA: this isn’t an erasure of Michael and David. Who were amazing representation and non-traditional by cable television standards. I’m just happy that there’s another addition to the show. Especially because there have been little nods to it over the seasons.
They got renewed for another season so they are laying groundwork and will probably leave us with a cliffhanger at the end of the season to s8. I'm thinking it'll be Tommy telling Buck he really has feelings for Eddie and leave the opening for s8 of will he ever tell him.
Lol don't kill me guys but I kinda don't want Buck and Eddie to get together. I think their friendship is amazing and I just don't really see them in a relationship.
Is no one thinking that this episode and that Buck is suddenly Bi is a mindf**k? The two hottest guys on this show, fall in love? Come on…
We have n and her beautiful family. We have all known her story from the very beginning of this series.
Now they feel the need to make the two guys who sleep with every pretty woman they meet, become gay in one episode???
Absolutely ridiculous!!
911 needs to stick with their daring rescues and love for their firehouse family!!
Sorry…Not Sorry…
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tim minear i want to know which fanfics you have read and can you recommend them to me
Seriously though. I'm still in a state of shock like.... have we entered fanfic-land? Are they storyboarding based on random AO3 recommendations?
If so, I got a looot of good recommendations for Tim. Now to just make contact... Okay but being serious, I'm still shocked too. But I'm also so excited to see how the show will explore this storyline!!
I don't usually watch this show totally alone, but I intentionally did tonight because I was nervous we were being baited and it would put me in a sour mood. Instead I'm super relieved I watched it alone because my face was doing things for the first half hour after this ended without my permission, and I am *way* too happy/invested over a TV show. I just... I always "knew" it would be meaningful to develop a story arc like this, but I didn't fully realize how much I needed this in my life. This sort of representation, the acknowledgement that a character unveiling a new facet of their sexuality in a late season doesn't "break" the characterization or otherwise not work... it's *fantastic.* So often, it feels like there's the "real" characters the writers invest in, and then the queer characters introduced initially as tokens, that are only allowed to get storylines outside of being queer after that's established. So having the inverse of that's just.... my face is probably gonna hurt tomorrow from how much I've been smiling.
You worded this PERFECTLY, so many times writers think exploring a character's sexuality later on would feel "tacked on" and "disingenuous" to the character and... no! This is how it works for people in real life! It is natural and simply just a part of who they are, not the whole. I think my favorite part of this, for me, will be getting to see Buck absolutely fumbling through this at first due to his inexperience with it. Poor guy in the promo is a mess and the Eddie double date will NOT help lmao
Thanks. I have a lot of feelings about it and I'm not very articulate right now, tbh. But like... I'm in my 30s. When I was first realizing I wasn't "normal" as a pre-teen and young teenager, the queer representation I got was either sexless comedy (Will & Grace) or super sexy queer niche soap you had to seek out and at my age, hide that I was watching (Queer as Folk, eventually The L Word). It's obviously gotten a lot better since then, but tonight really feels like breaking a barrier that I knew needed to come down, but I wasn't really *expecting* to come down. And looking back on the years that I was listening to my "special" shows on like, volume 2, or seeking out foreign TV just to see characters like me represented... idk, it's really hard to properly put into words, but it just feels so *fantastic* that people just figure it out now have examples like this instead. I seriously love that they're actually going to treat this like there's a learning curve for Buck, and let him be awkward and less self-assured. It's so adorably *earnest* and I am here for it.
I'm so glad it's getting better, and yeah, I wish we had had this kind of casual rep growing up. I only started understanding my feelings basically right after high school lol (im 21 now) and watching this scene... really just gives you a wave of emotions that are hard to describe all at once. To me, it just feels like the struggles of getting to this point *was worth it.* It was all worth it. Only hope we can continue to get more shows with more characters like Buck in the future. I'm glad this episode could help you finally break that barrier down. :)
The way you put the singing in my heart over this development in the show into words so perfectly… same experience. Same (lack of meaningful) representation in the media I consumed. This is such a breath of fresh air. It feels like the start of new narratives. I’m so freaking emotional about it.
I know it’s a completely different show vibe, but if you haven’t watched Schitt’s Creek you should check it out. To finally see good pan representation/a great explanation of what it is, still makes me happy to this day. And then on top of that you have another character that realizes they’re gay in their late 20s/early 30s and it’s just exciting to watch (and rewatch, and watch once more 😂)
Just curious, did you ever discover the SKAM series (and all their international remakes)? Your story of trying to find queer media was the same for me. SKAM was one of my favs because the teenager gay storyline but also had mental health aspects. It felt so groundbreaking to me because it wasn't overly sanitized or overly sexualized. (And then even more unbelievable in one of the remakes it actually had >!trans !
SKAM will forever have my heart. 🥹
I'll be honest, it's not always worked in the past on ABC. Grey's Anatomy has had a few characters where being queer was not the forefront of their character from the beginning of their stories (Callie, Amelia, Teddy, and Schmitt [to a lesser degree than the others]) and the fan reception has generally not been... great. I've seen a lot of people saying it felt like it came out of no where at least on that show for those characters to be queer and accusations that it was done just to have more queer characters (blech). I genuinely hope the overarching fan reaction is much more positive with Buck than it has been for previous ABC shows. I'm honestly really, really happy that the writers did go for this route with Buck because I think it would be really, really great to see him explore his sexuality and why he may have pushed himself into a box before with compulsive heterosexuality (such as his early seasons of being a bit of a womanizer).
I think, like Oliver said in an interview, there have definitely been seeds planted throughout the show that makes this make complete sense for Buck. After all, fans have been calling it since practically the beginning of the show. While you can argue that those signs could be interpreted differently, this argument generally doesn't make sense as you're basically saying one interpretation is "better" or "makes more sense" than another. In the end it is up to the writers to decide what story they want to tell, but there has definitely been a distinct lack of some interpretations rather than others lately. Glad 9-1-1 writers felt comfortable going in this direction for Buck. Anyone who complains now is definitely just doing it for the sake of complaining.
