If ABC’s 9-1-1 is known for anything, it’s enormous disasters, bizarre emergencies, and powerful love stories. Whether it’s the quick coupling of Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) and Athena Grant (Angela Bassett), the long-term marriage of Henrietta “Hen” Wilson (Aisha Hinds) and Karen Wilson (Tracie Thoms), or the tragedy-ridden relationship between Maddie Buckley (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Howard “Chimney” Han (Kenneth Choi), who finally got married in Season 7, 9-1-1 builds complex, real relationships that fans love. That’s true for both romantic and platonic relationships, which is part of what makes the show so special.
One of the strongest relationships on the show is the one between Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark) and Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman). It’s a friendship that many fans would love to see turn into more, especially now that Buck is openly bisexual — even if Eddie is still considered straight. Many reporters since the beginning of the season have asked Stark and Guzman about the individual relationships of their characters and even hinted at a romantic relationship between Buck and Eddie. On October 22, 2024, Screen Rant released part of an interview with Oliver Stark, where Stark shared that he hopes Buck gets more of a slow-burn relationship. But for some fans, Buck has already been in a slow-burn relationship for six years.
Television Fans Love a Good Slow Burn Romance
There is almost nothing viewers love more than a slow-burn romance when it comes to television, both network and streaming. All the best slow burns exist with characters whose actors have palpable chemistry, regardless of what kind of relationship the characters might have. Slow burns can build from friendships or even from two people who can’t stand each other, but they all have a similar tension and anticipation that doesn’t exist with relationships that come together more quickly. These types of relationships give viewers the opportunity to invest in the characters individually before they invest in their relationship, making for a more intense payoff in the end.
Some of television’s most beloved slow burn relationships have come from procedural shows similar to 9-1-1. Often, it’s partners or colleagues, like Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth on Bones or Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David on NCIS, or even just friends, like Nick and Jess on New Girl. One of the most famous love/hate slow-burn relationships was Maddie and David on Moonlighting, though their relationship fizzled quickly, ending the best part of the show. Since then, shows with slow burns between their main characters often worry about the “Moonlighting Curse,” though more and more shows have the right production teams and writers to keep the show successful whether the characters get together or not.
Regardless of what relationship the characters might have before — or after — they get together, slow-burn relationships are the most likely to lead to the development of fandoms. The will-they-won’t-they dance can push fans to either say they should or they shouldn’t, and often, fans are very vocal about which relationships they prefer. Great examples of this are fans who want Law & Order: SVU’s Olivia Benson with Elliot Stabler and fans who want Olivia with Rafael Barba, fans who wanted Grey’s Anatomy’s Meredith Grey to end up with Derek Shepherd, and fans who wanted Meredith to end up with veterinarian Finn Dandridge; and even fans who wanted Never Have I Ever’s Devi with Paxton and fans who wanted Devi with Ben. The same thing is happening on 9-1-1 with fans who want Buck with Eddie and fans who want Buck with Tommy Kinard (Lou Ferrigno, Jr.).
Buck’s Relationships on 9-1-1 Have All Started — and Ended — Quickly
Until Buck and Tommy kissed in Season 7, Episode 4, “Buck, Bothered and Bewildered,” Buck had only ever dated women on 9-1-1. For a character that said he was a “self-diagnosed sex addict” in Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot,” it wasn’t necessarily a surprise that Buck had several relationships, though he did become somewhat of a serial monogamist. First, there was Abby Clark (Connie Britton), a 9-1-1 dispatcher that Buck met while helping Athena on a call in “Pilot.” Abby and Buck had a relationship that was primarily on the phone until Season 1, Episode 5, “Point of Origin,” when Abby’s mother, who had Alzheimer’s, went missing. Their relationship stumbled along — on their first date, Buck choked on a roll at dinner, and Abby had to perform an emergency tracheotomy, and many of their dates would be cut short when Abby’s mother needed her — until Season 1, Episode 10, “A Whole New You,” when Abby’s mother died in her sleep, and Abby decided to take a trip for some soul-searching. Buck supported her but struggled to let go of their relationship, even living in Abby’s apartment until Season 2, Episode 7, “Haunted.”
Most people, if they were dealing with the stuff you have to deal with every single day, they would see it as a cage, but you don’t. You find a way to break free. You find a way to be yourself. You find life. And if the price I have to pay for being close to a woman like you is, yeah, whatever, a couple of canceled dates, then you know what? That’s a heck of a good deal. And I’m in. I’m not going anywhere.
