S03.E15: Eddie Begins

[jewel21]

Eddie's journey to rescue a boy from a well turns into a mission to save himself from his past.

Airdate: 04/20/2020

[ladybugLVN]

The actor portraying Eddie's dad on the show tonight reminds me of DR.LUKA KOVACH fom ER. But i cannot find anything online to confirm it ....

[BluBarbi98]

Wow! That was an intense episode. I was really worried for Eddie. 

[Empress1]

18 minutes ago, BluBarbi98 said:

Wow! That was an intense episode. I was really worried for Eddie. 

I cried. It started when Eddie saved Aidan. And Buck consistently goes all-out to save people and when he was clawing frantically at the ground after lightning struck, there went the waterworks. 

Also, I didn’t realize that was supposed to be Eddie’s mother until she said “your father and I.” Did she have him when she was 10? Or was she a younger stepmother?

[gonzosgirrl]

1 hour ago, BluBarbi98 said:

Wow! That was an intense episode. I was really worried for Eddie. 

When they went full-on montage I started swearing at the tv. That was intense!

[Gramto6]

Really liked this episode. Very intense and I wondered if at one point it was also going to be "Eddie Ends". Someone was chopping onions here during several points in the episode.

[BooksRule]

I was a little worried about Eddie, but then I thought that there was no way they would do that to Christopher.  But you never know.  The episode was definitely intense, because the whole idea of being in a small space (like a cave) with potential darkness and rising water gives me the wiggins big time (the recent episode of '9.1.1. Lone Star' had the one with the dad trapped face down in the cave with his arms pinned and I had sweaty palms the whole time). 

[Lady Calypso]

Well, it's not like I was convinced that Eddie was going to die...but they had me for a moment at the end where I did think "wait...ARE they going here?" So, props to the show for legitimately getting me for a bit. But yeah, then they would have crushed poor Christopher's heart and who wants to crush his heart? 

Oh, and it would crush Buck's heart as well. If anyone else would have been almost as devastated as Christopher, it would be Buck. Him clawing at the wet mud while screaming Eddie's name was certainly just as powerful. 

The flashback scenes for Eddie were alright (though the helicopter crash shots were laughable). It was good to see the Eddie/Shannon disaster of a relationship in its entirety. Obviously, Eddie was a jerk for a lot of those years that he missed with his son. But we also got reminded that Shannon took off and abandoned her son with Eddie.

But I thought that seeing Eddie's parents was a good way to further establish that Eddie is still putting in the work to try to make up for all of those years lost, as it was only very recently (in the last two/three years) where Eddie finally started to be the father that his son deserves. 

Really intense episode, overall. It was a pretty solid Begins episode, as they can be a bit hit or miss for me.

[tennisgurl]

I was pretty positive that Eddie would be alright...intellectually. Emotionally, I was getting very worried, that was some intense stuff. Especially in the montage, which started to look terribly like a "life flashes before your eyes" moment, and when Buck was hysterically yelling for Eddie and trying to dig him up. Oh Buck, he was so scared!

I love how many of the happy memories were of Eddie and Buck having fun with Christopher! It was very My Two Dads 😉 

[Aliconehead]

1 hour ago, Empress1 said:

I cried. It started when Eddie saved Aidan. And Buck consistently goes all-out to save people and when he was clawing frantically at the ground after lightning struck, there went the waterworks. 

Also, I didn’t realize that was supposed to be Eddie’s mother until she said “your father and I.” Did she have him when she was 10? Or was she a younger stepmother?

It took me awhile to figure out who the actress was but his mom was played by Paula Marshall. She is 55, Ryan Guzman is 32. The math works without her being a teen mother.  But she does not look like she once did. I think she was had some work done. 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Aliconehead

[jewel21]

The montage had me worrying for a minute, too. I was like 'no, they won't go there...wait...um, they won't...right?'

I liked the flashbacks. I only tuned into the show the beginning of Season 3 so I never got to know Christopher's mother, just that she died recently. This provided a bit more backstory. 

Seeing Buck frantically clawing at the ground was intense as well. 

[Clanstarling]

11 hours ago, BluBarbi98 said:

Wow! That was an intense episode. I was really worried for Eddie. 

 

9 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Well, it's not like I was convinced that Eddie was going to die...but they had me for a moment at the end where I did think "wait...ARE they going here?" So, props to the show for legitimately getting me for a bit. But yeah, then they would have crushed poor Christopher's heart and who wants to crush his heart? 

