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mistchievous · 2 years ago

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The Fridge Magnet Theory

(Revised and Updated April 25, 2023)

The Diaz Family fridge has a collection of magnets (and more) that gets tweaked in small ways between sightings.

Most notable early on are the colored stick figures, but there are other magnets on the fridge as well. In later seasons, we also get photos and calendars.

They first came to our attention during Eddie’s surprise party because of the particular selection of magnets on the fridge and the way they were arranged ahead of that scene. There seemed to be a symbolic connection between the magnets and the people present at the party.

So, we went back and followed them from their introduction, and trends started to emerge.

I’m going to transfer all of our various posts and discussions with necessary changes. Let’s go! 👏

As I mentioned above, the magnets first grabbed our attention during the surprise party because of @buddiestiel67′s color theory post. It seemed like the five magnets could represent Buck, Taylor, Eddie, Ana, and Chris because the clothing seemed to match. However, we later discovered (as you can see in the pic above) that there were never two red magnets. One of the “red” magnets is actually orange. It’s just difficult to tell when watching the show.

This information seemed to almost debunk that particular theory.

(I say almost because if you tell me Taylor’s bright hair doesn’t look almost orange, I will call you a liar. 😭)

But that doesn’t matter until later.

For your reference:

This is the original research thread. 

[Please take everything in the above thread with a grain of salt if you decide to look through it because we were still compiling information and trying to figure things out at the time.]

This is an early breakdown post when we thought there were two red magnets because we’re clowns.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get to it!

S3 E11: Seize the Day

AKA “I’m not really a guest.”

In this episode, we get our first glimpse of all ten stick figure magnets, three of the Dr. Seuss magnets (mentioned below), and the Arrested Development magnet (also mentioned below) in the scene with Maddie and Buck in Eddie’s kitchen.

We originally thought there were only nine, but @hattalove looked closer and discovered that the green magnet person is indeed there in 03x11. It’s just way down at the bottom of the fridge.

The circular magnets come from a 6-magnet set of Dr. Seuss magnets found by @stagefoureddiediaz here.

The three circular magnets that start out on the fridge are:

We’ve been able to determine that the photo magnet is an Arrested Development quote magnet, but as of right now, we don’t have an image of the actual magnet to show you. So, we can’t be 100% certain of the quote.

@tsunamibuck made the connection on this post. And @stagefoureddiediaz came in to tell us that this was correct, and she’d found the magnet at one point but was unable to locate it again after that.

She believes it’s the Gob Bluth quote “I’ve made a huge mistake.” But take that with a grain of salt because as of right now, we don’t have a clear enough picture of the magnet to confirm it.

She believes this particular magnet was originally just meant to be a joke about Fox cancelling Arrested Development.

Now that we know what the magnets are, let’s start going through their various appearances.

The main thing we noticed during their introduction was that the green figure was separated from all nine other figures. Standing right next to the figures at that time? Buck in that olive green looking shirt.

One thing to note is that this is the episode in which Buck receives a clean bill of health regarding his leg and had been somewhat isolated from the rest of the crew as he recovered.

However, despite that isolation from the crew at large, he tells Maddie that he’s not really a guest in Eddie’s house. A sign of his comfort and place in the Diaz family and household.

S3 E12: Fools

AKA The Skateboard Incident

The magnets change position in this episode and a new circular magnet is added. (Thank you, anon!)

@theladyyavilee noted in her tags on this reblog that the yellow figure we see separated from the rest with the circular magnets could be Chris because of how isolated and conflicted he was feeling at the time.

If we go back to that episode, literally right after we see Eddie and Carla in the kitchen talking and get a glimpse of the magnets, Eddie and Chris are having their talk at the table, and Chris is indeed wearing yellow. Eddie literally walks out of the kitchen and sits down to talk with him.

The new circular magnet that gets added is this one (which I think we all know ties to that episode pretty well thematically):

S3 E15: Eddie Begins

AKA Eddie fucking Begins?

The Diaz fridge we get in this episode isn’t the fridge this post has been following or continues to follow. It’s the Diaz fridge in El Paso! There was a lot going on there though, so if you’re interested, click this link for The Fridge Magnet Theory: Eddie Begins Edition! 😇

S4 E08: Breaking Point (Ty, anon!) 

