#911 discourse

[kinardsboy]

Just so you know, if you see a scene where two grown consenting adult men are making out and going to have sex and your first thought is “how can I make this seem immoral?” Youre a homophobe.

If you see Buck ask to take Tommy home and immediately assume that Tommy took advantage of him because Buck was drinking, youre a homophobe.

That is a genuine right wing tactic to fear monger and make gay men look predatory. And you are actively participating in it in the name of a ship with a straight man.

[louferrignojrofficial]

no because what do you mean the guy buck was dating for a full season is back and they made out on screen and discussed getting back together mere episodes after they broke up, where buck couldn’t stop thinking about him, so much so, he took to baking constantly even at work. but all anyone can talk about, even journalists talking to oliver, is eddie.

and i’m saying this in a derogatory way. not a fun way. because this is an actual canon mlm relationship we were seeing on screen and there is little to no attention on them until it’s about them breaking up or how buddie can happen.

[thestrangestthlng]

I want to challenge us all to step outside of our fan brains (some sometimes rot; it happens to us all) an watch the story that is being told to us explicitly. Remember, this show is not subtle. It is the very opposite of subtle.

The episode opens with Buck getting his stuff moved into the (not Eddie’s because Eddie was a renter) house by very unhelpful movers. He’s anxious and timid. We’re immediately reminded of the ghosts that haunt that narrative. Buck is just taking heaping slice after heaping slice of abandonment issues pie.

The opening emergency screams in our face themes of second chances (i.e. Buck getting a second change to save someone by just taking his hand, a nod to 1x02 where he lost Devin.)

He goes to stay with his sister and we get their first of two talks of the episode. [Here I want to note that the purposes of these talks are exposition. These serve as a direct line of interiority from Buck to the audience.]

B: … it doesn’t feel like my new place. It feels like Eddie’s old one, which is trickier than I expected. Everywhere I look its just one big reminder that my best friend is gone… and it sucks. M: As your big sister I’m going to have to give you some uncomfortable advice… make new friends.

Then we have Buck being awkward and weird with Ravi where it’s obvious that he’s trying to replace Eddie in a sense. That was Eddie’s favorite… etc etc Ravi fought for his life in that bar where Buck drunkenly continues to talk about Eddie. His best friend. This ties back into the opening emergency where Bobby kept calling Ravi ‘Eddie’. He is a stand in for Eddie. So Eddie would never do anything illegal, Eddie took me here, Eddie played quarters.

What happens when Ravi is over it? He took a second out to go to the bar and runs into Tommy. Ravi is like thank god, here’s my out. You know what stops being mentioned more than time? Eddie.

In the conversation Eddie is not haunting that narrative. He’s haunting the friendship narrative.

T: You know; I’ve been fighting the urge to call you for months…

This is a direct narrative parallel to Buck baking every time wants to call Tommy. A fact the audience has been reminded of every episode since the breakup. Every episode specifically mentions him except Sob Stories (which had a lot of other shit going on).

Buck shoots his shot and like a moth to a flame, Tommy was like lessgo. We see them Tarlos style tumble into the house (which as you know ended in an eh, it was cool, I’ll see you around, but we know how their story ended) and they were so wrapped up in each other that Tommy didn’t even realize they were in a house he had been in multiple times before they were physically in it.

Wham bam thank you ma’am.

The next morning opens with Buck thinking that Tommy left because the side of the bare ass mattress was empty. The kitchen scene opens with Tommy putting some bodega champagne in the freezer (likely for mimosas—regardless a celebration). A brunch spread large enough for a family spread out on that tiny counter. His coffee maker unpacked and set out. (Something is to be said about Tommy being the first person to unpack something in the house.)

Buck tells him that’s the best night he’s had in the house yet… even though it’s the first night.

They banter and they are so close to being back together, but Tommy lets his insecurities show and Buck, who has been emotionally dysregulated since November lashes out and immediately regrets it.