Oh, and it would crush Buck's heart as well. If anyone else would have been almost as devastated as Christopher, it would be Buck. Him clawing at the wet mud while screaming Eddie's name was certainly just as powerful. 

The flashback scenes for Eddie were alright (though the helicopter crash shots were laughable). It was good to see the Eddie/Shannon disaster of a relationship in its entirety. Obviously, Eddie was a jerk for a lot of those years that he missed with his son. But we also got reminded that Shannon took off and abandoned her son with Eddie.

But I thought that seeing Eddie's parents was a good way to further establish that Eddie is still putting in the work to try to make up for all of those years lost, as it was only very recently (in the last two/three years) where Eddie finally started to be the father that his son deserves. 

Really intense episode, overall. It was a pretty solid Begins episode, as they can be a bit hit or miss for me.

Yep, for a moment I wondered if they would kill Eddie off - I thought "is this the season finale?"  I'm glad they didn't.

Isn't there a grandmother in LA? Nobody mentioned that, but I thought I remembered Eddie leaving Christopher with his (or Shannon's) grandmother until she couldn't do it anymore (died? I don't remember).

Anyone else hold their breath when Eddie went under to swim to the lake/pond?

I guess this story (at least the first part) was based on Baby Jessica (1987). It was pretty dramatic and a nationwide story.

[Lady Calypso]

11 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I love how many of the happy memories were of Eddie and Buck having fun with Christopher! It was very My Two Dads 😉 

Seriously, though, you can't tell me that Oliver Stark ISN'T playing the Buck/Eddie friendship as at least a one sided romantic thing. From Buck's frantic screaming and clawing at the mud to his downright depression over the thought of Eddie being dead at the end, at the very least, it seems like Buck is totally in love with Eddie. We haven't seen him react that way about many others, even in the 118. 

2 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Isn't there a grandmother in LA? Nobody mentioned that, but I thought I remembered Eddie leaving Christopher with his (or Shannon's) grandmother until she couldn't do it anymore (died? I don't remember).

I think Eddie's grandmother is still around. I know that she's a backup in case Carla can't take care of him, but I think it was established that it was getting harder on her to take care of Christopher, or that Carla is just more experienced in general.

[The Ringo Kidd]

I guess Eddie gets the Shelly Winters Memorial Poseidon Adventure Swimming award for the most time underwater without coming up for breath.

Shelly trained holding her breath on Harry Cohn’s  casting couch.     

[Ohwell]

I guess I was supposed to be somehow "moved" by this episode, but I was bored.  

[shapeshifter]

2 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I guess I was supposed to be somehow "moved" by this episode, but I was bored.  

I was watching the clock during the Afghanistan scenes, but then my cold heart melted in the final scene.

[Ohwell]

9 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I was watching the clock during the Afghanistan scenes, but then my cold heart melted in the final scene.

My heart is still cold. 😃

[marceline]

23 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I guess I was supposed to be somehow "moved" by this episode, but I was bored.  

Same. I really didn't need the extended visit to Afghanistan and all it did was remind me of what a mess the story around Christopher's mom (whose name I still can't be bothered to remember) turned out. Plus this one just reminded me of all those kids in Thailand who got trapped in a cave and the Navy SEAL who drowned working on their rescue.

I'm honestly not a fan of the "Begins" episodes. I don't hate them but I prefer to stay in the present.

Edited April 22, 2020 by marceline

[Irlandesa]

I was bored too.  Some of these "begin" episodes have made me appreciate the journey these characters have taken more (Athena, Hen, Chim) while others have made me like the characters less (Eddie and Bobby). 

Eddie came off as a jerk in the past while I developed more sympathy for the wife.  But she's dead so...yay?

[Ohwell]

43 minutes ago, marceline said:

I'm honestly not a fan of the "Begins" episodes. I don't hate them but I prefer to stay in the present.

Same here.  I really don't care how they all "began."

[iMonrey]

As someone who suffers from mild claustrophobia, this was a hard episode to watch. And I did wonder if maybe they would kill Eddie off. 

Quote

I guess this story (at least the first part) was based on Baby Jessica (1987). It was pretty dramatic and a nationwide story.

This kid looked older than Baby Jessica though. It's hard to imagine how he could accidentally fall down such a narrow space. It would seem more likely if someone purposely put him there or if he voluntarily tried to fit into the tube on a dare from friends, or something like that.

Quote

I was watching the clock during the Afghanistan scenes

Yeah, look - these scenes couldn't have been cheap to film, unless they used an awful lot of stock footage, but battle scenes like this leave me cold. They really went on and on. I understand how they were informing Eddie's backstory but that sort of material is a real turn-off to me.