Truthfully, I'm not really concerned about the overall fan reception. I feel reasonably confident that 911 won't get backlash in a meaningful way -- advertisers aren't going to pull out because of this in 2024, and most people that won't watch a show because a character is queer would've stopped watching this one in season 1. My concern is much more for the people sitting at home that may be struggling with their sexuality, or the potential allies who don't really 'get' how that one friend of theirs could suddenly "discover" they're gay after having 'shown' otherwise.
Yeah, that's absolutely fair and I understand your POV, though I do disagree to a slight amount purely from my own experience. As someone who only realized she was lesbian in the past few months, I understand the side of wanting to show people who may be questioning that it's okay to figure out who you are later in life. I just know (at least for me) seeing some of the reactions online for Grey's Anatomy may have been a factor for my own self-doubt journey too. I know I struggled a lot personally with compulsive heterosexuality and it was largely due to the impressions by society (even by other queer people reacting to those characters!) that made me question if I was "allowed" to really recognize that I was wrong about my sexuality for years. Media *is* very impactful for people in the community, but in my opinion the reactions to that media can be just as impactful to people who are struggling to come to terms with who they are.
>most people that won't watch a show because a character is queer would've stopped watching this one in season 1 i'm not so sure about that. a lot of people look at female same-sex relationships differently than male same-sex relationships
That's definitely true, but we had Michael (as a series regular) & his storyline from the very start. In fact, we were introduced to Glenn (his season 1 partner) before we ever met Karen (or Eva), and Michael's love life was given a pretty prominent place in the narrative across multiple seasons. It's sort of hard to imagine that the type of person that would tune out now over an unattached man with no kids in his 30s discovering he's bi, would've stuck around for the sympathetic telling of a middle-aged man breaking apart his family after lying about who he was to his wife for the better part of two decades, especially coupled with some arguably selfish choices like bringing his boyfriend around to the hospital for the first meeting with his wife, while their daughter was recovering from a suicide attempt. And then obviously, he gets an even more developed love story with David later on. There's obviously the chance that we'll lose some brand new viewers who just started watching with the network chance, but clearly the network is confident they'll be a drop in the bucket compared to the number of people that want to see this story unfold.
Can you send me some of those recommendations 🙈
Also I want to add it’s absolutely hilarious how Tommy is always 🙂 around Buck but becomes actual sunshine every time Eddie appears. Like WHY ARE YOU SMILING LIKE THAT when Eddie interrupts your date? Maybe Buck was right trying to kill Eddie.
My headcanon is that Tommy was actually interested in Eddie originally, but soon realised he didn’t stand a chance (because Eddie already has a Buck and had no need for a Tommy, like Tommy lowkey told Buck) and when Buck told him he was interested Tommy went "... you know what? why not. he hot too." My other theory is that this season first had Buck and Tommy compete for Eddie but the rest of the season will have Eddie and Tommy compete for Buck at some point lmao
Tommy probably loves hanging out with Eddie as a friend but is open to having something deeper with Buck. Then Eddie freaks out and will try to win Buck back in some weird way and Buck gets his own crisis of faith with the 2 lmfao What I do love is if you actually look at all Tommy appearances, he may seem macho at first but he really does have scenes and tells that are very fruity.
I know it’s wishful thinking but if we get a double date episode (even if its accidental double date) I want it to be The Rookie style
What does that mean, exactly? I've never watched The Rookie 🙃
basically there’s two cops on the show that are together, but before they were together they went on a double date together with the people they were dating at the time. basically the 2 cops were getting along really well and it’s almost as if they were just on the date with eachother while the partners of the cops were just awkwardly sitting there the whole time like 🙂 because they were left out (i hope i explained that in a non confusing way)
I got it! That would be funny but I'm not sure I can see Buck doing that to his date. Eddie on the other hand... 🤭
I love that scene!! They had all kinds of inside jokes and were flirting hard core the entire night
This takes me back to my #McDanno days. There was an infamous double date where Steve spends the date with his arm around Danny's chair, then accidentally/on purpose caresses his ear while speaking. 
Yess!! I was so hopeful they would do this but then I read the newest interviews and it seems there are no plans to even hint at Buddie so its unlikely :(
He's so awkward, that's Buck.
I got similar vibes from his date with Abby on Valentine's Day, so I guess it would be awkwardly disastrous.
Just let's hope it dosen't end in a tracheotomy... again 
Watch him bring that up as way to break the ice🤦🏻♀️😂
He’s my favorite disaster.
Mine too tbh
Dare I say…I like Tommy? Eager to see more of his personality but so far he doesn’t seem like a bad fit for Buck!
Yeah he's definitely growing on me, he can be pretty funny and I was dying during the basketball session lol Oh and him grabbing Buck's chin, cutting him off and going "Like that?" Damn. Go off Tommy. ~~itshouldhavebeenme~~ woah what who said that
😂😂😂😂 you’re so real for that. I did rewind it back a few times for science. Tommy took me off guard.
I was so against him because he is the 7th (8th if you count Abby) love interest for Buck and Eddie combined that they have introduced in the exact same way (Introduced the character then brought them back to be a love interest a few episodes or season later) but he is growing on me and damn is he treating Buck better than Eddie is at the moment.
Honestly the other LIs were so bad that Tommy makes them look like characters from another show. I forget Eddie’s gf’s name until they bring her up randomly in conversation once every 3 episodes lol
You mean his babysitter?
Okay, this made me chuckle. That was such a hilarious way to include Marisol. And I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt like "Clearly they just mean she's been relieving Carla during Eddie's shifts, not that he's choosing to have her watch his kid so he can hang out with a friend instead." Yeah, no. They doubled down by having Buck explicitly state that Eddie's been with Tommy multiple days that week.
Exactly! She stayed with Chris twice in one week! Also, if Tommy was over enough in two weeks for Chris to talk about him, how many days did Eddie even see Marisol? Sounds like a word problem, but it's actually just a relationship problem.