AKA That Episode Where Chris Calls an Uber

Back to our regularly scheduled programming and the fridge we all know and love!

The number of stick figures drops from the ten we saw in 03x12 to seven. @theladyyavilee noted it best in the tags on this reblog:  #the fact that the figures decreased from s3 to s4 when we KNOW how much chris was struggling with missing all the people in his life?

We see Chris late in the episode express those feelings of isolation to Buck after he steals Eddie’s phone and calls an Uber.

The seven remaining stick figure magnets are dark blue, light blue, yellow, red, orange, green, and purple.

Also notable is that at no time in this scene do we see the other magnets except for when Chris is storming out of the room. We see two of them, and the choices are very telling.

We see the Arrested Development magnet with the quote “I’ve made a huge mistake” which can easily be tied to Eddie in this scene. And we also see the Dr. Seuss quote “I meant what I said and I said what I meant” which can easily be tied to Chris.

[This anon noted that the remaining seven magnets are just kind of chaotically thrown on the fridge which could hint at Chris’ state of mind at the time. However, in my opinion, they’re usually just kind of chaotically thrown up there except for when they aren’t. So 😂.

But if you think all of the magnets in this scene symbolize Chris, you may wish to note what he’s wearing at the end of the episode when he sees Ana again.]

S4 E09: Blindsided (thanks @theladyyavilee 💖)

AKA The One Where We Get Jee and Albert Flatlines

A fifth quote magnet gets added.

It’s the Dr. Seuss “A person’s a person, no matter how small” magnet.

We weren’t able to see exactly what it was in this episode, but the magnet remains in that position through 04x13 and becomes more visible in 05x03. It doesn’t move. So, we are able to go back and draw some informed conclusions.

@theladyyavilee put all of this together on this post: “going by the size, shape and color-sheme (blue-pink???!) it looks like it’s another doctor seuss magnet, specifically the one that only says ‘a person’s a person no matter how small’”

Assuming that this episode is indeed when the magnet gets added and it wasn’t just completely hidden until then, it seems to be another case of a quote magnet being added or made visible because it ties into the episode’s themes. This particular episode focuses heavily on children.

Note:

This is when Jee-Yun is born.

This is also when you have the storyline surrounding Nia being returned to her birth mother.

The main emergency in this episode involved a call from a child whose mother had been drinking which caused a major accident while he was in the car. The child was badly injured and taken into surgery. The dad has a breakdown while talking to Athena about it all.

This ties back to Bobby’s stuggle with alcoholism which is what led to the death of his wife and children.

All of this going on around him is likely one of the main reasons why we get the short scene of Eddie going home and immediately hugging Chris at the end of the episode.

That hug is when we see some other changes with the magnets as well.

The magnet people decrease to five in this scene. The dark blue and purple are gone. Red, orange, light blue, yellow, and green remain. Everything is still chaotically spread.

Chris is wearing a light blue shirt with various other colors on it as well.

S4 E13: Suspicion

AKA The One Where Eddie Gets Shot

We see the magnets in this episode when Eddie and Ana go into the kitchen to discuss Charlie and his mother.

The quote magnets are mostly grouped together on the left door of the fridge.

The exception being the fifth Dr. Seuss magnet which remains on the side of the fridge.

The five remaining figures are connected in a circle. They are the same colors we saw separated in the previous episode.

This is where the color theory becomes particularly interesting because it’s in the next episode that we see the welcome home party where all five of them are in the same room. Which is of course:

S4 E14: Survivors

AKA The Surprise Party

Now, as we established at the beginning, one of the figures in the circle is orange instead of red. Both Ana and Taylor in 04x14 are wearing red, but I think it’s fair to argue that the orange figure could be Taylor because of her hair.

So, as the color theory linked at the beginning noted, we have Eddie and Buck in yellow and blue, and Chris is in green.

Also, we have Ana and Taylor in very different shades of red. If you choose to acknowledge Taylor as orange because of the brightness of her hair, all five of them match the circle of remaining magnets.

Another link to that original color theory post to refresh your mind.

And now we go to Season 5.

S5 E03: Desperate Measures

AKA The Breakup

The key difference from Season 4 to Season 5 is that the red and orange magnets have disconnected from the circle.

