One of my perhaps controversial takes is that I don’t actually think Buck is too easy to read, especially not for the other characters. Fandom tends to cast him as very obvious, tends to treat the other characters as though they instantly know what’s on Buck’s mind.
Which is funny, given that Buck hiding his true emotions is literally canon.
The audience may have a fundamentally different understanding of the character than the other characters do because we have more information than they do. We see behind the curtain.
But it matters that there IS a curtain.
Buck is usually pretty obvious about the big three emotions- angry/happy/sad. But more complicated or subtle things he tends to hide and puts up a front of being this good-humored well-adjusted guy.
Buck is NOT always honest with his emotions, he does hide and obfuscate a lot, and I think he thinks he’s more transparent than he really is.
But this is the man that couldn’t even tell Bobby he loved him as he was dying. When there wasn’t going to be another time.
And god help me, I still think it matters that Tommy saw behind the curtain in a way not unlike the audience, that puts him in a unique position. He’s the person to whom Buck actually said he thinks of Bobby as a father, he’s the person who saw Buck and what he didn’t say, who saw what it really cost him. Through a screen like the audience does lol which is so interesting. Because Buck has held himself together in front of the other characters! The only times we see him highly visibly emotional are alone in a confessional booth, and “alone” in a hallway with Tommy watching on a screen.
Which isn’t to say the other characters don’t know that losing Bobby hurt him bad. Of course they do. They’re not complete idiots or heartless.
But I truly don’t think they fully grasp just how bone-deep the wound goes for him because Buck will hide that shit, he always has, he’s got a lot of practice at it. He’s really good at pretending to be more okay than he is.
And I think it matters that Tommy saw that. I think in addition to having an idea of the extremity of Buck’s grief, it may also cast a new light on some things he may have taken at face value when they were together. He didn’t know before that Buck could hide so well. He didn’t know before that Buck’s actions speak more than his words.
annaxmalina
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yousharknotpass
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theartofmadeline
romaincrisis
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