5.18 "Starting Over" / 7.01 "Abandon Ships"

No, because the thing is, 911 has 3 established main couples, 2 we see them getting together, bathena and madney, and the other is introduced to us already established, henren are already married when we get introduced to Karen. But an interesting thing there for me, is that Karen is introduced to us while Hen does something that most people find unforgivable, cheating, which makes us sympathize with Karen even though Karen technically only exists to be Hen's wife, so even tho the audience is usually biased towards the main character, we end up caring about Karen more, which makes it so even though she only exists through Hen, we like her, we like them together. Madney and Bathena on the other hand work because they exist individually, we care about all four of them, the relationship is an extra point for the character, it's not why they're there, so it works because we are not heavily biased in any direction. And that's the thing that makes me question what's going on with the love interests for Buck and Eddie. Ali barely existed for us but there's a really heavy point against her with the whole not being able to deal with Buck's job. Taylor is right off the bat introduced to us as someone who will use anything to get on top, including wanting to capitalize on Bobby's addiction, so we always end up suspicious of her because she was willing to hurt a character we care about for her own gain, so she never really had a chance, she only exists through Buck, and she already hurt someone else, so most of us don't care that Buck cheated on her and we're not really surprised when she uses the Jonah thing, so no real chance there. Natalia is a little too excited about Buck's death at first, I personally can't get past the cool comment, that feels insensitive but maybe that's just me, but either way she learned more about Buck and she left, so right now, she only exists through Buck and we know she's capable of leaving at any inconveniences (I don't really think finding out the guy you're trying to date is a sperm donor and is gonna end up housing the mother is just an inconvenience but you get me) so we will be heavily biased towards Buck on any future conflict because Buck is the only one we care about there and she left him before. Imma add Lucy here because it's also interesting the way that Lucy is the one that has the best fighting chances here, Buck and Luck could work and be a fun couple to watch, Lucy is a firefighter so it would be easy to make her exist outside of Buck and make the relationship balanced but the whole kissing Buck while he's drunk and dating someone else makes it so most people will be biased against it, the same cheating thing that makes us root for Karen and despise Eva, ends up working here, even if it's very mild version because we don't really like Taylor. And like, Shannon, she was always written to be fridged, it is very clear that Eddie was always planned to be a single dad army vet widower, so she never had a fighting chance to begin with, but she left Christopher, abandoned Eddie to deal with it all, so most people would never root for her anyway, because even Eddie is shown as not sure of her. I kinda think Ana falls into the same category as Ali, I don't think we see enough of her to care about her, but the panic attacks really kill her chances even if she didn't have something wrong about her introduction. And, well, Marisol has 3 seconds of screen time, there's not enough information to do anything there. Also, I think Lena falls in the same category as Lucy, it could work if they really wanted (I don't think they did) but Lena was the person that took Eddie to the first fight so she has points against her.

So the thing is, the show knows how to build relationships, so what the fuck are they doing with Buck and Eddie considering they are making sure they work together and individually if there isn't some sort of plan to eventually get them together?

your post re canonbuddie stans ♥

you liking bucktaylor & megan west ♥♥

you liking bucktalia ♥♥♥

you not liking eddie ♥♥♥♥

you liking marisol ♥♥♥♥♥

your take on canonbuddie overall ♥♥♥♥♥♥

i agree with it all so wholeheartedly!!! buck and eddie literally feel like bros to me. yes, they are besties, and yes, buck has a very lovely bond with chris! but at every single point in the past 6 seasons that could have been used to give Hints to the audience that buck or eddie could ever be romantically involved with a man (or even each other), the show never took it. zero jealousy, zero hesitation to date somebody else, zero insecurity of their "family dynamic" changing when they date again, zero flirtation or appreciative looks or past experiences with men. buck and eddie are both so painfully heterosexual to this day that everybody who honestly thinks of buddie being a feasible option for a canon endgame couple is just delusional to me at this point. and i want to stress that this does not mean that people cannot enjoy and ship buddie to their hearts content! but i need people to fucking learn how to watch and comprehend a narrative realistically because things have gotten so extremely exhausting, even in the tags that are not even meant for buddie! it is everywhere, and i am so so so tired of it.