So is the this the last episode of the season? 

[Irlandesa]

24 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

So is the this the last episode of the season? 

No.  There are eighteen episodes this season so there are three more.

[Clanstarling]

 

3 hours ago, marceline said:

Same. I really didn't need the extended visit to Afghanistan and all it did was remind me of what a mess the story around Christopher's mom (whose name I still can be bothered to remember) turned out. Plus this one just reminded me of all those kids in Thailand who got trapped in a cave and the Navy SEAL who drowned working on their rescue.

Yep, that's when I learned Thailand had their own Navy Seals.

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

This kid looked older than Baby Jessica though. It's hard to imagine how he could accidentally fall down such a narrow space. It would seem more likely if someone purposely put him there or if he voluntarily tried to fit into the tube on a dare from friends, or something like that.

The kid is definitely older. The pipe was wider than the one Baby Jessica fell down, as I recall. I actually don't have a problem imagining how he could fall down it - he probably stood on it and slipped down.

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

The writers made a mistake when the characters were talking about thunderstorms.  Lightning can strike from quite a distance a way (several miles at least).  The storm doesn't have to be right on top of you for lightning to strike

I was so annoyed at the improbability of there being a violent thunderstorm at the same time and place of a child-stuck-in-a-well rescue that I didn't bother to think about distances, although there were some nagging thoughts in the back of my mind about the logistics of the storm being off regardless of rescue operations. 
But, still, as mentioned above, I still melted at the end. 
And I do appreciate how the show never has anything too unbearable happen.

[mojoween]

My hubby and son missed a bunch of episodes, so I mentioned that Shannon wasn’t very popular when she first appeared, and my son was like “I hate her now.”

They really did not try at all to make her likeable from the jump.

Baby Jessica was 18 months old when she fell in the well.  That kid was definitely older.  How funny that we’re far enough away that there are many many people who have no idea about that story.  It put CNN on the map.

[jcbrown]

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

As someone who suffers from mild claustrophobia, this was a hard episode to watch. And I did wonder if maybe they would kill Eddie off. 

Yeah, look - these scenes couldn't have been cheap to film, unless they used an awful lot of stock footage, but battle scenes like this leave me cold. They really went on and on. I understand how they were informing Eddie's backstory but that sort of material is a real turn-off to me.

I agree as a fellow claustrophobia sufferer and I feel the same way about the battle scenes. If I wanted to watch a war movie, I would have tuned to that. Way too much of the battle scenes in this episode.

[maya1959]

On 4/21/2020 at 10:42 AM, ladybugLVN said:

The actor portraying Eddie's dad on the show tonight reminds me of DR.LUKA KOVACH fom ER. But i cannot find anything online to confirm it ....

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0215602/?ref_=tt_cl_t15

[tvgoddess]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

Baby Jessica was 18 months old when she fell in the well.  That kid was definitely older.  How funny that we’re far enough away that there are many many people who have no idea about that story.  It put CNN on the map.

Unlike Eddie, the Baby Jessica story turned out very sadly for the firefighter who rescued her as he committed suicide due to being unable to handle the limelight.

Maybe I'm an old sap who cries at anything (true), but Buck clawing at the ground screaming Eddie's name sent me into tears. I can only imagine the fanfic that will probably arise from those shippers.

[jewel21]

I recall reading a story last year, maybe, about a young boy who fell down a well. I can't remember if they were from Portugal or South America? Definitely not North American in any case. The hole looked tiny but he fell through it. It took crews days to get to him and sadly he didn't survive.  I feel like this episode was inspired a bit by that case along with baby Jessica. 

[DisplayyName]

17 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Seriously, though, you can't tell me that Oliver Stark ISN'T playing the Buck/Eddie friendship as at least a one sided romantic thing. From Buck's frantic screaming and clawing at the mud to his downright depression over the thought of Eddie being dead at the end, at the very least, it seems like Buck is totally in love with Eddie. We haven't seen him react that way about many others, even in the 118. 

oh god, tell me about it...

First of all, the episode was sad, don't get me wrong and i liked Eddie's backstory. He's a complex, interesting character. That reaction from Buck, though. I know the situation was serious and i'm not saying he shouldn't be emotional over losing his best friend but why wasn't he crying when Chimney got a rebar through his head? Why wasn't he screaming when Hen got trapped during the earthquake? Am i being overly sensitive because i think it was a jerk move from the actor or the writers to make Buck react so differently to Eddie being in danger compared to when his other team members were in danger? I'm seeing comparisations on twitter about the situations, because for young people it's so fun to compare near death experiences in tv shows and claim that someone's life matters more than another's. (i'm considered young at 23 but i'm way too old for this shit). You can say it's not that serious, but I feel like these scenes ended up unintentionally hurting the other characters and changed the way the viewers see the team.

