exploring-the-cosmos

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eddie who will gay and buck who will be crashing out over his feelings and buddie who will be pining and chris who will be teenage-exasperated by the whole thing

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Haven't posted in a while, but I have some thoughts about Eddie, the upcoming episode, and the confessional still we got earlier today, so here's my little rambling rant about Eddie Diaz and 8x17:

Okay, so I have had many thoughts about how the church/confessional scene could go, but this seems the most plausible to me:

I think Eddie is going to go back to the church, mainly because it's the one place besides the firehouse he would feel most connected to Bobby. They had multiple conversations revolving around their shared Catholic background at this point, and Bobby's advice to Eddie about his relationship struggles had also led him back to church more than once. Seeing as Bobby is gone (I'm still holding out hope he's alive, Tim please do not disappoint me more than you already have), the next logical place for him to turn to to deal with his grief and guilt, imo, is the church. From the stills, it looks like there is going to be a confessional scene and the only character we've seen go to confessional besides Bobby is Eddie so it makes sense that he would be in that scene talking to Father Brian. Father Brian also has an established relationship with Bobby, so I would love to see how he is personally dealing with that loss, too. On Eddie's part, we know from the last episode that he is likely dealing with a lot of guilt regarding him not being there to help when the 118 was trapped in the lab. Guilt also continues to be a recurring theme for Eddie. He feels guilty over what happened with Shannon, what happened with the whole Kim and Marisol situation and how that affected his relationship with Christopher, he has a "reservior of untapped Catholic guilt" as he puts it, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if he is unfairly blaming himself for Bobby's death and that's the main issue he's going to confession to deal with. At some point I think this conversation will circle back to the last conversation the two had in "Confessions": the water vs. juice conversation. Father Brian had previously commented that he thinks the reason Eddie chose the water over the juice is because he's punishing himself. Because he doesn't feel worthy of joy (the juice). I can see the current conversation with Father Brian leading back into how Eddie is once again punishing himself by blaming Bobby's death on himself and his choice to leave LA (even though he had a good reason to leave), and he isn't working through his grief and moving on with his life. But even if he was there, there likely would have been nothing he could have done to save him, no matter how much skill and experience he has as a medic. It's okay for him to have regrets, to feel sad, and to mourn the loss of an important person to him, but he cannot put blame on himself for not being there. And it's also okay for him to forgive himself, to move on, and to continue to pursue joy. It's what Bobby would have wanted for him, and for everyone in the 118. The water vs. juice convo also feels like a very clear analogy that can be applied to Eddie's romantic relationships. Choosing water is choosing to pursue relationships with women-- to conform to societies expectations, to punish himself for wanting what he "shouldn't"/can't have, repression-- and choosing juice would be choosing to pursue relationships with men-- joy, self-acceptance, choosing himself and what he wants/not what other people expect of him. Also juice=fruit=fruity. That feels so obvious it's like a punch to the face. Don't even get me started on his comment about not liking dating (women) because he "feels like he has to perform". I really hope Hen brings that little comment up in their upcoming conversation because OH BOY is there a lot to unpack. I don't know that this conversation or his convo with Hen will necessarily directly address his sexuality and feelings for Buck, but considering the title of the episode being "Don't Drink The Water", how the two of them have been acting toward/talking about each other, the last scene of 8x9 almost seeming to be an "oh" moment for Eddie, and there being multiple stills of Buck next to juice? I would be surprised and frankly a little disappointed if it didn't come up.

I really hope that's along the lines of how things go next episode, but who tf knows. The writers have not been putting out their best work recently, imo. I am pleasantly surprised to see that it seems Eddie will be in this episode more now that he's back, and I really, really hope his storyline is the focus of the episode because he's been absent for so long.

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Michael wasn't at the funeral because he's actually tracking down where the government is keeping Bobby.

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Angela Bassett I trust you with everything in me and she said to have hope for alobby AND THEREFORE I HAVE HOPE FOR ALOBBY

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How they’re handling the reactions makes me feel so strongly that this isn’t real

We didn’t even see Eddie’s reaction. We only saw his reunion with Ravi and no Buddie reunion with them crying on each other’s shoulders. Temu carried the casket.

I just won’t believe them until I see a body. I’m sorry.