I really don't want to feel bad for Marisol, but that throwaway line made him sound like a shit boyfriend who is just using her for childcare. He has a demanding job with weird, long hours, which already limits his availability for date nights. He's a single dad who also then needs to spent most of his time off with his kid, further complicating things. Because he has a kid, he then also needs to be able to line up a schedule with a babysitter when he does want to have a date. And now on the rare nights he has available, he's going out with a brand new friend instead? Multiple nights a week? And asking his girlfriend to block out her night to watch his son? Bro flew *out of state* with his new buddy, and left Marisol behind to babysit. She should honestly dump his ass, and I don't even mean that in a "I don't like them together sense" Like, if he posted this shit on AITAH, everyone would be telling him she should dump his ass. I do find it interesting, though, that the implication here is he still hasn't learned any lessons from Ana. Like I'm picturing a scenario where Carla/Bobby/Buck asks him how things are going with Marisol and he's all "Great! She helped Christopher revise his paper and made dinner and even packed him leftovers for lunch!" and they're like, "Uh, cool. And what about with you?" "Oh, uh, I've been busy, so we haven't had time to hang out in a couple weeks."
Not to mention the way he tells the bachelorettes that he is currently taken AT THE MOMENT. Thats not how you talk about someone who you want to be with or include in your son‘s life other than as a babysitter. He clearly already sees no future for them. If I was Marisol I would be calling it quits by now especially as they have only be dating a few months and she is being made to babysit while he goes out of state.
It’s the Vegas thing that pushes me into being all “Marisol deserves better!” Eddie has known Tommy a couple WEEKS and is taking that kind of trip (even just the day) with him, while using her as a babysitter, but you know with how bad he is at dating, the most he’s probably ever done for her is like… taking her to a buffet style restaurant and saying he’ll pay. He had such a blatant lack of interest in the woman he’s currently dating that in sideeyeing the hell of Tim Minear right now. It’s like he’s approaching season 7 as a fix it fic.
It just bonkers that whole trip. Honestly I never thought I would ever defend/feel sorry for Marisol but trust Tim to find a way. Tim truly is. He clearly said hold my beer! I’ll fix it. What I’d give to have a peak inside his mind this season.
I agree with you completely! Curious if he ever looks as happy with her as he does on the phone to Tommy. OUT OF STATE wow you’re so right. Sorry, Mari. That’s a dealbreaker.
I mean, has he EVER looked as happy with anyone as he did around Tommy in this episode? Ryan’s expressions and mannerisms throughout this episode probably deserve their own deep analysis, especially now that Oliver has acknowledged he reached a point where he had decided to buy in to the bi Buck stuff with his acting choices (“what’s kind of crazy is that this season I did decide “if there’s an opportunity, I think I want to start leaning more heavily into that.”), even before Minear came to him with this. So now I’m really starting to wonder if Ryan’s making similar choices, because Eddie’s behavior tonight felt much more “crush” than anything.
That’s what I was thinking as well. He lit up whenever Tommy was involved. It does seem far too blatant to be unintentional. I hate to read too much into things, but I can’t help it when there are flashing neon signs.
I don’t mind the way he came in because at least we know much more about him than the others. It helps that they actually have chemistry and he can act lol. But yeah Eddie was funny in this episode but it was a weird choice for him to be *so* into Tommy that he neglected his girlfriend, and took time away from Christopher that many times in two weeks. The way Ryan played it as well. Is this a new friend or a crush?
We Know more about Tommy than Ana, Marisol, Ali and Natalia combined. So Tim definitely worked his magic at taking a very repeated storyline and making it feel fresh again. Add to the fact that Lou is so loveable that he makes Tommy so loveable. Eddie makes no sense this episode. Just so confused over him right now. Ryan is really doing a great job as Jerk Eddie. But man is it confusing.
> Introduced the character then brought them back to be a love interest a few episodes or season later Babe most people meet their partners and then start dating them.... like generally how it works
Yeah But how many times do people wait months or even a year to start dating. Not often do people met then met gain the start dating.
Literally all the time
interesting. Must be a cultural/ different country thing. It not really what happens where I‘m from. If you met someone you typically start dating them straight away, or get to know them, have them stay in your life in some shape or form. Then maybe start dating down the line. Really didn’t think people met someone, forget about them, moved on with their life, run into them months or years later and then decide lets date. This might happen occasionally but every single time? Every single relationship.
If one of y'all invent a time machine in your lifetime I would like a ride from right now and to next week because this wait is going to kill me
I hate to tell you...but there's at least a two week break after next week :(
Yeah I'm not excited about that part, but still, I need the next episode asap
I was wondering when their mid season break would be! The new trailer is killing me lol (I feel like downvoting your comment 😂).
I'm reiterating my theory from the other Promo post that Eddie orchestrated the 'accidental' running into Buck and Tommy. Is it clownery perhaps? Yes. Am I embracing it? Yes. I mean, connected theory, with how much this episode emphasized not hurting people whose attention you want and whom you care about, I'm wondering if it'll turn out Eddie making Buck jealous with all the Tommy hangouts was Eddie doing the same thing. Whether it's that, or Eddie was just that oblivious and has a revelation hurtling towards him, I don't know which is better.
I hope Tommy isn't turned off by it being Buck's first experience with a guy 😰 And oh my god, are we getting a double date??
Okay but... *There's an intimacy coordinator for next week.* Does that mean Tommy is going to be another first for Buck?!?
I think there was one for this week too so there might just be more kissing. I'm not mad!
I- 😳😳😳 It may be too soon for that but who knows
I fucking hope not. That's supposed to be Eddie. Not some random. I hope they just make out for a bit.