Also notable between Season 4 and 5 is that the main four Dr. Seuss magnets and the Arrested Development magnet are more aligned.

Three theories to address here regarding the colored figures. One is assuming that the colors still stand for who we assume they stood for at the end of Season 4. The others assume that they’re specific to this episode symbolically. This seems more likely as we’ve addressed the symbolism as changing from episode to episode in the past.

Before we get into those though, note that this is when we get the true look at the quote magnet that first appeared in 04x09: Blindsided. It’s also when we’re able to see that Eddie now has what appears to be a calendar/planner on the side of his fridge.

As for why, @stagefoureddiediaz makes a good point in her tags on this reblog: #as for the planner thing being on the side - same thing - Eddie doesn’t know what his plans are for the future.

Eddie seems to have lost sight of what it is he wants, where he should be, and what he should be doing. This becomes a major theme throughout all of Season 5, and the calendar remains on the side of the fridge the entire time.

[She also makes some other guesses on that reblog as to why this is the moment we get a clear view of that particular Dr. Seuss magnet even though it’s been around for a while, why it’s on the side of the fridge, and what that might mean. I left all of that out because this isn’t technically the first time we’re seeing it, but check out her reblog if you’re interested!]

Now! Let’s get into the three theories regarding the stick figures!

Theory One: The red and orange magnets for Ana and Taylor are detached from the rest of the circle.

One is obviously more disconnected than the other, but they’re both disconnected.

However, the blue, yellow, and green magnets have remained connected.

This is all signaling Ana and Taylor being disconnected from the remaining group of Eddie, Buck, and Chris.

Theory Two: We see the yellow, blue, and green magnets all connected as a unit. And we see the red and orange magnets disconnected from that unit. One only slightly. And the red and orange magnets are also disconnected from each other.

@theladyyavilee pointed out that the blue and green figures are bracketing the yellow figure, almost like parents and a child.

And we see Ana, Eddie, and Chris sitting together wearing those colors right before we see the magnets (which @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx brought to my attention with this edit that @ellelans has given her blessing for us to use. 😘)

Which could also mean that in this episode, the red and orange magnets are Buck and Taylor.

The red one being only slightly separated from Eddie would likely be Buck in this scenario. We saw that Eddie was keeping Buck at a slight distance by not informing him of the panic attacks he experienced until pushed repeatedly. The orange could therefore be Taylor who is completely separated from the group and slightly distant from Buck at this point as well.

The blue (Ana) and green (Eddie) are only connected through Chris (yellow) who is standing on two feet between them.

This makes sense as this is the scene when Eddie breaks up with her and removes her completely from their family unit after admitting that he’s been trying to make it work for Chris.

Theory Three: This theory is almost identical to Theory Two except that it assumes the red and orange magnets are unimportant in this case, and the only connection to be made is the blue, yellow, and green for Eddie, Ana, and Chris.

S5 E10: Wrapped in Red (Christmas Episode)

AKA Eddie Leaves the 118

We do NOT see the magnets in this episode, but it seemed very purposeful. So, we’re making a note of it.

We had an entire scene of Eddie and Carla talking in Eddie’s kitchen. They were shown from multiple angles. Yet somehow, at no point during that scene do we get even a glimpse of Eddie’s fridge. Not one.

So it seems as though they deliberately avoided showing us the magnets before we got to the next episode:

S5 E11: Outside Looking In

AKA Eddie Has a New Job

@theladyyavilee pointed it out and said it best on this post:

NO MAGNET PEOPLE, I REPEAT NOT A SINGLE MAGNET PERSON ON THAT FRIDGE, HOW VERY EDDIE-AND-CHRIS-COMPLETELY-CUT-OFF-FROM-THEIR-FAMILY OF THEM

The magnet people are gone, but the rest of the magnets are still there.

This could easily symbolize Eddie and Chris now being cut off from the rest of their family as a result of Eddie no longer working at the 118.

(For a more in depth view of Eddie’s self-imposed isolation and how the symbolism of the magnets may showcase that, check out the post by @yramesoruniverse here. The magnets appear towards the end.)

The calendar (which remains on the side) is also easily visible.