Also, when Eddie's life flashed before his eyes more than half of the most important moments in his life were scenes with Buck when we just learned that his character has a life other than hanging out with Buck.
I'm not gonna complain about a healthy friendship (or whatever they have) between 2 male characters but i keep wondering when/how they become such close friends. In the first season it was Hen, Chim, Buck and Bobby. Now it's Eddie and Buck and their pals. I never missed an episode and i still don't understand why they're so close to each other compared to the other characters and how that close relationship between them formed. In s2 they were good pals working together, at the beginning of s3 Eddie tells Buck that there's nobody in this world he trusts with his son more than him (Why him? is Carla dead or what? No, she isn't.)

Now Eddie got hurt and Buck reacted like his husband just died, meanwhile Chimney had a rebar through his head and Buck was like "Nah, man [the car's not a total loss]. You can probably buff most of that out." (i loved that scene but still...)

I won't even mention his sister in the previous episode and how the 911 call center hostage situation was half drama and half comedy. They just can't seem to stick to one theme. One serious situation is being handled as a joke while the next episode has a very harrowing theme and the storyline is taken very seriously.

Long story short, the blatant pandering to Buck and Eddie shippers is very obvious and i would laugh at it, if it wasn't hurting the other characters. Hang in there Hen and Chim, your life might not matter that much to Buck but I love you. LOL

Edited April 22, 2020 by DisplayyName

[gonzosgirrl]

On 4/20/2020 at 9:12 PM, ladybugLVN said:

The actor portraying Eddie's dad on the show tonight reminds me of DR.LUKA KOVACH fom ER. But i cannot find anything online to confirm it ....

8 hours ago, maya1959 said:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0215602/?ref_=tt_cl_t15

I'm not sure who this actor is, but it's definitely not Goran Visnjic, who played Luka on ER.

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by gonzosgirrl

[screengem]

Just saying, but Jennifer Love Hewitt's character, Maddie, is winning the Mandy Patinkin "scene chewing" award this season in a landside.

Ole Mandy earned this for his seasons on Criminal Minds as Jason Gideon.  He has been known for stretching a scene way beyond its useful scripted life.

JLH started earning it last season, and it seems that when her character faces a critical situation such as this season's hostage episode, she turns on both the tears and that frightful stare.

I agree, it borders on comical.

Also, I too get the Buck "in love with" Eddie vibe.  Let's see where Ryan Murphy and the writers take it next season.

 

[shapeshifter]

9 hours ago, tvgoddess said:

Unlike Eddie, the Baby Jessica story turned out very sadly for the firefighter who rescued her as he committed suicide due to being unable to handle the limelight.

Wow. That is sad. In the late 90s they finally developed sumatriptan for migraines, which changed my life and the lives of many lifelong migraine sufferers—but he was already dead. 
The fame issues of the Baby Jessica firefighter were depicted in season 1 Buck, except he abused fire truck privileges instead of opiates. 

[ElectricCityy]

16 hours ago, DisplayyName said:

oh god, tell me about it...

First of all, the episode was sad, don't get me wrong and i liked Eddie's backstory. He's a complex, interesting character. That reaction from Buck, though. I know the situation was serious and i'm not saying he shouldn't be emotional over losing his best friend but why wasn't he crying when Chimney got a rebar through his head? Why wasn't he screaming when Hen got trapped during the earthquake? Am i being overly sensitive because i think it was a jerk move from the actor or the writers to make Buck react so differently to Eddie being in danger compared to when his other team members were in danger? I'm seeing comparisations on twitter about the situations, because for young people it's so fun to compare near death experiences in tv shows and claim that someone's life matters more than another's. (i'm considered young at 23 but i'm way too old for this shit). You can say it's not that serious, but I feel like these scenes ended up unintentionally hurting the other characters and changed the way the viewers see the team.

Also, when Eddie's life flashed before his eyes more than half of the most important moments in his life were scenes with Buck when we just learned that his character has a life other than hanging out with Buck.
I'm not gonna complain about a healthy friendship (or whatever they have) between 2 male characters but i keep wondering when/how they become such close friends. In the first season it was Hen, Chim, Buck and Bobby. Now it's Eddie and Buck and their pals. I never missed an episode and i still don't understand why they're so close to each other compared to the other characters and how that close relationship between them formed. In s2 they were good pals working together, at the beginning of s3 Eddie tells Buck that there's nobody in this world he trusts with his son more than him (Why him? is Carla dead or what? No, she isn't.)