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If the theories are really true and we’re gonna have Buck trapped, I can’t think of a better catalyst for Eddie realizing his feelings than that. Him realizing he’s not Buck’s partner anymore, therefore doesn’t have his back and now he’s in danger bc of it. Him realizing he can’t lose Buck too and immediately jumping into action to go save him. This will be the perfect catalyst for Eddie’s feelings realization omg

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Watching bones is so funny because structurally Sweets' death is not unlike Bobby dying in the last 5 minutes of the show coming out of nowhere, dying before he gets to live the life he's been craving for the whole show, but they handled it so much better using grief and the integral basis of which the show is built to explore it showing a clear death and giving closure to fans but not the caharcters ALSO HAVING ALL THE CHARACTERS REACT TO HIS DEATH ON SCREEN IMMEDIATLY AFTER HE DIES. Anyway live(not so much) laugh Sweets and Bobby nash(who isn't dead btw)

Also the handling of the spouse grief was very similar but bones did it 10x better by making Sweets death the main focus and the grief being b plot.

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so maybe my denial is just... really out there, but...

what do you MEAN Tim was thinking about Bobby's death and hinting at it with the whole captain Banner thing?? you mean... you mean the character who literally didn't end up dying by (in Chim as Doctor Whatever's medical opinion) "a miracle"? ...hello??

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Also not to make everything about Buddie, but we also had Buddie as the B plot for every episode for several episodes straight and the huge revelation that Eddie is “the competition” and then smash cut to two episodes of Contagion that no one wanted and then Bobby dying and then Bobby funeral ep where Buck and Eddie don’t even say two fucking words to each other, not even a grief hug, reunited off screen, and Ravi spends more time in stilted dialogue with Eddie than Buck does. We’ve just totally dropped all the threads from earlier in the season to do this little is-Bobby-alive-or-dead bit, which is stupid, because they EASILY could have used Bobby’s death to further other plots (including Buck and Eddie’s). It’s just BAD FUCKING WRITING, WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE.

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It’s early so I don’t know if this makes sense but I was thinking about this post again. It’s weird that they spent an entire episode driving home the point of how hard it was that Eddie was leaving and then another episode of how strange it was that it was always Eddie’s house and just. Isn’t it weird that we didn’t get even one minute of how strange this reversal is, that Eddie was back in his house that’s not his but still kinda is. How he’s also a guest in this house but also not really because his name is on the main lease and nowhere where Buck lives will Eddie ever be a guest. How everything looks different but it’s the same. I’m not even mad we didn’t get an airport reunion (I’m still hoping for front porch Eddie and Chris at the door Buck opens when they’re back permanently). But it is weird to me that they spent all that time with Ravi and Eddie instead of Buck and Eddie and the awkwardness of it all, specifically to tie back to those earlier episodes. They missed each other so much and then Bobby died and it’s the only reason Eddie came back and in the back of both of their minds has to be the knowledge that Eddie has to go back to Texas soon but now this huge thing reminding them how fleeting life is happened but they’ll have to be apart again. That’s not to say I would ever expect that much to happen in the forefront of this episode in particular BUT it didn’t even seem like it was playing out internally, in part because the dynamic seemed more Buck here while Eddie and Ravi are over there. I got him from the airport. I’m stress eating his stress baking. And that’s it. Like this is just another day and it isn’t our captain died and I’ve missed you so fucking much and this is the first time I’ve been in the same room as you breathing the same air and I maybe love you. And all of this just reminds me how isolated everyone seems (for 2 seasons imo) not just from each other but the storylines themselves.

And now that I’m thinking about it more, what purpose did Ravi serve in those two scenes? The only real thing that came out of it was Eddie’s regret and Buck’s reassurance both of which could’ve and should’ve happened without Ravi there. And I know we needed to see Ravi grieving, so if they couldn’t have all of them on that roof with Chim, why not have it be Ravi instead of Buck, to have it be a call back to you sent me to get the kid. Ravi being that rational, steady pillar for Chim the way Chim was for him when he was grieving and felt lost?

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Two Quick Thoughts.

First, this isn't a criticism, just something I would have liked to have seen. I get Athena, May, and Harry walking directly behind the coffin during the funeral procession, and Buck walking with the 118 behind them. I think that fits who Buck is and being part of the fire family. But what I would really have liked to see (other than eulogies) was Buck standing with Athena, May, and Harry at the final gravesite. The show has made a big deal, on more than one occasion, about Buck being Bobby's son. I think it would have been nice if he could have been there.