— Evan “Buck” Buckley to Abby Clark
Buck’s next three relationships were with women he met when he and the 118 rescued them, which didn’t exactly give them auspicious starts. There was Ali, who Buck and Eddie saved during the earthquake in Season 2, Episode 2, “7.1.” and Season 2, Episode 3, “Help Is Not Coming,” and who called Buck for a date in Season 2, Episode 8, “Buck, Actually.” Their relationship didn’t last past the end of Season 2 — Ali struggled with Buck’s decision to return to work after his injury in Season 2, Episode 18, “This Life We Choose,” and they broke up between Seasons 2 and 3. Then came Taylor, who Buck met when the 118 rescued her and her helicopter pilot in Season 2, Episode 6, “Dosed.” Taylor followed the 118 for a news piece in “Dosed,” and then Buck and Taylor hooked up in the bathroom of a bar — and almost in her news truck — in “Buck, Actually.” After that, they didn’t see each other again until Season 4, when Taylor reported on one of the 118’s calls, and they began dating in Season 4, Episode 14, “Survivors.” Buck and Taylor lived together for part of season 5, but ultimately, their relationship ended in Season 5, Episode 18, “Starting Over,” after Taylor reported on a story related to the 118, even though she promised Buck that she wouldn’t. In Season 6, Episode 15, “Death and Taxes,” Buck met Natalia, a death doula, on a call. It took several episodes for them to find their groove, but their relationship didn’t make it out of Season 6, which meant that Buck started Season 7 single.
Buck and Tommy met in Season 7, Episode 3, “Capsized,” when Buck, Hen, Chimney, and Eddie went in search of Bobby and Athena’s cruise ship. Tommy and Buck began their relationship in “Buck, Bothered and Bewildered,” and his friends and colleagues learned about it when Buck kissed Tommy’s soot-covered face at Maddie and Chimney’s wedding in Season 7, Episode 6, “There Goes the Groom.” They are still in the early stages of their relationship, and Buck is still in the early stages of understanding he’s bisexual, which makes for an interesting dynamic. Even in the most recent episode, Season 8, Episode 5, “Masks,” it’s clear Buck and Tommy are still finding their way with one another. It’s not the slow burn Stark said he hoped for, but that doesn’t mean one doesn’t already exist.
Buck’s Slow Burn Romance Has Been There Since Season 2
When Eddie joined the 118 in Season 2, Episode 1, “Under Pressure,” Buck immediately felt like they were in competition with one another. What he quickly realized was that they were as similar as they were different, and during the earthquake in Season 2, Episode 2, “7.1.” and Season 2, Episode 3, “Help Is Not Coming,” their relationship became much closer. Eventually, Buck helped Eddie by introducing him to Carla, the home health aide who had worked with Abby’s mother, so that she could help Eddie get the support he needed for his son, Christopher, and Buck built a strong relationship with Christopher himself. That relationship became so strong that after Eddie nearly died from being buried alive under a well and having to swim out in Season 3, Episode 15, “Eddie Begins,” he changed his will so that Buck would be Christopher’s legal guardian should anything happen to Eddie.
Because, Evan… you act like you’re expendable and you’re not.
— Eddie Diaz to Evan “Buck” Buckley
What many fans see with Buck and Eddie is a relationship where two people have come to rely on each other, no matter what they’re going through. They’ve had their ups and downs — in Season 3, Episode 5, “Rage,” Eddie is furious with Buck for suing the department to get his job back, and in “Buck, Bothered and Bewildered,” Buck is frustrated with Eddie’s behavior regarding Tommy — but mostly the two men have stuck together in a way that some fans find less than platonic. There are plenty of shared looks and moments that could be interpreted as romantic, like when Buck absolutely loses it in Season 3, Episode 15, “Eddie Begins,” when the hole they’d been digging to get a boy out of a well, collapses on Eddie, or when Buck is struck by lightning in Season 6, Episode 10, “In a Flash,” and Eddie scrambles up the ladder to get to him, trying to haul him back onto the ladder himself. For Buddie fans, the way their relationship has built is an obvious slow-burn, and though every single 9-1-1 fan might not agree, both showrunner Tim Minear and Oliver Stark have hinted that there is a lot more coming for Buddie.
Just five episodes into the 8th season, 9-1-1 fans still have a lot to look forward to. Other recent interviews with Oliver Stark, Tim Minear, and even Ryan Guzman hint that Season 8, Episode 6, “Confessions,” which will air on Thursday, November 7, is a big one for Eddie, and Stark shared in an interview with TV Insider that Buck and Eddie share a scene at the end of the episode that speaks to their relationship. Stark may want a slow-burn, and fans may think he’s already in one, but only 9-1-1 can answer whether Buck and Eddie will end up together.