Now Eddie got hurt and Buck reacted like his husband just died, meanwhile Chimney had a rebar through his head and Buck was like "Nah, man [the car's not a total loss]. You can probably buff most of that out." (i loved that scene but still...)

I won't even mention his sister in the previous episode and how the 911 call center hostage situation was half drama and half comedy. They just can't seem to stick to one theme. One serious situation is being handled as a joke while the next episode has a very harrowing theme and the storyline is taken very seriously.

Long story short, the blatant pandering to Buck and Eddie shippers is very obvious and i would laugh at it, if it wasn't hurting the other characters. Hang in there Hen and Chim, your life might not matter that much to Buck but I love you. LOL

Oliver Stark is an actor following a script and orders from a director. It's not his fault. I do see a lot of the Buck and Eddie content as pandering but I don't mind it. It's not like it's hurting the show at all. It's believable to me he would have more of a reaction to Eddie potentially dying over Hen and Chim. He has Christopher to think about and Buck and Eddie have spent enough time together outside of work to buy their friendship. His reaction was very on brand for their relationship. Now the whole thing with Maddie last week was weird. I was surprised he was so under utilized there. 

Edited April 22, 2020 by ElectricCityy

[anna0852]

To be fair we already saw Buck reacting to Maddie in danger last season. I'm okay with him being more in control this time.

[gonzosgirrl]

57 minutes ago, ElectricCityy said:

Oliver Stark is an actor following a script and orders from a director. It's not his fault. I do see a lot of the Buck and Eddie content as pandering but I don't mind it. It's not like it's hurting the show at all. It's believable to me he would have more of a reaction to Eddie potentially dying over Hen and Chim. He has Christopher to think about and Buck and Eddie have spent enough time together outside of work to buy their friendship. His reaction was very on brand for their relationship. Now the whole thing with Maddie last week was weird. I was surprised he was so under utilized there. 

And Chim's accident was pretty early on in the show - they really didn't know each other that well. I am not a shipper of Eddie and Buck, except as great friends. I think it's entirely possible for two men to have platonic love for each other. Of course the squad is close, but I would most certainly freak out harder over possibly seeing my best friend die before my eyes than another co-worker. And I think Eddie told Buck that he trusted him with Christopher more than anyone else because that's what Buck really need to hear at that point. Are the showrunners toying with the shippers? Maybe. Maybe even probably. But this viewer doesn't have any problem seeing their friendship as just that.

[marceline]

Add me to the people who thought Buck's reaction was overdone. I don't know who to blame. The writer? actor? director? All of the above? It was just too over-the-top for me, especially on top of all the war stuff.

I wonder if the positive reaction to Hysterical Buck during the tsunami episodes made someone think we needed to see him again. 

[marceline]

On 4/21/2020 at 1:09 PM, marceline said:

Same. I really didn't need the extended visit to Afghanistan and all it did was remind me of what a mess the story around Christopher's mom (whose name I still can't be bothered to remember) turned out.

 

On 4/21/2020 at 8:05 PM, mojoween said:

My hubby and son missed a bunch of episodes, so I mentioned that Shannon wasn’t very popular when she first appeared, and my son was like “I hate her now.”

I read your comment and thought..."Who is Shannon?" Then I realized you answered my question. 🙂

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, marceline said:

I wonder if the positive reaction to Hysterical Buck during the tsunami episodes made someone think we needed to see him again. 

This could very well be it. Because so many men on television aren't typically allowed to show a reaction such as hysteria, I think it was a smart choice back in the tsunami episode to allow Buck to actually BE in that state...because who would be 100% calm and cool in a tsunami scenario, especially when someone you love goes missing? 

Which is why I didn't necessarily mind it here because I forgot until now that we ALSO saw Hysterical Buck last season, when Maddie was taken by her ex husband. So this isn't a new development for him. It's helpful to know this because then it's not just them throwing in a Hysterical Buck JUST because it's Eddie. He reacts this way to everyone he's close to.

Plus, we know that Buck and Eddie are best friends. Seeing your best friend be caved in and not knowing he's ok while buried under 30 feet of wet mud? I think that constitutes worry because Buck had no idea if Eddie was ok or not. Just like Buck was hysterical when he was looking for Maddie, and just like when he was hysterical when he couldn't find Christopher. And, in all three scenarios, them being missing PLUS knowing that they were in an immediate life or death situation? I get it. 

