#the possible implications of Buck dying for Eddie

[lover-of-mine]

what are your thoughts on nde for either eddie or buck in 8x08? me personally, im thinking buck is gonna get the nde, and i think he’s gonna be shot. tim recreating s4/5 when he originally wanted to do buddie, but what im thinking, is buck realizes his feelings for eddie but doesn’t want to/doesn’t know if he should tell him, then he gets shot and it’s all dramatic and eddie is there and freaking out, trying to save him and keep him alive (aka why they’re pushing medic eddie so much this season) and buck realizes this might be his last chance so he just goes for it anyway and while he’s bleeding out he tells eddie he loves him😭 i know this is probably not what’s gonna happen but lol i just enjoy theories and i always love to hear what you think!

adding onto this, i ALSO saw around twitter the theory that buck would get a nde, but he gets hit by a car or just in a car accident in general, and eddie is there and it parallels shannon’s death (obviously buck doesn’t die but you get the memo😆)

Hi, darling! Okay, I don't mean to shit on anyone's specs, but I think either of them getting shot again would be so uninspired. The show is slowly reintroducing new ways to pull the triggers they put down for buddie because they need to address the stuff that happened to them somehow, but a direct mirrored parallel to the shooting wouldn't work as well as everyone seems to think it would. Partially because I think that forcing Buck to confess because he (or Eddie) is dying is yet another way to take away Buck's agency and further attach Buck to the idea he's only worthy of love when someone bleeds. But also because putting one of them in the position to be doing the saving again won't really further their storyline. Eddie watched Buck in a nde twice, the bombing and the lightning, and Buck watched Eddie in a nde twice, the well and the shooting, and I think they need a combined trigger, aka a combined nde.

I am attached to my drown Buck theory, have them off duty, crash the car, end up trapped and the car filling with water, but I also think that the trapped dads theory also works a lot here, especially if you put them both in the situation while off duty, aka without gear or backup, and you can play with a lot of elements of every nde before that and create a catalyst for them to talk and figure themselves out. I also think everyone is getting ahead of themselves, I don't think they are in the place to get that catalyst yet, and 2 episodes are not enough to get them there when we are talking about an ensemble show. I feel like people are expecting a direct callback because we got a well callback and are getting a lightning callback, but while buddie was front and center during the well callback, they actually used it to further Chim at first. It works to get the audience thinking about different aspects of their past, which in turn makes it so that when they talk about it, it will be in our minds, but it doesn't explicitly address the implications with buddie. I think the lightning callback will be a lot about reminding Buck of whatever it was that he was supposed to learn with it the first time around that they never truly explored due to the network switch and Natalia not coming back. I also think that confronting the situation where Buck almost died and possibly watching a freshly heartbroken Buck be impulsive can push Eddie to look at some stuff that would push him into action to figure himself out.

Especially if @stagefoureddiediaz ends up right and the lightning callback ends up being a truck bombing callback too since the well callback is also a subtle callback to the kids on the cliff call in 304 and could be played into different directions when it comes to what comes out from it moving forward. Buddie has a lot to talk about, but they need a reason to think about the stuff they need to talk about on their own before getting to a point where they can actually have those conversations. I think they rely too much on how well they understand each other that they fail to consider the way they can't actually read each other's minds, and figuring that part out is important before pushing them to the catalyst. And please don't get me wrong, I'm like, 90% sure that the catalyst will be another nde, I just don't think it's gonna happen until 8b.

[diaz911]

I’m so sad that the finale was so mediocre, and not just from a Buddie perspective, it just wasn’t well structured at all. But it had so much potential that it’s driving me insane.

The bridge collapse idea is great. Some brilliant people pointed out how the team was trapped in a way that paralleled their biggest traumas (Hen driving an ambulance, Chim impaled by rebar, Eddie trapped alone underground, Bobby separated from his family while they’re dying) and wow, that is SUCH a good premise for a season finale / possible series finale and leaves Buck to take on a leadership role that we set up he wants earlier in the season. But when you actually watch the episode none of that lands at all. The rescues are so fast that there is no tension or sense of danger. The team barely talks to each other. There is no sense that any of them are all that hurt or are going to die. Chim talking with the guest star is the longest conversation and not relevant. And nothing happens about them all reliving and overcoming their past traumas. Instead a kid I don’t remember from season 2 showed up and everyone was fine. 