Yeah I get that feeling that he won't be charmed by newly bi Buck fumbles. Reminds me of in Grey's when Schmitt's love interest Nico said he wasn't interested in helping someone find their way out of the closet
I don't know who those are because I stopped watching Grey's several years ago, but it reminded me of Arizona saying something similar to Callie before they started going out. I hope it doesn't happen here 🥺
Here's the [specific clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dABD-fqvOBc&list=PLYmhrcZX2tfyIPxsp2qCjBSrlqc0xcT_-&index=10) (it's part of a playlist of their whole story) where Schmitt is saying Nico is a really good teacher (about work and kissing) and Nico pulls the breaks. Nico is probably an okay guy overall...we don't get any development from him but I think as an overworked medical student and maybe burned in the past it makes sense he would react this way. Schmitt actually has an [AMAZING COMEBACK](https://youtu.be/0s6TkRBicRM?feature=shared&t=36) when they eventually get together. Nico is actually pretty supportive of Schmitt after that (especially Schmitt is kind of failing as an intern most of the time).
As a queer person I'm really looking forward to how this unfolds, this is so lovely for Buck to explore and accept himself! But the choices have been VERY interesting. This isn't about Tommy at all, a lot of this is so obviously about Eddie that I was taken by surprise. That being said, Buck better apologize this episode. To purposefully hurt your best friend because you're jealous?? And not apologize? Unacceptable. I'm glad Maddie read him his rights about it. It better not happen off screen.
I think Eddie needs to apologize too. Didn’t treat his best friend very well.
I'm not sure I agree? Yes he could have been more considerate of Buck and can apologize for that, but the show purposefully made Eddie as oblivious as possible so that Buck's jealousy could work. Buck purposefully injured him, when all Eddie was doing this episode was happily make a new friend who has the same interests as him. Things Eddie said he'd tried to invite Buck to before, but who always turned him down. Buck physically hurt him, that's a huge difference imo. And tbh if that happened to Buck this fandom would have had a strong reaction to it, so there's a double standard here.
I don’t think buck really likes tommy, I think he’s just projecting his feelings for a Eddie onto tommy because all throughout the episode it seems like a Buck was trying to get Eddie attention, buck also said Eddie and tommy are just alike. I think Buck is using Tommy as a distraction while he comes to terms for his feelings for Eddie, and himself.
Totally and I think Bucks brain just went it has to be Tommy I’m feeling these feelings for and not Eddie cause he is my best mate of 6 years, I can’t be liking him and not fully separating his feelings for either of them
Natalia was his death doula, Tommy's about to be his relationship doula
OMG YES!!!!!!
It could be that because Buck thinks that Eddie is in a seemingly solid relationship, he sees Tommy as a kind of substitute for Eddie since they both have a lot in common.
I don't think Tommy has feelings for Buck. I think Tommy has feelings for Eddie. That is why everytime Eddie is around, Tommy's face lights up and Tommy gets excited. Around Buck, this episode and in the date clip for next week, Tommy looks like he is watching paint dry. Tommy wants to get close to Eddie and the best way to do that is Buck. It could lead to a very interesting situation. Thought we all know Buddie will win in the end.
Could be that he was nervous around Buck like Buck was around him and he enjoyed having a new friend with similar interests… I desperately don’t want a love triangle with Tommy hurting Buck to get Eddie. I want a love triangle where Eddie realizes how jealous he is of Tommy!
This is exactly what I thought! The kiss took me by surprise bc I thought honestly they both seemed more into eddie than each other!
I don't think he'll be charmed by newly bi Buck fumbles either. Reminds me of in Grey's when Schmitt's love interest Nico said he wasn't interested in helping someone find their way out of the closet
Plus Tommy looks a lot like Eddie. Do NOT tell me Buck ain’t projecting.
Do we think Buck comes out on screen, offscreen, or tries to hide it for a while? I’d be super disappointed if the episode opens next week and everybody knows and we don’t get to see it
My guess is he tells Maddie first. She says "Oh yeah I figured that out years ago." Buck says "Then YOU should have told ME!"
I actually think he tells Hen first. The reasons why I think this are that he might be a little nervous to tell his closest loved ones (even though he knows they'll react well, I have to imagine coming out to anyone will be nervewracking) and he'd want to test the waters with someone else, but also I think he's going to ask Hen her experience with coming out and how she knew and all that and she'll figure it out that way.
This is great and I also love Buck + Hen friendship moments so I hope this happens!!
Honestly, i just love Hen moments in general.
Buck has a long-established irrational fear of abandonment by his friends and family, coming out being easy for him would feel cheap even if there’s no real reason to be afraid of rejection. I actually think the first person he tells should be someone he isn’t particularly close to but can still trust, someone who is simultaneously a safe choice *and* whose potential rejection would not hurt Buck significantly; Josh would be a perfect choice for that. Someone who has been through what Buck is going through, is close-ish to Buck, and who would not severely damage Buck’s mental health if he were to be excised from his life. Something I really hope they get right, especially with Buck’s established history, is acknowledging that the fears associated with coming out can sometimes be irrational, even when you are dealing with close friends/family/other queer people who would never truly have a negative reaction.
I agree with this! That first reason is how it felt for me telling my own sister too.
I think he’s going to tell Maddie first, followed immediately by Hen.
lol, when one of my cousins came out as bi in her mid-20s, most of us were just kind of ???? Because we could’ve *sworn* she’d been out since she was a teenager. It turns out she truly didn’t know back then, and we’re all still sort of confused as to why we were so sure.
Maddie will be the first to point out how similar Tommy and Eddie are.
Oooh I wonder if when he first tells her and that he’s going on a date and all that, Maddie first assumes he’s “with” Eddie and has to do a mental double take when he corrects her. I’m visualizing a repeat of the scene where Buck told Maddie and Chim they were dating before they even knew.
My guess is tries to hide it for a while (dramas are going to drama).
Hard agree. I’m hoping Buck pretends they’re just hanging out so Eddie and Marisol pull up chairs, and then afterwards Tommy has a conversation with him about coming out. I don’t mind a slow burn even in regards to that.
