in my mind they are already married and retired on permanent vacation, but I'll wait for season 3 ig 🤷🏻♀️
just a silly drawing that I actually did when this DT pic dropped, but never quite liked how it turned out so I never posted it... but here it is now ig, happy new year!! 🎊
I have so many gripes with this two-parter, lol. For those who were in the spn trenches-- I'm having bucklemming flashbacks: everything is a one-liner and nothing makes sense from a structure or writing viewpoint.
Let's break it down into the 3 main problems that imo take this Big Event from an amazing, high-stakes premise to a lackluster ass execution. (And yes, for Eddie go to point 3.)
1. Suspension of disbelief is a bell curve, ok?
If you are obsessively concerned with realism, your story is going to miss out on a lot of emotional moments that just cannot be crammed into a 40 minute episode format otherwise. The reverse is also true, though. If you handwave every single realistic thing because you deem it an obstacle to an emotional story, it's going to be harder and harder for people to stay immersed.
The whole team was made to spend two episode acting like they straight up don't care and/or don't understand the level of threat they're dealing with just so that the plot could happen, which is absurd and out of character, for one.
... And it's also counterproductive.
The OoC issue could've easily been solved by shifting the "Rescue the team (118 argument) VS Not rescue the team (government argument)" to "Keep looking for solutions beyond what seems possible (118 argument) VS Be conveniently quick to give up (government argument)".
It's a minor tweak that would show up mostly through changes to the characterization of the military and FBI guy to make them more square and unfeeling, clearly having lost focus of the human aspect and become too quick to pull the trigger. It's one of the more ubiquitous underdog tropes: there is still an element of the 118 playing it less safe, because the red tape is supposedly there for a reason, but what may seem as morally dark grey on the surface because of the risk posed by an outbreak is recontextualized by the fact that there is a bigger and worse guy on the other side – the suits – who's lost track of what he's really supposed to be working at. The actions of the 118 now make sense for the situation and the 118 remain the good/better guys.
TL;DR: We didn't need the 118 consistently acting like they don't understand the severity of a deadly supervirus getting out of containment with no cure. Framing them more starkly as the underdog in the situation and having them go against big government players who've lost sight of their mission to help people is infinitely more compelling, and would have reinforced the real emotional pull to the episode: y'know that quote, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"? They are all mildly insane when it comes to each other, and will look for solutions to the very end even when from the outside it looks like they're going against impossible odds – just continuing to tape and plug up little holes everywhere to keep each other alive, if you will, even where most people may argue the sane thing is to accept defeat.
2. Not trusting your audience to have basic reading abilities never pays back.
Buck being used as an audience proxy to explain to us that Athena wants to go behind the suits' backs? And what an SD card is? FUCKING REALLY?
This may sound like it's just about Buck – which, hey, that would be fair – but it's not. Take the tsunami arc. A major aspect that made it compelling was the way it showed how the lives of complete strangers, who would've never touched otherwise, came to intertwine because of this tragedy that swept over the city. The premise to Sick Day/Lab Rats is kind of the reverse: it's ALL about our team of main characters, most of whom are locked away in a bunker. The episode hinges entirely on the strength of their bonds with each other against the outer world, which outside the lab is embodied by the government and inside the lab is embodied by this larger-than-life virus that completely overpowers them in theory. From a writing standpoint, it's all about how cleverly their affective dynamics with each other are used to stir emotional reactions in the viewer.
Fanfiction writers wrote the playbook on this; when I think of original fiction mastering this I think of something like Bioware for videogames. Troperrific is the name of the game.
So if you pair up Athena and Buck... you'd better fucking show me a fucking action couple. The have their team-slash-family in danger, and none more than them understand what it means to have Bobby trapped inside as a wife and a honorary son. The intention for this to be the force behind their team-up was clearly there. And having Buck be that dumb was the perfect way to ruin it.
I can see a remake of that scene perfectly: Buck panicking initially when he hears Bobby say him and Athena should leave the rest of the 118 to die, because he's Buck and of course he would panic. Bobby switching to talking only to Athena same way he did in the actual scene; Buck catching up now that he's had the time to focus and ultimately agreeing to leave it to the army and the FBI to handle. Cut to Buck and Athena powerwalking outside, side-bumping fists now that they're out of sight and getting each in their own seat of the car without the need to say a single word.
And maybe don't have Buck ask what an SD card is. It's fucking fine. COME ON. Show, don't tell, and all that. Athena Sneakily Grabbed A Plot-Relevant Thingy from a crime scene and Showed It Triumphantly To The Camera, and in two minutes we're going to plug it into Karen's computer and we can mention it's pictures from the crime scene just for extra clarity. I think the viewers may just be able to follow along.
TL;DR: Sorry, I just don't believe Buck is that dumb, he's not. Having Athena explain the plot to Buck like we're all two year olds is insufferable, and more importantly it's taking away from what really matters: if you make your whole two-parter hinge on team dynamics and then pair up Buck and Athena, I had better see the two baddest bitches to ever walk the earth in fucking synced action. They HAVE to be Understanding Each Other Implicitly because the real treasure was their shared love of Bobby all along.
3. Ok. Three three three. You CANNOT. You simply CANNOT. You fool. Leave a main character COMPLETELY FUCKING OUT of a Big Event two-parter that's all about the fucking CORE TEAM GOING TO SUPERMAX FOR EACH OTHER.
Come the fuck on.
Listen, assuming the best faith I can: this could be a case of Real Life having happened. Say, scheduling conflict. It literally doesn't matter. If one of your mains can't be there, you still find a way to mention the character in-story and you bring him into the story like that. I'll do you one better: a really simple way to do it wrote itself within the second ep. When Hen gives Ravi her pep talk about calling your loved ones, that was the planting of an idea into the viewer's mind. There really is no one-size-fits-all answer to that dilemma, which speaks to the emotional complexity of these tragedies.