I’m iffy on the baby stuff as well. I find it wildly unbelievable that Cameron doesn’t have a single friend or family member she could stay with instead of Buck, but I did like Buck’s growth and maturity while delivering the baby and giving it away. That was really nice for him. Natalia coming back and being the couch was crazy. If this had been the series finale Buck would have ended up with a woman he met three episodes ago, one of which she spent bailing on him, and had like 4 minutes of screen time with. It was so rushed and unappealing. Like, I didn’t think Buddie was going canon, but the fact this season didn’t end with Buddie on a couch with at least a platonic implication of being a family feels like a slap in the face to everything that happened this season.

A finale should be about the entire team, but no one got an arc or anything to do except Buck. And I love Buck but that’s a disservice to a great ensemble of characters.  

I can’t believe I’m saying this as a Buddie truther, but Eddie’s call with Marisol was my favorite part of the episode. They were both really cute and I’m glad Chris was involved. I prefer both the boys single but if they have to date someone it’s so much more tolerable when they actually have chemistry.

I’m just really sad. I think we all (viewers and actors) deserved better. 

[oneshortdamnfuse]

*Deep Inhale*

It is reasonable to believe that Buck’s family is dysfunctional on some level. The Buckley Siblings do not mention their parents often, if at all. They spend a lot of time together, but they don’t spend a lot of time with their parents. What little we know is that Maddie took care of Buck, when he was little. (To what extent, we don’t know!) Maddie did not want their parents to know she finally left Doug. It appears they might have a condescending word or two to say about it - a “told you so.” (Again, this is based on crumbs of information.)

When Maddie is hospitalized after becoming the victim of a high-profile adult kidnapping case which made headlines, there’s no indication that their parents visit. Buck is hospitalized multiple times, almost dying - again, in one case that makes the news. There is no indication that their parents visit. They are each involved in each other’s lives. They are also there when the other is injured. But. There is no indication that their parents are there for them. Their parents live in another state, but it’s still suspicious they don’t even try to maintain contact.

Unless this is a case of poor planning and unintentional implications in the writing department, it is plausible that their parents are not reliable. They aren’t likely physically or emotionally supportive. They are possibly neglectful to some degree. Maddie fell into a relationship with Doug at a young age. She spent a significant portion of her adult life with him, where she tried to maintain a perfect facade so she wouldn’t have to deal with the “humiliation” of being abused. Also, their parents might not be the most helpful, empathetic people. 

Maddie’s need to take care of Buck when he was a child is questionable. They don’t have a big family. It’s just the two of them. Why would Maddie have to take on a parental role with Buck? This carries over into their adult life, too. Maddie is always the one to make sure Buck is okay. Maddie is the one texting him after a hard day. She’s the one making sure he’s taking care of himself, like a mom. In turn, Buck cares for her. They have a reciprocal relationship that they don’t have with their parents. It’s a little atypical of a sibling relationship you’d see on TV.

...but it’s also not an uncommon relationship among siblings who grew up in a dysfunctional, neglectful household where siblings may only be able to rely on each other. Still, we don’t know much. I don’t want to jump to conclusions. But. Buck also seeks a father figure, and he finds a father figure in Bobby. He literally calls him “pops.” Bobby is there in place of Buck’s father for many major events in Buck’s life. Buck confesses that Bobby is one of the most important persons in his life, and he doesn’t make any mention of his parents. Ever. 

While Maddie was trapped in a relationship with an abusive man, Buck was off trying to find a purpose for himself. We can gather that his young adult years were full of aimless pursuits until he becomes a firefighter. It’s the only job he feels competent in. It’s the only thing where he feels he can be successful, but also help people. Yes, he makes a lot of impulsive, rookie mistakes. However, he is so paranoid about losing his job it impacts his self confidence. It causes him to sink into a depression, after being kept away from the job due to injury.