S5 E14: Dumb Luck

AKA Eddie Has a Nightmare

We see the fridge again during Eddie’s nightmare at the beginning of the episode.

It’s a dream sequence as opposed to an actual scene, but let’s look at it.

The quote magnets from ‘Outside Looking In’ are still on the left side of the fridge which was confirmed by @stagefoureddiediaz here.

The main thing of note from this scene is Eddie collapsing against the right side of the fridge. This is generally where the magnet people are located.

However, instead of the stick figures who generally represent Eddie, Chris, and/or the people around them, that side of the fridge gets smeared with Eddie’s blood as he relives being shot.

Instead of the people in his life. Instead of himself. There’s only blood and pain and death.

That makes sense when you consider all of the compounding traumas he’s currently facing as well as the fact that he just found out multiple people in his life died without him realizing it.

S6 E04: Animal Instincts

AKA Chris Gets In Trouble For Lying

The fridge makes its first appearance in S6 when Eddie takes a phone call from Chris’ school. There’s a lot to unpack here.

The magnet people still seem to be gone. We do believe there is a very good chance that they may not return to the Diaz fridge. They slowly disappeared over time as Eddie, Buck, and Chris underwent various traumas starting in late Season 4 into Season 5. They stayed gone as Eddie felt isolated and slowly declined in S5.

The magnet figures were representative of the people they’ve been up until this point. However, Eddie underwent great changes in S5, and he’s arguably a different person than he was before. His relationship with Chris has changed. Their relationship with Buck has changed. Blood was smeared where those magnets were once placed and could therefore additionally signify the death of who they were before. And because they’re no longer those people, the magnet people in particular may be retired.

We’re therefore starting off this season with the five circular quote magnets we ended with, the Arrested Development magnet, the calendar, and some newly added photos. All of which we will continue to follow going forward. Of course, we will keep an eye out for any of the other magnets returning as well.

The large calendar we’ve seen on the side of the fridge before now is not visible. However, another calendar has appeared on the front of the fridge. It appears for this episode and this episode only.

It’s seems to be a calendar of events for Chris’ school. This ties into the entire scene as this is when Eddie takes the call from Durand and finds out Chris has been lying to him about his whereabouts.

It’s being held by two of the five quote magnets, and the choices made are particularly interesting. These are the magnets for your reference.

The first magnet stood out to us once before. This was during Eddie and Chris’ kitchen confrontation over Ana - when Chris breaks the salad bowl and storms out of the room. Of the six Dr. Seuss magnets, it’s the only one with a confrontational tone. It’s notable that it was the only one shown during that particular scene, and now during this confrontation, it’s front and center being used to hold up the event schedule for the school that calls Eddie and sparks the conflict between them in this episode.

The other magnet has also been linked to Chris in the past. This is the latest of the quote magnets added to the fridge. It was added in 04x09: Blindsided which you’ll recall was heavily focused on children, and the magnet was showcased during an end scene when Eddie goes home to hug his son. It’s now being used to hold up a schedule of events for - you guessed it! - kids.

The photos themselves are also interesting, and there are some things to note that become relevant later. (FYI, they were first discussed here after we got this BTS TikTok from @911bts pre-S6, and they were discussed further on this post.)

There are three of them. One is of Chris and Eddie. It’s a shot of them sitting together in the Eddie Begins flashbacks. The next is of Chris and Shannon seemingly from 02x10 Merry Ex-Mas. The third is of a young Chris.

Pay attention to the way they’re connected. The picture of Eddie holding Chris is being held up by the quote “Don’t give up. I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

That picture is connected to the picture of Shannon and Chris not by another Dr. Seuss magnet but by the Arrested Development magnet.

As we know, the quote on that magnet just so happens to be “I’ve made a huge mistake.”

The picture of Shannon with Chris from Merry Ex-Mas is connected to the picture of a young Chris with the quote “Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”

And the final magnet solely on Chris’ picture is the one that says “Think and Wonder. Wonder and Think.”

Just something to keep in mind as we move forward.

S6 E05: Home Invasion

AKA The One With Hoover the Dog

Things get a little strange here. I’ll explain why.

We see the fridge again in this episode when Eddie and Chris have the conversation about Hoover and separation anxiety.

