#couch!theory

[pullofbrokenshadows]

If you insist on making Buck and Eddie heterosexual, at least put some effort into it

Look, I want Buddie to be canon. I think they’re missing a huge opportunity to do something no other primetime network show has ever done. But if they’re intent on not making Buddie canon or waiting until the final episode of the series as a cop-out or setting it up even more, then the least they can do is actually put some effort into Buck and Eddie’s relationships with women. They’ve fumbled every single one of them and at this point it’s just coming across as homophobic. Like these empty, lazy romantic storylines with women are better than just letting them be in a homosexual relationship. If the writers insist on keeping them heterosexual, at least put some real effort into it. Yes, it is easier to do this when both of the characters are series regulars. You have more screen time, more runway. The beginning of Buck and Abby’s relationship was GREAT. They truly earned that. They had a lot more room to build that. But it’s not impossible to do this with guest stars.

And to prove it, here are my pitches (as painful as it is to pitch Buddie with anyone else) that wouldn’t take up any (or very much) additional screen time.

EDDIE

606-616: The 118 teasing Eddie about how he got Marisol’s phone number when they went to help her fix up the house, but he won’t use it. “I barely know her.” “That’s what the date is for.” “We only exchanged numbers in case she had more issues with the house.” “That’s pretense. She wants you to call her and ask her out.” Can even bring this up when Eddie starts complaining about Pepa setting him up. “To be fair, you refuse to set up your own dates.”

OPTIONAL: Therapy with Frank where they discuss his reticence to date. It’s not just Shannon. It’s not just his PTSD. Eddie realizes he’s demi. Frank tells him it’s fine for him to wait until he knows someone well to commit or be physical, but he can’t spend his life never pursuing anything further with anyone just because he didn’t immediately fall in love with them during their first meeting. If he truly doesn’t want to spend life alone, he’ll have to put himself out there, even if he just approaches it as friends at first. 

**Note: As a demi person who sees very little representation plus all the signs we’ve seen of Eddie being demi, this would be a great opportunity for the writers to do something fresh. In lieu of establishing Eddie as demi, they could just keep everything else the same leading up to 614.**

Can still do the whole runner of Pepa setting him up, which perhaps is what could prompt his conversation with Frank (if they were to make Eddie demi), especially noting the stark difference between his and Vanessa’s approaches to dating.

617: Eddie runs into Marisol at the hardware store and literally the only thing they needed to do differently was instead of him turning and walking away at the end, he just starts walking towards Marisol. If they still hadn’t established he already had her number (per the earlier pitch), this would be a way to do it. Otherwise, it at least leads us nicely into the next episode where he’s trying to figure out what to text her.

618: Literally keep all of this the same, just maybe not as giddy at the end? Just to keep in line with the demi of it all. He’s excited and proud of himself, but he doesn’t know her that well, he probably doesn’t have a crush on her in a way that prompts such a stereotypical teenage response.

BUCK

Oh, Buck. Buckaroo. There are too many things to cover, so I’ll mostly focus on Couch!Theory and Natalia. Everything prior to 615 stays the same, unfortunately. (To be clear, I love Coma!Buck, but come on, this was supposed to be his Year of Yes and he literally only said Yes to one big stupid thing.)

615: Buck meets Natalia in the same way, they have the coffee date, all of that. He still has the conversation with Eddie so we get into his headspace a bit and set up what happens next. But also, maybe nix Eddie’s comment about Buck dating people he’s saved. He put a bandage on her hand. Chill out.

617: Here’s where we do the most damage. This was a dumb storyline for Buck. What was even the point of all this? Lucy was just someone he made out with once. Has nothing to do with pursuing Natalia. He didn’t even interact with Taylor. And Kameron barely means anything to him (they really needed to build up this relationship more if they wanted us to believe she would come running to him.) I get that they’re trying to say his life is complicated but it literally isn’t. At least not in the way Natalia thinks it is. The whole story fell flat and just felt like a way to force conflict where there was none. It was a series of weird occurrences, but when Natalia left it didn’t feel like it meant anything. Because we don’t know anything about her. Maybe if we knew she had an ex who could never let go of anyone in his life or a parent who was a consummate people pleaser to everyone except her, this whole episode would have landed better. But none of that was established and has very little connection to where Buck and Natalia eventually end up.