And, I'd rather see a response like this than another male character who is so calm that it looks like he doesn't give a shit about a life or death situation. It's ok for a male character to be hysterical in a scenario like this. It's not a bad thing and I'd like to see emotional males get normalized. 

So, it's kind of a give or take scenario here. Yes, I believe that the show is teasing the Buck/Eddie fans. I'm not an idiot; I know why they also have TK from Lone Star as the gay character. It's no coincidence that TK and Buck are similar. But I also like Buck's reaction feeling normal. Seriously, there are people who WOULD freak out if they saw someone they love being buried under wet mud and not knowing if it immediately killed them or not. So that's why I'm ultimately ok with Buck's reaction. 

[Irlandesa]

39 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

Which is why I didn't necessarily mind it here because I forgot until now that we ALSO saw Hysterical Buck last season, when Maddie was taken by her ex husband. So this isn't a new development for him. It's helpful to know this because then it's not just them throwing in a Hysterical Buck JUST because it's Eddie. He reacts this way to everyone he's close to.

Yep. Everyone is close to one another but I do think Buck considers Eddie & Christopher like part of his family, especially after the tsunami stretch.  They made him feel worthwhile after his accident. 

I would say the writers are just teasing people who ship Eddie and Buck (I'm not one although you never know with Ryan Murphy) but Buck's reaction tracks with the best friend brotherly love as well. 

[DisplayyName]

11 hours ago, ElectricCityy said:

Oliver Stark is an actor following a script and orders from a director. It's not his fault. I do see a lot of the Buck and Eddie content as pandering but I don't mind it. It's not like it's hurting the show at all. It's believable to me he would have more of a reaction to Eddie potentially dying over Hen and Chim. He has Christopher to think about and Buck and Eddie have spent enough time together outside of work to buy their friendship. His reaction was very on brand for their relationship. Now the whole thing with Maddie last week was weird. I was surprised he was so under utilized there. 

Yea, I said it was a jerk move from the actor or writers, but i was way too harsh on them. i don't really blame anyone, but i hate that they made it look like Eddie means more to Buck than his other team members. The idea that someone's life matters more than another leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Lets just agree to disagree on this one. No, IMO, he shouldn't have more of a reaction to Eddie potentially dying over Hen and Chim. I don't think anyone sees my point here or why it's frustrating to me but it's ok. 

You can say it was logical for Buck to react to Eddie's near death experience so differently compared to how he reacted when his other team members were in danger but for me, there's no logic. All I see is bias. Next time Hen almost dies he better throw himself on the ground and start sobbing and screaming for her. Sounds crazy, right?

11 hours ago, anna0852 said:

To be fair we already saw Buck reacting to Maddie in danger last season. I'm okay with him being more in control this time.

i never said he should've been hysterical over maddie being in danger again last week. It's just maddie, right? She's always kidnapped and held hostage somewhere.

8 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

[...] Which is why I didn't necessarily mind it here because I forgot until now that we ALSO saw Hysterical Buck last season, when Maddie was taken by her ex husband. So this isn't a new development for him. It's helpful to know this because then it's not just them throwing in a Hysterical Buck JUST because it's Eddie. He reacts this way to everyone he's close to. [...]

As for the other THEY KIDNAPPED MADDIE episode, I guess we all see things differently. I don't want to rewatch the episode but i don't feel like Buck was HYSTERICAL when she went missing. Emotional -yes, he was blaming himself because he told her to stay in LA and i remember that he was shouting her name and searching for her but he was much more collected then the Buck we saw in 3x15 and he made up somewhat logical plans to save her (like stealing Chimney's phone and unlocking it with his finger while he was unconscious.). It was a different reaction than what we saw from him in Eddie Begins. EDDIE EDDIE EDDIE MUH HUSBAND *SOB* *SOB* *SOB* WE NEED TO DIG BY HAND while the other characters stare at him sympathically like he just lost his spouse and they didn't just potentially lose a friend and team member.

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Yep. Everyone is close to one another but I do think Buck considers Eddie & Christopher like part of his family, especially after the tsunami stretch.  They made him feel worthwhile after his accident. 

I would say the writers are just teasing people who ship Eddie and Buck (I'm not one although you never know with Ryan Murphy) but Buck's reaction tracks with the best friend brotherly love as well. 

