The baby names talk that Chim has with Buck and Eddie obviously gave us the biggest, cutest Buddie moments of the ep (with that leaning together against the truck as Eddie talks about naming Chris, those shared knowing looks and laughter at the end, even the way they walk off together). What I really like about it is the choice of who’s in it. Hen is right there on the scene, she’s a parent, she might have been a part of naming Denny while she was still with Eva. Buck is def not a parent and has no experience naming children (and we all, clearly including Chim, remember his not so imaginative suggestions in ep 404), he really shouldn’t be a part of this conversation. Yet the writers didn’t make it Eddie that Chim consults or Eddie and Hen, they chose to make it Eddie and Buck. Because Buddie are a unit. Invite Buck and you’ll be inviting Eddie. Consult Eddie and you’ll be consulting Buck, too. It is known.
If you’ve read my weekly meta posts before, then you know I always take a second to scream about Buddie being battlefield boyfriends. We get that here, too. When Bobby gets to the driver’s car, Buck and Eddie are already working on it together, and later when extricating Albert, we get to see not only the two of them doing it together, but also the looks and the reassuring non-verbal communication they share as they do. Bestest firefighting husbands ever!
I find it interesting that right after Bobby narrates in the background about someone being at the bottom and finding there the clarity needed to pull themselves back up, we see a short scene of Eddie hugging Chris. Obviously Eddie was affected by having to rescue Jacob, the kid from the accident. But Chris wasn’t featured in any other way in this ep. It felt very similar to me to the way that we got a short, lovely scene with Eddie and Chris at the end of 402 with Carla narrating in the background, after Chris wasn’t a part of that ep at all, nor of 401 (which 402 is the direct continuation of). BTW, it’s not the only parallel between the openings of 4a (402) and 4b (409): both also have a climax which is a birthing scene intercut with a scene where a life is in danger and that ends up being saved. In 402, that birthing scene involved Chim and led to him being able to step up as a future dad, and in 409, Chim was there at the birthing scene and it’s when he finally got to meet his daughter. I’m saying, these eps were built to parallel. So it’s no accident we got in both of them those little added Chris and Eddie scenes showing the love between the Diaz boys, seemingly out of nowhere at the end of the ep, with the meaningful narration, about unbreakable bonds in 4a and about the need to fight to get out of a low spot in 4b. I feel like this is a part of the build up towards whatever conclusion Eddie’s arc will have in season 4 overall. I’m really looking forward to seeing the rest of it play out.
It’s not quite the same, because Albert is an adult, not a kid, plus he wasn’t Buck’s responsibility at the time of the accident, yet I couldn’t help thinking of how much more devastated Buck was when he had to tell Eddie that Chris was missing (to the point of almost being in denial about having to face Eddie) than when he had to tell Chim that Albert was in an accident and unconscious. Albert is Buck’s friend, current roommate and family through Madney’s bond. Buck is obviously upset when he hears Albert was in the pile up and does everything possible to help him. But when he tells Chim the news, it’s still not the near breakdown he had over Chris. And the show chooses to cut off without us seeing how Buck tells Chim the news. This show tends to frame the off-calls drama within family units. Bobby and Athena will have to deal with his alcoholism, Karen and Hen have to deal together with the possibility of losing Nia, and so on. Buck is a part of the extended Madney clan, but his biggest drama played out with Eddie and Chris. Much like Buck was framed with them as a family unit in the Xmas dinner scene in ep 310, and even though it’s not official, they’re a family, too.
Thank you so much to my incredible friend @bicepsie for making these beautiful gifs to go with my meta! Also, if you like my takes on Buddie, you can find more of my meta and fics for them here. Thank you in advance for any like, comment and of course reblog! I really appreciate everything! xoxox
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