Instead, it should have gone like this:

On their date, Buck starts out enjoying talking to Natalia about his near-death experience and the lessons he learned from it. But the next time we see them (still on the same date, or maybe even a second date), we can see he’s getting uncomfortable that death is the only thing she wants to talk about. Maybe he even still sees Taylor’s interview (but in the bar) and realizes he might be making the same mistakes all over again. Falling for someone who gives him the tiniest bit of attention, even if it’s for all the wrong reasons. He leaves the date, making it clear that he wants his post-death life to be just that—a life.

He comes back from the date to find Kameron waiting outside his apartment (or she arrives shortly after he gets home—we gotta think about production constraints!) He lets her in (even though I hate this whole subplot where she apparently doesn’t have any friends she could stay with?) They can still have the weird pickle scene at the end if they want, but honestly it felt out of place with Love Is In The Air playing in the background and everyone else’s stories being about romantic love. I legit was worried he was going to fall in love with Kameron and they were going to raise the baby together or something. Such a random ending for Buck in this episode.

618: Natalia still comes in when Kameron’s in labor and helps Buck. She’s still amazed at being there for the beginning of life instead of the end. That’s actually what she came to talk to Buck about. She’s used her work as a death doula to hide from the world, but she’s attracted to the way Buck fights to save lives and how he lives his life so fully and openly. She wants a second chance with him.

Next morning: The couch guys are already hauling the couch out. Natalia appears in Buck’s shirt and says “Sorry they couldn’t save the couch.” Buck: “That’s okay. Someone else bought it for me and it wasn’t really my style.” He grabs some cushions from the corner and places them where the couch used to be. He sits down and pulls her into his lap. “This is much better.” Natalia: “And more romantic.”

This leaves the Couch!Theory an open case. Buck isn’t quite there yet, but it still acknowledges the metaphor and sets a course for the next season. The way it stands now Buck hasn’t learned anything. He’s just buying another couch, this time with someone he barely knows. There is no way he can know she’s the one this early on. Especially not with his history and with how very little they even know about each other. The writers tried to use Couch!Theory as a shortcut to get the audiences to buy in to a relationship with a woman and it’s just a lazy cheat that we all saw through. The main theme they kept alive all season for Buck and they just threw it away at the end. Such a waste. 

This is a show that often shines in how they can thread themes together between the calls the first responders go on and what’s going on in their personal lives. The writers usually are able to thread season-long themes into the other characters. (Though did anyone else just totally forget that Hen and Karen were foster parents? Or that Athena and Bobby still hadn’t gone on their honeymoon? Literally all they had to do at the end of 617 was have Athena or Bobby say “Four years married and we still haven’t gone on that honeymoon.”) 

But they’ve struggled season after season to do this with Buck and Eddie. Buck is their main character! How can they drop the ball so much with him? I would say they’ve done a slightly better job with Eddie, especially in Season 5. But I literally cannot tell you what Eddie’s journey was this season other than avoid being set up by his aunt, which was only the final 5 episodes of the season and was barely even a story.

The most infuriating thing is this season had way fewer calls than previous seasons. There were whole episodes where it was only the 118 off shift in their personal lives. And yet this season especially felt disjointed and without focus. 

Here’s hoping ABC comes in and says they want to walk all of this back. Eddie and Marisol went on a couple of dates, but it didn’t work out. Buck never did go get that couch and either we see a short run of his relationship with Natalia or they just mention it didn’t work out. 

And look, I think Natalia could be good for Buck. I like that she’s not stick thin. She’s not white. She’s very different from anyone we’ve seen Buck with so far. The writers could sell me on her as a consolation prize for no Buddie, but they really fumbled the ball here and it’s so disappointing.

