can i be real with u all i would stick with the show for so many more seasons even if they never did buddie if their individual storylines and the other characters' storylines were still good. like. there was no mention of romantic buddie in seasons 1-5 and those seasons are my absolute favorite regardless because of how careful and intentional the writing was. because of how enjoyable the emergencies were. because of how well the relationships (platonic and romantic) were developed. because the show was able to make me feel the full range of human emotion in the span of one episode. because the show felt like it retained its heart no matter what happened.
and i was still loyal to the show after the epic crashout that was 6x18 (which actually made me Real Life Sad for multiple days) bc i was so excited for bobby and athena's cruise and for madney's wedding. i stayed after 7x10 and the whole dinner scene debacle (what a time lol) because i thought the longer season would give tim more time to pull together a strong character arc for every single main. but it's become so clear that he's lost sight of what made the show so beloved in the first place AND on top of that he's shown that he's willing to mess with fans in a way that just feels cruel. none of the characters feel carefully or lovingly written anymore — some of them didn't even have a real arc this season — and the emergencies aren't compelling anymore. and on top of that the stuff they've been doing with buddie feels weird as hell. so what's the point of sticking around if he's not giving us anything to stick around for