You then have Chim deciding to talk to Maddie, because this may really be their last chance. (In the good version of this two-parter everyone's phone calls are come-and-go/keep breaking up, btw. Because they're sealed in a secure lab underground and it raises the stakes to have them struggle to communicate with each other. Obviously. Fucking hell). But you have Buck, safe on the outside, wanting to call Eddie and then deciding not to, because he realizes it's more for himself than anything and it's just making Eddie agonize over it 12 hours away where he can't do anything. It's as simple as showing Buck's finger hovering over Eddie's contact on his phone at a moment of distress, then opting not to call. But with different characters deciding to act in different ways based on their circumstances, you're now Exploring A Theme and it's a coherent way to include the character with no better options.
however you do it, it'll never be ideal to have a main missing from these kinds of pivotal episodes, but you HAVE to find a way to tie them into the story in some meaningful way.
That said, if Ryan/Eddie could've been there, and the writing simply didn't include him, then it's SO SO much fucking worse lmaoooo.
First off, it was really important that Eddie be shown to come back to LA because that's where the people who matter to him are, not because of Bobby's fucking funeral. As he (re)learns to choose joy for himself and to stand up to his parents/regrow his confidence in his own parenting instincts, it's crucial that he recognizes LA is where he wants to be because that's where Eddie's family and Chris's life are. The motivation to go back should be internal and advance his emotional arc.
Personally, I have ideas for how I would've tied him in for the most meaningful impact in the least time (considering the constraints of these kinds of episodes!) And these ideas definitely involve a big entrance making up for an early absence. Any team member who happened to be missing could get that same big entrance treatment, just tweaked to fit the character – we're fundamentally talking about the 118 being a family, where the team isn't complete without everyone in it playing their unique role, and the missing piece of the puzzle arriving at a moment of despair will always have you feel like you were just given another fighting chance.
Personally, I'd have had it revealed in 8x15 that when Chris and Eddie left, they actually left for LA, both too eager to go back home and with Eddie willing to make a second trip later to take care of the loose ends (job, house, etc.) in El Paso. They mean to surprise Buck + the team so they let them believe they're still in Texas. Chris finds out about the lab incident through his phone on the way, leaving Eddie conveniently only a short time away from LA and only missing for the initial part of the emergency. When Buck doesn't pick up his phone (via literally ANY excuse for why he'd miss the call), and no-one form the team does either (bad signal, which again should've been a thing), it now makes the most sense that Eddie would call Athena and it's HER who introduces her guy on the inside (or I guess, technically, on the outside) whom the suits don't have on their radar. He pulls up not in a helicopter but, necessarily, in the most unassuming car ever, making it not about showy stunt money but about the idea that Eddie's worth is about who he is (as in how he behaves, tying into his emotional arc) + what counts is showing up and everyone's contributions count (tying into the two-parter themes).
Also great 'cause Buck can be relieved af to finally have His Guy there for support, but there's no time for hugs. Oops! Just casually slipped in some friendly (🤔) yearning while Impeding Outside Events are unfolding! No! Don't use your precious screen time so well!
Anyway, Buck and Eddie are then either NOT paired up (the ideal version imo, we keep this about Buck and Athena as we're centering their connection to Bobby) or they ARE paired up (if you absolutely need to take advantage of the wider themes of the episode to advance any kind of dialogue between them and can't do it next episode). And the rest is pretty much Eddie occupying his rightful place in the episode instead of Tommy. Because. Lol. Lmao even. (I totally think we can still use Tommy, btw! to make Eddie mega jelly. if u even care :) And not during the supervirus whatever whatever where he's the epitome of thematically out of place. But I digress.)
And OF COURSE when everybody is getting their camera shot breaking down over Bobby's death it's. EDDIE. On the outside. Having his quiet breakdown along with the rest of the. Y'know. THE REST OF HIS TEAM. Because he actually knows who Bobby is and cares about him and yeah ok literally what was the point of fucking Tim Tam looking like the 🙁 emoji on my fucking screen while everyone was bawling. I. ... WHAT.
Either way. The point is. They really left Eddie out of the two-parter without mentioning him once say fucking SIKE.
TL;DR: Leaving a main character out of a two-parter Big Event centered around the familial bonds between your main cast is a capital sin punishable by death. There is no version of reality where it's acceptable. If Eddie/Ryan simply could not be there for real life reasons it was imperative to find an emotionally and thematically significant way to mention the character. If Eddie/Ryan could be there, it was imperative he BE there in a meaningful and unique way that contributed to saving the team, much like the other mains all were. There is NO EXCUSE.
There, I said my piece. I hate when I can see how little it would take to fix a poorly executed narrative.
P.S.: I have a personal love of Hozier/Work Song and I think it fit perfectly with Bobby's death but. HOLY SHIT. Do not break the momentum by having a character Make An Observation AFTER you showed Bobby dying ("dying". whatever). Chim can have his survivor complex next episode. OH MY GOD. They had already showed the body bag so we knew he was supposed to be dead-dead. They had that AMAZING shot of Bobby's cap to cut to and then cut to black on the last clap. NO DIALOGUE EXPLAINING HOW CHIM FEELS. PLEASE. THE MOMENTUM. COME ON. SHOT OF THE CAP THEN CUT TO BLACK. TO THE BEAT OF THE SONG. COME ON. HOW DO YOU FUCK UP THE EDITING/WRITING THAT BADLY.