At no point are his parents there to help him along the way. He finds a support system in his co-workers at the 118. Being isolated from them causes him to sink further into a depression, because they are his go-to people. Additionally, he’s hit with a level of rejection from all of them which starts with everyone really undermining the emotional stress his injuries caused him and ends with Buck getting the cold-shoulder from them post-lawsuit. Eddie, especially, takes out his aggravations on him and Buck internalizes that blame. 

That speaks to how Buck processes his value in relationships. He is so worried about being unloved and abandoned that he will shoulder the blame for things that aren’t even his fault just so that people wont leave him. That fear of being abandoned doesn’t come from nowhere, but we can only speculate. Given the lack of involvement the Buckley parents have in his life and his sister’s life, it’s reasonable to assume that some of these issues their children face stem from a dysfunctional, likely neglectful, household. 

*Deep Exhale*

All that being said, Buck doesn’t act like he grew up in a violent household. Abuse and neglect can have many different appearances, so it’s surprising to me that it’s become popular for fans to stick to a one-narrative view of abuse and neglect. Their parents didn’t need to hit them for all of the above to play out like it did. Of course, everyone responds differently to trauma. It’s just that there is no indication that Buck was physically abused by his parents, nor was Maddie for that matter. It’s just commonly discussed in fandom... for some reason.

I understand if fans headcanon this, if they are trying to connect with the characters and talk about their own experiences through them. I’m not against hurt/comfort, and characters learning to heal. However. A lot of people seem to only care about the angst-value of it. I’m not trying to make people feel bad or admonish anyone. I am saying all of this, though, as someone who did grow up in a violent household, and a lot of the reasoning people give for why they think *wildly gestures to this* aren’t grounded in anything that makes sense. 

Make it make sense. I’ve talked about this briefly before. I’ve had people disagree with me, because they embrace this particular headcanon. Again, I’m not trying to police people on the matter. I am talking from experience, though, when I say over half of what I read about Buck (or Maddie) being abused by their parents doesn’t make sense or correspond to their canon personalities and experiences. It doesn’t mean that this isn’t possible, at all. However, I would like people to consider their approach to this more thoughtfully. 

[lover-of-mine]

Okay, but on the flip side, Eddie's arc with time and loneliness and the sudden "I'm gonna die alone" thing could mean we could get Eddie properly trapped. Because, yes, he was alone in the bridge, but his radio was working and he had no reason to believe Buck wouldn't get to him. Now you put him alone in a sinking ship, stakes are higher, water can make the radios not work, so much can go wrong in a call like that. I'm saying Buck could drown, but remember the finale speculation where Buck would have to choose who to save? Bobby. Eddie. Water. Panic. It's all still possible.

[lover-of-mine]

Hi Anna 💕💕💕

I saw that your post about how it looks like ABC just confirmed the cruise ship disaster. How do you think this will play into your theory of Buck drowning and having his breakdown that way???

hi darling 💜

First of all, I'm just slightly coherent, so bear with me lol. Just for context, I have a whole tag for the possibility of Buck drowning, all thoughts can be found here. Also, everything about this is gonna be based on the vision I wrote here, so if anyone is just stumbling into this and wants to know why I'm so sure they'll drown Buck go read that.

Up until the props department posted that picture of the life vests, I was thinking about Buck drowning in buddie terms, something that would be a climax for Buck, that could be used for Eddie in the same way the shooting can be used for Buck. But, with the life vests and the now confirmed cruise disaster, I started to think about what that could mean as a trigger. You don't need a lot to trigger Buck and you put something like this in the ocean????? With everything that went wrong for Buck around water?? It's so easy to start the timer in the timebomb we know Buck is and deal with everything surrounding the lightning strike and his death.

