#911 isn't subtle and they are REALLY done being subtle with buck and eddie

[louisdotmp3]

okay the thing about 911 this season is that obviously there is a glaring lack of buck and eddie even speaking to each other, regardless of what u think that dynamic is it's wild to write away from one of the bestie pairs on the show that have been so instrumental to each other's growth. but okay let's put that aside. it's just a lot of bad writing across the board this season! honestly the only characters who have escaped it are hen and karen, who the writers - thank god - have always gotten really well from the very beginning.

madney left s5 in an uncertain place and they, i thought, were trying to set up a more complicated journey back to each other but instead they immediately wrote that off with what can only be described as a bad fancam montage and "i felt sad" ??? that's so lazy lol. and a great example of how they just drop plotlines whenever they get bored! see the lack of throughline with many eddie plots. i'm always asking for kristen to prove me wrong but they're constantly inventing a new problem for eddie to deal with for a single episode instead of pulling on literally any of the things they've brought up previously. eddie breakdown being about afghanistan instead of the shooting. eddie saying "i feel like i'll never be normal again," and then never explaining or returning to that idea. more recently, eddie out of nowhere saying he thinks he might be cursed and not explaining or bringing that up after that episode. these are all interesting ideas i wish they'd explore! i don't think they will.

anyway, we're getting new combos of characters this season isn't that fun?? not really. it's mostly quips instead of actual conversations or even hijinks. the eddie athena cursed pairing feels entirely unmotivated. if you really wanted to explore eddie feeling cursed and pair him with a character he isn't normally paired with - maddie? anyone? it's almost like they have a ton of similarities in their stories and it would be interesting and fulfilling to see them interact. instead it's a bit of character backstory that's been made up specifically to fit with the episode theme & probably won't be brought up again, some quips between less common pairings, and way too much focus on side characters.

i don't care about these one-off characters this much !!! some of the 6a episodes have felt so focused on these one-off characters it feels like the main cast is incidentally there, instead of the other way around where the emergencies could have thematic resonance to the problems the characters are struggling with this season. which is something they've done in the past! the minutes long amnesia montage for Just Some Couple in the middle of the s5 finale was the canary in the coal mine lmao

so yeah on top of all of this buck and eddie barely speaking and being glaringly absent from each other's lives is a characterization issue. they were distant last season but it was, and this is vital, commented upon. there were scenes i could see with my eyes about them being distant and why that was. it's actually not good storytelling to just have people imagine what's happening in the background with two main characters lmao. it's not "subtle storytelling" it's bad writing. it's not even bait at this point flskjdfa

#cringe of me to write this but i do care about the nosedive in quality of the firefighters show lol #it's all the same writers and directors and s5 was rocky but it's still kristen! girl what's going on ! #also it's bad writing to introduce little plots in one episode and then not return to it or even mention it for like 5 episodes lol #see buck's plots this season #911 #also. it's not surprising that a network procedural is not great but this particular network procedural used to be. significantly better #and has gotten worse in baffling ways

[matan4il]

Hello! I love your metas, they're always so interesting to read and you point out great things! I was wondering if you (or anyone) has ever done like a meta or comparison post on the hugs in 911? Like other couples hugs and general firefam hugs, vs eddieana hugs vs bucktaylor hugs and ultimately vs buddie hugs? I just think it would be a neat comparison that I'd love to see but haven't come across yet!

Hi lovely Nonnie! Thank you so much for the kind words, I'm so happy people like these meta posts! NGL, I always feel like everything I write is probably obvious, so my posts are redundant, which is why it's so incredible to hear that they do offer people new insights that they value. Thank you!

And that is such a great question! TBH, I don't think I've seen anyone posting meta about hugs, but then I have difficulty reading long stuff ever since my vertigo started, meaning I could have easily missed it... (also, my apologies for zero gifs/screenshots for this reply, I’m away from home and queuing my answers in the hope that this is better than me not answering for a while. I’m really hopeful I’m not wrong!)

It's funny that you asked about comparing 118/couples hugs to those of Eddie and Ana, since E/A haven't really had any hugs, have they? They had one moment of cuddling on the couch, where Chris came in, a subtle reminder of why Eddie was with Ana at all, and then we had Ana trying to find a way in while Eddie was breaking up with her and putting his arms around himself, a gesture which serves both as a wall, but also to self-sooth. The fact that she tries to be a part of that and fails points to how she's not a part of what can comfort Eddie, she never was. So neither instance is a proper hug and that in itself was already indicator of what's wrong with the two of them.

Taylor and Buck have had one hug so far. One, and even that one is more focused on his expression rather than on both of them, and we see that it's not a content or comforted one. It's in a slightly different way, but this hug says about Taylor something similar to what the last touch between Eddie and Ana said about her: she's not the person who can comfort Buck and make things better even when the situation isn't good.

Compare that with every hug we've ever had with the firefam as a group, with the established couples of the show, or even with Buddie themselves. This show is all about found family and those hugs are a way for 911 to express where its heart is: it's in the connection between these people and how those bonds can help carry them even through the worst that life can throw at us. Those hugs aren't just moments when we can breathe between the moments of pain and difficult calls on the show, they're what gives us the reason and the strength to go on facing all those moments. They offer real comfort and through that, they keep these characters moving forward even at the face of the greatest challenges...

But I really wanna highlight the Buddie hugs, especially the ones we see in 218 and 306. The latter happens right after Buck and Eddie have had their biggest crisis as friends, when they both felt alone and betrayed. And for a while there, because the whole lawsuit thing lasted a couple of weeks. Yet, the second that they can, these two pull together again, and they hug, and they freaking melt into the hug. Just look at their expressions and the way they fucking burrow into the hug. Buck is so big and he leans his whole huge frame into Eddie, he's clearly finding real comfort there. Even though not everything is fully resolved, as we later learn, the hug itself, this moment when they can bask in their bond, still offers them comfort that they sorely need, and if later they can figure things out, it's in part because that hug is a testament to the fact that they still have their connection, that despite being tested, it's as strong as ever.

And then we have the hug in 218 as well, the one where Eddie has just lost his wife and had to watch his best friend trapped under a truck, and Buck was that guy, and his leg is not yet recovered, he still doesn't know if he'll be able to get back to being a firefighter (when that is his life, as he has stated to Maddie), but their hug? A perfect moment of joy despite all that. One that offers real and profound comfort. And if you look at the way that each character on this show finds the most meaningful comfort with their partner, Buddie's hugs are another thing that seals the fact that they ARE each other's life partners, the ones that give the other one the most comfort and the strength to go on. GOD, THEY NEED TO BE MARRIED LIKE YESTERDAY ALREADY.

Thank you for the ask, lovely! I hope my ramblings were what you were looking for! Much love and many hugs ;) to you! xoxox

To anyone who sent me an ask, I am going through all of them, thank you so much for your patience! If you wanna check whether I've replied to yours yet, you can have a look at my ask tag. xoxox

#ask #anon ask #buddie #buddie meta #9-1-1 #911 meta #911meta #evan buck buckely #evan buckley #eddie diaz #edmundo diaz #fandom love #kindness #thank you! #<3333 #911onabc #911 on abc #911abc #911 abc