However, we only see a small piece of it. We see the side, which is now empty. Last time we saw it, the large white calendar was there. We also get a glimpse of the photo of Shannon and Chris. (Thanks, @stagefoureddiediaz!)

She’s being held by the magnet we last saw on Chris with the quote “Think and Wonder. Wonder and Think.”

To quote @stagefoureddiediaz on this post:

“...the first time we see them they're all interconnected on the fridge - one with Shannon, one with Eddie, and one which is just Chris (as a baby and how cute!!) suggesting that all 3 of them are still interconnected. The interesting thing is that the Shannon and Chris one is the one in the middle - almost like a connecting point between Chris and Eddie. But then we do get a very tiny glimpse of the Chris and Shannon one in the scene with Hoover, and we can see that they've moved - we cant see what the others are doing, but we can see that Shannon is now off to the side and not at the centre of things - it's likely that at this point they've all separated, we just can't see it.”

Normally, we’d move on from here to the next episode, so consider this the end of the canon portion of this episode.

However, we can’t just jump ahead because we have a BTS shot of this scene (courtesy of @911bts) that shows us the entire front of the fridge.

We can deduce that this shot is from this particular scene because it doesn’t match the previous episode with the school calendar, and the pictures to the left are straighter than they are in the next episode, which you’ll realize when we get there. (There have only been the three scenes so far.) The calendar we’ve linked to Eddie in the past has also now moved from the side of the fridge to the front of the fridge.

There is a good chance that some of the footage from this scene was cut. For what reason, we can’t be sure. But you can read more on this post if you’re interested in our (mine, @stagefoureddiediaz, and @theladyyavilee)’s discussion surrounding it all.

Earlier, we also mentioned a BTS TikTok posted by @911bts. It seems to be for the same episode. The quality is low, but we’re able to tell that both of the orange magnets are still on the fridge [pink boxes below]. Only two of the six magnets are that color, so it has to be them. This is noteworthy because one of those magnets is gone in the next episode.

So, more fridge content may have originally been meant for this scene that we just didn’t get to see, and the photos are indeed no longer connected the way that they were previously (as @stagefoureddiediaz concluded just from what we were able to see in the episode). None of this was actually shown in the episode though, and that may have been for a reason. It’s just something to keep in mind because the BTS will come up again in the next episode as well.

S6 E08: What’s Your Fantasy?

AKA Buck Babysits Jee-Yun & Chris Goes to a School Dance

This episode gives us our next actual view of the front of the fridge.

Now, we know that there was a bit of separation during the Hoover episode, but it’s gone even further in this one. Whether or not you take the BTS into account, the pictures have more distance between them than they did before.

Shannon has moved even further away to the top left corner of the door, and Eddie has moved into the right corner of the door. Chris’ photo is tilted in the lower-center.

Another major change to note in this scene is the removal of two magnets.

Both of these magnets have been on the fridge since they first appeared in S3, and they were put to use in ‘Animal Instincts’ (and possibly ‘Home Invasion’ if you decide count the BTS as being canonical to that episode).

One of the magnets that has been removed is the Arrested Development magnet with the quote “I’ve made a huge mistake.”

The last time we saw the Arrested Development magnet about making mistakes, it was connecting the photos of Eddie and Shannon each holding Chris. It’s now gone.

Two quotes from @stagefoureddiediaz‘ in the replies on and reblog of this post sum it up well:

“...that was the quote and it’s not just holding up the Shannon picture - but connecting the Eddie and Shannon pictures / then it’s gone and they’re no longer connected - and then we have Eddie - seemingly having laid her ghost to rest and moving forward rather than holding onto the past...”

“But then [the photos] move again - and they've separated even more [...] almost like now that we've seen Eddie have a conversation where he talked about Shannon dying openly and with someone who is essentially a stranger and who didn't know his past, accompanied by the pictures separating and a story where Chris is growing up and pulling away from Eddie - at the same time Eddie is in a place to move forward - I'm here for it!”