Tommy leaves, but this time it doesn’t feel final.

In the next rescue of the wife in the garden, he makes the assentation that “Long term relationships are hard,”—acknowledging that there are going to be hard times and miscommunications

We have our second sibling talk of the episode where Buck is back staying with her.

B: What is that even supposed to mean? I’m living in Eddie’s old house, therefore I must be in love with him (confused question mark)?? M: Are you? B: (Flabbers are ghasted) With Eddie?? M: It wouldn’t be so crazy. B: (confident and without hesitation) Except that I’m not. As much as everyone seems to want me to be hopelessly pining for my straight best friend. It just isn’t like that… does not having him in my life and in the field leave a big hole? Yeah, it does, sure. M: Okay, so did you explain that to Tommy? B: (visibly regretful) In the meanest way possible. I understand him feeling threatened by what me and Eddie have. But he seemed so relieved that he was gone.

(of note, it seemed like that to Buck, not to the audience. It was passing insecurity to the audience. But we know we can be really unreliable narrators of our own conversations.)

B: (continuing) It felt like he was accusing me of something. Is this what he was thinking the whole time we were together? M: I don’t know. (You need to use your big boy words and ask him yourself, bestie) B: It just it sucks. It was the first night that I was actually able to sleep in this place. M: Okay, maybe you shouldn’t be living there. You said that you haven’t even unpacked yet. B: Yeah, um. I think maybe I don’t wanna unpack because as soon as I do that it means Eddie and Chris aren’t coming back. For real. […] I should call him, huh. (Tommy, duh). M: That’s what I’ve been saying, its not like he moved to Mars. B: N-not Eddie. I mean, I will call him… Tommy. I should apologize, he’s probably right. I was using him as a distraction so I didn’t have to feel alone. M: Not the best reason to get back together with somebody. B: (sniffles) I know. (tries not to cry) M: Maybe its time you learn the lesson again: how to be alone. B: I hate that lesson.

The final montage before the crossover intro, is Buck coming to terms with the situation. He is happily unpacking his stuff and making the house his home. His home. This is all of about seven show minutes after telling his sister that unpacking means accepting they’re gone: Eddie and Chris and its not the end of the world or even his world.

He has accepted that they are gone. He’s ready to work on moving on from that part of his life. He is sad about Tommy and knows he didn’t end it well. We see that they are on the same page about wanting to be together. They are in a classic third act of the miscommunication romcom trope.

These are tropes for a reason: because they are predictable and they work.

If you took out the names Buck, Tommy, Eddie, and Maddie and put in random names into their story, not the characters that you have become attached to, you would read it as the wheels for a reconciliation in process.

[tevanbuckley]

kinda funny to see what happens when someone who’s not been haunted by 7 years of bddie questions gets the chance to give an interview where they’re brought up.

because atp tim, oliver and even ryan have their own stock non-responses they fall back on. meanwhile aisha just went “no, ❤️.”

[madlori]

Ok, here's what I think the writers' thought process was.

We want to bring Tommy back and have him and Buck rekindle their relationship [whether this decision was made way back before they broke up or during the hiatus, no idea, and it doesn't really matter]

It can't just be "hey here I am, and now we're back together."

Gotta have a speed bump first.

The conflict that caused the original breakup - Tommy's fear of eventually losing Buck - isn't very easily resolved. It's something couples work through over time. Not great for TV.

So we get a pinch-hitter conflict, namely that Tommy fears that Buck might have unresolved feelings for Eddie.

Which means Buck can then say "No, I don't. And it's you that I want."

He already said the first part. Oh, and heavily implied the second.

Just not to Tommy.

Stay tuned.

[evansbuck-ley]

8x11: bucktommy being completely insatiable and horny for each other. evan “heart eyes” buckley back in action. both of them looking at each other with so much love and fondness. both of them actively expressing that they want to be together and try again. straight eddie dropped TWICE. buck saying with chest he doesn’t not have feelings for his STRAIGHT best friend

bvddies: OmG BuDdIe CaNoN!! We NeVeR BeEn So ClOsE!!!!!! GaY EdDiE NeXt EpIsOdE.