So, my most recent vision of it involved Buck saving a random person, (I did discuss the possibility of it being Bobby but didn't elaborate) I have been saying that they will use Bobby or Maddie to trigger Buck since I first posted about my theory about drowning Buck, mostly because his own death was not enough to trigger him but Maddie or Bobby being in serious danger would, but at first I wasn't convinced they wouldn't just use a surrogate for one of them and then have Buck find out Bobby was in danger too after. BUT I was talking to @bucksbackwardcap the other day and she brought up the possible parallels with worst day ever, with the plane crash and Bobby asking for help, and my brain has been in overdrive since.

Because let's say my general vision is correct and Buck will do something that will get him trapped to save someone and that will lead to him drowning, he would not handle almost dying again well. And taking my vision of Buck and Eddie are paired doing water rescues, they spot someone, they get them out, Buck doesn't resurface, Eddie needs to dive back in to get him, and the fun implication of Eddie having to save Buck again, and making the person that Buck went in to save Bobby, you can have so many fun developments from there. My main thing is Buck having a moment where he gives up, not in a he let himself sink type situation, but a bit more of a not trying as hard as he could to swin (we know Buck can swin and I've talked about the possible parallels with greys anatomy and teh ferry boat crash and Meredith drowning in season 3, with @slowlyfoggydestiny inputs), and considering who Buck is, dying in the place of someone he loves is the way to go. So we would have Buck doing something stupid to save Bobby, ending up getting trapped himself, Eddie distracted treating Bobby and not noticing Buck is not there immediately (that would play out nicely with the way Eddie is always last to know, like he's the last to see Shannon in the car crash, he only finds out Buck and Chris were in the tsunami after they are safe, he's the last to look up after the lightning), we have Buck not being able to swim back to surface, then obviously I don't want to kill Buck permanently, so Eddie would dive for him and we could have something nice on the buddie front (dear God please give me "You're not doing this to me again").

So that way we can have parallels to the worst day ever and sink or swim/the searchers, with all the water elements, and searching for someone, and the way the team doesn't know someone they love is there. And that could be interesting because we would have to deal with the way Buck gave up, we would have to deal with Bobby feeling guilt for the way Buck nearly killed himself to save him, and since Eddie like to insert himself in the father/son conflicts (rec the lawsuit) we could have Eddie struggling with having to save Buck again, and misplacing his feelings. You can create a really nice tension between the 3 of them. You can have Eddie pissed that Buck stopped swimming but at the same time conflicted over the fact that he can't really be mad at Buck for dying, so redirecting that feeling into other things while the tension between them gets more present in the space that's already growing since the cemetery. You can have Bobby not dealing well with the fact that Buck almost died because of him again, and he could go overbearing or detached like the lawsuit, I think he would go overbearing this time. And most of all you can have Buck losing his shit because for a second he thought he was gonna die and was okay with it.

So far Buck has been completely ignoring the lightning and everything about it, right? Just move past it. But there's a limit to how much you can just shove past before you just can't anymore and Buck is past that threshold. So you can have Buck steadly spiraling out of control in the background up until a moment where he just snaps. I've been conflicted about how Buck snapping could happen in a way where he would get help as quickly as possible because he lives alone, so it's not like it happened with Eddie, that you can just have Chris make a call, but let's say we're reaching the climax of the situation and Buck does something stupid, going up that crane type stupid, the type of stupid that could get him killed, and everyone snapping at him, and Buck snapping himself. And you can have the overbearing we didn't see from Bobby and Eddie after the lightning happening now. You have Bobby show up, we get a little nice father/son moment, and we have the parallels to worst day ever when Bobby asks for help.

But I also like the idea of Eddie showing up in the middle of it all, not only just for the parallel with fear-o-phobia, but also because I think it would be good for all the growth we've witnessed from Eddie, to have him really mad, ready to confront Buck because he's being an idiot, and just switching the flip back to protector once he realizes how bad it actually is. Obviously, this all ends with Buck back in therapy.

And I feel like that could work if Buck is saving a random person, if he's saving Bobby, or even if he's saving Athena.

And with everything that happened to Buck and people Buck loves around water, or just the situations where he can't breathe, having him drown is THE perfect trigger. And to have him in the ocean trying to save someone he loves again, to have him completely ignore his own safety, could be so so so so so good.