#also that demo drop speaks *volumes* about how people felt about last week and the direction the show is going

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here bestie, honestly confused as to how to feel about this episode, though probably time will tell. I do 1000% agree having an episode this packed following the off-brand cold case file episode was...a choice. Imagine how much more understandable Buck's choice would have been had we just come off the episode where Lev dies just as he figured happiness out?? Or Hen's forced to decompression after she just spent last episode going full speed 24/7?? Emotional continuity is a thing and I

feel like having a detective story in between just made things jarring. My favorite part of the episode was the Eddie and Chris stuff, which was excellent, but also contained to this episode (not to say every arc has to be contained, but if it's going to build over the season...). Anyway, as for Buck's story, we'll see where it goes. We all thought his obvious misery in 5a would lead to a reckoning in 5b and look how that turned out. Still it wasn't bad, just could've been better.

Okay but I am ABSOLUTELY with you on not knowing how to feel and I think part of that is because SO much was crammed into this episode that it didn’t feel like anything got the time to breathe! If they had trimmed down 6x03 and put part of this episode into it, we would have had time last week and this wee to see things like the discussion when the crew catches up after Chim got abducted and Buck almost got hit by that car, Maddie and Chim talking about their rough calls and finding some comfort in each other (I guess couples therapy is off the table? 🙄), and while that Buck/Hen scene was everything, I think he needed to talk to one other person and I get WHY it wasn’t Eddie yet (hopefully because when they DO talk about it, it will reveal some things but it’s been over a season and they haven’t talked about the shooting or will and not even about the tsunami or well incident soooo 🤷🏻‍♀️), but honestly I think the talk about his new self-help book/plan to say yes could have been the talk that happened with Eddie, and his talk with Maddie could have been about the Daniel of it all, and maybe about what happened with him and Chim and the near miss. But you’re also so right about the emotional continuity as well

I just think this episode was too packed and now we’re not even coming back to this storyline with Buck for another 3 episodes?! It all just still feels so messy. We have Buck off work with zero explanation (after last season was all about how they didn’t function correctly when they weren’t all together as a team), we have Hen asking for a second chance this week which was in the synopsis for NEXT week, no Madney couples therapy, who knows if May got dropped off at collage ever because we certainly didn’t see or hear about it or her after her quick spot in 6x02, Ravi’s name hasn’t even come up in 4 episodes, and Buck and Eddie have been so separated and not having conversations since 6x01 that even casual viewers are taking notice! And don’t get me started on that “I think curiosity killed the birdwatcher” nonsense. KR really thinks that if this show isn’t being a gritty police drama, then it’s just corny and unserious because, as I’ve said before, she just does not get the heart of this show. It used to be funny AND earnest, but now it just feels like it’s sometimes cold and like it can’t be earnest about it’s ridiculous calls, it has to be quippy like a tiktok video or something. They have to put in these scenes that say “we’re not REALLY caring about this man trapped under a tree, this is a dumb thing but we’re doing it *ironically* so you can’t laugh at us. IDK it’s just...off.

As for the sperm donor thing, I don’t even know how I feel. I figured he would lean towards yes but then after thinking make it a no, but committing like that makes me feel so bad for that couple if he changes his mind later. And I know everyone wants to talk about Daniel and the will, but also the way people are acting like a family history of cancer (which is incredibly common) is grounds to not father a child has rubbed me the wrong way and feels very...eugenic-y. Like, if he had a gf we might get one scene like we did with Maddie mentioning having a family history of cancer an that would be it! But while I do think the couple should be told about his family history, I don’t see why an otherwise healthy man shouldn’t be allowed to consider his genes being used to make a child. Plus who knows what kinds of other stuff his parents didn’t tell him or Maddie! Heart disease, diabetes, who knows what else is lurking in their family tree. Who knows what’s going on with the woman who will be carrying the baby and HER family history! It just feels weird that people are acting like Buck shouldn’t even be considered. Then there are the people hoping he’s infertile because for some reason the only way he can accept that he already has a family with Eddie is if he has NO option of ever having biological kids? (also, the friend is already infertile, which is why we’re getting this whole dumb thing, do we really think they would make Buck *also* infertile? They won’t even let him kiss a man (yet 🤞🏻) you really think they’re going to show him being unable to “perform”?) I think we all know Buck is not capable of walking away and hopefully the end result of this storyline is something good but right now it really feels like they just do not know what to do with him because they HAD the “oh” moment for Buddie a season ago in 4x13 and instead of leaning into it they swerved hard and Buck has just be circling in limbo waiting for it to be “time”. 

At least we got to see Hen/Buck drunk besties under far better and more fun circumstances (Eddie/Maddie drunk besties WHEN?!), Bobby was sooo Dad shaped this episode, ARMS!, Eddie being a great dad and being willing to open up to his family (118 and Ramon) to ask for help and advice, Chris is a pre-teen for sure and still just as much of a national treasure and I’m so excited to see him growing up and where this is going to go, and I don’t care what anyone says Noah is still such a sweet little bean. I will say for as packed as this episode was and as unfulfilled as I was with some of the things we didn’t get to see because this episode had too much going on, I did have fun while I was watching the episode, and I’m still very much excited to see what’s coming next. I feel like this sperm donor storyline as the potential to be like the Eddie/Ana storyline where it was rough the first go around because it didn’t make sense that after the things she said about Chris, why Eddie would want to be with her, but it DID give us some good insight into Eddie and the ending of that relationship was *chef’s kiss* and made it easier to watch again knowing how it ended, even if some of the choices along the way weren’t always great. (unlike the tay kay stuff which just got worse and worse and is rough to watch in s4 knowing how long it’s going to miserably drag out)

This is probably rambling and incoherent at this point (being back in the office 9 hrs a day is frying my brain) so sorry for the word vomit. Maybe over the next few days I’ll figure out how I feel about all this. Until then, thanks for giving me a reason to ramble. Glad to know I’m not the only one unsure of how to feel.