[a-mel0n]

okay quick psa. i know we're riding the HIGHEST of highs right now. but remember to not harass ANYONE. AT ALL. we might feel like we've "won," but rule number one of being on bucktommyblr: WE DO NOT HARASS PEOPLE.

[weewookinard]

For me Tommy's reaction to Buck saying " and [Eddie] is straight" is not him having clocked Eddie as gay. It's him being insecure because Buck perceived himself as straight too before he kissed him. What if now that Buck knows men are an option he would realize he had that option in front of him for seven years?

Except that Buck would have had his realization before. He's a hot headed guy, he would have acted weird, he would have tried, he would have run into it way earlier. Tommy knows him but does he really understand this part of him? Buck did nothing crazy or stupid when they were together, not that we know of. No running to get the dog, no making himself a target for a serial killer. How could he understand this part of his ex if he never saw it for real?

But now the breakup makes more sense and I'm not that mad at the twist because yes, Tommy has always been afraid he won't be Buck's last because for him Buck would end up realizing he has feelings for Eddie, except he DOESN'T.

I also believe that the man has had a little crush on Eddie, had thought about it once at least, because for him to believe Buck would love him it means Eddie is lovable right? More lovable than him, because the man is insecure as hell.

ALSO, we often say that BoBs might never have had friends because they do not understand the friendship between Eddie and Buck. But guess what? We never saw Tommy with friends, in fact he was alone in this bar. Tommy doesn't know what it's like to have a family, to have a best friend like Buck and Eddie have. Of course he is worried, nobody ever made him feel this kind of friendship and nobody loved him enough to make him happy. He can't seem to know the difference because he has always been alone.

And it makes me so sad but also so positive about their future together.

[louferrignojrofficial]

on screen gay stuff….

[lenodrysalad]

"Eddie said he's straight! Buck said Eddie was straight! Buck said he's not in love with his best friend! They shut down Buddie in the show it isn't happening ya'll are delusional! Queerbait! Queerbait! Blah blah blah"

I feel like I'm going insane. I'm sure we're all tired of people shouting "media literacy" every five seconds, but like... Yeah, develop some media literacy, please.

I'm saying this as someone who doesn't usually like romance, despite being subjected to it in basically every piece of media. As someone who doesn't generally look for love stories. As someone who loved Buddie but didn't consider any serious possibility of it becoming canon before season 7/8, who refused to believe Buddie was truly happening until I couldn't deny it anymore: this episode is loud.

Please understand how narrative arcs work. How character arcs work. How character development works. How serial broadcast television works. Understand how writing works. Consider context; take the whole episode, the whole season, and the whole series into account instead of treating things like they exist in isolation.

I'm too tired to go through the step-by-step details of the episode to prove why these, "they said it on screen, therefore..." takes are shortsighted and ignorant; plenty of people have done that already.

But that episode, even if we do take it in isolation, is textbook. Do people really take everything characters say at face value? Do people not watch other character's reactions? Listen to what else is being said? Watch what is being shown? Consider the implications? Themes? Narrative devices?

Consider that maybe, just maybe, characters can be unreliable narrators, or believe something to be true only for that belief to change later. These things don't happen in one episode. There's such a thing as set-up, foreshadowing, the starting point of a plot. 911 is a serial drama, therefore it is going to have A) long-form story and character arcs, and B) drama.

Characters are not going to move in straight lines, or talk in therapy speak, or solve every problem in an hour. They are not always going to be right, or self-aware, or truthful, or rational. Direct dialogue does not equate to honest dialogue.