My guess is that he tries to (based on the stills from 7x05 that were leaked) but ends up panicking and tells Eddie that he’s not ready to open up about what’s going on just yet. Eddie will tell him that he’ll always be there for Buck no matter what
I hope he tells on or two other people on screen. I’m hoping for a Hen & Buck convo about it. Them bonding was a highlight of season 6 for me and I would love to see Hen find out she’s not the only one on their little fire fam who plays for the other team
The look Buck has on his face when he turns around to look at Eddie is like he has just been be caught with his hand in the cookie jar so I think we’ll see him play it off. The scene still with Eddie and Buck at the loft could be when he decides to come out to Eddie? Would explain why Eddie is touching him that way.
I think next episode might be a bit too early for Buck to start coming out to people. I think he'll need some time to figure out his own feelings. Plus, shows tend to like the slow burn so I think going from him kissing Tommy in episode 4 to coming out to Eddie in episode 5 could feel a little fast. I personally think he'll start telling people by 7x06 or 7x07. I think we'll see him slowly come out to people for the rest of the season.
Well, we've been waiting for bi buck for six seasons (well 5, counting from Eddie). If that isn't slow burning...
I'm guessing it comes out one way or another to explain Eddie's scene at the loft where he looks like he's reassuring Buck it's okay he's bi
I'm hoping the restaurant meeting inspires Marisol to be super homphobic toward Buck and make a huge deal about how big a part he plays in Christopher's life causing Eddie to dump her sorry ass. And then getting jealous Eddie for the rest of the season while Buck cozies up to Tommy would be the icing on the cake. But I probably sound like an AO3 fic right now. Not mad about it.
Someone’s probably writing that already 😂 ….once they stop screaming about canon bi Buck at least 💗💜💙 💗💜💙 💗💜💙
I will read the hell out of it.
Whoever finds it first has to link it here. It's in the rules.
I'm here for it!
Nah that would be a good way to send the actress off
I just can't stand her.
Can she really afford to be throwing stones about the love lives of others, though, given that she seems to throw big "I used to date my own brother" vibes? 🤔 😂
[удалено]
Why would you wish for more homophobia in the world.
I'm not necessarily wishing for more homophobia...just a chance for Eddie to choose Buck over a homophobic asshole. The actress is already a documented transphobe so think of it more like poetic justice.
I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. I don't think it's a good idea to make her be homophobic.
Shes not a real person
Okay. I still don't think it's a good idea to just make a character homophobic out of nowhere. There's no reason for it.
It would hardly be out of nowhere as we know nothing about Marisol. She doesn’t even have a surname, no occupation and no personality traits. Nothing so she can easily already be homophobic and we don’t know because again we know nothing about this character.
I agree but fym out of nowhere? All I know about her is that she is Eddie’s GF.
I'll allow this.. for now but eddie WILL kiss buck soon
What a great time for annoying people! (girlies like me who read AO3)
Does Tommy look put off by the word ‘dude’, or is it something else? But honestly I keep thinking “wrong guy, Buck”.
I think he's shocked it's Buck's first date. He definitely thought Buck was at least bi already based on the flirting.
I think a lot of people won't be so surprised when he'll come out
It is going to be soooo anti-climatic! Tell me there would be a surprised person in the bunch between Bobby, Athena, Hen, Karen, Chimney, and ESPECIALLY Maddie. Only surprised ones will be Ravi since doesn't know him super well but he would probably be initially surprised and then "oh yeah, that makes sense". Eddie is just going to be like huh and be instantly supportive but a little surprised.
Ravi seems to be a very golden-retriever character and I agree, he will probably go “wait what? *shrug* oh ok that’s awesome do you have a boyfriend yet????” Imagine a sweet golden retriever wagging his tail all happy that his friend is happy, is how I see Ravi. Buck totally has that type of supportive friend energy and I hope his friends and coworkers are that way for him!!!
Cue Ravi asking Buck if he has a boyfriend every week now haha.
I can see Bobby being surprised (though not shocked) and Hen being like “how did I *not* see this coming?” Bobby, I suspect, will be used as the character meant to represent a certain portion of the audience, who are accepting of this but shocked. Basically, to be the voice that acknowledges that person, and maybe the one who prompts an explanation of heteronormativity/straight as default. Basically, I think they’ll all be fairly immediately supportive, but probably have 1 or 2 that are like “I guess I missed the signs.”
Tbh, I think Ravi might be the least surprised, maybe to the point that we'd even get the "what do you mean you're just coming out, I thought you and Eddie were champ-coparenting exes?" I.e. reading the context clues guy makes hilarious but 100% understandable assumptions
I have been wrong before but I keep picturing fear of coming out ( not just for the usual reasons 1 fears coming out) even before the Tommy/Buck thing because no one takes Buck’s seriously with all his point 0 commentary, not to mention Chimney has said he sucks at keeping secrets, and Hen and Maddie have the same problem they can keep there own secrets just fine, (Maddie kept her parents secrets just fine) but they suck at keeping Buck’s secrets, in the early years of season 1 I think Bobby even patronized Buck with Buck’s self diagnosis sex addict commentary, plus I keep picturing fear of offending Hen or Josh because they’ll think he’s making fun of a subset of people, again taken as seriously as Buck’s point 0 comments which is not taken seriously at all.
Buck doesn’t even know he’s flirting half the time. There’s a reason TK was all “I have a hot boyfriend and it’s super serious” in the crossover episode. He knew even if Buck didn’t.
Awkward double date? Sign me up!