also, god, i am always so happy whenever i see somebody who enjoys buck and canon buck ships but also shares my disinterest in eddie dfjdsfk; i loved him sm in s2 but that love dwindled more with each new season, s4 and s5 eddie bored me to death. today, i am mostly just indifferent to him. i believe in marisol's power to make his scenes better lmao.

you have any wishes for bucktalia moving forward or some type of scene you'd like to see them in? i personally must see her in lingerie and/or in some really sexy outfit. i just want to stare at them being pretty and cute together, frankly speaking.

legit haven't gotten an anon ask in well over a decade hahaha so this was super neat to open the website and see <3

yes in s2, that character was one of the best male characters i had the pleasure of watching and that dwindled quickly, to the point i wish for the s1 118.

i don't wanna touch on the sexuality of anyone, even fictional characters but the writers have not gone out of their way in anyway to say they aren't straight and i think 7 seasons in, if it was in their plan it would've been done. it's a ryan murphy creation for goodness sake, if he wanted to he would've from ground zero.

i don't have much thought about them yet! they are very aesthetically pleasing. i just want them to stop having buck reinvent himself. we're on buck 345.0 at this point. (i love him and think oliver is GREAT at portraying him, but enough) i was really excited to see where buck and taylor could've gone especially given their history and how we had already been introduced to the audience and had a story independent of his. i also like how she wasn't falling at his feet and also in s4 when he basically used her and she called him out and told him he actually needed to treat her like a friend. why they just decided to take their story in the direction they did, i'll never know. they've written bathena AMAZINGLY and have done a wonderful job with madney, not sure why they aren't doing the same with buck. because after AB, PK, and JLH who came with an already established fanbase, buck/OS seems to be highly popular among the audience and deserves better writing. he was single majority of season 6, so i guess i can't say i wish he was single much longer. i hope natalia becomes a character we can invest in separately from buck. i'm pleased with what very little we've seen so far.

whoever, you are thank you for sending this! and here's to hoping we get season 7 by january 2024.

Hey there, i‘m really interested in your opinion on where this Bucktaylor storyline will go. I’ve seen you say that you think that they will break up eventually, and i‘m right there with you, but i‘m also a delusional Buddie clown so i don’t think my personal assessment is really worth anything 😂 you seem like a much more level headed person, which is why i would love to hear what you think about this.

anonymous asked: Where do you think the Bucktaylor storyline is going? I like them a lot better than EddieAna, and used to think that they might be endgame (although i wouldn’t have been too happy about that) but the way they handled them in the finale not only disappointed me, it also kind of left the impression that they are definitely not going to last. I think if they seriously wanted this to go somewhere, they would have waited a while and developed them a bit more until they brought them together (yk, like a proper slowburn) If they are endgame there’s no rush, right ?

i'm not sure if you're the same anon or not, but i figured i'd answer both at the same time!

i have no idea where bucktaylor is going! i'm not stressed about it. for one thing, despite my enjoyment of buddie and despite how much i like to clown and read meta and make parallel gifsets about them, i?? have no real expectations that they'll become canon. so the bucktaylor of it all doesn't stress me out. i like taylor. i liked her when they introduced her in s2 and i liked when they brought her back in s4.

and i don't? actually think that their relationship was rushed in s4. i know i've seen some other people say that and like, to each their own, but i much more appreciate the way that taylor was brought back into the storyline, how she and buck clearly spent time together and started to build that rapport back up, that the show made it clear that buck was interested in more, and then they got together. like that's WAY BETTER than just having eddie run into ana on the side of the street and then the show just being like "lol they're together now, we don't need to show any development, here have a cringey math date and a 10 second scene of them cuddling on the couch with chris."

