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johanna-swann · 3 months ago

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Analysing shows to death is my number 1 hobby of all times, so I decided to rank all of Buck and Eddie's love interests that were there for more than one quick flirt (not counting, for example, snake lady from 1x01, Veronica who was in several episodes but only on 1 actual date with Buck or Lucy who Buck was never really interested in in the first place).

For Eddie we have Shannon, Ana, Marisol and I'm also including Kim because holy shit, that really was something. For Buck we have Abby, Ali, Taylor, Natalia and Tommy.

Love interests will be judged by likeability, having their own storylines & character traits, compatibility with Eddie or Buck and how well they fit into the bigger picture of the show.

Coming in hot on the 9th place: Natalia. She was nice enough and the one thing we did know about her (her job) could've come up again in interesting ways, but then it didn't. We don't really know anything about her other than her job and she wasn't on the show very long. I think the fact that she had a different perspective on Buck temporarily dying could've been good for him. For everyone else it was a very traumatic experience and sensitive topic, but for Natalia it's business as usual. It could've been good for Buck to have someone to talk to about this without having to walk on eggshells. But I don't think Buck was really in a good place to start dating again, he had just learnt (via coma dream) that being "just Buck" could be enough and that he shouldn't live his life trying to make other people see him a certain way. And then he came in with the "Natalia sees me" line. Natalia never interacted with any of the other main characters and then they wrote her out of the show between seasons.

Conclusion: She was likeable if a bit bland, but she wasn't exactly a well rounded character, I think she would've been much better as a friend for Buck and at no point did the show even try to integrate her as more than just Buck's latest girlfriend.

Talking about likeable but bland: Number 8, Ana. I'm sorry, Ana is objectively speaking a good person, she is kind and pretty and has an impressive career. (She has a PhD I think? And is also already principal at a school despite being rather young? Good for her.) But aside from the fact that she's "nice", there's not much going here. She's mostly there to give Eddie things to spiral about. The skateboard incident for example was mostly a catalyst to get Eddie thinking about what it means to raise a son with a disability, but he then talked about this in more depth with Carla and Buck, Ana was only the messenger. On the surface they tried to give her characteristics that made her perfect for Eddie. She was great with children and already loved Christopher (and Chris liked Ana too), she had a similar background (big latino family) and she really loved her job. But it was all surface level. Who is Ana other than a picture perfect potential wife? What are her interests, what is she like when she isn't being kindness incarnate?

Conclusion: Likeable, but basically a cardboard cutout. This was a least partially intentional (Eddie does come to the "ready made family with no substance behind it" conclusion too), but still. Boring. She only fit well with Eddie on paper and like most Eddie-related things on 911, she seemed a little removed from the rest of the show and whenever she did appear or was brought up in the vicinity of other main characters, it was always about Eddie. (Is Eddie ready to date again? Is Eddie still hung up on Shannon?) It was never about Ana as her own person.

Number 7: Ali. The way we meet her makes us immediately side with her (her boss is a sexist, predatory piece of shit and she won't let that slide). We don't see her again after the earthquake for a while, but when we do we find out she's an opinionated, career oriented, confident woman who has no trouble communicating what she wants and who prioritises her own well being when necessary. She was there for Buck and supported him in the hospital, but sat him down and openly talked to him about why this relationship won't work for her once he got to go home. She was brought in/back as the polar opposite to Taylor who at the time represented the "casual hookups" option, so she wasn't just added randomly, she was also there as part of Buck's character development. She also had good chemistry with Eddie in the opening disaster (I was honestly surprised when they brought her back as Buck's love interest) and I really liked the scene at the hospital with her, Maddie and Carla.

Conclusion: She was a likeable character with enough personality to make her interesting and while she was good for Buck temporarily (I don't think either of them was necessarily looking to settle down at the time), it was exactly that - her knowing herself and what she wants - that eventually ended the relationship. She was only on the show for a few episodes and didn't make any strong connections to the other characters. In my opinion she was pretty much perfect as a minor character / temporary love interest because she was intentionally written as such, but there wasn't much potential for them to be anything more than that.

Moving on to numero 6: Kim. Likeable? Uhhhhhhrm. Well. She was certainly something, but likeable? At first maybe, but then it was mostly a lot of "wtf?" and "what is wrong with her?!" Very fascinating. Her and Eddie had one thing they connected over and one thing only: Shannon. She briefly interacted with Buck, but the whole thing had nothing to do with the rest of the 118 who had bigger fish to fry at the time.

Conclusion: Brainworms inducing character, I don't know who came up with this and why, but I want to thank them because holy shit. Not very likeable, but very interesting and not boring (which is a far bigger sin on tv), the whole thing was connected to Eddie's previously established hang-ups on the Shannon of it all, so even though it was another Eddie plot that was disconnected from the rest of the show it was at least building on his previous storylines and then developed into a bigger plot including Marisol, Chris and the Diaz parents. Kim was a freak and I thank her for her service, even though the fallout in season 8 was fumbled badly.

