9-1-1 loves to keep Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley (Oliver Stark) in romantic relationships. Seriously, this guy never seems to be single for long. Whether he’s dating Abby Clark (Connie Britton) in Season 1 or Taylor Kelly (Megan West) in Season 5, Buck is usually busy with love. But his latest relationship with Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) has not only breathed new life into Buck’s storyline, but has fans praising his emotional growth. The only problem is that his best friend, Eddie (Ryan Guzman), is likely to get in the way of Buck and Tommy’s relationship taking things to the next level.
In Season 7 of the ABC drama, Buck revealed that he’s bisexual and has feelings for Tommy. Tommy is an awesome first responder who started out as a firefighter but is now a pilot for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The relationship doesn’t start off without some bumps. Buck doesn’t want to come out and has some trouble being open about his sexuality with the rest of Fire 118. However, by the end of the season, Tommy is actually able to come out to Buck in a variety of ways (including allowing him to come out on his own timeline) and their relationship begins to blossom. He even runs to Buck when Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Chim (Kenneth Choi) get married at the hospital in Episode 6. Now, in Season 8, Buck and Tommy are spending more time together, but there’s a problem with someone else who seems to be hanging out with them a lot.
It seems like Buck and Tommy are really enjoying being in a relationship together. But the problem is that there aren’t many scenes where it’s just Buck and Tommy hooking up. Instead, Eddie keeps popping up in their relationship. So far in Season 8, there have been only a handful of scenes featuring the lovebirds (and Eddie is often with them). First, Tommy and Buck help Eddie plan a Zoom birthday party for Christopher (Gavin McHugh), and then in one of the sadder moments, in Episode 5, Eddie and Tommy team up against Buck. They tease and laugh at his belief that he’s been cursed by a corpse (which Buck initially thought was a simple Halloween decoration). Instead of Tommy defending his partner or trying to comfort Buck, he teams up with Eddie to make fun of him. It’s bad enough that Tommy doesn’t seem to be supporting his boyfriend at this point, but it’s even worse that Eddie just adds to the distance between them.
Even though Buck and Tommy are a couple, Eddie always seems to be part of the equation, which is odd for a relationship in its early stages. Tommy and Buck should spend more time alone, really getting to know each other. The fact that Eddie always seems to be included in their free time is odd. So, why does 9-1-1 insist on putting Eddie in all of their scenes together? Is it because they know that Buddie fans love seeing the characters together? Or is it because Eddie is easier to fit into the plot because he doesn’t have anything else going on in his social life at the moment? There hasn’t even been much exploration of Tommy as a character. We know he has a racist past, but we don’t know how he overcame those racist beliefs to become the kinder person he is today, so Eddie’s inclusion just seems confusing.
At this point, the show has two options: the writers can go all out and finally make Eddie and Buck a couple like fans have been clamoring for. Or they can let Tommy and Buck build a strong relationship without Eddie ruining their chemistry. Right now, there’s not enough commitment to Buck’s love life, and it’s starting to make Eddie seem a little uncomfortable. Buck deserves to find a partner who’s actually there for him (and trusts him even when his ideas are silly), and 9-1-1 should give him the opportunity to explore that (without Eddie getting in the way).
