idk man i just think it's interesting how in the same episode (817) we got two visuals of eddie and symbolic disruption.
by now i am sure we all know about how eddie grabs buck's right shoulder in their kitchen fight.
as opposed to when every single other shoulder grab was on the left.
across the first four shoulder grabs, eddies touch on buck's left shoulder becomes a quiet but consistent symbol—something ritualistic in its repetition. it's always the left, and it's always tied to connection, trust, and reassurance. it happens when:
eddie entrusts buck with chris after the tsunami—offering the deepest form of vulnerability.
buck returns to life after dying and then breaks up with his girlfriend who only ever wanted to talk about his death—eddie marks it not with grand gestures, but a grounding, physical welcome.
buck comes outs as bi—eddie affirms their bond with the same familiar touch.
they're drunk and ridiculous—chaos, but still safety, still them.
the left shoulder becomes more than anatomical. it's a symbolic place—the side of openness, the heart side, where eddie reaches when he's offering something: protection, belief, affection, belonging. his hand on buck's left shoulder says: i see you, i know you, i am still here with you.
the rest is under a cut because this got really long lmao
and then comes the fifth shoulder grab. they're grieving, they're angry, and they're not aligned. it's not a random change, it's a visual break in their emotional code.
spatially, it's off. it's the opposite side, the one that's never been used, a side that carries no memory between them.
emotionally, it signals distance. instead of grounding buck (or himself) or connecting with him, eddie's touch jars—like reaching for someone and missing.
narratively, it says: this is not comfort, this is not reassurance. this is a moment when their bond is under strain.
the right shoulder becomes the embodiment of their fractured state. it's still a touch—so the connection hasn't been severed entirely—but it's misaligned, like trying to play a familiar song in the wrong key. the gesture remains, but the meaning has shifted. it's a visual metaphor for grief disrupting even the deepest connections. for how pain can make us reach for someone the wrong way. and for how easy it is, even in love or friendship, to get turned around.
and then we have sleeping on the right side of the bed when he finds out what has happened to bobby.
this one isn't as black and white as the shoulder grabs, there is a bit of nuance.
throughout the series, eddie's position on the left side of the bed becomes an unspoken visual anchor—just like buck's left shoulder. it's not just a preference; it's a symbol. when eddie is on the left, he is grounded in his identity, even when alone, even when struggling. the left side becomes a quiet declaration: this is where i belong, even if it hurts.
first appearance: alone, on the left, near the edge. a man used to sleeping alone, leaving space—both physically and emotionally—for something he hasn't yet allowed himself to reach for. still, the left side is his side.
the three times in the montage building to his ptsd breakdown: again alone, again on the left. but now he's closer to the centre—edging inward, away from the edge of the bed, perhaps unconsciously craving connection. that space on the right side of the bed remains empty but present. these shots appear as he drifts deeper int a spiral—emotionally withdrawn, but still clinging to familiarity. the left side is his tether.
the left side holds continuity. whether in grief, repression, or monotony, it's where eddie returns. it's where he makes space—whether or not he knows for whom.
in scenes where he shares the bed—first with his ex-wife, later with his girlfriend— the staging becomes a little more complicated, reflecting the emotional confusion in those relationships
with shannon: they're upside down in the bed—eddie is technically on the right, but visually, with shannon beside him, it reads as the left. symbolically it reflects the chaos of their dynamic: a shared history that doesn't quite fit anymore. she's on the edge, physically and emotionally, and he's left in between—trying to hold onto a familiar position in an unfamiliar formation. she dies ten episodes later.
with marisol: another upside down shot, but this time they're physically closer to eddie's side. she's not on the edge like shannon—there's room behind her. but that visual closeness is deceptive: emotionally they're still mismatched. this is the scene we see her officially moved in, packing boxes around eddie's bedroom, but the symmetry is fragile. she moves out at the end of the episode.
in both cases eddie never fully gives up the visual space of the left, but the blocking suggests that when others share his bed, it doesn't feel like sharing—it feels like rearranging. he's physically there, but emotionally disoriented.
1. later flashback with shannon: they're not upside down this time. chronologically this would be after the first time we see them in bed together, and before the end of that episode where she shows up on christmas day. eddie is on the left, not at the edge, not at the centre—somewhere in between. its a quieter scene, more stable, and just before eddie decides to reopen emotional space between them—for her to see christopher again. there's a softness here, but the tragedy to come lingers just beyond the frame.
then there's the final scene of eddie in bed in the 817 flashback. texas. the middle of the night. the call comes. their captain has died. eddie wakes up on the right side of the bed.
this is not just a logistical change. its a rupture in the visual language. the right side, for eddie, is foreign. it doesn't hold history, safety, or selfhood.
he's not in la. he's not near buck. he's not near the life he built for himself.
he's in texas—the place of his past, but not his home
his parents and extended relatives may be in the same state, but his found family isn't
eddie being on the right side of the bed—alone, out of place, receiving devastating news—is symbolic dislocation. it says: this isn't where i'm meant to be. not in this house. not in this life. not even in this bed in this room.
where the left side is grounding, the right side is severance. eddie on the right side of the bed is eddie adrift. it's a quiet, visual confirmation that something isn't right, that he is far from home.