5th place: Marisol. Kinda mediocre as her placement on the list suggests. I'm so not sure if I should've placed her farther down on the list (maybe 7th place or so), because in many ways she's basically Ana 2.0. Nice girl / pretty Latina who is good with Chris while Eddie is (unknowingly) still hung up on Shannon. However she has little more personality of her own than Ana. I liked that we met her as a random character with no connection to the 118. We saw her having a close relationship with her brother and the diy thing was alson a cool additional piece of information whereas (in the context of these women being fictional characters) I read Ana's profession more as an extension of her "good with kids, she'd be a perfect replacement wife/mom" trait. Like, Ana was very much written as a symbol of what Eddie thinks he should want, Marisol was handled more like an actual person and gender-stereotypical traits do play a role in that for me.

[A/N: To be clear, irl your profession doesn't say anything about how much of a feminist you can be. You can be the most badass activist and also a stay at home mom, but we're talking about fiction where every trait given to a character is a choice made by the writers to project a certain image. And they wrote Ana as gentle and kind woman who works in childcare whereas Marisol is a very handy person who wears overalls the first time we see her. These first impressions were intentional.]

Back to the point - Eddie was in a good place mentally by the end of season 6, it kinda made sense for him to try dating again at that time. They took things slow and had the whole "Marisol moves in, Marisol moves out again" thing. Season 7 was very short and full, but they still carved out some time for Eddiesol(?) to have their own hurdle before Kim entered the game.

Conclusion: Marisol was likeable, a bit more interesting than Ana who was (as I said) often more a symbol than a character. Her and Eddie had some chemistry and this relationship happened more on Eddie's terms (what he wants instead of what he's told he should want) than his previous one with Ana. As per usual Marisol and the related Eddie plot were somewhat disconnected from the rest of the show once they got together, but Eddie did talk to Buck about her. There was potential here for an interesting, longer love story, maybe Eddie reassessing some of his rather conservative views on what being "the man of the house" means to him, but then Marisol's actress got caught being transphobic on social media and they wrote the Doppelgänger storyline instead so. That's that.

Observation: One thing all the characters above have in common so far is that they all had little to do on the show outside of being Eddie's or Buck's girlfriend. The 4 love interests who are left also had other important relationships or roles on the show that weren't just about Buck or Eddie. Shannon was not only Eddie's wife, she was Chrisopher's mother. Abby was a main character in season 1 and had a lot going on other than being with Buck. Tommy had a connection to Chimney, Hen, Bobby and Gerrard or rather the 118 in general before he ever met Buck. Taylor had soo much screentime and as a reporter was often involved in the calls and emergencies on the show without it being related to Buck (remember the call where this guy got buried alive and Taylor and Ransone both worked the case later?).

Back to the countdown: Number 4, Shannon. The fandom is very split on whether she deserved better or wasn't judged harshly enough, so it's hard to say whether she is "likeable" per se. She is definitely a very complex character and as someone who just got off the phone with their mum because she wanted my opinion on what to do about my disabled little brother who she doesn't think she can care for at home any longer- Well, let's say I sympathise. Shannon was barely even 20 (not even old enough to drink) when she had Christopher and Eddie fucked right off to the other side of the Atlantic and especially when you're raising a disabled child money isn't everything. They often need more help, more supervision, have more appointments, etc etc. Eddie was well aware that he was leaving Shannon on her own with all of that, her only support network being the judgemental in-laws who didn't like Shannon very much. Should she have run off into the night only leaving behind a two line farewell note? Hell no. But still, I sympathise. The point is that Shannon is a complex, flawed character who got an extensive background story and her story revolved not only around Eddie but around Christopher too. Sadly they killed her off before her and Eddie's relationship could run its course completely and we'll never know how she would've fit into the bigger picture.

Conclusion: Shannon is a complex character who you can sympathise with, who had her own goals and motivations and who was more than just Eddie's wife. She and Eddie had a long, emotional, complicated past with ups and downs, but they loved each other and Christopher very much (it's debatable if it was true love in the romantic sense of the word, but they loved each other). Still, she wasn't exactly present outside of Eddie's personal life and was killed off after being in only a handful of episodes.

[Personally I think they had a great opportunity to a) have Eddie and Shannon co-parent post-divorce like Michael and Athena did or b) still divorce them but then write a delicious slowburn about how without the pressure, without the church and their families breathing down their necks, without a surprise pregnancy and after working out the lingering resentment they feel, they eventually still find their way back to each other. Kinda like Chimney and Maddie did, but make it a slowburn instead of a speedrun.]

