Big Feelings & Big Stakes: Breaking Down the Emotional Clash Between Buck and Eddie on 9-1-1

The relationship Eddie Diaz and Evan Buckley share on 9-1-1 is one of television’s most profound.

Since Eddie joined the 118 during 9-1-1 Season 2, the two have gone from one-sided enemies to best friends in record time, and they’ve never really looked back.

Their friendship has been rooted in trust, respect, and care for one another, which was why it was a bit shocking for the two to have a bit of a squabble during 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 9, as Eddie prepared to leave Los Angeles and subsequently Buck as well.

The hour played out with Buck and Eddie not entirely in sync or on the same page, which is a far cry from their usual friendship.

The two have created a work dynamic that puts them on the same wavelength. They’re so in sync that they often only need to exchange a glance to know where the other will be or what the other needs.

That has extended into their personal relationship, which has seen the two become dependent upon one another in a healthy way, where they feel supported and understood.

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But both men are human beings and capable of making mistakes.

When Buck realized that Eddie was proceeding with his plan to move back to Texas, he jumped into helper mode and offered to help Eddie get his place sublet. He could sense that Eddie was beginning to stress out, and he wanted to help.

Eddie was thankful, which started the two off on their quest to get Eddie’s house off his hands so he could prepare for his move without that hanging over him, but things all started to go downhill from there.

Buck has been known to be overzealous and excitable in certain situations, and he certainly seemed to be that way while helping Eddie through his house showings.

It didn’t feel like he went to the house with an agenda to sabotage things and deliberately stress Eddie out even more; instead, he was oversharing and maybe not completely reading the room in every situation.

Buck has never been cruel, and no part of me believed he was setting off on some grand quest to make sure Eddie couldn’t get his place sublet, but that didn’t take away from the fact that his actions very much sullied potential renters, and thus were hurtful to Eddie.  

Eddie had every right to ask him to leave because he wasn’t helping him or supporting him in the way Eddie needed at that moment. Eddie was a ball of anxiety trying to get his ducks in a row, and Buck suddenly became another duck to add to the row.

Buck overheard a conversation Eddie had without any context, and while it did sound bad, Eddie did not mean to imply that no one in Los Angeles mattered to him in any way, shape, or form.

Eddie created a family in Los Angeles. He’d put his life on the life for any of them, including Buck.

However, his heartbeat and the one thing in the world that mattered the most to him was not with him — Christopher, his flesh and bone, was in Texas, and getting back to him was Eddie’s top priority.

Christopher IS what matters and why he was doing all of this in the first place.

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That didn’t mean Buck, or anyone else in Los Angeles for that matter, wasn’t a priority.

Eddie has shown in various ways over the years just how much Buck matters to him, whether that be in trusting him with Christopher or trusting him in the aftermath of the shooting or the pain of discovering his team from Afghanistan had all died during 9-1-1 Season 5.

It was frustrating to see Buck internalize those words to the degree he did without talking to Eddie, especially considering earlier in the hour, Eddie made it very clear that he didn’t know what he would do without Buck.

But Buck has a deep, traumatic past of feeling abandoned, so it was easy to see why those words were so impactful.

Still, what Eddie said was not about Buck.

Buck’s decision to force Eddie’s hand in telling the rest of the team about his upcoming move can’t be explained away by his overeagerness.

He was upset about what he’d heard and took that out on Eddie by exposing his move before he was ready, which was hurtful to his friend, especially considering Buck was one of the few people Eddie had told about his plans.

Eddie had every right to be frustrated with Buck because of what he did. Two things can be true at the same time as they relate to how the story splintered from here.

Buck acted immaturely and didn’t communicate well. You can acknowledge that while also understanding Buck’s past and how he views the people he cares about leaving him, even if this situation is wholly different from any that have come before.

But even while understanding his feelings and recognizing their validity, Eddie had every right to be frustrated with Buck and disappointed in his behavior.

This was especially true since the crux of it was rooted in Buck’s complicated feelings about Eddie leaving him, even if it was something Eddie had to do.

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Eddie wasn’t leaving because he hated Buck or wanted to get away from him but because he was a father who was losing touch with his son. He wasn’t willing to continue to exist each day in a world where the chasm between them continued to grow.

If you claim that Eddie’s words to Buck were too harsh, there’s not much to argue about because that’s your interpretation, but Eddie was beyond frustrated with Buck at the end of the hour.

And frankly, he had every right to be.

You’re allowed to understand Buck and Eddie simultaneously. However, if you’re only blaming Eddie and what he said to Buck and not considering the totality of Buck’s actions, you may want to look deeper into why that is.

Eddie was doing what he had to do, and Buck was, unfortunately, making that harder for him. That’s just the reality of what was happening.

Big and complicated feelings don’t always have people thinking and behaving the most rationally, and trying to fit these two characters into boxes where they can’t be messy or make mistakes does them a significant disservice.

Sometimes, you must understand that most things operate in a gray area, and there isn’t always a surefire right or wrong way to handle situations.

Eddie’s words to Buck were those of a scared father in a situation he never expected, making decisions he never expected to make. His entire life was changing, and one of his constants was not being the pillar of support he expected him to be.

I wish we’d gotten more from Eddie’s perspective and had truly seen just how much the move was affecting him, but perhaps that was asking for too much.

In the end, seemingly through Buck’s brief time with Blaze-Bingo and, hopefully, when he had time to sit with himself and talk about it with the rest of the 118, he realized he wasn’t behaving how he should have. He let himself remember what was at the heart of everything: Eddie and Christopher.

These two people are so much of his heart, and making that decision and doing what’s right for the people you love is as cornerstone to Buck’s character as almost anything else.

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You could see in Eddie’s eyes how appreciative and almost in awe he was that someone cared about him enough to do that for him.

The episode ends with Buck and Eddie on a more equal footing. Still, their disagreement reminded me that people often look for a villain in a situation like this when it’s much more likely to be two people who care about each other deeply and have big feelings and reactions.

Eddie certainly wasn’t the villain in this tale.

Eddie is a parent above all else; at the end of the day, that should and will always take precedence — period.

All right, people, let me know your thoughts about what transpired between Buck and Eddie and how you felt about everything. Am I on or off the mark?

Let’s talk it out below!

You can watch 9-1-1 on ABC at 8/7c on Thursdays.

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