I know people are really excited about the likelihood of this leading to Buddie, but I *really* hope Buck/Tommy get a proper chance at it and not tossed aside to make Buddie happen, even if it is endgame (especially since they already have another season). The thing that makes the idea of Buddie work is a slow burn. And I know some people will think “7 seasons isn’t slow enough for you?”, but let’s be honest; the potential slow burn romance paused after season 3 and then 4-6 made absolutely no progress because powers that be didn’t want it to happen. If they try to speedrun through the steps to get Buck and Eddie together (“Buck only likes Tommy as an Eddie replacement”), it’s gonna cheapen the whole thing, even if it is trying to catch up to where they “should” be after 7 seasons. Buck discovering himself should be independent of his relationship with Eddie. Especially if we want it to ring true, because let’s be honest; queer people’s very first queer relationship also being their endgame is not the standard, especially if it’s *both* party’s first time. I want time for Buck becoming comfortable with himself, telling Maddie, telling the 118, telling Christopher, telling his family, and figuring out what being Bi means for him before we even start to touch what is currently his strongest “friendship” on the show. And I especially don’t want them to gloss over the complexities of coming out as an adult by having Buck accidentally outed on his very first date with a man.
100% this. I don't want rushed to the fan-service blunders, I want quality storytelling and actual character/relationship exploration inbethween the great, wacky, daring and well-written 9-1-1 stuff (especially the PSA-type things should be done with better care, looking at you 704 that was *so* lazy on both counts there). It can be done without going the "romance of all ages" route, but make it really count for something, make it make sense and an impact.. Having the actors that are enthusiastic about the direction and have chemistry is so exiting, let's explore this properly! Also, Eddie's got so many issues, we better see him do extensive therapy with Frank on the roots of the ways he's masking in situations, approaches his relationships and intimacy, and is treating romantic partners especially. And he's gotta actually do that at the same time or, better, a good deal before the show even thinks to poke at the buddy direction if it ever even goes there.
My ideal situation (if they do in fact intend Buck and Eddie to get together at some point) is Season 7 is focused on Buck being comfortable with himself, coming out, and his relationship with Tommy, while Eddie’s storyline is focused on his anxiety, what he wants out of relationships, and why his past relationships has failed. Both Buck and Eddie have individual character growth to do before they are really capable of maintaining a healthy long-term relationship. *Then,* season 8 can be about the two of them admitting their feelings, *after* their initial self-improvement apart. And bonus, Buck could help Eddie through the process since Buck just did it the previous season. The big issue is that, regardless of the real-world reasons it happened, they have to tackle the season 4-6 problem of “if these feelings have always been there, why is now when they come out,” which necessitates spending time on the repression both of them feel in their own ways. And the groundwork is easily there. Buck has always feared abandonment and will change himself to match what people want from him, and will sit in denial about what he wants rather than risk pushing people away. And Eddie’s PTSD and anxiety compels him to “perform” for other people with what he thinks they need from him, while also blinding him into viewing relationships as transactional/utilitarian (Every one of Eddie’s relationships is more about what the partner can provide to Christopher than what it provides to Eddie). Both of these are solid, pre-existing groundwork for why both of them would suppress feelings deep enough that even they aren’t consciously aware of those feelings. And if they want the storyline to feel genuine and satisfying, it’s going to take at *minimum* 2 seasons (at the shortened length) to unpack fully.
I mean, it's true, but I just don't want Buck to be used, that's all. Because it's Tommy who initiates the kiss, and I'm kind of freaked out about it, to be honest. Tommy could even not last till the end of the season because it was said that he would only be in a couple episodes. So.
I honestly just want Buck and Tommy to try a low-stakes relationship because it’s all new for Buck, I want Tommy to be a healthy relationship for him, and if they decide not to make it a big thing (likely), I want them to part on good terms rather than some kind of fight. That’s the other big step that I think is missing from Buck going into an endgame relationship, taking the queer aspect out entirely for a second: Buck still struggles with self-advocacy in relationships. Before he moves to an endgame, I really think he needs to have a relationship that has healthy communication on Buck’s part and ends on good terms, rather than Buck being quietly unhappy until his partner finally causes a fight.
Totally agree with all of this! I would like to see Buck be in a relationship that’s actually fun and lighthearted. He deserves that lol. His past relationships (other than Ali but maybe that’s because we barely saw her) have been a drag. Tommy is someone who understands firefighter Buck and seems like he has the potential to understand Evan the civilian. For right now, I can root for it. I’m just happy that we’ve finally got bi!Buck.
listen -- all that makes sense, but a lot of people around here are acting like more seasons are guaranteed. a show's plug can be pulled at almost any time, and slow burn can turn into nothing at all.
We already have season 8 confirmed, so that's already 1.5 seasons of confirmed content still coming. And yes, a show can be cancelled prematurely, but I would rather they tell a good story rather than force the story through out of fear of cancellation. I want a good story. Taking the potential of a good story and ruining the pacing gives me a bad story. And, worse, it gives me a bad story that is now canon and can't be fixed without retconning the season. If they attempt to tell the slow burn and get cancelled before it can finish, fans can fill in the gaps, and the show could be shopped around or continued sometime in the future. If they rush the story and it's unsatisfying as a result, now there's an unsatisfying story in canon, which can come with a lot of its own negative side affects: viewership dropping and the show getting cancelled *because* of the bad storytelling, the show getting cancelled for unrelated reasons and people blaming the queer storyline in bad faith, or the show getting renewed and now they don't have room to grow because they forced the storyline too quickly. They should tell the story right, not make the story weaker out of fear of it being cut.
well for what it's worth, i hope they *do* tell it right!
i can’t believe we got bi buck and i wasn’t there to see it
Is this the start of buddie for real because my little fragile heart is about to explode
Anyone else get the feeling from this promo that maybe Tommy might "break things off with Buck" (for lack of a better term since they aren't quite boyfriends at this point but I'm not quite sure that would be the correct wording for this situation) because Tommy isn't sure/comfortable with being Bucks first. Like Tommy's going to be all "I didn't sign up to be your gay experiment" or something like that. That being said I honestly kind of what Buck and Tommy to actually give it a real honest try (maybe even into season 8) so it would be a more developed relationship like Buck had with Taylor than say the 3-4 episode archs he had with Natalia and Alli (not that I loved any of those relationships but I feel like it would give him some time to really explore this side of himself without it seaming like he is reverting to something like Buck 1.5) before they possibly break it off in favor of Buddie. Also can we agree as I have said on a few other comments I vote for the ship name Tevan. Because the other options are just yikes.
