Many fans think Eddie (L) and Buck’s (R) relationship is about to turn romantic. (ABC/Canva)
9-1-1 season 8’s tenth episode, ‘Voices’, offered plenty of twists, turns and surprises in what was one of the show’s darkest stories yet.
Warning: spoilers for 9-1-1 season 8, episode 10 ahead!
The episode saw Chim (Kenneth Choi) completely beside himself while trying to figure out what happened to Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Athena (Angela Bassett) teaming up with Detective Romero to crack the case, Maddie fighting for her life while chained up in a serial killer’s basement (not to mention getting her throat slashed and somehow surviving), and a fairly problematic dissociative identity disorder storyline.
Alongside the horrors, there were also some softer moments, like Hen (Aisha Hinds) reminding Chim that the 118 are family, Karen (Tracie Thoms) and the Wilson kids making their first appearance since the Halloween special, ‘Masks’, and Chim and Maddie joyfully finding out they’re having a baby boy.
After tying up all the traumatising loose ends, ‘Voices’ closed with the scene Buddie fans have been waiting for since grainy footage from the set was leaked last month: Buck (Oliver Stark) and Eddie’s (Ryan Guzman) emotional goodbye before the latter’s move to El Paso… which is obviously what the rest of this recap on this LGBTQ+ website is going to be about. So strap in; we’re cornplating this sucker.
There’s been a lot of talk of ‘are they actually going there?’ in regards to the nature of Buck and Eddie’s relationship through season 8. To many, this potential love story has been building for seven seasons, and the two firefighters have clearly been entwined (and actually legally binding, thanks to Eddie’s will) throughout the show. But season 8 has offered more than just breadcrumbs. There are Buddie cathedrals everywhere for those with eyes to see.
Eddie being placed firmly in the middle of Buck and Tommy’s relationship in ‘Masks’ raised some eyebrows. Then their break-up and Eddie’s quest for joy in ‘Confessions’ had fans stopping in their tracks. Buck’s reaction to Eddie’s move – which involved a lot of pouting before deciding to move into Eddie’s house so he didn’t have to worry about his lease – and then Eddie’s subsequent reaction to Buck’s, let’s say, grand gesture, was the cherry on the Buddie cake.
But now, thanks to a 2-minute scene slapped onto the end of ‘Voices’, we’ve been gifted the most conclusive, most undeniable Buddie scene to date. Sure, they didn’t kiss or confess their love, but what was left unsaid felt just as loud.
The foundation of a great slow burn romance is plausible deniability. It’s the ‘will they/won’t they?’ element that keeps viewers tuning in week after week. Alongside unquestionable chemistry between the characters, it’s what’s kept Buck and Eddie’s relationship fresh and exciting for these past seven seasons. However, what we witnessed this week next to that damn U-Haul may well have shattered those foundations to smithereens.
Buck and Eddie’s goodbye was always going to be an emotional moment, underlying romantic tension or not. They start the scene in a jovial place, chatting about trivial things while upbeat music from the previous scene plays over the top. But then things get heavy very quickly.
Not to read too much into things, but Eddie really kicks things up a notch as he attempts to drive the conversation into something more sincere. ‘Thanks for helping me get back to [Christopher].’ It’s a reminder of why he’s doing this. He doesn’t want to go, but he must. Then there’s a tense pause. Cogs are turning in Buck’s brain. ‘Ugh, yeah, of course, don’t sweat it,’ he says, deflecting and keeping things light.
If we know anything about Buck after all these seasons it’s that he feels his feelings and he feels them loudly. After an episode and a half of very public spiralling, his response feels like it’s slipping back into that place he was in at the end of ‘Wannabes’, when Eddie told him he was planning on moving. He pushed things down so as not to upset his friend. It’s the same old song here again. There’s one conversation happening on screen and another under the surface.
Again, Eddie advances into previously unsafe territory with his next admission: ‘I know this whole thing between us has been messy and hard.’ This whole thing as in what? Eddie moving? Or this song and dance they’ve been doing for the last seven years where they write each other into their wills, co-parent a child together, restart each other’s hearts and stop each other bleeding out, and have sexual awakenings over other men with suspiciously similar backgrounds and hobbies to each other? The subtext is subtexting in block capitals.
Eddie continues doing most of the communication legwork in this scene with his next absolute belter: ‘I hope you know: you do matter to me.’ To which Buck replies, ‘I know.’ Omission has become part and parcel of the Buddie experience. Never have these two best friends said they love each other – a completely normal and nice thing to say – but these two lines feel as close to that as we’ve come so far.
This notion is supported by the fact that things get a little awkward from there. The silences stretch for too long, both Buck and Eddie seem unable to stand still, and Buck once again breaks the tension when he remembers that he baked Eddie some protein cookies for the road (cute) and runs to his truck to get them. Another filler chat about the cookies leads them to what they’re both really here for: the goodbye.
‘Man, I’m gonna miss you,’ says Eddie. ‘Yeah, I’m, ah, I’m gonna miss you too,’ says Buck. Strangely, this feels like the only time the pair say what they actually mean throughout the entire scene. But, despite the maudlin piano soundtrack that kicks in, it’s also the moment that feels the most empty.
More awkwardness leads us to what we Buddies had been waiting for – the hug! – and we’re suddenly thrust into new territory all over again. The show has so far given us six Buddie hugs overall. Following the great hug drought of seasons 5 and 6, three of those hugs have happened post-Buck coming out, which added a little extra spice for those fans that have been in it for the long haul. But each of those hugs has still been extremely bro-flavoured, a quick grab, backslap and done. Even their embrace during the previous episode – which had some emotional weight behind it given the circumstances – lasted all of two seconds.
This hug, however, feels as platonic as Jack and Ennis herding sheep together on Brokeback Mountain. We’re treated to not one, not two, but three face close-ups, which get progressively more devastating. Eddie’s micro-expressions have fans debating whether he’s on the cusp of a breakthrough or is turning to his tried-and-tested trick of suppressing any and all emotions. Buck’s smile turning pained as he smushes his cheek further into Eddie’s neck is enough to break even ex-Councilwoman Ortiz’s heart.
The breaking of the hug makes the whole thing that much more upsetting as Buck starts cracking cheesy jokes again and Eddie finally makes a dash for his truck. But not before looking back over his shoulder at Buck. He doesn’t stop, doesn’t say anything more, but that one look back feels familiar. And that’s because we’ve seen it in countless big and small screen love stories for decades.
Throughout Buck and Eddie’s entire relationship, all the way back to Eddie’s introduction in season two, it’s been one romance trope after another, and everything about this scene is no different. Rainy day? Check. Emotional piano music? Check. Awkwardness, tension and things left unsaid? Check. Longing? You tell me.
It all comes to a head in the final few shots of the episode, with Eddie looking at Buck through the wing mirror as he drives away, possibly for good, and the camera panning up to Buck’s face, which turns from pained smile to total quiet devastation. If that’s not the beginning of some kind of realisation rearing its head then I don’t know what is.
I’ve been convinced that Buck and Eddie’s relationship will eventually turn romantic since season 7 episode ‘Buck, Bothered and Bewildered’. But after what transpired in ‘Voices’, I see no other way this story can end. 9-1-1 is either taking larger and braver steps towards the start of a romance that belongs in the TV slowburns Hall of Fame, or we’re being queerbaited to within an inch of our lives. I have a feeling it’s the former.
Season eight of 9-1-1 airs on Thursdays on ABC in the US, and from 21 March on Disney+ in the UK.
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