Eddie made him feel worthwhile? How? By telling him that he shouldn't feel sorry for himself because Chritopher doesn't feel sorry for himself? By telling him [in 3x05] to suck it up? I agree, Christopher helped him through that dark phase but i think the audience gives Eddie too much credit. Imagine if any other character told Buck to suck it up. Bobby was made out to be the bad guy because he wanted to protect Buck and didn't want him to come back to work while he was on blood thinners. While Eddie had a meltdown and told him that everyone has their own problems etc. and Buddie shippers were like 'ah the sexual tension between these 2'. Some viewers [not you] have horribly biased viewpoints of the characters. I'm not trying to attack your opinion, i can see why you feel like Eddie made him feel worthwhile after his accident, but i have mixed emotions about the whole thing since Bobby was attacked for trying to protect him but most people overlook the fact that Eddie was really a jerk to him during that time.

Yeah, it might look like i'm angry at Eddie. Strangely enough, I like Eddie a lot, I like his storyline, his child is adorable and i want to see more of them. But let me be dramatic for a minute, Bobby, Hen, Chim and Buck didn't go through so much in s1 together just for the shippers to claim that Buck's bond with Eddie is stronger than the bond they have. And i might be alone with this, but i'd like to see Eddie intereact with Bobby more, they both lost their wives. I feel like he has so much in common with the other characters but we only see him with Buck. It's a damn shame. So much wasted potential.

They don't know how to a write a show for 7 main characters and the unbalanced character dynamics also have a negative impact on the audience. Some fans are competetive and toxic and I came across way too many hateful posts on social media. The shippers are really cheering over the fact that Eddie is more important to Buck than the other characters. Imagine disregarding the bond of the team like this to satisfy their shipping. I know i look like a maniac making a mile long post about a tv show and I come across as angry and bitter. But IMO they went too far with the queerbaiting and it ended up hurting the show.

[ElectricCityy]

1 hour ago, DisplayyName said:

 

They don't know how to a write a show for 7 main characters and the unbalanced character dynamics also have a negative impact on the audience. Some fans are competetive and toxic and I came across way too many hateful posts on social media. The shippers are really cheering over the fact that Eddie is more important to Buck than the other characters. Imagine disregarding the bond of the team like this to satisfy their shipping. I know i look like a maniac making a mile long post about a tv show and I come across as angry and bitter. But IMO they went too far with the queerbaiting and it ended up hurting the show.

I guess I am just not seeing how this has hurt the show in any way. Do you mean on social media? Granted, I'm not on Twitter reading the fan reactions but in order for it actually be effecting my enjoyment they would have to be shoving Buck and Eddie down my throat constantly. They aren't doing that. I've never seen their relationship as anything more than a close Male friendship and it's something the show needs IMO.

[DisplayyName]

4 hours ago, ElectricCityy said:

I guess I am just not seeing how this has hurt the show in any way. Do you mean on social media? Granted, I'm not on Twitter reading the fan reactions but in order for it actually be effecting my enjoyment they would have to be shoving Buck and Eddie down my throat constantly. They aren't doing that. I've never seen their relationship as anything more than a close Male friendship and it's something the show needs IMO.

They seem to completely forget that Buck was friends with the other firefighters before Eddie came into the picture. In S3 everything he does somehow revolves around Eddie and his family.
The tsunami storyline - it was fine, except for that cheap cliffhanger.
The lawsuit storyline - Buck hurt all of his team members but he was fighting for forgiveness from Eddie. Did he ever tell Bobby: Hey sorry i told the lawyer that you're a recovering alcoholic...?
He takes Eddie's problems to heart and apologised for not being there for him when he was cage fighting - again, where's his apology to his other team members?

it's not really a problem for me that Eddie is a big part of Buck's storyline, but i feel like his relationship with the other characters changed because of this.

Fast forward to 3x15. Eddie almost dies and Hen, Chim and Bobby act like dumb bystanders while poor widowed Buck is trying to dig him out with his bare hands. He might be dead but the other team members barely react to what's happening, thank god Buck is there to put them in their place WE HAVE TO DIG BY HAND WAIT YOU DON'T THINK HE'S DEAD. It's not like they almost lost a friend/team member too. I don't think the writers even know what the term Team means anymore.

None of these things are really offensive and yay for a close male friendship. But the way their relationship is portrayed changed the dynamics of the team and changed the whole show for me. 

Edited April 23, 2020 by DisplayyName

[izabella]

Gawd, I hated this episode.  Hated that Eddie was such a dick to his wife and son, and really never stopped.  I don't blame his wife, Shannon, for walking out on him after years of his bullshit, though she should have continued to see her son.  His repeatedly signing up for years of Christopher's life, without even talking with his wife about it, makes him seem like he was running away from Christopher's condition and even his very existence, and he showed no consideration for his wife at all.  And, OMG, the Afghanistan scenes went on for far, far too long - we get it already. 

