9-1-1 loves to keep Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley (Oliver Stark) in romantic entanglements. Seriously, the guy never seems to stay single for long. Whether he was dating Abby Clark (Connie Britton) in Season 1 or Taylor Kelly (Megan West) through Season 5, Buck frequently has his hands full in the love department. But it’s his newest relationship with Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) that has not only breathed new life into Buck’s storylines but also has fans praising his emotional growth. The only problem is that his best pal, Eddie (Ryan Guzman), is potentially standing in the way of Buck and Tommy’s relationship being able to progress to the next level.
Buck and Tommy’s Romance Is Heating Up on ‘9-1-1’
In Season 7 of the ABC drama, Buck realizes that he is bisexual and that he has feelings for Tommy. Tommy is a badass first-responder who started out as a firefighter but is now a pilot for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The connection doesn’t start off without some obstacles though. Buck is reluctant to come out and has some trouble being open about his sexuality with the rest of the 118 Firehouse. Towards the end of the season, though, Tommy is able to truly show up for Buck in several different ways (including allowing him to come out on his own timeline), and their relationship starts to blossom. He even races to Buck’s side when Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Chim (Kenneth Choi) have a hospital wedding in Episode 6. Now, in Season 8, Buck and Tommy are getting to spend more time together, but there’s an issue with someone else who appears to be accompanying them pretty frequently.
‘9-1-1’s Eddie Is Getting a Tad Annoying as a Third Wheel
It looks like Buck and Tommy are genuinely enjoying being in a relationship with each other. But the problem is that there aren’t very many scenes taking place with just Buck and Tommy connecting. Instead, Eddie keeps popping up in their relationship. So far in Season 8, there have only been a few scenes with the lovebirds (and Eddie is usually three-wheeling it 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 sort of gang up on Buck. They tease him and laugh at his belief that he’s been cursed by a corpse (that Buck initially thought was a simple Halloween decoration). Instead of Tommy defending his partner or trying to put Buck’s mind at ease, he joins forces with Eddie in making fun of him. It’s bad enough that Tommy doesn’t seem to support his boyfriend in this moment, but it’s even worse that Eddie just plays up the separation between the duo.
Even though Buck and Tommy are an item, Eddie always somehow seems to be a part of the equation, which is pretty odd for a relationship in its earliest stage. Tommy and Buck should be spending tons of time solo, really getting to know each other. The fact that Eddie seems to always be included in their downtime is strange. So, why does 9-1-1 insist on throwing Eddie into all of their scenes together? Is it because they know that the Buddie shipping fans like seeing the characters together? Or is it because it’s easier to include Eddie in storylines because he doesn’t have anything else going on in his social life at the moment? There hasn’t even been all that much exploration into Tommy’s character yet. We know he has a racist backstory, but not how he’s overcome those beliefs to be a kinder person today, so Eddie tagging along just feels inexplicable.
At this point, the series has two options: the writers can either go all in and finally make Eddie and Buck an item like the fans have been clamoring for. Or they can just let Tommy and Buck build a strong relationship without Eddie ruining their chemistry. As it stands, there’s not enough commitment to Buck’s love life, and it’s starting to make Eddie seem kind of annoying. Buck deserves to find a partner that’s truly there for him (and believes him even if his ideas are silly), and 9-1-1 should give him a chance to explore that (without Eddie getting in the way).
