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Buddie's Journey Through Season 5 - It's All About the Parallels

Carla saying in 4x13 that Eddie needed to follow his heart and not Christopher's after asking about his relationship with Ana...that story line (the relationship) could have easily been axed by the end of 4x14.

But instead the writers chose to keep Eddie's relationship with Ana going into season 5, which they immediately began to dismantle in 5x01, finishing up by 5x03. They chose to loop it into the bigger goal for the season: Eddie's character development.

The funny thing is, the writers also chose to give Buck a love interest in season 4 as well. They had brought Taylor back (just like they brought Ana back for Eddie in this same season) and made it clear that Buck was interested in being more than friends and their past casual hookups, which only gets fully addressed by the end of 4x14.

And another funny thing is at the end of 4x14, it's Buck bringing Eddie home from the hospital. It's Buck taking care of Christopher and staying in their house. (something they chose to show a contrast with in season 5 with Ana during the blackout, though we are never shown Ana and Christopher by themselves) It's Buck we see Eddie having the heart to heart with after the shooting, twice. Ana and Taylor are on the other side of the door in Eddie's home. (remember how odd it felt for Taylor to be there?) Buck and Eddie are on the opposite side until Eddie walks in while Buck remains at the threshold, watching everything.

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Then in season 5, Eddie and Ana's relationship fizzles out pretty quickly, and Eddie is on a journey of character development. This reaches its breaking/escalation point fairly quickly once Ana is gone. And who is called when this happens ? Buck. In a framing shot similar to when Ana called Buck about Eddie in 4x14, with stuff going on with Taylor and her relationship with Buck going on in the background at the same time.

"Ana. Everything okay?"

"Chris?"

In the first shot, things are not okay with Eddie. Yes, he survived but he hasn't woken up yet from the surgery. Buck is understandably wary when Ana calls. Before this moment, Taylor had just kissed him and then ran.

In the second shot, Buck picks up the phone, happy that Chris is calling. He has no idea what's going on and thinks Eddie and Chris are both okay, not expecting anything bad & no reason to be wary. Before this shot (a Madney sequence occurred before we see Eddie's breakdown & Chris reacting to it), Buck and Taylor talk about their relationship and about the kiss he shared with someone else.

And then lo and behold, a few episodes later, Buck and Taylor's relationship dissolves as well. In the same season as Eddie's did, after they both had returning love interests return in the same season (4), that both relationships didn't have the best starts. Two love interests they had history with that were not exactly stellar.

And in the same season they had Eddie's character development happening (more than the average per season) that turned into a major story line surrounding the season, as they did for Buck. Though Eddie's was a bit more overt and louder (if that makes sense), Buck's was present also.

These two were in the first romantic relationship they had since their previous partners: Shannon for Eddie and Ali for Buck (really more Abby because Ali didn't fully live together with Buck as she did or Taylor).

Both react to it slightly differently, but ultimately they never fully settle into it - thus, the beginning of the dismantling.

And the entire time they are going through all of this major character development , they lean on each other emotionally instead of giving their partners that chance to be there for them. And they continue this emotional support of one another until the end of the season. It doesn't mean we don't see them receiving support from others (such as Maddie for Buck) or giving support to others (such as Eddie for Bobby), but the one constant that is repeated throughout the season is Buck and Eddie.

Again

and again

And they even had it in 5x01 and 5x02. Not to mention 5x06, 5x08, 5x10, and 5x11.

These conversations revolve around:

5x01 - Eddie's panic attack & Buck knowing something is wrong but Eddie not wanting to tell him

5x02 - Buck is concerned about Eddie's health & they talk about Eddie's relationship with Ana

5x04 - Buck has been punched by Chimney & he's upset

5x06 - a bonding traumatic event happens (them getting taken hostage) & Buck is clearly worried about both Eddie and Christopher during this event, which makes sense for the Buckley Diaz family setup, but they purposely gave us Buck's reaction to the gunshot (which links to the aftermath of what Eddie is struggling with this season to an extent which means this moment is about Eddie not Christopher or the will)

5x08 - Buck tells Eddie that they need to keep moving forward & trying to save people (in this episode, they work to rescue the kids -> doing a rescue together)