both symbolic disruptions—the right-side shoulder grab and the right-side bed placement—occur in the same episode where eddie returns to la, but the irony is that even here, in the city he calls home, he doesn't feel at home in himself. the bed in texas underscores his physical and emotional disturbance; it's a visual cue that he's been living a life out of alignment. but the shoulder grab happens in la—among his family, in the place where he should feel most like eddie. and yet, in that moment, his grief fractures the instinctual connection he shares with buck. by reaching for the right shoulder, he unconsciously echoes the misplacement we see in texas—showing that the dissonance isn't just about geography. it's inside him now. this convergence of visual breaks—sleeping on the wrong side of the bed and touching the wrong shoulder—signals eddie's internal compass is spinning. he's lost not just his captain, but his grounding, and the emotional fluency he once had with the people he loves. even in la, he's still off centre because he's hurting and his best friend won't talk about their shared grief.
okay i need to add to this bc 913 locked something in, actually confirming this pattern. this isn't about general framing. this is specifically about sides of the bed.
eddie's side is the viewers left. and in 913 when he wakes up in the hospital, the first thing he does after looking at his hands, is look to his left—the viewer's right—to the bed next to his.
eddie is always on the left. so the other side, the one he looks to, the one left empty, the one that's missing in that moment, is buck's. and the fact that eddie wakes up and instinctively turns towards that side like that's where buck should be... that says everything to me.
they've built this visual language where even the absence only works because we know exactly who's supposed to fill that space.
okay NOW i need to talk about the shoulder grab(s) in 913 too bc this one actually builds on what i was saying before instead of repeating it. because yes, technically, we got 2 (alongside the chest touch)
eddie runs to buck, literally drops to his knees, shakes him and says "look at me, buck." that fits the pattern exactly. that's the language the show has already established for them. but it doesn't stay there.
his right hand is on buck's shoulder at first for the tiniest of seconds before it drops to the ground for balance as he leans over him.
his right hand then moves back to buck's left shoulder, shaking him, asking buck to look at him, grounding him, trying to get a response. and when his left hand comes to buck's chest, and his left hand moves upwards on buck's chest towards his neck.
and then the camera cuts closer, and everything shifts. his left hand is on buck's carotid, checking his pulse, while his right hand has come up behind buck's neck/head and stays there, cradling him. and that's the part that matters.
the shoulder grab is the "acceptable" version of this. it's urgent, it's explainable, it's something that the show can pass off as friendly concern. but eddie doesn't stop at the acceptable version. he transitions into something more intimate. and he just... stays there. his hand cupping buck's head. his other stays at his pulse. he's holding him in place, steadying him, talking him through it. even though buck is conscious. even though he's talking back. even after the moment shifts from panic to relief. the contact doesn't break.
bc the show knows by now what the shoulder grab means. so choosing to go past it, and linger there, and soften like that is a choice. it's taking something that was already loaded and pushing it just a little further. not enough to say it outright. but enough that you can't really ignore what it's starting to look like.
also i want to add i missed a shoulder touch (not grab) in the first post of this so i'm adding it here:
501 where eddie's panic attacks/ptsd arc started. which makes it fit into this in a really interesting way. after eddies first panic attack they're on the call at air traffic control and eddie notices someone poking at his chest in pain and struggling to breathe a little. he stands up and walks behind buck. and as he passes, his right hand brushes buck's right shoulder.
normally it's: eddie's right hand -> buck's left shoulder. that's the consistent version. the one that reads as steady and intentional and right. and when something is wrong (817 kitchen fight) that's when it flips. wrong shoulder, wrong placement.
this one sits in between. it's the right hand. just on the wrong shoulder. and it's not the full grab either. it's softer. brief. almost like it slips out of him without thinking. which makes sense for 5011 specifically.
because this is the beginning of things going wrong. not the peak of it. eddie isn't fully spiralling yet. but he's not okay either. and he's also in denial about it. something is off and he doesn't have a handle on it.
and this touch reflects that. it's not aligned in the way it usually is. but it hasn't completely broken pattern either. it's halfway. like his instincts are still there, still reaching for buck, still defaulting to him. but they're misfiring just enough to come out wrong. and when you line that up with the rest of it, the "correct" shoulder grabs, the fully wrong ones when everything falls apart, and then 913 where it goes past the shoulder entirely, i really does feel like a progression. not random. not accidental.
just different points on the same line. depending on where eddie is mentally. and no matter where he is on that line, it always comes back to the same thing: he reaches for buck.
"here's the immensely time consuming 100K word novel-length passion project I'm working on between my real life job and family! It eats up hundreds of hours of my one and only life, causes me emotional harm, and I gain basically nothing from it! Also I put it on the internet for free so anyone can read if they want. Hope you love it!" :)
So, for anyone that doesn't know what that is - it's a narrative principle that emphasizes that every element in a story be necessary, while irrelevent elements are removed. So, for example, if a gun is present, eventually that gun is going to go off.
All the narrative elements have been laid out for these two. The sudden breakup because they were falling too hard and moving too fast. Tommy runs because he's always ran, and Buck doesn't go after him because he's used to being left.
