9-1-1 season 9: Why Buck and Eddie as a couple just makes sense

Oct 08
Written by Poppy-Jay St. Palmer

Buck (R) and Eddie’s (L) very close friendship often has people talking. (ABC/Canva)

Buck (R) and Eddie's (L) very close friendship often has people talking. (ABC/Canva)

9-1-1 season 9 is almost upon us, and it’s gearing up to be out of this world. Quite literally, if the show’s viral teasers are anything to go by. Angela Bassett may be going to space, but what we really want to know is: are Buck (Oliver Stark) and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) finally going to Bonetown?

We may have been adamant Buddie was going to go canon throughout the second half of season 8, only to have our dreams crushed come the finale. But with the new season comes renewed hope (or perhaps renewed delusion?), and we really, truly still think it’s heading that way.

So here we are once again, manifesting Buddie canon through a listicle of reasons why Buck and Eddie as a couple just makes sense.

The 118’s new season 9 partnerships leave room for more

With Bobby Nash (rest easy, sweet angel) no longer fire captain, the 118 is going through a major reshuffle in season 9. Chimney (Kennet Choi) is stepping up as interim captain, Eddie is joining Hen (Aisha Hinds) as a paramedic, and Buck and Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody) are continuing to team up as the muscle.

However, with former dream team Buck and Eddie broken up, where does that leave the crowd-pleasing Buck-and-Eddie scenes? We know the show won’t scrap their dynamic forever as it’s simply too good to lose. With them no longer working together as closely, now would be a perfect time to let their best friendship set sail into something more romantic to well and truly mix things up.

Ravi, Eddie, Buck and Hen in the back of the firetruck. — The 118 are settling into their new structure following Cap’s death. (ABC)

They’re already family

Buck and Eddie have been best friends from pretty much Eddie’s first day at the 118, but they’ve also become more than that. Together with Eddie’s son Christopher (Gavin McHugh), they’ve formed their own little family, evidenced throughout the years by everything from their semi-regular family dinner nights to Buck being named as a guardian to Chris is Eddie’s will in the event of his death. The point was driven home even further towards the end of season 8 when, after a few bumps in the road of their relationship, Eddie apologised to Buck after an argument by throwing him another family dinner with Chris and Tía Pepa. They are and always will be a set; do not separate.

Speaking to PinkNews during season 8, Stark said of Buck and Eddie: “Whether it turns into anything or not… there’s still a strong connection there regardless. I always want to see more of that quote-unquote ‘family dynamic’ between them.”

Composite image of two screenshots from 'Don't Drink The Water', one of Buck and Chris hugging and one of Eddie smiling. — Eddie flew Christopher from El Paso to LA to cheer Buck up. (ABC)

The friends-to-lovers slow burn would hit so hard

The only thing sweeter than a friend-to-lovers arc is a friends-to-lovers slow burn, and the story of Buck and Eddie has been simmering on low for eight years now. Since season two, their relationship has been continually seasoned with only the finest herbs and spices, and we’re getting hungry. 9-1-1 has already proven it can do a perfect friends-to-lovers arc with Maddie and Chimney, but that arc only lasted a handful of episodes. Just imagine how sweet one would be when it’s had this much time to cook and mature. Worth three Michelin stars, at least.

Buck and Eddie hugging in Eddie's house. Chim, Bobby and Hen are all smiling at them. — Buck and Eddie’s friendship often riddled with prolonged looks and grand gestures. (ABC)

It would complete a perfect, seasons-long character arc for Eddie

From his very first season, Eddie has been put through the ringer via complex and somewhat depressing character arcs. He joined the 118 as an army vet, but we later discovered he was also a single father and a former teen dad. Then his wife died shortly after asking for a divorce, he went through a handful of near death experiences, and he started having panic attacks, which developed into a full-blown breakdown. Then his unresolved trauma over his wife’s death led to him losing his son to his parents in Texas, which itself exaserbated an painfully strained relationship with said parents.

Eddie has certainly had a rough go of it, but a queer arc would be a perfect addition to his already nuanced and complicated background. His panic attacks, catholic guilt and tense family dynamics in Texas, alongside his tendency to repress his emotions, would make even more sense, and a storyline revolving around queer authenticity would go hand-in-hand with his season 8 pursuit for joy.

Eddie Diaz looking at himself in the mirror — Eddie finally let himself feel joy. (ABC)

It would heal many historic wounds

Many of us born with the gay shipper gene have been burned time and time again by hints and winks at potential queer relationships on network TV. Countless hopes have been dashed by corporations willing to use popular online queer ships as easy marketing ploys but unwilling to actually go there on the screen. Sherlock’s Johnlock, Supernatural’s Destiel, Supergirl’s Supercorp, Teen Wolf’s Sterek, the list goes on…

9-1-1 already left long-time Buddie shippers gobsmacked when it did actually start to go there when it introduced a bi arc for Buck after the show’s move from Fox to ABC. So how incredible would it be if it actually went the whole hog and, almost 50,000 fanfic works on AO3 later, made those firefighters kiss once and for all? Let’s make some more history, ABC! You know you want to!

Eddie and Buck sitting in the back of the firetruck. — A long-running queer fanon ship actually going canon would make history. (ABC)

‘Holy Mother of God’ doesn’t make sense if Buddie doesn’t happen

9-1-1 kicked the Buddie antics up a notch in season 8, with Buck-and-Eddie heavy gems like “Confessions”, “Sob Stories” and “Don’t Drink The Water”. Many Buddie shippers like to read into things a little more deeply than your average viewer, but the events of these episodes – and the many others that came before them – could also be passed off as regular, platonic things that extremely close platonic friends do. “Holy Mother of God”, however, changed the game completely.

It’s incredible that arguably the Buddiest episodes of all time didn’t even have Eddie in it. That’s how powerful the Buddie vibes were. The mic-drop of an episode actually asked the question: ‘is Buck in love with Eddie?’ Twice, in fact. And although Buck insisted he isn’t (alongside a very weak argument against the notion), why bother asking it to begin with if the show wasn’t planting the seed? And why would the show bother having Buck strike up a fling with his ex, only for it to end on a sour note after the question was asked? Some might argue Tommy bringing up the topic could be seen as a shut-down, but why would Maddie question Buck’s feelings as well? What’s the point, if not Buddie endgame? Let’s circle back in a few weeks.

Buck and Tommy in the bar with a background made up of pictures of Eddie with a rainbow overlay — Eddie had been haunting the narrative throughout Buck and Tommy’s relationship. (ABC/Canva)

We know the writers would do it justice

Fans of 9-1-1 have long been raising their eyebrows at some of the show’s storytelling decisions, with Bobby’s recent and extremely controversial death being a prime example. However, the writers rarely put a foot wrong when it comes to the show’s big relationships. When the series began back in 2018, Hen and Karen were the only pre-established major couple. Next came the absolutely inspired decision to put Bobby and Athena together, which was not long followed by Maddie and Chimney’s gorgeously perfect pairing. If 9-1-1 can do anything it’s create an incredible ship and make you root for it season after season. They’ve already been doing that with Buck and Eddie since season two too, the only difference is they just haven’t kissed yet…