.

That episode truly put me in such a sour mood after what they did to Eddie!! Like the real Eddie would never do any of that stuff! He's a devoted loving father (the best father) who wouldn't do anything that his son isnt okay with! And I'm still super bitter that we didnt get a Eddie/Christopher scene once he got him from Bucks. Like I love the Buck/Christopher scene and it was important and lovely and I'm glad it was in the episode but a Eddie and Christopher scene would've been even more important and definitely needed! And don't get me started on her calling Chris sensitive 🤬 and Eddie not having a reaction towards that like he should! Ugh this is not the mood I want for the next 6 weeks! I'm just hoping that our Eddie, The real Eddie is back in 6 weeks and stay permanently and doesnt let that imposter use his face again!

I feel like the worst part is not only how dirty they did his character but how much it was a total waste of an extremely important and emotional arc.  Like...Eddie taking his first steps into moving on and navigating that with Christopher should have been big, should have been meaningful, should have been handled with at a minimum the same care and attention with which they handled the skateboard incident and Eddie and Christopher’s related conversations in “Fools,” and should have been something that clearly established (or at least strongly foreshadowed) what’s going to happen with their development moving forward into the rest of the season.  I was looking forward to it!  I wanted to see it!

And at the beginning, the rest of the absolutely cringeworthy and barely watchable date scene aside, it was clear that yes! Eddie was reluctant to talk about this with his son!  He was worried!  He had concerns!  And I thought, oh excellent, this is going to go well.

Then, Eddie got home and immediately lied directly to Christopher’s face about it and I thought...oh no.  But even then I still thought, hey now, they can pull it back!  I did actually love Christopher’s reaction!  That part was great!  And honestly, I can even accept Eddie deciding to give Christopher time to cool off instead of going after him to talk immediately.  

There was no reason to have the video call with Ana.  It was unnecessary and only ended up being a vehicle for Invasion of the Body Snatchers Eddie to *checks notes* be totally dismissive of his son’s extremely valid feelings without even having had a real conversation about why Christopher reacted the way he did and what exactly his concerns were!  Not to be dramatic [lie, I’m always dramatic], but I felt like I’d been slapped, it was so abrupt and OOC.  [And, as I mentioned in a separate post, it makes zero sense to have had Eddie be worried about telling Christopher at all if he wasn’t going to actually care about Christopher’s feelings, so not only was he ultimately wildly OOC, his characterization wasn’t even consistent within the confines of the episode.]  

And I’m sorry, I love the Buck and Chris scene, I do, but as much as we joke and clown, Buck is not Christopher’s parent. Plus, their conversation wasn’t even directly about Eddie dating!  It wasn’t directly about Christopher’s concerns with Eddie dating [so therefore, I’m still not clear on exactly what those are/were although I can guess] and there wasn’t even a token attempt at directly addressing that particular elephant in the room!  Yes, kids need reassurance and support from multiple adults they love and look up to in times of crisis, but we got nothing from the most important person and most important relationship in Christopher’s life: his dad. 

It would have been SO EASY to have cut the video call [avoiding the OOC bullshit] and used that time instead to have added on to the Buck and Christopher scene.  Example: Buck and Chris end their conversation, Eddie arrives, having rushed over in a panic, hugs his kid and says some variation on “we can continue this at home, but I’m sorry I lied to you, I should have told you first, but just know no matter what happens or who else comes into my life, I love you and you’re never going to lose me.”  THERE! DONE! I FIXED IT IN THIRTY SECONDS! 

Ideally we would have gotten a longer extended Eddie and Christopher scene because, again, their relationship should have been the focus of this storyline, but if we had even gotten just that little bit on top of the Buck and Christopher scene, it would have cut my salt levels at least in half.  Instead though, we got NOTHING and the next time they were on screen it was because Ana was coming over to the house and suddenly everything was A-OK????? WHAT???? 

Writing tip 101: YOU CAN’T RESOLVE SOMETHING THAT IMPORTANT OFF SCREEN! Like???? Christopher ran away from home and we got zero acknowledgment of the severity of that, zero acknowledgment of the resolution of that, not even a token throwaway line about “we discussed it and everything’s fine now” [which would have been a gross cop-out but still would have been SOMETHING more than the whole lot of absolute BS NOTHING we got].

Once again...Eddie didn’t even let Shannon back into Christopher’s life for months when she came back, but we’re supposed to believe he’s bringing over a new woman he’s not even serious with yet after just a few dates because...what, she was Christopher’s teacher so at least he knows her?  Make it make sense!  [And as a side note, what was the point of having Ana point out multiple times that they could/should go slow with respect to Christopher if she was ultimately going to be totally cool with that weird Meet the Girlfriend introduction? And a side side note, I completely agree, the “sensitive boy” comment rubbed me the wrong way completely and came off as super condescending so thanks I hate it on MULTIPLE levels.]

Anyway...yeah, the whole thing was a goddamn travesty.  I may be a Buddie clown, but I am an Eddie Diaz lover first and foremost and idk who that was in the episode but it sure as HELL was not Eddie Diaz.  @ the guest writer for this episode, the door is that way, please let it hit you on the way out.  Hoping they can do some serious damage control after the hiatus [currently Christopher is credited for 4x9 but Ana is not so there may be some room to set things right] but right now I’m just...very pissed.  Haven’t seen a character assassination this bad since Lucy Preston in the Timeless Christmas Special.  Fucking YIKES.