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ghosthunterbuck · 2 years

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5x11 meta - buck, eddie, and the bar scene

i just keep coming back to that moment in the bar when eddie notices buck, but buck doesn’t notice eddie, because for the life of me, i can’t think of a single other time that’s happened

we see eddie from buck’s point of view constantly, because buck always notices him. literally, eddie’s very first scene is a shot of buck noticing him, and it never stops

it happens again during the tsunami

and, most recently, in wrapped in red, just before eddie tells them he’s leaving the 118

this happens several other times in the show, but notably does not happen again before the bar scene. interestingly the only episodes i can think of that don’t quite fit this pattern are eddie begins and buck begins, but in both of those, the audience becomes aware of eddie’s presence at the exact same time as buck does

there are plenty of moments where eddie looks at buck and buck isn’t looking back, and vice versa, but buck always knows when eddie is there

so this moment, when eddie sees buck but buck doesn’t see him feels extremely significant to me

i specifically want to draw attention to the fact that, not only does buck not notice eddie in his vicinity, he also has his eyes closed for the entirety of the time the camera is focused on his face

buck has always seen eddie, literally and metaphorically, but this time he can’t

so what does this mean? maybe nothing, but i think this scene was more than just a way to show how isolated eddie feels right now. i think it’s also the apex of the distance between him and buck, and the absolute rock bottom of their relationship, and i’ll explain why

[the rest under the cut because this got long]

earlier in the episode, buck tries to get to eddie to talk to him, but eddie refuses and tells buck to move on. in the very next scene, buck asks bobby if he knew eddie wasn’t coming back which bobby confirms. when hen tries to reassure him that he will be back, buck responds with this:

"I don’t know. I had dinner with Eddie last night, and he seemed […] different."

at this point, buck appears to have given up on the idea that eddie is coming back, and maybe even on eddie himself. from here until the last scene of the episode, buck won’t talk to or about eddie again. notably, we don’t even see buck’s reaction to eddie on the comms during the truck rescue

so then we get to the bar scene, AKA: grocery store fight 2.0

i swear I'm going to explain

why is it grocery store 2.0? it isn’t a big blowout fight, but like the grocery store scene, it’s a complete breakdown of communication between buck and eddie that will lead to significant consequences for both of them (buck’s kiss with lucy, and eddie’s blow up at bobby)

let’s compare and contrast:

buck shows up at the grocery store, intending to apologize and re-establish communication with the 118

eddie shows up at the bar, presumably intending to spend time with the 118. now, it’s entirely possible that eddie has seen the 118 since the christmas party, but as far as the audience is concerned, this is the first time, and therefore also eddie’s attempt to reestablish communication with the 118 (and, given his earlier conversation with josh, and what we know he’ll ask for later, it’s not unlikely that he also intended to take back what he said to buck about moving on)

next, in the grocery store scene, eddie, who has always been level headed with buck, yells. buck quickly becomes defensive and the fight escalates, but it’s clear neither of them is hearing what the other is saying. the conversation is cut off by the cars in the parking lot before there can be any resolution

in the bar scene, buck, who we’ve established has always seen eddie, has his eyes closed. eddie, initially hopeful, notices buck and the others having a seemingly great time without him and quickly becomes dejected and leaves, ending the "conversation" before there can be any resolution

on the surface, this seems pretty different, but underneath, it’s exactly the same

to explain that, though, we need to talk about the last time eddie’s mentioned in the episode: when ravi mentions that eddie was at the bar, and buck says

"I texted him. I just… thought he was a no-show."

to which ravi replies that he saw eddie in the parking lot, and eddie blew him off. buck says that’s "weird" and wonders aloud what’s going on

this exchange is vital because it changes the bar scene from a one sided breakdown of communication to a two-sided one.

presumably, when eddie sees buck laughing in the bar, he comes to the conclusion that buck has indeed moved on, and is fine without him, which is a conclusion the audience might come to at this point as well, because of the conversation he had with bobby and hen earlier. eddie takes this as a rejection and leaves. the audience, however, doesn’t, and it quickly becomes apparent that everything buck’s displaying on the surface is just that – a facade, concealing how wrong everything is underneath. it’s not until the scene with ravi at the end, though, that the misunderstanding is confirmed, because despite having "moved on" (not really) buck is the one that invited eddie to the bar, and buck, just like he did at the beginning of the episode, still wants to know "what’s going on [with eddie]"

we get less, overall, of buck’s side of this silent conversation, but i think there are a few things we can infer. first, buck more than likely texted eddie after the call with the truck bomb. second, eddie almost certainly never responded. had eddie said he was coming, then not shown up without a word, buck would have worried, and at the very least, mentioned his concerns to someone. on the other hand, had eddie said he wasn’t coming, buck wouldn’t have had to make an assumption about eddie being a no show; he would have known.

on buck’s side of things, then, this is a reinforcement of what eddie said earlier, that he’s moved on, and buck should too. we know this to be incorrect, because just a few scenes later, eddie will indicate to christopher unambiguously that he hasn’t moved on, and doesn’t want to

returning to our grocery scene comparison, what we end up with is:

in the grocery store scene, eddie says [i miss you and im hurting without you] but buck hears [you left and now you can’t come back]

in the bar scene, buck says [i want you to be here, but you told me to move on so i won’t push too hard] and eddie hears [i moved on, just like you said. i’m fine without you]

in the grocery store scene, buck says [i miss you and i need to you to understand that i only wanted to come home] and eddie hears [my job is more important to me than my relationship with you]

in the bar scene eddie says [i want to be here with you, but i don’t belong here anymore and you’re fine without me] and buck hears [i’ve moved on, just like i said. i’m fine without you]

not so different after all, huh?

so this leaves us at the end of the episode, with buck and eddie farther apart than they’ve ever been, and, most likely, the farthest apart they’ll ever be again

why?

[spoilers for 5x13 ahead]

because the next time buck and eddie have a real conversation after the grocery store fight, they come back together stronger than ever. and based on interviews and promos, the next time buck and eddie have a real conversation after the bar scene is going to be when eddie breaks down and buck is in the room

they’ve been stretching buck and eddie like a rubber band all season, and the bar scene in 5x11 is the farthest apart they can go without breaking apart completely or snapping back together

eddie was always soft with buck, but after he uncharacteristically yells in the grocery store scene, he becomes infinitely softer, starting with ‘i forgive you’ and culminating in, you know, all of season four

buck has always seen eddie, so it stands to reason that now, after uncharacteristically closing his eyes (moving on), he’ll be able to see eddie more than ever, which is to say, he’ll see everything eddie’s been trying to hide. it’ll be explosive and emotional, and might even result in an actual fight, but everything that happens from here on out will be part of what brings them back together, not what pushed them apart

this, finally, is the resolution not only of the miscommunication from the bar scene, but also of the conversation on the balcony in which eddie says

"Or you don’t know her the way he does. When you think of your sister, you see this person you’ve always looked up to. The woman who’s taken care of you. But maybe that’s not who she is right now. This time, maybe she’s the one who needs taking care of."

and funny thing about the balcony scene?

buck couldn’t see eddie properly then, either

#anyway this is the post I accidentally deleted so hopefully y'all like it bc I've now written it twice #and it took... a while #anyway everything is connected and the bar scene says more in like 20 seconds than most episodes say in an hour #911 #911 spoilers #911 meta #buddie #buddie meta #911 fox #also if this flops can we all agree to never mention it again thx

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