I should have deleted this once I saw what they were doing because it made me want to stop watching this show altogether.  Can't stand Eddie now, permanently, and his care for Christopher now doesn't soften me up toward him in the least.

[SuprSuprElevated]

7 hours ago, ElectricCityy said:

I've never seen their relationship as anything more than a close Male friendship and it's something the show needs IMO.

Yep

[lorbeer]

 

On 4/23/2020 at 1:21 AM, gonzosgirrl said:

And Chim's accident was pretty early on in the show - they really didn't know each other that well. I am not a shipper of Eddie and Buck, except as great friends. I think it's entirely possible for two men to have platonic love for each other. Of course the squad is close, but I would most certainly freak out harder over possibly seeing my best friend die before my eyes than another co-worker. And I think Eddie told Buck that he trusted him with Christopher more than anyone else because that's what Buck really need to hear at that point. Are the showrunners toying with the shippers? Maybe. Maybe even probably. But this viewer doesn't have any problem seeing their friendship as just that.

 

On 4/23/2020 at 3:40 AM, Lady Calypso said:

 we ALSO saw Hysterical Buck last season, when Maddie was taken by her ex husband. So this isn't a new development for him. It's helpful to know this because then it's not just them throwing in a Hysterical Buck JUST because it's Eddie. He reacts this way to everyone he's close to.

Plus, we know that Buck and Eddie are best friends. Seeing your best friend be caved in and not knowing he's ok while buried under 30 feet of wet mud? I think that constitutes worry because Buck had no idea if Eddie was ok or not. Just like Buck was hysterical when he was looking for Maddie, and just like when he was hysterical when he couldn't find Christopher. And, in all three scenarios, them being missing PLUS knowing that they were in an immediate life or death situation? I get it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You pretty much sad it all. With Hen and Chim situations were just different. And I can bet with all of you that your reactions in front of TV were as much different as Buck's. Here we really could think that Eddie just died. With Hen and Chim it was just more... steady. And Buck didn't entirely lost it right away, he jumped to rescue  - I think Bobby but I don't remember for sure - first and when he realized what happened he reacted accordingly. I actually think in a little bit different direction: I think that other team member's reaction was toned down too much. Like they've already went through all 5 stages of grieve and accepted that Eddie was dead. Would they even try to rescue him if it wasn't for Buck?

[DisplayyName]

12 hours ago, lorbeer said:

 

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You pretty much sad it all. With Hen and Chim situations were just different. And I can bet with all of you that your reactions in front of TV were as much different as Buck's. Here we really could think that Eddie just died. With Hen and Chim it was just more... steady. And Buck didn't entirely lost it right away, he jumped to rescue  - I think Bobby but I don't remember for sure - first and when he realized what happened he reacted accordingly. I actually think in a little bit different direction: I think that other team member's reaction was toned down too much. Like they've already went through all 5 stages of grieve and accepted that Eddie was dead. Would they even try to rescue him if it wasn't for Buck?

I agree with the last part, i commented before that Bobby, Hen and Chimney all act like dumb bystanders in that scene, like Buck is the only person who cares about Eddie being dead. They want to show us how close Buck and Eddie are but making the other characters look like heartless idiots is not the way to do it. I like Eddie and his storyline but I'm not thrilled with how the team dynamics changed since he arrived to the show.

[Diana Berry]

I was also thinking this might be Eddie ends.  I thought Eddie was going to say into the radio ( no -not I love you Buck) but “ Buck take care of Christopher.  If that had happened, I would have been on the floor bawling.

Edited April 25, 2020 by Diana Berry

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, Diana Berry said:

I was also thinking this might be Eddie ends.  I thought Eddie was going to say into the radio ( no -not I love you Buck)

😂

[tvgoddess]

I'm enjoying the discussion here actually. Hen is already so close to Chim and Athena. Chim has Maddie now also, with of course Buck being her brother. Bobby has Athena and her family, but is also a mentor/father figure to Buck. Who else does Eddie have besides Christopher? They haven't fully fleshed out his relationships with anyone else in the firehouse really besides Buck. I agree, it would be nice if they did. But Buck didn't like Eddie in the beginning at all, and saw him as competition for himself. That changed pretty quickly. For almost two full seasons now, they've been extremely close and have a great friendship. I think their bond was really cemented in the earthquake episodes when they worked together in such a perilous situation.

I actually enjoy that there are varying degrees of closeness between them. They're all partners, and they all work well together, but not everyone is going to have the exact same relationship.