Week-to-Week: O Buddie, Where Art Thou?
What a bisexual firefighter tells us about queer storytelling (and fan reactions to it)
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At this year’s Winter TCA Press Tour, critics were invited to the set of 9-1-1 at an auspicious time: after six seasons as a broadcast hit for Fox, the show’s license fee became too much for the network to handle, but ABC swooped in to rescue a show that retroactively became an in-house production for Disney when their purchase of 20th Century Fox was finalized in 2019. Not unlike when ABC picked up Scrubs after NBC’s cancellation, there was no indication that 9-1-1 would change in any significant way: its economics just shifted so that Disney would get their money’s worth on producing more episodes in a way Fox wouldn’t.
That was certainly the message when Tim Minear and the show’s cast gathered on the Fox Lot in February, where the consensus was a clear “more of the show you love, but with Poseidon Adventure homages” For me, as someone who watched a few early episodes of the show but didn’t continue, 9-1-1 is representative of an era where broadcast shows feel increasingly marginalized from the television zeitgeist: Angela Bassett is on television every week and it’s just not a big deal, which would have been unfathomable 15 years ago. As such, I didn’t have a lot of insight into most of the story- and character-specific questions asked during the panel, and when I got the microphone I asked about one of the two ways the show has made it into my world: through out-of-context TikTok clips of the absolutely insane emergencies they’ve made a huge part of their brand.
Last week, though, 9-1-1 came into my TikTok and Twitter feeds for a different reason, related to the other way the show has entered my orbit over its seven season run. I may have rarely seen the two characters interact, but I became aware of fans shipping firefighters Buck and Eddie through a combination of general osmosis and the discourse around the gay relationship on the show’s spin-off, 9-1-1: Lone Star. When the two characters appeared on that show, the content that made its way onto my algorithmically queered social feeds was all about how their adjacency to TK and Carlos’ relationship set off alarm bells for fans who read “Buddie” as queer (such as in the scene immortalized in this montage of Buck as Bi posted just a few weeks ago).
I don’t recall digging into it any deeper, but I was reminded of it when Oliver Stark (who plays Buck) was asked a question during the panel about Buck’s journey in the upcoming season and he gave the following answer:
“Yeah, I think over the years, certainly the first -- or the last maybe two or three years, Buck has, of sorts, been on this hamster wheel, right, where he thinks he heals from things, and then he finds himself falling into the same old trap again, which I think is very true to life. You know, we think we take one step forward, but then something drags us right back. I think this season is, truly this time, a season of self-discovery for Buck, and I think he's finding ways to really break that cycle and move forward into the next evolution of himself in a way that feels drastic and truly meaningful to who he is.”
It was an answer that (as I tweeted at the time) pinged my “self-discovery = queerness” radar something fierce, but I didn’t actually tune into the seventh season to see what would follow. But it turns out I didn’t need to tune in, because my TikTok and Twitter feeds were immediately flooded with the storyline last week when it finally happened: in 9-1-1’s 100th episode, its fourth on ABC, Buck shared a same-sex kiss with the recurring character Tommy, the beginning of a bisexual awakening storyline.
My own response to this storyline isn’t that interesting: I appreciate the representation, and I’m happy for the fans, but as someone who wasn’t in the trenches this doesn’t have the emotional resonance that it does for those who’ve been following along. However, because it invaded my feeds so dramatically, there were a few takeaways that I wanted to discuss in relation to the storyline and how fans are interpreting it.
Between a Rock and a Queer Place
Not surprisingly, Stark has done a number of interviews in the wake of Buck’s kiss with Tommy, in addition to several social media posts. The short version is that Stark is excited about the storyline, and he’s mincing no words in rejecting any of the backlash to the storyline—that’s all well and good. But he also had some interesting things to say about his ongoing relationship with Buddie shippers and fans in general, continuing a discourse he started four years ago when his retreat from liking posts about the relationship on social media drew fan attention.
Stark refers to this period directly in his interview with TV Line, noting the responsibility he felt when it became clear that his actions were having an effect he didn’t intend among the show’s most ardent fans. Asked about the shippers’ longtime hopes for his character, he told Andy Swift the following:
“I honestly believe [they were right], and I’ve probably believed for a long time that we should end up in this place. I withdrew myself a lot from social media because you would see these things [about Buck] and I would agree… but I couldn’t agree, right? It was such a fine line, because if things didn’t happen, then I’d have been quote-unquote queerbaiting. So thank you [to those fans] for sticking with the story, and I hope there’s an element of it that feels right. I also hope you continue to stay on board and enjoy the story as we tell it.”