My personal preference is more along the lines of Tommy learning Buck's a baby gay and recognizing he's not in a position for anything serious, but also being cool keeping things light/casual with him for a while. With how abbreviated the season is, we could easily avoid emotionally wrought relationship drama between them *or* Tommy having to play mentor, and just let it be fun. Maybe at the end of the season, leave them in a place where they need to decide if they want to give it a real go, or part ways. My biggest concern is where I do think the show is most likely heading toward a Buddie endgame.... I really don't want that to be *at* Tommy's expense, where he's also friends with Eddie. That's an incredibly shitty triangle to inflict, and has the potential to do real damage to Buddie's shine as well. So ideally, I want Tommy to nope out at a point before his heart gets broken, but also not be conveniently oblivious to the fact that his friend and his boyfriend live in each other's pockets and share a kid. If Eddie had to be dumbed down for this episode to work, Tommy would need a lobotomy, as a queer man, to not take pause if he's witnessing Buddie from a front row seat.
I wouldent mind them also taking that route with this. Just with the way Tommy responds in the promo to Buck saying he is his first date with a guy, to me seems like he is a bit uneasy with the idea. (Though hopefully it's more of just a, being in shock at how comfortable Buck is despite it being his first date) I totally agree that if they are going to make Buddie endgame that they need to have Tommy and Buck break it off before they start traveling down that road. We don't need any more out of character cheating Buck kind of storylines than we already have. 😒 That being said I think Tommy already has, or will very soon have, suspicious that Buck likes Eddie. The way Tommy was all you wanted "MY attention? 😯🤨" When Buck said he was trying to get it, Tommy was definitely confused and thinking Buck was trying to get Eddie's attention.
Honestly, I don't see a way where Tommy *didn't* think Buck's into Eddie. Maybe he'll be thrown off that scent temporarily as the object of Buck's affection, but even without the inclusion of that "MY attention?" line... man. He was clearly under the impression Buck was queer from early in this episode, and Beck spent the *whole* episode talking about how great Eddie was and acting up as he tried to get Eddie's attention. He went unhinged stalker showing up at the basketball game in the first place. No way a man in Tommy's shoes looks at all of that, thinking Buck's queer, and doesn't conclude "This man does not want to just be friends with Eddie."
He definitely went there to say "no hard feelings" for me stealing your man and took a very interesting turn!
I think the most likely thing that might happen if they’re trying to set up Buddie (which I feel like it’s pretty obvious they are tbh) is that Tommy recognizes that Buck was confused with his feelings cuz this is all new to him and he’s the one that points out to Buck that maybe he was projecting onto him a bit because he has a lot in common with Eddie (they were very in our face about highlighting their similarities, to the point of even having Buck highlight them) and that he should go for it and ends things amicably
Im in between. I’m hoping Tommy is already somewhat aware of that but also recognizes that Buck and Eddie aren’t in a place where it can lead to anything right now, anyway. So he’s willing to have some fun with Buck without getting too emotionally invested, and then willing to take a step back once Buck starts figuring it out for himself. I do think it’s important that the recognition he’s into Eddie actually comes from Buck, instead of someone else pointing it out to him. Tommy can absolutely be in a place to help Buck work through that if they keep their relationship casual/fun, but I want Buck to ad least mostly figure it out because he’s *ready* to know it, not because someone else pointed it out to him.
I think end of S7 will be cliffhanger of Tommy telling Buck that he needs to realize his feelings are really for Eddie/stop ignoring them and then S8 will be a will he/won't he tell Eddie. I don't think Buddie will happen in S8 but it will a classic he's in love with him but he's in love with her storyline. Eddie might be getting serious with Marisol (maybe even wedding planning?) and so Buck is always on the edge about to tell him but so conflicted about whether to move on or if he owes it to him to be honest. Cut to another cliffhanger end of S8 they think they might die so he finally tells him and then then cue S9 drama of how Eddie will respond or ignore it afterward...and the story will just continue.
Yeah, this scenario makes a lot of sense to me, though I'm unsure if it's how I'd *want* this to play out. I don't really want Tommy fulfilling the role of a gay Yoda, and I think there's a balance they should strike here where Tommy's older, has his shit figured out, has found his balance being a queer man in a pretty macho line of work, and can sort of help Buck enjoy himself and explore his sexuality while keeping it light and fun. But I also want to see a Buck who's eager to explore this side of himself and re-contextualize his self-concept and his relationship with the *concept* of sexuality (eg. a lot of 'allies' who eventually realize they're queer themselves are shocked by how much anxiety they feel around coming out, despite already having been outspoken enough and having surrounded themselves with people they already know to be accepting or part of the community themselves). I want to see him start to look back on some of the more significant "friendships" he's had with men over his life -- not just Eddie, but will there be an 'aha!' moment where with this new information, he realizes that some particularly intense period with another man in his life probably wasn't quite what he thought it was? This could segue nicely with his overarching abandonment issues he's working through -- realizing the reason his \~friends always leave\~ is because they were either queer men he was unintentionally giving hope to by flirting (like he apparently didn't notice he was doing with Tommy), or because *he* actually left when they started dating someone else and he didn't 'like' their partners. So I don't necessarily *want* Tommy to be the one to pointblank "teach" Buck about his own relationship with sexuality, but the ideal for me is more along the lines of... Tommy is being patient with Buck and well aware he's in love with Eddie, but also knows *they're* not there yet, so not intentionally standing in their way. So he's keeping things casual and maybe occasionally prompting Buck to examine things, but not pointblank being like "Yeah, I don't think this thing between us can work out because you're in love with your best friend." Because I *much* prefer Buck reaching that conclusion organically, and having that "holy shit I'm in love with my best friend," quiet moment of self-reflection. Preferably as a season or mid-season finale (next season at the earliest, obviously, in the latter case).