Also, saying, "well in real life, people do this, I do that, their feelings would be this, yadda yadda yadda" means nothing. Your experiences are not universal, and more importantly, this is a work of fiction. Realism is whatever the story says it is; it's going to do whatever creates the most dramatic, interesting, developmentally beneficial, or emotionally satisfying story. Whether you like that story or not is irrelevant to the fact that stories are not going to cater to all your expectations or real-world experiences.

To people pointing to Tim or the actor's interviews as "proof" they're shutting down Buddie: again, please understand how broadcast television works. They are not going to tell us everything that's going to happen before it happens. They are going to play the neutral zone, the "wait and see," the "will they/won't they." They are going to lie. That is television production 101. You can compare what they've said in the past with canon and list all the contradictions, misdirection, and twists you didn't see coming because they didn't spoil it for you. Watch the show. That is the canon.

They're also not catering to fandom--people they already know are devoted to the show, familiar with Buddie, and consistently tuning in. They're introducing the idea of Buddie to the general audience, people who likely haven't considered the possibility before. The GA has to see that Buddie is an option, so the show needs to manifest it as if it's a brand new concept. This episode pulled the pin on that grenade in a very obvious way; the idea that Buck could be in love with Eddie and that Eddie could not be straight has been planted. The next seed will be Eddie's feelings. Now the show needs to water it and let it grow.

One last thing. Been seeing a fair amount of hand-wringing and condescension over people interpreting this episode differently. As if this is some sort of "gotcha" for bad writing, baiting, or people being stupid. Listen, genuine complaints about this show's writing aside, different interpretations or inferences are completely normal. This isn't unique. That is how people interact with stories, through personal biases, experiences, emotions, and expectations. That isn't inherently a bad thing. It's totally fine to have your own views; media is all about interpretation.

However, it is also true that just because you have an interpretation, that doesn't make it true. Not all interpretations are equal in their validity, evidence, or warrants. The show has an intention, it has a story in mind. If you don't see it, sure, that could be a failure of the writing, but it could also very well be a failure of your analysis, especially when the show hasn't finished telling the story. Looking at one thing in isolation and forming your whole conclusion based around that makes for poor critique.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see who's right.

[wavescrashtotheshore]

okay the “competition” thing is stupid BUT we already knew tommy was insecure about how buck feels about him/ his place in buck’s life. but that argument literally set it perfectly for a bucktommy “i love you” in 8x14/15

[tevanbuckley]

I know the protracted hiatus made it feel a lot longer, but it’s legitimately embarrassing to smugly swear up and down your interview was definitely, for sure an exit interview (he’s not coming back guys let it go) only for the actor to return after a measly 4 episodes.

[madlori]

The show had Buck explicitly say that he is not in love with Eddie. Like, not vaguely, not sorta-kinda, but as in "I'M NOT." Those words left his mouth.

If they also meant us to understand "but maybe he really is?" there would have been signals to that effect. Some hesitation in his delivery. A lingering shot of his face looking uncertain. Ending on the scene with Maddie saying "are you sure?"

There was none of that.

This ain't high art, fam. Double meanings are wildly telegraphed. Hints as to things to come are delivered with the subtlety of a wrecking ball. There were zero textual or even subtextual hints that Buck did not mean what he said. On top of that, he was disbelieving and MAD when Tommy suggested he might have a feeling along those lines.

And at the end of the scene, he clarified that for him, this isn't about Eddie. It's about Tommy.

[mid-knight-black]

I’m definitely not sobbing about this parallel…🙂

[kinardsboy]

Same people screaming media literacy also don’t understand that sometimes a line is said for the audience and not because it applies perfectly to the situation lol.

No one in the show wants buck to be with eddie.

“Everyone” is the audience. Sometimes characters have to speak to them.

[undercovercannibal]

'Why would Buck be *this* defensive about not being in love with Eddie if he wasn't actually in love with him?'

I feel like none of you have ever had people speculate (again and again and again) that you and your best friend *must* be in love with each, while consistently insisting that 'no we are not' and it shows!