#and the way the buckley-han family is gonna be going through it DESERVES to be paralleled in 611

[oneawkwardcookie]

If it turns out to be Chimney climbing to get Buck down, I will be *screaming*

[outrunningthedark]

Silly question, but do you think the main characters' sort-of reconciliation with their parents will lessen the value of the group's "found family" aspect in the future, or the firefam's dysfunctional family relationships were for early emphasis that the bond they have with each other is stronger than blood ties?

IMO, there's been no evidence to suggest (or outright confirm) that "reconciling" with bio parents will have any long-lasting effects as the weeks and months [and even years] progress. Maddie and Buck: It was a 'blink and you might miss it' moment, but Boston hinted at things not being so bad between Maddie and her parents despite no mention of/appearance by them after 4x05: Phillip emailed her to check in because Chim would call the Buckleys asking if they'd heard from their daughter; Chim wouldn't have done that if the lines of communication were no longer open. Did Maddie reach out to her mother during her struggles with PPD? No. She leaned on Chimney (and her little brother for a bit) and worked on rebuilding the life she wants for herself to get to where she is now. Buck, meanwhile, hasn't been in therapy on-screen post 4x05 and also hasn't discussed his mother or father with anybody despite Kristen's decision to have the parents try harder/be nicer (even if their effort rubs people the wrong way because parents don't usually say *exactly* what kids want to hear). Were the parents meant to "replace" his dependency on Bobby as a father figure, we would have seen them become more of a consistent presence through phone calls (even if we only know who's on the phone because of what Buck says) or relaying of info. The parents have been putting in the work for two years - but that doesn't mean Maddie and Buck are wrong for still expecting something to set them off - and the standard dynamics have remained intact. It will be much of the same as this season continues, because even if Margaret and Phillip never leave Buck's bedside (we won't see that, though), they're still gonna go home once they know he's making a full recovery. With the way Kristen creates scenarios in her head and deems them irrelevant to the narrative, I'd be surprised if either parent is mentioned again before they're supposed to make another appearance. Chimney: Sang seems to have been brought back for Chim to get a story line to himself (prayers answered!), and *my* first thought when watching the episode live was that Sang is either feeling really, really guilty (Albert talking to them about seeing Jee-Yun and realizing what he's missing out on) OR Sang has gotten some unfortunate news regarding his health and he's wanting to "make amends" before he (potentially) passes away - He's going about it terribly, though! If Sang is meant to have limited time left, any "reconciliation" won't mean much in the long run when Chim can't reach out to his father for advice or help. If Sang's return is solely about the guilt, I expect him to get the same treatment as the Buckleys - Chim won't feel compelled to talk about his father unless it's because we're going to be seeing the Han family again. (And keep in mind that the show already does this with Albert, a character that actually served a purpose at one time...) You know what? I understand wanting to see kids cut their parents off - I'm sure it's what many people watching the show have done themselves or wish they had the strength to do - but if we remove the 'parent' and 'child' aspects of the story for a moment (bear with me)...the show has embraced the philosophy that forgiving someone doesn't mean you forget what they've done or have fully healed from their actions, it just means that you're no longer allowing that person to take up unnecessary space in your head and heart because they don't deserve to have such power over you. [And in the case of the Buckleys, forgiveness means that Margaret and Phillip no longer have an advantage. If your kids learn to NOT put up their defenses whenever you're around, you can't get under their easily as easily as before.] (This became an unintentional TL;DR. I'm so sorry.)

[silentxxsoul]

The ‘EDDIE TALKS ABOUT THE SHOOTING…SORTA’ reaction dump:

After the sneak peek at the equestrian park I can say honestly I’m not ready but also completely ready so ahhhh

How she gonna fall over the rails up that high??

Oh yall dumb dumb lmao wtf

He just fuckin let go ?!??????/

And pointing at her like no one can clearly see she's hanging for her life

Chimney!!!!!!! The gang is so, so close to being back together yessssss

OH MY GOD DOMESTIC EDDIE BEING ADORABLE IM MELTING DYING CAN'T LIVE

THE SMILE AND THE CREAM CHEESE MUSTACHE

THE NOOOOOOOOOOOSE

HE'S BEING PLAYFUL WITH CHRIS IM PERISHING OMG MY HEARTTTTTTTTTTTTT HES GETTING THERE

YOU'RE DOING GREAT SWEETIE

WAIT -- ??? WHAT???????

OH YOU MOTHER FUCKERS

I'm personally sending y'all my therapy bills you assholes oh my god whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

"You're always dying" - I - excuse you?! FOX WE NEED TO TALK

I expect that from fanfic not on my screen! It hits harder in canon tho holy shit

Bobby, I'm so fucking glad to see you and Eddie together y'all don't even know

Pls I actually like poor Jonah :(

That's not dumb luck, that's just being dumb with shitty luck

Taking this commercial break to reflect on how well Fox pulled the rug out from under us with the happy kitchen scene but bitches I expect to finally get a happy kitchen scene okay?

Again I'll say, dumb decision with shitty luck lol

That has Chimney written all over it lmao

Karen on my screen, for real real? GIMME MORE OF HER PLSS

It's a full moon, suddenly all this chaos makes sense

I'm desperately trying NOT to make a "here's your sign joke"

The Hen/Chim sass is back ahhh I love ittttttt god I missed it

Eddie, talking with Chris about Frank and therapy my heart ♥♥♥

I swear if this is another bait and switch I will riot

Baby Chris noooooooooooooooo never ever

And now sick Jee-Yun, I'm gonna go sob now

Oh shit she's going the Daniel route oh no oh no oh no

Fox I'll square up if you hurt a single hair on Jee or Chris' heads I STG

Like they really aren't fucking around with the punches today, huh

(I dig it tho)

They had to keep his ass in frame huh

I mean I'm not complaining but lol perfect position for some respectful looking

Madney bbies ily ♥

Kenneth and JLH are knocking this out of the park!!!

We get MORE therapy Eddie ?! M O R E ???

Logically I knew this but also the showrunners/writers love having shit happen off screen so ya know

Buck, babe that wasn't even close to the assignment but cute AF

The fact that theres so much 'Buck and Chris drawing together' in fanon and now its CANON is a WIN!!!!

If Eddie puts that on the fridge I will LOSE it

Jee being okay and the handholding is giving me a lot of hope for the Buckley-Han family going forward ♥♥♥

Oh shit he isn't going to make it, is he

I'm hoping he makes it -- wait is that the first chick ? She was the doc?? Damn, did not see that coming

I'm so glad the kid didn't die

How the fuck is Buck holding those things straight out of the oven

Its like the sink pizza all over again lmao

MORE BATHENA MOMENTS TOO?? What did we deserve to get served so well today??

(suffer through 5A and the BT/L drama, probably)

Shoulda fessed up dumbass, just sayin. We all know Taylor doesn't just give up a leaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad

Buck, it was def you bud

itshappening.gif

How they gonna just end there I need another hour !!!

Honestly this felt like OG 911 and I loved it so damn much. Get back to the fast paced action and feature all the cast. I've missed the Bathena moments and we seriously need way more Karen. That game night was so much fun! I missed Chimney and Hen teaming up so much more than I thought I did and I'm so happy to see it back.