I was really struck by Stark’s self-awareness here, acknowledging the difficult position that was created by his character’s journey: without having creative control, any speculation or statements he’d make about their character would have no leverage, and could therefore be seen as stoking the flames of queer readings solely for personal benefit. It’s a reminder that there’s no easy way for an actor to navigate queer reception of a text in a heteronormative entertainment industry—even though he was excited by the fans’ enthusiasm, and totally open to their interpretation of Buck’s character, his lack of agency meant that any support he offered could be perceived as false hope that may not be followed up on by the forces with creative control. But his lack of support also reaffirms the heteronormative dynamics of the industry, creating a no-win situation in instances where fans place a burden on actors to invest in their efforts to queer a text through edits, fan fiction, etc.
Barriers to Queerness
Speaking of heteronormativity, one of the narratives that appeared on my social media feeds suggested that Buck’s bisexuality was a byproduct of 9-1-1’s change in networks, with the implication that ABC was more progressive-minded and open to the storyline compared to Fox. There was also a concurrent argument that the advances in the relationship stem from the return of showrunner Tim Minear and—perhaps more importantly—the departure of previous showrunner Kristen Reidel. Asked about the shipping culture around Buck and Eddie back in early 2022, Reidel told Max Gao at TV Guide the following:
"But I think the struggle with the Buck and Eddie relationship is, we write a thing and we have an idea in our head of what the scene means and what those lines mean and an intention behind it, and then it goes out into the world. People may receive it in a way that we had not expected or that we had not planned on, and I'm not gonna tell people that they're watching the show wrong because people see what they see. But I think that they're very good friends, and in a lot of ways, they are family, and I think that's where they are right now."
It took me a while to find this quote, following some breadcrumbs from angry Reddit posts, and I’ll be frank and say that I thought her comments were going to be more dismissive of the fandom than they ended up being. Now, fans note in those Reddit threads that they’re interpreting these comments in the context of story decisions she made for the characters, part of a larger critique of her tenure with the series—I can’t argue against that without having seen the show. However, I think implying that she was single-handedly holding the show back from exploring the storyline based on these comments is a stretch, albeit one that fits a simplified narrative of why something that fans perceive as so natural would be held back for so long despite the hints scattered throughout the series.
But as this tweet—sent into my feed by Friend of the Newsletter Carrie Raisler—notes, it’s also strange that we are suggesting either Reidel or Fox were in some way homophobic, given that 9-1-1 has had prominent queer representation since the beginning. There’s a nuanced conversation to be had here about acceptable forms of queerness, and the specific dynamics of bi erasure (and the “threat” of a character defined by his womanizing being redefined in a queer context), but we risk confusing correlation with causation by attributing this to the change in networks. I’m more open to the suggestion that Minear’s return as showrunner was likely an impetus behind the change, but with Ryan Murphy and Minear still onboard as executive producers in previous seasons, we don’t know if Reidel was actively standing in the way of the storyline or just choosing to kick the can down the road.
Bi Buck ≠ Buddie
This is the part of this story that is most fraught, and the one that feels particularly challenging for all parties involved: while making Buck bisexual is obviously being interpreted by fans as a step toward pairing Buck and Eddie together, that storyline requires some crucial additional steps that may not come as easily. Fans have certainly embraced Buck being bisexual as a victory in its own right, notably connecting it to Supernatural’s long-time refusal to do the same for the character of Dean—it’s a link I didn’t know existed, but came up often in the TikToks that came across my FYP, and Tumblr confirms that this is as much a symbol of past battles as it is a story development on a broadcast drama.
But what happens if the writers decide that Buck is bisexual but Eddie isn’t? Is that an option that fans who are celebrating this meaningful representation are open to? What if Tommy is Buck’s happily ever after? They’ve set off the first domino in what some fans have long thought of as the endgame for both characters, but it’s notable that most of the nods to Buck’s sexuality have been limited to his character, with Eddie—at least to what I can find on YouTube—seemingly not having the same kernels of self-discovery over the course of the series. What if the writers decide that two separate, interconnected bisexual awakenings are too much for the narrative to sustain, leaving their connection in platonic terms as Buck explores his attraction with other men?
“Bi Buck” is no doubt an example of fan service, a term we often use pejoratively, but I don’t consider it a bad thing: showrunners should be concerned about pleasing their most loyal audience, and I also think that any moment where they choose their fans who embrace queer characters over their fans who might reject those storylines is a positive development. However, there’s a natural limit on how willing any TV writer is to appear that they are solely telling a particular story because it’s something that fans wanted to see. And while embracing Buck as bisexual creates open-ended story possibilities, it’s clear that some Buddie shippers are unlikely to view this in an open-ended way, which strikes me as a recipe for a 9-1-1 style disaster should Minear decide that Buck coming to terms with his feelings for Eddie being more than friendship doesn’t necessarily have the ending fans are hoping for.