The other missing magnet is the Dr. Seuss one that says “Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.” The last time we saw this magnet, it was connecting the photo of Shannon and Chris to the photo of the younger Chris. It’s now gone, which can tie into the hints of foreshadowing we’ve seen regarding Chris so far this season and also be a reminder that he and Shannon have no more fun days ahead of them. To quote @stagefoureddiediaz again from the same post:

“…because it just further implies that Chris in danger is incoming - because to remove [the] one that implies tomorrows going to be another good day (and after we saw Chris having a good day on the beach) is screaming that tomorrow is in fact not going to be a good day…”

To quote her from our DM:

“[…] I’m thinking it’s [also] connected to the idea of his family being whole - that we might not see that magnet [again] until buck is more a part of the family - he’s still going through his own thing at the moment so he’s not ready to fully embrace being a part of the Diaz family.”

But make of that what you will! We’ll revisit this as needed!

Because two magnets with quotes were removed, let’s also note the ones that remain and their placements.

Shannon is still being held in place by quote “Think and Wonder. Wonder and Think.”

Eddie is now being held by the quote: “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” We last saw this magnet helping hold the event calendar for Christopher’s school.

The photo with Chris alone has two quotes holding it up. They are: “Don’t give up. I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no matter how small.” and “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.”

These choices may be random. What stands out as more intentional is the removal of the two magnets that have been there for the past three seasons - including the beginning of this one. We’ll revisit all of these and their possible relevance as more content becomes available.

The final thing we note in this episode is the calendar representing Eddie which is now front and center instead of to the side which could show that his story is now a focus. It may also be a sign that he’s on the right path now as opposed to his struggles to figure everything out in S5. It is a blank monthly calendar with two black x’s on it.

We know from the BTS that at least one of those black x’s was already there in ‘Home Invasion’. However, it wasn’t shown on screen.

This is our first time really seeing either of them. The x’s are on the Monday and Thursday of the third week. No other writing is on the calendar.

Some theories (including 🤡🤡🤡 ones) were thrown out and discussed in the reblogs of and in the replies on this post, but we can’t draw any real definitive conclusions about what these x’s mean. So, I won’t get into detail about those theories at this time.

S6 E12: Recovery

AKA Buck Falls Asleep on Eddie’s Couch

There’s quite a lot of fridge content in this episode. I’m going to focus on the magnets and everything on the front of the fridge, and I’ll explain the other connections and link out to other related fridge theories as we go.

We get a new Durand calendar in this episode. Eddie’s calendar has again been removed. It’s different from the Durand calendar we got in 06x04. The most noticeable difference is that it no longer needs to be held up by other magnets. It’s able to stick on its own – without assistance - which could be a nod to Chris’ growing independence.

The photo of baby Chris and the photo of Shannon and Chris have been moved to the right side of the fridge.

Chris is still being held by the quote “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.”

But the quote “Don’t give up. I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no matter how small” that was previously helping hold up Chris has moved to join the photo of Eddie and Chris instead. The picture of the two of them alone on the left side of the fridge is being held by both versions of the same quote: “A person’s a person, no matter how small” and “Don’t give up. I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no matter how small.” 

Shannon and Chris is still being held by the quote “Think and Wonder. Wonder and Think.”

Multiple things to make note of here.

First of all, despite what you may think, that is not the exact same picture of Eddie and Chris that we’ve seen in previous episodes. It’s the same image, but this one is printed in a landscape format as opposed to the portrait format we’ve seen previously.

@stagefoureddiediaz posited two theories on this post: “there’s a part of me thinking about if it represents a widening of the picture - making space as it were but I honestly think it might just be a continuity error!!!”

These are both valid theories, and there’s no way of knowing for sure which one it is. She thinks there’s a good chance that the photo got lost when props were taken down, and they printed out a new copy (just incorrectly), but I’m personally leaning more towards it being more purposeful.

And that’s because of the photos on the right side of the fridge.

This is the first time we’ve seen photographs on this side.

In fact, the last “people” we saw on the right side of the fridge were the colored stick figure magnets, and we saw them slowly vanish as Eddie, Chris, and possibly Buck depending on your interpretation evolved as characters.

It’s interesting to me that not only is the calendar able to remain stuck to the fridge on its own, but the photos that have been moved over as though they’re on their way to being in the past (like the colored stick figures) are the photos of baby Chris and the photo of Shannon and Chris.

It becomes even more noteworthy to me when you think about what @stagefoureddiediaz points out on this post by @hattalove referencing both the photo in that post and the photo on the fridge.