So here’s hoping we get some fixes in Season 7 (whenever the studios start paying the writers what they deserve, that is. #WGAStrong)

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

#Welcome Back Couch Theory

[stevenrogered]

[That last scene where Buck interrupts Eddie’s Risky Business moment is certainly open to interpretation. Is this a friendly hangout, just two bros getting together to talk out their problems?]

Actually, I think it’s beyond that. It’s them not talking. That was the real thing to me when I read it. Buck looks Eddie up and down — he’s in his underwear and a shirt with the collar popped, the mustache is gone, there’s obviously something happening with him — but they don’t need to talk in that moment. It’s like, you’re going through something and I’m going through something, so let’s just have a drink and be in each other’s space in a supportive way. I’m guessing they did exchange some words at some point, but I imagine they didn’t talk for a while. Just being there for each other was enough. - Oliver Stark

[swiftiesbuddie]

[chenfordsbee]

8x06 I 8x08

[moonsharky]

BUDDIE ★ COUCH THEORY

for @treasurehuntbuck watch in 4k

[cherishingstydia]

[watchyourbuck]

“is this because I don’t have a couch?☹️” yes buck that’s exactly why bobby thinks you’re not ready to be interim captain yet. because there’s a piece of furniture missing from the loft he’s never been in. cmon closeted bisexual boy

[jackwhiteprophetic]

something about like a sense of completion or whatever idk they just seem to fit together well

[purgatory-jar]

Not me crying my eyes out at Chris leaving

don't mind me, I'll just be here, drawing away all my feelings

*

Like my art? Commission me here!

[911birds]

couch theory

[incorrectbuddie118]

9-1-1 + ao3 tags (4/?)

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[heart4buddie]

[wikiangela]

the couch theory🥰

+ bonus: bucktommy behind eddie's couch <3

[1doesnotsimplyhavejust1fandam]

Not to beat a dead horse, but Buck and Eddie’s arcs are perfectly aligned for a love realization from both of them very very soon. Buck has just been informed textually that he has his “last” to look forward to, that he’s “ready” now that his first is no more. And the last scenes of the midseason finale (not to mention the interviews) showed us beyond a shadow of a doubt that Buck is about to crash out over Eddie. Specifically. Edmundo Diaz. Moving to Texas. And yes, this is an Eddie-centric crash out because Buck already had all of summer and into November to process missing Christopher, even if it was never meant to be a permanent separation. But now his best friend has told him that he’s going to move back to El Paso, and suddenly it’s all Buck can focus on. How strange!

And Eddie. Eddie was just told that he should allow himself joy, anything that brings specifically him joy. He danced, he teased, and then he impulsively leaped right into moving halfway across the country to be with his baby again. He’s still doing things for others, as much as moving would reunite him with Christopher, he’s doing it because he thinks it’s the right thing to do, not because it would be right for him (or even both of them). He’s contemplating leaving his found family (Buck included) behind because he is still so focused on the Chris of it all. And as a parent, he can’t bring himself to do anything less, even if actually moving to El Paso would bring him insane levels of stress and pressure from his mother (and possibly his father). He’s following Christopher’s lead even though it’s been months, and nothing about their relationship has really improved. He’s not finding his joy again, as much as he might lie to himself that reuniting with Christopher is all it will take. Eddie still doesn’t see what’s right in front of him. That his best friend and partner in nearly every way would sacrifice anything to make Eddie happy again, to bring Eddie joy. He doesn’t see that Buck makes him laugh even when he’s spiraling because all he can see right now is his son. But if they continue the thread of finding joy, then Eddie will absolutely understand after he spends a little time in El Paso, or even just planning to leave while Buck is boarding up his heart.

They’ve been so close other times, i.e. The Couch Theory, but this time it is all textual. They are the person each of them spends the most time with outside of the work scenes. The person they go to for support. The one who listens to their needs, and tries their best to help, or to be that supportive shoulder. We haven’t gotten a Buck and Maddie scene or an Eddie and Bobby scene. It has just been these two men, sitting in their kitchens, their living rooms, the hospital room, comfortably inside each other’s spaces and heads. They are glaringly obvious partners. It would absolutely insane not to tell this story all the way to it’s rightful ending.