9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 9 ‘Sob Stories’ was a wild ride for Buddie fans. First, we got Buck spiraling over Eddie leaving and unintentionally sabotaging every renter that could possibly sublet his house. Then, after he overheard Eddie saying that “everything that mattered is in Texas,” we had Buck lashing out at Eddie and basically acting like a hurt, petulant child—which in many ways, was understandable. Later, we even had Buck making a grand gesture for his best friend, as the two hugged it out and Buck seemed to finally accept that Eddie had to leave.
But it wasn’t Buck’s behavior in the episode that felt like the biggest sign of things to come for the popular ship fans have dubbed Buddie. Instead, it was Eddie’s journey in an episode that saw him singularly determined to leave Los Angeles that feels like the biggest sign that the show might finally be ready to go there with two characters fans have shipped since Eddie first took his shirt off to the tune of “Whatta Man.”
Eddie started the episode putting down a down payment for a house in El Paso—really, dude, a down payment? You’re still renting in LA after seven years—and ended it staring longingly at the house he never really wanted to leave. In the middle, however, he went through quite a rollercoaster ride of emotions, frustration at Buck for his unintentional sabotage, anxiety about what he would do if he couldn’t get the house, fear about what he would do without Buck, fears about what he would do once he got to Texas, how he could repair his relationship with his son. It’s a lot for Eddie, and he didn’t really handle it the best way.
That part, however, is understandable. Eddie doesn’t really have a lot of experience with handling emotions in a healthy, constructive way. In fact, I would argue Eddie handles emotions by not handling them, which is what he tries to do in this episode. He follows Buck’s lead and pretends everything is fine, and that’s easy to do while Buck is pretending he’s okay with Eddie leaving. When Buck cracks, however, Eddie cracks, and he cracks badly.
Buck and Eddie have always been two sides to the same co-dependent coin and they prove it this hour. When Buck gets passive-aggressive with the dog, that’s Eddie’s cue to show his jealousy. When Buck lets out his frustration, Eddie can too. And later, even as Buck has processed his emotions enough to be the one that’s offering Eddie a solution, Eddie is still at a point where he’s lashing out at Buck, because well, who else is Eddie going to lash out at? Buck is the only person Eddie can be himself with, aka the only person he can show his real emotions to.
That means Buck is the only person Eddie can tell that the move is really hard for him too. That, in his mind, he’s choosing between Buck and Chris, and of course, he’s going to choose Chris. He will always choose Chris. But the choice is killing him. Will always kill him. Because Buck is important too. And Eddie doesn’t even realize he’s saying it, because he’s just angry and sad and frustrated, but all of that comes out with Buck because even when he’s angry, Buck is Eddie’s safe space.
As Buck tells Eddie about taking over his lease, Eddie’s entire demeanor changes, because his entire world changes. It’s not a minute shift. It’s like the entire weight of the world is lifted from his shoulders and Eddie doesn’t understand what’s going on. He even turns back for a moment, as if he needs Hen, Chim, and Bobby to confirm that he’s not imagining things. That Buck really said what he said. That someone would really do this for Eddie. That he’s really not doing this alone. The thing is that Eddie has had Buck for seven years, but I don’t know that, until this moment, he really and truly understood what it meant to truly have Buck. Or perhaps even conceptualized what it meant to have Buck. The lengths Buck would go for him. The ways Buck cares.
Yes, he knows Buck would run into a burning building for him. Buck has always been his partner in that way. But this is different. This is another way of caring for him. Perhaps, a deeper one. A regular, day-in and day-out kind of having your back. Not just in talking to Chris when he’s having girl trouble, or helping Eddie out after he had an actual life-or-death situation so he can get his partner back, but giving up something for Eddie without expecting to get anything back.
And that is the kind of partnership Eddie has never had. Shannon wasn’t that for him. And Buck is. Perhaps, he always has been. And that’s humbling for Eddie. He can’t process it. Doesn’t have the words. At that moment, he truly cannot do anything other than follow Hen’s advice, hug Buck, and let the moment pass him by. But the gesture remains. Eddie’s reaction remains.
The fact that the show chose to make Eddie a) avoid and repress, b) react in response to Buck, c) get angry and lash out at Buck with the words he did, and d) look as gobsmacked at Buck’s grand gesture remains. And, it means something.
Whatever you think about Buck and Eddie’s relationship, Eddie’s importance in Buck’s life has already been established. Before “Sob Stories,” you could have perhaps argued that Eddie was more important to Buck than Buck was to Eddie. And while you could still argue that, there was no way to truly build Buddie. Now, you can’t. That was always the first step the show had to take on the way to this ship. The rest, well, the rest is just tiny little storytelling building blocks they can decide to place on top of the other or not. Right now, it’s starting to look like the decision is in the affirmative.
Do you agree? Check out our ‘Sob Stories‘ review for our other thoughts! Or our Tales From the 118 podcast, where we go into details but in audio form! Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And if you want to leave your own rating/comment about the show, you can do so in our 9-1-1 hub!
9-1-1 airs on Thursdays on ABC.
Buddie is going to be canon! Thank you for the insightful article. This episode was a win for us Buddie fans!
It’s coming!! Buddie is happening!! ❤️