Entering the top 3 now. Tommy. He could've scored higher if the writers hadn't completely fumbled this plot. Season 7 and 8 were hands down the worst seasons yet and all of the characters deserved better. (Yes even Gerrard and Ortiz in the sense that they of course shouldn't have got happy endings, rainbows and sunshine, but they deserved to be written as antagonists with more agency, more substance, more depth instead of whatever the hell that was.) (Not Brad though. Fuck Brad.) A-ny-way. Tommy isn't exactly likeable when we first meet him in season 2, but the show quickly shows that he isn't a complete asshole. We later find out he's been stuck in regressive environments his entire life and internalised a lot of that bullshit before he unlearnt it again much later. But even in season 2 they showed us Chimney and Tommy making peace, Tommy and Hen finding common ground and him being (if not friends) at least friendly with Hen, Chim and Bobby by 2x16. Which already says a lot about the character's complexity. We learn a lot about Tommy's hobbies, he's involved in a high-stakes rescue mission with the 118, due to his job it's very easy to make him part of other calls and emergencies (the show never did that, but it was at least possible) and he is very well connected to the main characters other than Buck. He really liked Buck a lot, showed up for him again and again and only broke up with him because he was scared of getting hurt because he liked Buck so much. Buck on the other hand wasn't written very well these past 2 (1.5?) seasons. He had little to do except come out as bi- No wait, explore his sexuali- No wait, figure out his identity as a queer ma- No wait. Discover he is not straight. Because he didn't come out as bi (he still has no label) and he didn't explore his sexuality or identity as a queer man beyond getting into a new relationship. Yeah, we really don't know much about how exactly Buck felt about Tommy outside of the vague "I can see a future with him".

Conclusion: A criminal amount of wasted potential. Tommy started out as antagonistic, but then got a (short, partially off-screen) redemption arc which to me makes him not only very likeable, but even loveable. It makes him interesting. He could've been very good for Buck, but sadly the show underutilised him and rarely showed their progressing relationship at all. Tommy was very well connected within the 911 universe, even had the perfect job to join a call here and there. The show just didn't do anything with all of that and it's truly a shame.

2nd place, Abby. Honestly, Abby could've been first. She's likeable, just like I sympathise with Shannon because she was in a tough spot I see the same with Abby and her mother. Abby is shown as a hard working, loyal person who will put her own needs second and prioritise family, but not to the point where she comes across as a perfect saint. She snaps at Carla, is (understandably) annoyed with her mom sometimes, etc. I also honestly believe she and Buck were good for each other. She got to feel a little carefree and adventurous from time to time with someone who didn't bring his own obvious heavy baggage into the relationship. And Buck got to experience a relationship with someone who cares about him and not just whether he is a good lay, he got to care for someone who took their relationship seriously and who made him grow as a person. Abby also shared some nice scenes with Athena and Bobby, she was a main character all on her own (covering the dispatch position before Maddie took over) who had her own personal struggles and calls at work. But here's the one thing that to me disqualified her from #1 without discussion: It was obvious from the start that for her the relationship with Buck was only a fling. She cared about him, deeply, but he was an escape. She liked him, maybe loved him, but I'm not sure she was in love with him. They never really stood a chance long term. I think even if Abby hadn't run off to Europe, she would've left Buck eventually.

Conclusion: Likeable, complex character, well connected within the universe, she and Buck made a very good couple - for a short while. Not much else to say.

Which for the 1st place only leaves Taylor. Controversial pick? Maybe. I know many people actively hated her, but personally I love characters who are just a tad bit fucked up. Taylor is shown as a very "modern" woman (I don't know how else to call it, she is still very feminine after all). She is career driven, not exactly a nurturing / kind / sweet girl, treats sex as a very casual thing and has some interesting morals when it comes to protecting an individual's privacy vs being honest with the broad public. She is however very similar to Buck when it comes to their jobs. They both live and breathe for their work and are willing to sacrifice personal relationships for it too. Taylor worked all her life to one day become someone who gets to uncover truths due to the fact that she never found out the truth about her mother's murder and her father's involvement. Buck for a long time measured his worth by what he could do for others, he was "born to safe someone", he's very empathetic and has this intrinsic need to help people and he took all that and made a career of it. Buck and Taylor get up to all kinds of shenanigans together - searching for a treasure, trying to solve a hit and run, etc. As a reporter Taylor isn't a first responder, but it is natural for her to be on scene for calls and emergencies and to investigate those matters further (thus running into Athena or other cops later on), it happened quite a lot actually. On a personal level however she isn't close to any of the other main characters and I think that was their downfall eventually. She understands Buck really well (as for example shown by her take on the "maybe this isn't about you" trope) and she even understands how close Buck is to the 118 ("Your life is full of meaningful relationships.") - she understands Buck, but she isn't like Buck. She prioritises differently and never really gets involved with the 118.

Conclusion: Taylor is a very independant character with a lot of strengths, but also flaws and those flaws made her extremely unlikeable to some of the more rabid fans, but I will love and treasure her forever. I think she and Buck complemented each other really well, but maybe they'd be better as friends? They had great chemistry, they could talk to each other about their jobs and understood each other in ways I think none of the other love interests did (except maybe Eddie and Shannon). On a professional level Taylor fit into the 911 universe incredibly well, she was just never closely connected to the other characters on a personal level.

#911 abc #evan buckley #eddie diaz #911 ships #abby clark #natalia dollenmeyer #marisol #(does she seriously still not have a last name?)#taylor kelly #ali martin #tommy kinard #shannon diaz #kim #(also no last name. i see.)#ana flores #do is still need to tag spoilers? 8x06 aired well over a month ago.#911 thoughts

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