#but also the fact that they oblitterated Shannons face out of the picture on the fridge of her and Chris from christmas 👀👀 #it says so much bout the place Shannon now occupies compared with the one Buck occupies #because that christmas was the christmas of the Elf - Buck was there but in the background #now shannon is there - only in the background and not part of important moments/developments etc

@sainteddie made that point on this post by saying: “but this week’s kitchen scene in particular reflected this growth so beautifully.. along with the rest of eddie’s healing… because they were able to showcase christopher existing outside of their dynamic. buck didn’t ask, eddie didn’t volunteer anything. christopher was able to exist quietly in the lunch eddie was packing without needing words. because this was about them and what they’ve built.”

There’s a lot more to that post, and I recommend reading it. This is just the bit relating to the kitchen scene. Because I’d also argue that Chris is being represented there but existing outside of their dynamic by his calendar being the one on the fridge. Particularly when looked at through a lens of independence.

This scene being focused on Buck and Eddie and their dynamic outside of Chris is also supported by another theory related to what’s going on inside of the fridge. I won’t get too deep into that because this post is already a LOT, but the general idea revolves around the fact that the water in Buck’s fridge was empty whereas the water in Eddie’s fridge was full.

To quote @yramesoruniverse from this post about the water (which was first pointed out by @anxieteandbiscuits in the tags of this post): “I lost the post, but bravo to whoever caught that the water container in Buck's refrigerator was empty. You know, before he asked for water and Eddie poured him a glass. Before he fell asleep on Eddie's couch underneath a painting of the ocean. Before Dr. Salazar told him that "water finds its own level, people do too." I mean, water was already a significant metaphor for Buck, Eddie and Chris. And then they did that? Insanity.”

[ I don’t want to stray too far from the magnets (and the content on the front of the fridge) beyond what’s necessary to explain their significance in this episode, so see this post for more detailed information. It’s a list of links for water theory, beer theory, and more conversations surrounding this episode and the fridges within it.]

Before we go, here’s an up-close look at Chris’ current school schedule. As you can see, whoever did the numbering on this for the show forgot weekends are a thing. 😂 But it looks like he’s got a science fair, another fair, an English paper, and a math quiz in his future. 😎 Make of that what you will. 🧐

S6 E15: Death and Taxes (shoutout to @lesbiandiaz for sending us these pictures allowing us to get started early)

AKA Buck and Eddie Talk in the Cemetery

So much is going on in this episode, so let’s break it down bit by bit.

We’ll start with the calendars.

First up, Eddie’s calendar. Bet you didn’t catch that one! Thankfully for all of us, @catdadeddie did. We actually see Eddie’s calendar on the right side of the fridge where we’ve never seen anything up until now.

@stagefoureddiediaz sums it up well: ‘Ok so the calendar has never been on that side of the fridge before [...] and that is in and of itself telling (and heartbreaking) - Eddie has put himself to the side again - except now he's on the other side - he's moved past Shannon - the calendar has literally crossed past her pictures on the fridge from one side to the other - is symbolic of Eddies choice to move on and forward. I think that might be why we've seen it moving to the front and then back to the side - kind of like a move forward before a move back. But the calendar is also hidden by the cupboards on this side - so Eddie has moved on and Eddie is back to waiting on the side or in this instance I think it might be him choosing to sideline himself (because he thinks Buck doesn't want him) and he's also hiding himslef a bit more - being protective - but the calendar isn't gone - its still there - if there was no hope then I think it would've been removed - it just in a different place - Eddie is in a different place now.’

Chris’ school calendar, however, has once again been replaced with a new one. (Maybe they noticed how we dragged them last time because we got an accurate calendar this week. 😂) It’s a calendar for April 2023. We first see it when Eddie is rushing out the door while on the phone with his mom, and because everything is so detailed on this one, we’re able to determine that the date of this scene is April 7th, and Chris has Science Club.

Later in the episode when we see it again, it’s now April 25th, the day after his science project was due.