and honestly, other than madney, 9-1-1 isn't GREAT at developing romantic relationships. they kind of did it with buckabby in s1 but like...the less said about s1 the better. but otherwise, bobby/athena? spent an entire season having v little interaction with each other and then by the end they were like 'oh let's go on a date' and in s2 it was just full throttle they are COMMITTED. michael and david got trapped on an elevator together, went on a date in the finale, and then in s4? LIVING TOGETHER. buckalli was v reminiscent of eddieana which i already covered. so like, bucktaylor? actually having scenes over several episodes where they build up their friendship before kissing? Not The Worst. in fact, Actively Kind Of Good in my opinion.

like, was it perfect? no. i wish they'd payed that scene outside the grant-nash house a little differently—i know the actress who played taylor tried to take a cop out on twitter and was like "if you rewatch this you can tell taylor ~*doesn't really*~ mean it" but like...nah, fuck that noise, it did not come across. i don't know if that's bc the writers retconned their decision, bc the director didn't give the right notes, bc the editors chose a bad take, or bc the actress herself didn't get it right but that didn't work (though i was, like, genuinely amused at how many people on this site were like "HA! BUCKTAYLOR IS NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!" bc?? have you SEEN a television show before, sir, that's not how this works). and the decision to get them together in the finale kind of sucked bc like, that episodes was OVERSTUFFED already and we didn't really need the bucktaylor of it all. honestly i wouldn't have hated if we'd had the first kiss and then left things more open and come back in s5 to find out they were dating (i mean i would have PREFERRED if they explicitly decided to stay friends in the second scene instead of getting together but that's neither here nor there).

anyway, i don't think they're endgame just bc i don't think the writers are really ready to tie up buck in a serious final romantic relationship. plus i think buck and taylor are a little too similar to tell a variety of stories about them (they kind of seemed to already hit a rut in s4 with just a lot of repetitive "let's solve this episodes mystery together"). and also bc when buck does enter into an endgame relationship i imagine it'll be with a first responder (ideally obviously eddie, but i wouldn't be surprised if they introduced someone new). i don't think the 9-1-1 universe likes slow burns. i mean, maybe i'm a fool and they really ARE playing the long con and actually do want to get buddie together, but i think given what we've seen in OG and LS, the writers just. aren't interested in telling stories about people falling in love (i know everyone loves t*rlos but omg that relationship development was like...NIL). they're much more interested in stories of committed partners IN a relationship (henren and juddgrace are their BEST relationships).

i've just been rambling this whole time and i don't think any of it actually makes sense but i have a meeting in 3 minutes so i gotta wrap this up. basically: taylor is here for now, i like her way more than ana, i don't mind that she's here, i DO think they will eventually break up for the reasons mentioned but i have no idea when or how it'll come about.

You said 4A finale fell flat and I agree but I’m just curious in which ways did it fall flat for you? To me, I guess I was expecting some type of cliffhanger. Didn’t have to be scary or intense, I just expected something. And yeah that could have been Maddie going into labor. And I know people can debate until the end of time about Eddie and Ana but personally I have no problem with them like overall, if you stand back and look at the big picture. Eddie is trying to move on and Ana seems sweet and smart and nice but when you step closer and look at it, Eddie to me seemed so out of character in that episode. He was doing things that he wouldn’t normally do. Like, ok you went on maybe 2 or 3 dates with her and even after your son throws a fit you still think it’s ok to introduce her to him that soon? And also in the middle of a pandemic?? When his son is high risk and his son hasn’t even seen his friends or other family (I’m assuming). It just seems out of character. And before anyone comes for me, I’m fine with Eddie moving on and getting into a relationship. He could literally date anyone and I wouldn’t care as long as he’s happy. And maybe that’s the point of all of this- to show he’s trying to move on but Ana isn’t the one. Maybe she is and I’m a clown but I don’t personally see it. She’s lovely but I don’t see it. Buck and Taylor was interesting though. I’m all for them being friends because both of them seemed to have matured