Tonight marks the first episode of 9-1-1 since last week’s kiss, and I’ll check it out (on Hulu the next day, and probably just skipping to the Buck scenes), which is probably true for a decent number of other people who saw the show explode into our feeds last week. The fans whose enthusiasm made that possible have made me invested in how this plays out, albeit with some reservations on whether this will unfold without considerable controversies despite how far we’ve come in general. We’re no longer at the point where the very existence of a queer character in a TV show is a profound and groundbreaking development (which, good), but Buck’s bisexual awakening is a reminder that we’re not yet at the point where the stakes around those stories aren’t elevated by the expectation and anticipation they create among fans. Let’s see how the all parties—creatives and fans alike—decide to handle that.
Episodic Observations
Les Chappell will have some thoughts on the opening episodes tomorrow, along with a full-season reaction at the end of next week to give folks time to watch the binge release, but I did get to the first 75-minute episode of Prime Video’s Fallout last night, and I liked it. I’ve only dabbled with the games (played the first hour or so of Fallout 4, I think?), but the worldbuilding is well deployed alongside some visceral action and light-hearted elements. The binge release is frustrating, but I suppose I should be happy I’ll have something to watch on my transatlantic flight at the end of the week.
Over the weekend, I put on the second and third episodes of Elsbeth, and I think CBS was smart to double-dip last week—the rhythms of the show are pleasant, but the format doesn’t leave a lot of room for character development outside of the guests of the week. Having multiple episodes let us get more time with Elsbeth and the ensemble, even if we’re still not seeing much variation in the Columbo-style whodunnits. I was more taken with Jane Krakowski’s killer performance than Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s, but the Real Housewives riff in the latter was a bit sharper in terms of the Kings exploring popular culture as it manifests in their universe.
While I was on Paramount+, I also checked out the first episode of A Gentleman in Moscow, and it was…pleasant. I’ll probably download the next episodes ahead of my trip, although I don’t think anything about the show screams “priority.”
Speaking of travel TV: which international Traitors season that I’ve seen people tweeting about should I prioritize with my limited downloads space?
Personally, per my own Traitors ranking on Vulture, UK S1 > AUS S1 > UK S2 > NZ S1 > CAN S1 > AUS S2.
HOLY MOLY THANK YOU for writing about this!
Hi, longtime Buddie shipper who gave up at the end of last season when season-long narrative arcs for Buck and Eddie strongly indicated TPTB might finally pull the trigger--and then both characters swerved into random relationships with women in the last episode. I actually swore off watching 911 after that--and then lo and behold last Thursday all of a sudden Buck is bi, my friends are texting me about it and I'm drawn back in again.
I never gave much credence to the argument that Fox didn't do Buddie because of executive homophobia. For one, even I know Fox Entertainment is VERY different from Fox News. And second, as you noted, one of the other main characters is a lesbian whose wife is a recurring character, and a few other recurring characters are queer as well and have had storylines around that. In addition, the Lone Star spinoff featured a gay couple (possibly partly as a response to early Buddie rumors) and a main trans character. These shows are very gay (inclusive)!
However, I never thought they'd do Buddie for another big reason that's sort of related to broader societal homophobia: Straight male viewers. Buck and Eddie are the hotshots on the team, the young, buff guys who do a lot of the big stunts and always get flirted with by bystanders. I would imagine a lot of the straight men who watch this show identify with them. If those characters ended up together, how many viewers would be turned off by losing their surrogate on the show and subsequently tune out?
I understand where you're coming from regarding breadcrumbs for Buck's bisexuality but less of the same indications for Eddie, but I think there's more than enough around Eddie to justify a queer storyline for him as well. The mere fact that Buck is practically co-parenting Eddie's son and has been for years is a kind of intimacy you don't normally see. In season 5 (I think) Eddie had an arc in which he had panic attacks when he thought about being with the woman he was dating long-term (and specifically because she was *too perfect* for him...). And I think there's a great argument to be made for Eddie being susceptible to comphet -- he came from a conservative family with lots of cultural stigmas, got a girl pregnant young, then joined the Army to support them. His relationships since then have been relatively few and far between, despite the fact that he's a very attractive man who could obviously have no trouble finding a partner. I know plenty of people who argue Eddie's behavior screams repression, and I have to agree.
I also think the Buddie stuff wouldn't have frothed up as much if the show hadn't made the narrative choices it did over the years in how these characters interacted and intertwined their lives. Not to mention the fact that Oliver Stark and Ryan Guzman have CHEM 👏 IS 👏 TRY. That probably wasn't intended from the jump--Eddie only joined in S2--but when lightning strikes, TV writers should really consider pulling out the bottle.
All that said, and I'm sure you're sick of me by now, but I'm watching again and will be happy to watch Buck become a massive bisexual disaster even if it doesn't lead to Buddie. Would Buddie be more satisfying? Yes. Obviously I'm biased, but yes, it would culminate a relationship that has been richly and interestingly written over many years. This isn't a case of fans smashing two Ken dolls together because they're hot. There's *something* between Buck and Eddie, and in 2024, it's time to consider broadened horizons.
PS thank you for recognizing Oliver Stark's comments here. His thoughtfulness and enthusiasm over the years and in the past week have really impressed me.