Humour me (sorry but my posts get lost and ignored so it's easier to ask someone more visible lol).
We know almost for sure that the david/michael wedding was originally THE queer wedding intended to end the season, which of course couldn't happen bc of novaxxers etc, so we'll have Henren vows (sonce they were the original queer romantic+best friends couple from the beginning it's even better to me, but that's me).
But we also know from canon that david and michael got engaged during Defend in Place. Where David almost died and Michael was forced to wait helplessly. Now we'll have Hen in danger bc of her investigations on Jonah, with Karen forced to witness helplessly after she herself pushed her wife to follow her instincts.
.....what does this suggest us about a possible Eddie "Time Isn't Promised To Anyone" Diaz? That same Eddie "The Universe Is Screaming At You" Diaz who in s2 had asked for a sign to know what to do with his relationship with Shannon....?
I'm flattered that you think I'm more visible than you, but I am always happy to humour and oblige anything you bring to my inbox because its always good.
Yes we can be pretty sure that the original plans for the finale wedding was supposed to be for Michael and David - it just makes sense given the engagement in defend in place and the fact that the HenRen vow renewal, whilst not coming exactly out of nowhere (given that we've had hints dropped in the last few episodes) wasn't planned originally. I
think they've done a pretty good job of building it into HenRen's story and like you say - I think its actually better (especially in terms of Buddie which I will come back to) because although Rockmond was a main, Hen has been much more neglected as a character - almost like they've never really known what to do with her this season - I think she has been under used and her story arc neglected - we could have had some great stuff surrounding her struggles with balancing work, home and medical school (and missing Chim as part of that) which would have been interesting and fitted well with the overarching arcs we've seen this season - especially family.
The great thing we saw about 5x17 was that Karen wasn't standing by helplessly in the way Michael was in 5x08 - Karen, was busy of camera getting the help Hen needed - phoning Maddie (inadvertently because it was Chim's phone) and figuring out Hen and Chim were in danger and then getting the police and getting that help to her Wife and her best friend. It was beautiful to watch and really highlighted their dynamic - something they could never have managed with Mavid which is built on a very different foundation.
Its partly why I think this vow renewal is so much better in relation to Buddie. We saw in 5x17 HenRen acting very much in the way we've seen Buck and Eddie act over and over - they are each others best friends (even if they are being careful not to say as much in the show for obvious reasons) and they will always have each others backs - that won't change if they become canon - so showing HenRen in that way just reenforces that concept. We got to see Karen supporting and trusting her wife - the bedroom conversation was so similar to ones we've witnessed between Buck and Eddie (just not in a bedroom) - its going to be incredibly interesting to see how the conversation between Buck and Eddie in Eddies bedroom plays out in 5x18 - we should definitely be looking to see how it compares with HenRen conversations - in fact the whole of 5x18 is going to be interesting to look for Buddie/HenRen comparisons!
The Eddie ‘time isn’t promised to anyone’ Diaz and the universe is screaming at you but you refuse to listen’ is a really interesting thing to think on - we got so many references to time in 5x17 - there were watches and clocks etc everywhere, and the choice of a retirement party was very 👀👀👀 because retirement is supposedly when you have nothing but time to do the things you want to so the allusions to time were everywhere. Eddies insistence that the universe doesn’t scream is one of my favourite things - he listens to the universe all the time - his problem is that he misunderstands what the universe is trying to say to him at so many important moments - Eddie looking for a sign regarding Shannon and then when she thinks she’s pregnant Eddie sees in as a sign that they should all be together again - we see him incredibly confused about Shannon all the way up to that moment, so his decision is a hasty one - he hasn’t truly thought things through - he is going based on what is best for Chris - a noble thing yes, but one doomed to fail for a variety of reasons. Ana is another example of Eddie not thinking things through when signs come - in fact with Ana he misreads and ignores several signs - the biggest and most obvious one is Chris running to Buck when he finds out about her - your son running to the man you have secretly put in you will as Christophers legal guardian is a very big neon sign - one he ignores!
The funny thing is when Eddie does listen to the universe - in super key moments he gets it right - so very right. The moments he listens are all interconnecting and they are snowballing into bigger and bigger things with potentially greater implications - it started with Eddie bonding with Buck over a grenade and the snowball has reached Eddie literally Trusting Buck with every single aspect of his life - including the most hidden and ugly parts - his breakdown.
The well/will is the biggest example of this, but the tsunami is also a great example. With the well - Eddie listens to what the universe is showing him - that Christopher - the most important thing in his life is happiest with Buck in the frame - all we see of Christopher in Texas during Eddies flashbacks shows us someone who is stifled and sad (I miss you all the time) yet all the happy memories we see involve Buck - Eddie takes that information and it spurs him into changing his will - yes because it is what is best for Christopher, but also because it is best for Eddie. Eddie knowing Chris will be taken care of, but he also knows that Buck will be taken care of as well - the other person who appeared in those memories - because Buck makes both Diaz boys happy - so Eddie listened and did something about it.
Going back to my weird snowball metaphor for a minute (and I’m probably going to mix it with a different metaphor but hey!!) - when Eddie listens to the universe - time slows down - its like the snowball gets to keep moving forwards, but at a more sedate pace. When he ignores the universe - time seems to speed up and the snowball gathers pace - it all adds to this sense of not having enough time that Eddie always seems to be feeling - the thing is he hasn’t connected the dots yet - but he is beginning to - because if we think about Eddies break down as the moment when the snowball got out of control and Eddie felt out of time - the snowball crashed - bits fell off but it kept going. But that is also the moment when it slowed back down and gave him time - that is the moment when Buck stepped into the mess and Eddie lets him (because up to this point Buck has been there but not truly an active participant in any of it - everything has been done with buck in mind, rather than with Buck and thats actually an important distinction). The broken bits of snowball lie scattered around and Eddie has always dealt with them alone before, but now he’s got Buck standing there with him and Buck has started helping him put those broken bits back onto the snowball - and the more bits Buck helps put back the clearer things are becoming for Eddie and the clearer things become the more time he is finding he has.
Does this even make sense anymore?? I have totally lost where I was going with this, but what I’m trying to say in the most long winded and confusing way possible is that Eddie is at a point now where I think watching Hen and Karen renew their vows is going to hit harder than it perhaps would have done had it been watching Micheal and David get married - its going to make him truly see that marrying your best friend is the most wonderful thing in the world and I think Denny only adds to the equation - seeing two best friends very much in love and raising a child together - a child they adopted and love like their own. I’m not saying they would love a biological child more, just that the distinction of Denny being adopted and loved by Hen and Karen somewhat parallels Buck and Christopher and their relationship in a way that couldn’t be achieved with a Mavid wedding - it adds weight to any realisations Eddie may have as a result of the vow renewal.
I have no idea if this is what you were hoping for Kiki, but I’m going to stop now before I make things even more confusing lol!