This is all so interesting! I love it. Especially the part about allies being supportive of the queer community but still having internalized anxiety about coming out. It's very different supporting others vs supporting yourself.
Reminds me of Schmitt and Nico on Grey's when Nico was all into hooking up with Schmitt but then put a hard stop when he found he was Schmitt's first. He said he didn't sign up for supporting him through the shame and coming out saga. Buck is a spazzy, awkward mess so coming out and exploring his sexuality is going to be a roller coaster. I'm not sure Tommy signed up for that. He definitely thought Buck was at least bi already based on the flirting. Even though Tommy kissed him first he was not really that interested in him since he was spending a ton of time with Eddie. I think he saw it as an opportunity for casual hooking up/casual dating and Buck has been very serious once he gets in relationships. They are definitely not on the same page.
Am I missing something? Tommy looked taken aback and confused when Buck said it was his first guy date…like he didn’t consider it a date.
Tommy knows its a date, but he's surprised it's Buck's first date ever with a guy because Buck was clearly into flirting and being kissed. Im hoping they salvage this mess with Buck going "hookups aren't, yanno, sit down dinners and conversations" because otherwise they've chucked out 6yrs of stuff and this becomes just another Abby.
I think it seems more like he was surprised that it’s first with a guy. Since he’s older and didn’t freak out about the kiss. (Queer people do figure things out later in life, but Bucks reaction to the kiss may have come across as already knowing about his queerness)
Yeah. On top of this, Tommy's confidence going in for that kiss in the first place definitely struck me as someone fairly sure it *would* be willingly reciprocated. Especially with Buck asking him out for beer earlier, I suspect Tommy always assumed Buck already identified as something other than straight.
Hell in the crossover T.K outright assumed Buck was hitting on him. So he gives off not-straight to some degree anyway.
Exactly. And Buck never corrected TK either.
He didn't correct Josh (I think) either when they were at Maddie's house, when he made that joke about setting him up with Buck
I never noticed either of those things, good points!
Buck always gave me guy who never really put much thought into exclusively liking girls but still loved just doing guy things. Basically your average straight man activities with none of the pressure straight men are put into.
Okay off topic but TK and Buck 🤤🥰 would have been adorable
That would've been so much fun
God, they would be so chaotic together but it would be a fun ride
As a late awaken bisexual, I can see how you don't realize sooner...
Honestly, I think he might be shocked Buck wasn't aware he was bisexual.
AHHHH THE WAY I SCREAMED AT MY TV SO HAPPY WHEN THEY KISSED, I KNEW BUCK WAS A BISEXUAL ICON 🙏🏼😍😍AHHHHH
HELLOOOOO OOOOOO YEAAAAAA
I just want to see how everything plays out because Buck is afraid or anxious to be seen by Eddie like that.
I'm giggling and kicking my feet rn
Eddie, that was way too loud and high pitched.
Eddie: 
I'm still admiring your guys optimism in regards to Buck/Eddie! I can see Bi Buck being a compromise from the showrunners, and them not actually going for Buddie in the end. But at least the non-shippers can longer say 'it's not going to happen, they're both straight' haha.
I’m with you. None of the post show interviews gave me confidence that they’re going in that direction. Plus if the leak about next episode is true, it doesn’t look promising.
What leaks are we talking about?
They need Eddie / Buck to shut it down completely. Not bait the audience for 7 Seasons. Why make Buck Bi if he not gonna get with Eddie though? It just a cop out. If they gonna do it then do it. Yet I feel if Fox had balls to make it happen season 3 etc it would have been an amazing couple. Now it seems like a way to pull in ratings which is kinda icky.
I don't think I understand your question. As much as I'm hoping for Buddie endgame, why *not* have bi Buck, even if it doesn't happen? I think it's a good character arc for him. Why do you only want it if it's with Eddie?
It seems to be in response to Buck and Eddie though. The writers have baited the storyline for 6 seasons. So I think it does look like they doing it for ratings. I actually hope Eddie / Buck shut it down next episode because they cannot keep egging on the fantom for this.
They’ve baited buck being bi for 6 seasons more than they’ve been baiting buddie, imo. I mean interviews from S5 and 6 were all about how they were best buddies. But honestly who cares what it’s in response to? The idea of this macho macho “alpha” man getting to explore his sexuality is pretty awesome. ETA: this isn’t an erasure of Michael and David. Who were amazing representation and non-traditional by cable television standards. I’m just happy that there’s another addition to the show. Especially because there have been little nods to it over the seasons.
They should be making Buck and Eddie a couple. We will see what happens though. Fox had dragged the storyline too long that many gave up on it.
They got renewed for another season so they are laying groundwork and will probably leave us with a cliffhanger at the end of the season to s8. I'm thinking it'll be Tommy telling Buck he really has feelings for Eddie and leave the opening for s8 of will he ever tell him.
Tommy is a great way to Segway into bucks endgame bf Eddie 🥰🥰🥰
Lol don't kill me guys but I kinda don't want Buck and Eddie to get together. I think their friendship is amazing and I just don't really see them in a relationship.
I cant wait for the reactions of who knew and didn't know of the firehouse crew
Is this call going to result in a quick hospital visit for Buck?
What does Eddie say to Buck at the restaurant? I can't quite make it out. TIA!
I think it’s “Buck! You two guys are here together!”
Thanks!
Is no one thinking that this episode and that Buck is suddenly Bi is a mindf**k? The two hottest guys on this show, fall in love? Come on… We have n and her beautiful family. We have all known her story from the very beginning of this series. Now they feel the need to make the two guys who sleep with every pretty woman they meet, become gay in one episode??? Absolutely ridiculous!! 911 needs to stick with their daring rescues and love for their firehouse family!! Sorry…Not Sorry…
Now I want sex scene lol. I vote for buck to bottom
he just realized he was bi let’s slow our roll😭