#also thinking about the way buck being there in 3x10 was an interesting choice because it wasn't a 118 get together

[kitkatpancakestack]

This is a dumb reach, but now I'm wondering if there is any subtext with our airport luggage guys? Who were first in 3x10 and then reappeared in the infamous 4x08?

@yramesoruniverse don't even play you KNOW I am on my Breaking Point shit right now.

I don't know that I'd call it a dumb reach, but I am so deep into hiatus crackheadery territory that I can no longer differentiate between bonafide analysis and conspiratorial tinhattery. This may very well be the latter but we're here to have fun, right?

I think I've talked before about how incorporating past emergencies into new episodes is a smart way to continue an existing theme without eating up a lot of run time. This is especially relevant because in each of the eps in which this happens, the repeat emergencies are the first emergencies of the episode. This is significant because it sets the stage, like the show wants you to make that connection right away and watch the events unfold within the context of the previous episode you have now been forced to recall. Case in point: the internet famous dude bros from 2x01 who reappeared in 3x11 (3x12? Whichever one is Fools) to connect two fairly Eddie-centric episodes, both of which centered on an initially disastrous meeting (Buck vs. Ana) and how those respective meetings played out. These two meetings, and by extension Buck and Ana, continued to be heavily paralleled throughout the episode.

Another example is the porch pirate from 2x05 (Awful People) who we first saw in 1x08 (Karma's a Bitch), two episodes thematically focusing on people facing the consequences of their actions. Also to note that these are significant episodes for Hen and her family as well. In 1x08, Karen finds out about her cheating with Eva. In 2x05, Eva is back and trying to take Denny from Hen and Karen.

These could just be fun call-backs, but 9-1-1 does a stellar job of weaving themes throughout episodes — throughout seasons— and if this is intentional I think it's a genius strategy. Film students sound out on this one.

As for the scene in question: it compels me to consider the overall themes of the episodes. 3x10 was the Christmas ep, but it's focus for the characters was largely about each individual family unit reaffirming their dedication to each other. Even amidst the dreary rain cloud settling over the episode's events, there was an undercurrent of optimism, a feeling that if these people stuck together they would turn out alright. The two airport luggage dudes manifest this: one guy just trying to get thru his job, fed up with the holidays, the other trying to look positively on the situation.

And then there's Breaking Point, my beloved sleep paralysis demon.

Listen, idc, this episode was entirely about Buck and Eddie. Just like there are episodes that blatantly focus on Bobby and Athena or Hen and Karen or Maddie and Chimney, this one belonged to Buck and Eddie. It was an episode about reaching the end of one's rope. About a disruption to the status quo. About the degree and type of disruption required to make these people crack. The idea of it not so much being a specific incident but a culmination of events, of "bad choices" or bad luck, to finally break the character: our airport luggage guy with the upbeat attitude who literally got sucked into the rotors and still came back to work, and then the culminating disaster that tipped him off the ledge and made him quit.

So we have 3x10 portraying a sense of coming together, and 4x08 portraying a sense of fracturing apart.

And you might think, but wait a minute, didn't Eddie "come together" with Ana and didn't Buck "come together" with Taylor at the end? Sure, but it isn't about that. It's about Buck and Eddie fracturing apart from each other.

And while my buddie goggles are in place, also interesting is the use of Christopher in these episodes. In 3x10: Chris not being able to hang with his dad and so deferring to Buck. In 4x08: Chris getting upset at his dad and so deferring (Ubering) to Buck. 3x10: Buck coming thru for Chris, so he and Eddie can spend Christmas together. 4x08: Buck coming through for Chris, telling him he's not planning on leaving him anytime soon.

This has already become much longer than I expected, sorry. Granted, it could all be bullshit and the writers just being all "haha funny airport luggage dumbasses make brain go brrrrr" and putting them back in for entertainment purposes. But idk, idk. It's suspicious. I am hiding under Tim's stairs and thinking some serious thoughts.

#yramesoruniverse #ask #buddie #breaking point #4x08 #Breaking Point is my sleep paralysis demon #parallels #themes and motifs #this turned into a meta oops