5x10 - Buck and Eddie talk about Christopher & why the nightmares are starting to happen again - this convo not only is related to Shannon & she is mentioned but this also leads to Eddie's decision later on to leave the 118 (which he then ends up finding out was not what Christopher wanted or the best decision for him) -> this is about Eddie

5x11 - Buck & Eddie talk in the kitchen about Eddie's new job & how he's faring (which Buck thinks he isn't too well & it turns out he's right)

5x13 - Eddie breaks down, Christopher calls Buck -> Buck finds Eddie in his room, gets Christopher settled & then talks to Eddie

5x14 - Buck talks to Eddie & Eddie wonders if everything they do as a first responder is worth it; Buck brings Christopher & Eddie to equine therapy where Buck shows Eddie that Charlie is there & he can see he's doing well, emphasizing that yes it's worth it

5x17 - Eddie talks to Buck as he packs for Christopher for their trip back to Texas, he talks about his father & the upcoming party

5x18 - Buck talks to Eddie about Bobby which then turns into the conversation about Taylor & her betrayal

Then notice how the physical seems to surround these emotional scenes:

5x01 - Eddie's panic attack/heart

5x02 - Eddie looks tired & his beginning panic attack

5x04 - Buck is icing his eye with ice from Chimney's punch; "Ice goes on the eye, bud"

5x06 - both B&E are taken hostage; Buck has been hit in the head by a gun; Eddie, Christopher, and Buck are all threatened to be shot; Eddie is pumping Mitchell's heart to keep him alive

5x08 - Eddie starts to have a panic attack but is able to ward it off after talking with Buck

5x10 - they're talking about Christopher's nightmare

5x11 - Eddie looks tired & unhappy and Buck notices

5x13 - Eddie takes a bat to his bedroom walls along with everything else

5x14 - Eddie is in therapy and feels exhausted/drained; during this convo, Eddie picks up two drawings of a heart, one which Buck admits he drew "I misunderstood the assignment" (how ironic since Buck is currently dealing with relationship troubles & that maybe he doesn't understand his own heart yet or the way it's supposed to be, hmm...); Eddie sees Charlie again, the boy he saved when he got shot

5x17 - in this episode, Ramon has what appears to be a heart attack but actually has something to do with his arteries (a la Eddie panic attack style)

5x18 - Eddie & Buck are patching up the wall together that he busted up with his bat back in 5x13

Then you have the three rescues they perform together after the blackout arc:

Kids (5x08)

Guy who is double-timing two wives where the line is said "Maybe I can fake amnesia, give myself some time to figure it out" in the same episode Buck is wondering what to get Taylor for Christmas & Eddie is struggling with what is happening with Christopher (5x10) [though this does not produce an emotional scene for either B or E, they still have their emotional connection moment later on in the episode]

Guy who is interested in Josh romantically (which is interesting timing since this episode is about Eddie finding himself again & on this end of the season, he is starting to separate himself from Christopher symbolically; also this episode featured the father/daughter dynamic of May & Bobby heavily, the brothers Chimney & Albert - guess which family dynamic that left? so it would make sense for it to be something related to Christopher/child for them rather than Josh's intended beau) [5x16]

Then you have the parallels of other pairings and characters/events happening around them:

Madney - this is a canon romantic pairing that is romantic in the first half of the season (5A) & is platonic/familial only in the second half of the season (5B) - in 5B after the breakup, we see both Maddie & Chimney attempting to co-parent their daughter while getting over each other and trying to move on after having a previous romantic relationship (sound familiar? see above)

Henren - a canon romantic pairing that has Eddie paralleling Karen and Buck paralleling Hen (5x15)

Bathena - a canon romantic pairing that Buddie gets paralled to in 5x09 with the "firefighter roleplay"

And that doesn't even begin to get into the parallels to other side romantic pairings like Clive/Toni and other relationships during emergencies.

Season 5 was all about moving Eddie into position, emotionally.

So now we have to wait to see if Buck will also be moved into position as well and go through his own emotional development. Because once that happens: checkmate.

#this was in my drafts #i'm kicking it out #buddie #buck x eddie #buddie meta #911 fox #911posts #this turned into something I didn't intend for it to #this took on a life of its own #but the rewatch of season 5 hit me like a ton of bricks #and to think i was slightly irritated with kristen reidel for 5A and the oocness #she was paralleling all over the place #my apologies kristen #metaposts #buddieposts #this is before season 6 began #season 5 rewatch

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