#yes all my fave scenes are pre-canon chenford

[timandlucy]

What are your top 5 Chenford moments? 👀

ARE YOU INSANE? Like only 5? Of all of them???????

Fuck.

Okay, but since you did not specify, these are not in any particular order 😜 Also this got LONG. I apologize. I went off.

The 4x01 hug because it definitely introduced us to the new era of Chenford. Up until then, they were mostly portrayed only as TO and rookie, and that scene challenged that status quo. Because Lucy needed a friend in that moment and Tim stepped up. And they almost crossed the line into something more, but they didn't. Because neither of them was ready, and it was the wrong time, and if they did at that point, it would have cheapened their relationship in the long-term. But the whole teetering on the edge of more was such a delicious scene. Not to mention that Lucy is probably one of the few people that can just ask Tim for a hug and he gives in without a word. I loved how open with him she was in that moment. She wasn't trying to hide her grief, she wasn't trying to be strong. She was sad and she wanted a hug, and deep down she knew he wouldn't refuse her.

This kinda brings me to the next scene which is sort of an inconspicuous one, but I will scream about it in the tags every single time. The way Tim acts in 2x12 is already just stuff made in heaven, but there's this one scene that always made me so feral... When he's telling her he heard they dodged some bullets, and she asks if he's keeping tabs on her, Tim doesn't really respond to that. Instead he reaches out by saying "Look, if you need anything, let me know." And this is prefaced by the fact that Lucy looks totally okay in that scene, she's actually kinda gloating/has a smug grin on. But already, so early into their tentative friendship, Tim sees her. And the most important thing in that moment is that Lucy doesn't say she's fine like she's been telling all the people around her, like Nolan, and even Harper. She doesn't put on the carefully created facade. In that moment, in the middle of the station, she decides to be vulnerable with Tim. You got a time machine? She's letting him know that she's not okay, that she's not fine, but that nothing can help right now, because he can't turn back time, and time is all she needs essentially to heal.

And Tim doesn't make a quip remark, or dismiss it. He says Wish I did. We know from the later scene that he felt largely responsible for what happened to Lucy, so this comment makes sense, but I also feel like even in this moment, if he could fix this for her, he would. He would carry her pain if he could. But he can't. He can only check in and later in the episode empower her to feel less like a victim, and more like the resourceful and badass cop she is.

The Nevins scene was my all time fave for a long time and it still remains in the top 5. It fully cements the notion that what happened to Lucy, they went through something together. It bonded them in a way they weren't expecting. Tim could've moved on, but he knew what Lucy needed in that point (which was briefly after DOD) was stability. He wanted to be there for her, he wanted to see her through to the other side. And of course he masked it by some ridiculous thing, and of course she saw right through him. I will also never get over how much this scene looks like a date. I WILL NEVER STOP SCREAMING ABOUT THE BODY LANGUAGE IN THE NEVINS SCENE.

I saw someone say that 4x09 is titled Breakdown because they're having one when watching this scene and like.... BIG SAME. And I know a lot of people say this is one of the few vulnerable moments for Tim, but I actually think this very nicely showcases how vulnerable Tim has allowed himself to be with Lucy since the beginning. They weren't even friends when he shared the Isabel story with her (some of it because of need, but most of it was because he needed someone to listen). Tim shares so much of himself with Lucy throughout their time riding together. That's why this scene makes sense. That's why it doesn't feel forced or surprising. It just feel them. Two things to point out in this scene, imo, are that Tim obviously cares deeply about what Lucy thinks of him and how she sees him. And she's not longer his rookie here, but he's her superior officer still, and yet her opinion matters. He doesn't want her to think he's anything like his dad. And how Lucy immediately recognizes that yes, obviously reassurance is in order (especially after her ooc comments in the previous episode) but that the man just needs a hug. They're always so great at anticipating each other's needs. Sort of like after DOD it was Tim who knew what Lucy needed, and it actually also reminds me of the s1 scene where Lucy comes out of Isabel's apartment and tells him it's pretty clean. Lucy knew what he needed then and does now, and that's why I don't get why she's apparently so oblivious to how much pain the UC situation is causing Tim, but that's another discussion lol.

The 2x11 scene will forever remain one of my favorite scenes in the series. In the WORLD. It was the scene that got me watching, I saw a gifset and then I went looking for the video and then the video sold me on the show. But I will literally never be over it. The music, or lack there of, Tim's desperation that we've seen building up the entire episode (the man literally broke his code to find her, he slammed someone's head against the steering wheel and threatened him with bodily harm). The rest of the crew standing around, feeling so helpless - you can see it on their faces that they've basically given up. But not Tim. Tim didn't give up. He didn't stop searching and he didn't stop pushing air into her lungs until she took a breath. Until she was sobbing in his arms. And even then, he was probably so glad to hear her sob, because that meant she was alive.

Lucy Chen is alive because Tim Bradford absolutely refused to give up. That man looked death in the face in that episode and said Not today. Not on my watch. (And then proceeded to spend the entire night in the hospital with her, his hands all bruised and beat up from digging her up, so Lucy would feel safe when she woke up.) WHY AM I STILL CHOKED UP ABOUT THIS AFTER ALL THIS TIME?????

HONORABLE MENTION: 3x14 scenes, because that episode was made from dreams and rainbows and I still can't get over it.