@stagefoureddiediaz talked about the callback of it all to 05x14 and ‘I misunderstood the assignment’ by pointing out the science connection and more when they’re talking about the solar oven project at the cemetery: ‘Also connecting this scene to the one from 5x14 through the hoodie is insane - [and through] the science of it all - Christopher’s factual heart drawing [last time] - chris in grey stripes - when Buck wore a grey shirt in the 5x14 scene there’s something there about the information in those two scenes being connected - heart metaphors being at the centre and with the stripes representing change I’m thinking it might be in some way connected to the idea of moving on, but also acceptance that you can let new people into your heart...’

As for the calendar, we actually see Eddie write directly on it in the first scene while discussing Chris’ plans for Earth Day which is April 22nd. He writes the words “Field trip” on the exact right date. Chris’ schedule isn’t the only schedule Chris’ calendar is being used for though. We also see the word work repeated multiple times, obviously in reference to Eddie’s work schedule. Interesting that they’d use Chris’ calendar for this when the larger one is also on the fridge.

April 25th, the day they make s’mores, happens to be a free day for both of them.

Chris’ calendar and the marker/pen used to write on it are now being held by red clip magnets which bring to mind red flags and the foreshadowing we’ve seen with Chris so far this season. It just so happens that the third red clip magnet is holding up the picture of Shannon and Chris at the beach that’s been by the front door in a frame until now.

(Speaking of foreshadowing and red flags and beaches, Chris has surf lessons coming up, make of that what you will.)

This picture was specifically moved to the fridge and placed in that clip for Eddie to knock it to the floor in front of us.

In the words of @theladyyavilee, ‘it NEEDED to be in the kitchen and it needed to be on the fridge’ which absolutely tracks when you consider not just the fridge symbolism that’s been at play but the recurring theme of the kitchen being the heart of the home.

@stagefoureddiediaz says ‘this episode was Shannon heavy - her presence was far more felt than at any other time. And when that picture falls off the fridge - eddie is feeling like he’s lost his other co-parent and so Shannon’s relevance has increased over Bucks - because even if she isn’t able to be there her presence will never leave. Buck however at that moment is different - eddie feels like he’s been left or that he’s going to be left and so Eddie seeking comfort in the shadow of presence that Shannon offers makes sense because she cannot let him down again - she can’t break his heart like buck [has] just (inadvertently) done...’

The clips aren’t our only new magnets though! We also have some new colored magnets! They aren’t the stick figures this time. They’re cubes. Specifically, red, yellow, green, and blue ones.

We believe this is their new method of representing the Diaz boys and the people around them now that the stick figures are retired. In this scene, we get Eddie and Chris in these outfits:

Eddie in green, and Chris in a tri-color shirt of yellow, blue, and gray.

Going to bring over some direct quotes from @stagefoureddiediaz to sum this up. ‘... my thoughts on that jumper are about connecting him to buck in bucks absence from the room - that the show is trying to hint at how Chris has 3 parents - 3 people who are making him in to who he is becoming - it’s something they took pains to point out in other ways - and bucks presence was in the Diaz grave scene with the other jumper too. So if the jumper is all three parents then the ochre use makes sense - Shannon is white - as she is no longer of the mortal coil. Buck remains blue and chris is the yellow - the part of himself that is him. Eddie is wearing green and is present in the scene and so doesn’t need to be represented.’

Buck’s been framed as blue and Eddie as green throughout the season, so this stays true to that, meaning the green block by Chris and Shannon is Eddie, the yellow block on Shannon is Christopher, and the blue block slightly off to the side is Buck. Also notable is the red block over by the red clips because we see Natalia wearing a red dress in this episode and she has significant ties to death and can also be seen as pulling Buck slightly away from the other two.

The landscape portrait of Eddie and Christopher has notably remained the same, including the tilt of the quote magnets being used to hold it up. Eddie and Chris’ relationship is stable, and there’s still space to add in someone new.

Final notes:

Chris is still being held by the quote “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.”

The calendar has the quote “Think and Wonder. Wonder and Think.” holding down the botton even though it's being held up by a clip.

Until next time! 💃

#so tumblr decided it's not going to let me update my original fridge post anymore 😒#therefore new post #this one is the most updated version with the new information we found for season 4 as well as information from the latest episode #god this post is massive 💀#the fridge magnet theory #eddie diaz #evan buckley #christopher diaz #buddie #buckley-diaz family #911 #blood tw

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