Second, does anyone know if they shot the funeral in a church or built the set themselves? I ask because I'm wondering if it is a coincidence that the scene above the casket is everyone gathered at the crucifixion of Jesus.

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One more thing though. So let's say this episode was supposed to just be about Athena's grief, and the rest of the fallout will be in the next two episodes. Well, unfortunately, they did a bad job of handling Athena's grief too.

Don't get me wrong, Angela Bassett was AMAZING. She did a perfect job with what she was given. Her breakdown with Hen was heartwrenching, and the scene at the end with his casket was the closest I got to crying, all on the power of her acting.

But as far as the character of Athena goes, I think the writing only failed her.

First of all, and most importantly, the subplot of the mom with the dead kid was not the mirror to Athena's grief that it should have been. Athena was not in denial that Bobby's dead. She wasn't avoiding planning the burial and funeral because she was in denial. She was avoiding it because those are hard things to do, things that no one who has lost someone wants to do. So did investigating this case help her avoid that? Yeah, but it did it in a way that was confusing to the audience, because it made you wonder if Athena, and we the audience by extension, SHOULD be doubting whether Bobby is dead. But then that emotional thread didn't play out and just left Athena's inherent cynicism reaffirmed. Miracles aren't real. The end. How did that show us anything about Athena's grief? How was that narratively satisfying?

Second of all, they did several things that didn't make sense for Athena as a character. The biggest one, I already mentioned: she was avoiding her kids' calls. I don't for one second believe that Athena would leave her children alone in their own grief. May and Harry saw Bobby as a father, and it would be one thing for her to be acting withdrawn or stoic, but to IGNORE their calls is cruel in a way I don't think Athena would be.

Also, while I did enjoy the scene where Athena gets angry with Chim, the fact that this is her only interaction with him in the episode is I think another disservice to her. The fact that she barely interacted with the rest of the 118 is a disservice to her. This was an important chance to show that Bobby was not the only glue holding Athena to the 118, but instead they drove a wedge between them. Maybe they will address this in the next two episodes, but even in the short term, in a season that has far too frequently had Athena off doing her own cop thing, to further isolate her when it really counts just makes you wonder what they even plan to do with her if Bobby is really gone.

And this is without even getting into what it says about the 118 that THEY aren't shown to be surrounding Athena. Anyone who has lost anyone knows that that's just not how it works. Families huddle together when someone dies. The episode made it seem like Athena was alone, and they could have justified it with writing that shows how grief can make a person feel alone, but they didn't do that. She literally just WAS alone in a way that doesn't make sense for her character or for any of the other characters either.

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at this point we're going to get an emergency next season where a fan girl hurts herself or goes to a production studio with the intention of hurting other people because her favorite character on a tv show was killed off and she can't accept it or demands it be retconned and captain hen has to talk her down telling her while it's understandable that she's emotionally invested in the show and has so much love for this character she can't let that cause real life consequences for herself and others and ultimately it is just a tv show and she needs to come back to reality and accept the loss. 911's version of sherlock's season 3 fan theory fake out

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they’re cooking on 911twt part 2 (miserable edition)

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Can we also admit that even if somehow Bobby is alive how would this have been good writing because we know Tim is not capable these days of writing character driven arcs so if Bobby were to come back then essentially we used SIX episodes…252 minutes….4.2 hours of screen time for a non permanent NDE that essentially served to change things up aka find a new Captain for the 118 and if that was the point then there are many different ways this could have been done and still move the characters forward compared to what ever this disaster was. Also, even if they somehow pull off more of an exploration of grief in the last two episodes it will still be completely overshadowed for how poorly executed Bobby’s actual death and funeral were….the man’s funeral was literally treated like the C plot of the episode…..and the actual 118 that Bobby built felt like guest stars in an episode that should have felt like us mourning with the Firefam. Gerrard wasn’t even around when Bobby got to the 118 so miss me with that shit…..

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god "I think youre just supposed to live" is such a bobby line I'm gonna throw up. you can hear how much buck is chanelling him in that moment. the entire scene feels like something we would normally see with bobby. the way buck hangs back and just listens and lets chim get it all out before delivering a heartwrenching line of very good advice. he really took Bobby's last order to heart

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The 911 episodes ratings on imdb are sending me.

This is fucking WILD.

the way they had a solid rating across the board and now they have an episode rated 2.2 is insane.