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I’ve seen posts dismissing Buck and Tommy’s relationship as shallow or forgettable — and I get it, it was short, Tommy’s a guest star, the arc ended quietly. But I think reducing it like that misses something much more interesting the show was actually trying to do — about Buck, about emotional intimacy, and about what it means to be seen in a relationship. This isn’t about shipping, or trying to make a case for “endgame.” It’s about giving narrative weight its due. And about why Tommy Kinard, even in limited screen time, brought something out of Buck we’ve rarely — if ever — seen before.
🧵 Re: That Buck/Tommy Take — I Disagree (Here’s Why It Deserves More Respect)
I got an anon earlier, and out of respect for their request, I won’t post it directly — but the gist was this:
“Buck and Tommy’s relationship wasn’t that deep. Tommy wasn’t a good partner. Why are people so obsessed with it? Can we stop fixating like it mattered?”
And respectfully?
Absolutely not. That reading misses a lot of what the show actually did — and what it meant. Let’s talk about it.
1. “It wasn’t that deep.”
Then why did it break Buck?
If it was just a fling, why did he:
Go into full spiral trying to get Tommy’s attention in 7x04?
Ask for a second chance and a coffee date — then invite him to Maddie’s wedding as a date (7x05)? That’s not something you do for just anyone.
Practically burst out of the closet to his family when Tommy showed up (7x06)?
Obsessively bake, spiral, and hesitate on texting Tommy again in 8x07? (Compare that to how he treated Taylor, Ali, or even Natasha post-breakup. Nothing. This was different.)
The entirety of 8x11 episode?
Start peacocking in a helicopter in 8x15?
That’s not surface-level. That’s a man who caught real feelings and didn’t know how to handle them.
And Tommy? He wasn’t untouched either. The shock on his face during the breakup, the sadness in the bar conversation, the heartbreak the morning after — and even in that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in 8x15, watching Buck’s hallway breakdown from across the room — all of it points to something deeper. He felt this.
Maybe he didn’t expect it to be serious. But it became serious — quietly, fully, and in ways that clearly left a mark.
2. “Tommy wasn’t a good partner.”
This one honestly stings. Because Tommy might be the best partner Buck’s had on-screen.
He respected Buck’s boundaries. Checked in often.
He prioritized Buck. He prioritized Buck’s comfort — comforting him post Buck’s basketball spiral, showed up to the wedding like it meant something, and turned into a doting boyfriend during the Billy boils drama.
He offered open, enthusiastic affection — called Buck hot, smart, impulsive, adorable… repeatedly. To his face.
And Buck? Buck called him “cool.” Once. At the very beginning.
Tommy gave emotional warmth constantly. Buck basked in it — but we never saw him offer the same back. That’s not on Tommy.
3. “They barely developed it.”
Yes, Tommy was a guest star. The screen time was limited. But don’t pretend there was no development — because there was, and more quickly than some longer arcs. (Cough Taylor.)
We got:
Initial attraction
Mutual admiration
Emotional hesitation
A breakup with actual dialogue
A post-breakup hookup, driven by unresolved feeling
Lingering fallout that continued afterward
That’s more emotional continuity than Buck’s had with multiple long-term love interests. If the writers didn’t mean for it to matter, they sure wasted a lot of carefully written scenes making it feel like it did.
And yes — we keep using the same five scenes to prove our point. Because that’s what we got. But what we got? Was charged. Focused. Intentional. Emotionally dense.
And let’s be real: screen time is scarce on a show like 9-1-1. It’s not a character drama — half the runtime is dedicated to emergency calls, visual effects, and procedural pacing. Everyone’s fighting for space. Ryan Guzman literally said scenes get cut all the time. Oliver and others have talked about emotional beats that never made it in.
So the fact that Buck and Tommy still got this much? That alone should tell you the writers wanted it to land. And it did.
4. Tommy brought out something new in Buck
What sticks isn’t just the dynamic — it’s who Buck got to be inside it.
He was softer. More grounded. He wasn’t chasing a high or trying to play a role. He was allowed to be unapologetically Buck — extra, campy, chaotic — and Tommy met him there.
No need to impress. Just… show up. And be seen.
Hell, even his whole look shifted — relaxed in a way that felt intentional. Not just a “new season” change, but a visible softening. His hair. His clothes. His vibe. It was noticeable.
That’s rare for Buck. And worth paying attention to.
Just because a relationship was short doesn’t mean it was shallow. Just because it ended doesn’t mean it wasn’t real. Just because you didn’t care for it doesn’t mean the story didn’t.
You don’t have to ship it. But pretending it was meaningless? That’s a disservice to what we actually got — and to a character who, for once, saw Buck clearly… and liked what he saw.
P.S. This isn’t about being a Lou Ferrigno Jr. fan account or trying to hate on people who ship other characters with Buck. I genuinely love character analysis — we’ve been doing it for others as well — and this post or previous are coming from that place, not from bias or bitterness.
You don’t have to ship Buck/Tommy. But if we’re going to talk about what the show chose to give us? Then let’s give it the credit — and the critique — it deserves.