glad you asked! my response ended up longer than i’d anticipated so i’ll put it under the cut:

i FOR SURE expected some sort of cliffhanger. i mean, tbh overall the episode didn’t really stick in my head that much? the most cliffhanger-y thing we got was hen and karen not being able to adopt nia (heart-wrenching but good narrative choice) although i would have liked for them to really dig it in and indulge us in more wilson family moments before ripping it from our grasp. i love to suffer <3 and i just think that if we had had a scene where the madney baby is born that would have been such a bittersweet contrast?? like actually watching it would have destroyed me and i probably wouldn’t have liked it bc it would have made me sad but since im playing god on this website it WOULD have been fantastic narratively and i WILL pretend i wouldve liked it.

buck and taylor was cute (and I LOVE their banter), but i kind of feel like the sudden friendliness came out of nowhere?? @benjji2795 made a post about this a little bit; taylor never apologized for what she did to bobby, so it doesn’t totally make sense for buck to be so nice to her?? however i love taylor and im glad she’s on the show. one of two things should’ve happened: she apologizes to bobby and wham bam now her and buck are besties with a fun dynamic (note FRIENDS, not romantic partners, because they have different priorities and are canonically not romantically compatible!! and thats okay!!) OR her reoccurrence on the show is established as some sort of antagonistic ally. i think that would be so fun.

okay okay i have my own thoughts on eddie and ana and that whole situation. let me split this up to make it legible:

on eddie being out of character:

something was definitely wrong this episode. him introducing ana to chris does not sit right (for ALL the reasons you mentioned, which I completely agree with). As far as i’m concerned, there are two possible reasons:

eddie was just plain ooc and it was due to bad writing. it makes me disappointed, but i think this is the one that’s most likely.

eddie was in character, but he was jsut the worst side of his character. someone made a post about it that i found pretty interesting. idk if i completely agree with it bc to say that eddie introduced ana to chris so she could fill what eddie thinks is an empty space in their lives sort of undermines the whole talk he had with bobby the scene prior. 

HOWEVER this interpretation also gives ana the opening to have narrative agency and set boundaries for herself and tell eddie she likes him but she didn’t sign up to be a mom. but i don’t think the writers (or r*an, because he sucks and is also not that great of an actor) are thinking that deeply about his character (but maybe they are. who knows).

on ana:

i’ve said this before and ill say it again. the way she’s set up to be both disliked by the audience (because she’s so blad) and disposable to the narrative (because she’s so bland!!) makes me upset. she literally doesn’t deserve that and it’s disturbing to watch (both onscreen and in fandom reactions). i don’t know what else to say except i hope she either gets a well-written, significant story arc or she leaves the show soon. i don’t want to see her being a romantic accessory anymore. 

also i think she’s cute but that’s just gabrielle walsh kjdsfl

on eddie and ana together:

okay i agree that a relationship is necessary for eddie to be able to move on. like i get that. i agree. it’s part of his growth. here’s the problem with that though. 

the WAY the show handles eddie moving on is very blatant. it is very streight forward. ‘oh, he’s moving on? new girlfriend!’ the thing is, they kind of forgot to give said girlfriend a personality (see above). and BECAUSE OF THAT (or, at least, it’s a contributing factor) they have no chemistry and are terrible to watch onscreen. 

i tried to like them. i really did. i tried to frame it as ‘hey, theyre jsut two people who have crushes on each other and we can watch them flirt and yadda yadda and itll be cute, right?’ ive made posts about their dynamic together and trying to find an angle to make it fun. but i cant. i literally cant do this anymore. i actually cringed at nearly every scene they had together. it was unpleasant and boring and i would love it if it were over soon. if the creators are seeking to both produce a good/entertaining and moving show AND keep eddie and ana together, i’m curious to see how they do it because i truly have got nothing for them. 

anyways. In conclusion, I’m only emotionally investing myself in the wilson family, the grant-nash family, the buckley-han family, and fanfiction-based buddie :) <3