Buck literally pining for him for episodes afterwards, Tommy attempting to text and Buck noticing but the texts never go thru. Buck baking his stress away whenever he feels the urge to go after Tommy.
And then, we have Tommy being dumped back in Buck's lap by Ravi. The sex scene that follows (which I absolutely love that it was directed by a woman). Easily falling back into their old routines but then panicking again. Running again. Not going after one another again.
Notice a pattern here?
Then, in 8x15, Buck finally reaches out to Tommy. And Tommy immediately comes back. The writers had them literally meeting in the middle by Buck rushing to the roof and Tommy landing the plane on the roof. Even tho the scene is not about their romance it still is because they are finally forced to talk and it's shown to the audience that they are still head over heels in love with each other.
MONEY has been spent on these two. An expensive stunt was done just to get these two together in a tiny isolated area so they can talk, even if it is just for a couple of minutes (and they literally have their own audience).
And THEN, if that's not enough, these writers went out of their way to directly parallel Tommy to Maddie and Athena being forced to watch their partners' suffering and being unable to do anything about it. They realized this while filming the episode. And their moment paralleled Bathena even more then Madney because we see Buck collapsing and turning his back to the camera that Tommy is watching him on, just like Bobby turned his back to Athena as she watched him thru the glass.
So, there you have it. The gun is there, it's loaded. It's going to go off by 8x18. It just has too.
Oh I have many thoughts on the ‘E’ on the bomber jacket!! @lover-of-mine and I have been talking about it and doing some research to find out when it first appeared and if anyone else has letters on their jackets.
I can confirm that no one else appears to have a letter on their jackets, so this is a Buck exclusive thing. That in and of itself is important and revealing - it means it’s intentional and relevant in some way.
As you can see above - nothing on Bobby or Hens jackets in this up coming episode.
As for its first appearing - well - the bomber jackets have been part of the uniform since the crossover episode with Lonestar - back at the beginning of season 4. There is no ‘E’ on the jacket we see buck in during that episode. I’ve messed around with the brightness to make it easier to see on most of these screen grabs, so ignore the slightly weird colouring!
After that - we see the bomber a couple of times in season 4 and it bears no ‘E’ - this is a still from 40.
The same in season 5 - the bomber appears a few times and there’s never an ’E’ present on the sleeve, this is a still from 511.
It’s the same through season 6 - the bomber is worn but there is no ‘E’.
Then we get to season 7 and things start to get interesting! Below is a still from 701 - no ‘E’ is on his sleeve here.
But when we get to 704 - oh hi there ‘E’ you’ve decided to appear - in a scene that kickstarts Bucks bi arc, and from then on - the ‘E’ is present on bucks jacket sleeve!
Right up to the next episode!
As for what the ‘E’ means and the significance of its connection into Bucks bi arc. Well I have a couple of theories.
The fact that no one else has a letter on their sleeve means it’s not about his name - so it’s not meant to represent Evan in any way - if it was I would expect a ‘H’ on Hens and on Chim’s, and an ‘R’ on Bobbys and Ravi’s and to have seen an E on Eddie’s (I’ve just realised that we have two names for each letter as I typed this out - which is very fun!)
So that leaves us with it having a different meaning. Buck as a character is someone who tends to wear his heart on his sleeve and so it’s a fair thing to come to the conclusion that it’s connected to that idea of his heart being on his sleeve. It’s also his left arm - which is important in connection with the red string of fate which is supposed to run from your heart down your left arm and connect to your lover or family etc through your left hand.
So buck having an ‘E’ there can only really mean one thing - Eddie. There’s literally no one else it could conceivably be linked to. So in my opinion (and if that makes me a clown then I am a clown and I’m prepared to die on this hill) it’s been put there at the start of 704 to very subtly inform the audience that Buck is misunderstanding the assignment yet again and misdirecting his feelings for Eddie onto Tommy. It’s a way of telling the audience that we are correct in our opinion that it’s all about Eddie and not about Tommy at all.
Nothing else makes sense to me, it can’t be an allergy information thing, it’s not a brand thing or everyone would have an ‘E’. I guess there’s a vague possibility that is signalling where emergency information is located for Buck, but that seems very unlikely.
So in summary it’s metaphorically buck wearing his heart on his sleeve and his heart is Eddie shaped! I also expect that him wearing a jacket on the job with this ‘E’ on in this episode is very intentional - playing into bucks sense of loss over Eddie leaving and his heartbreak - even if he can’t recognise it for what it is.
I’d love to hear if anyone else has any theories on its appearance and meaning m, and there is plenty of room in the clown car if anyone wants to join Anna and I in this theory🤓💜💜
I want it [Buck's next relationship] to feel fun, flirty, and lived in throughout its, assuming it's a long-term thing, domestication. I just want it to feel like a good time.
– OLIVER STARK
We gotta figure something out with Eddie. But I think the next relationship should be something life-changing that it just throws him off for a loop.
– RYAN GUZMAN
EVAN BUCKLEY AND EDDIE DIAZ THROUGH THE SEASONS
9-1-1 on FOX / ABC (2018 – ...)
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