I’m rewatching season 4 episode 13 (yes, I like to suffer.) and right before Eddie gets shot, he says, “Should’ve gotten here sooner.”Let me preface, I could be reaching but like…he couldn’t have? Charlie called Eddie, they got there right away, Shelia isn’t dead, Charlie isn’t hurt any more than he would’ve been if they’d gotten there earlier. Maybe Eddie wishes he hadn’t left the apartment the first time and noticed Charlie getting poisoned, or maybe he’s wistful that he couldn’t get there before Charlie poisoned Shelia (though again, I don’t doubt that it would’ve boiled over some other way, Eddie’s bound to know that too.)
but
it could also be referencing-
screenshot of gif-set from @bieddiediaz
Listen, I know I probably sound crazy but also, putting it all together.
“You’re Late.” - Buck saying this after tucking Christopher in while Eddie went on a date with Ana, a co-parent role in comparison (and in general) to the arms length distance Eddie had her at, at this point in their relationship (and ‘til the end of their relationship really.)
“There was construction on sunset. had to take a detour.” - I feel like I don’t need to say anything for why the writers are deranged for this.
And then.
“Should’ve gotten here sooner.” Immediately followed by,
“That kids just lucky he met you.” By Buck.
Again, maybe it’s nothing.
But then, seconds later, Eddie gets shot. And the shift, in everything, is palpable. The camera work, the framing, their relationship.
“Should’ve gotten here sooner.” When watching it back really feels like a sick premonition on Eddie’s part. We’re here now, this point of undeniable change, this shift from subtext to text, and it had to be here. It had to be now, we should’ve gotten here sooner.
Cause, I am of the wholehearted belief that everything changed for Eddie the moment he got shot in terms of Buck specifically. Because, obviously shared trauma, and intense amounts of coping and processing needs to be done to really even begin to cover how much shared trauma they have between them, for this event alone. However, the feeling realization, like, true confrontation of it, happened the minute Eddie looked at Buck after the bullet went in his shoulder.
The moment right after, close-up of Eddie, close up of Buck. That two-shot of them looking at each other with Buck covered in Eddie’s blood. It’s meaningful, because it wasn’t needed without a deliberate purpose.
because after this close-up of Buck-
Traditionally you’d cut to chaos. You have a moment of establishment where important characters are accounted for, and then the “point of the scene” (or what they could have framed the point of the scene as.) Would follow. It’s how the editing would be done, what the DP accounts for when they shoot it. but they didn’t. And because they didn’t, I, both a cynical and someone who’s studying film, knew without a doubt they want this relationship highlighted, to the front and with high expectation.
because this shot. is. not. required. if they were telling a platonic story.
And yes, I do sort of mean it in a, they didn’t have to hurt us this rawly with the shot.
But I also mean, this. The sniper was attacking firefighters. That close up of Buck with blood already establishes such intense emotion. Someone you love, someone you’re close to is the first target in a vendetta that had nothing to do with the sniper. He’s hurting people you so deeply care about and the chaos that comes after shows the terror. And we get the chaos. But before that. We get that shot.
And it took me rewatching it for like the 3rd time to realize why something about this season literally shakes me every time I see this shot. It’s because, yes the framing the coloring, the abject queerness of it is jarring.
But more than that, it’s so deliberate. Because the moment they added this shot, they told us something we’ve been asking for. This story is going in a different direction than you assumed you’d get. You’re getting more than you assumed you’d get.
Like, yes I’m being dramatic, but genuinely this one shot, sets up the everything between them since Eddie getting shot.
If we wanted to highlight family in the 118 found family way, though we see that with Buck using the excuse of not letting anyone else on the 118 get hurt when he climbs that crane, this one minute scene, could’ve played out so differently. Because yeah, it’s about family, because Eddie is Buck’s family.
It isn’t about chaos, it isn’t about family in a brother in arms sort of way. This shot tells you the story of what’s gonna happen because when Eddie got shot and looked up at Buck, both of them saw it too. What could’ve happened. What they could’ve lost.
And because I’m deranged and not done. Adding on to that.
“It’s not like we’re going home, anytime soon.”
Like. Sorry, I’m??? Let’s lay that out.
“You’re Late.” “There was construction on sunset. Had to take a detour.”
“Should’ve gotten here sooner.”
“It’s not like we’re going home any time soon.”
