9-1-1Season 7, Episode 4 is a major episode for the show as it reaches 100 episodes. Apart from aplanned crossover withThe Bachelor, it also promises to develop something core to the show since Season 2—Buck and Eddie’s relationship. For the past five seasons, Buddie has been integral to it, but they felt a bit stagnated because the writers couldn’t decide what to do with them. Were they romantically interested in each other, or just some very good friends? Under the previous showrunner,9-1-1leaned hard on the friendship angle. The episode’s synopsis teases a development in the pairing as Buck becomes jealous ofa new friendship between Eddie and Tommy, leading to introspection about the nature of this jealousy.Oliver Starktalked toUs Weeklyabout this arc and what he thinks this jealousy means for Buck and Buddie, by extension.
“I think once you watch the episode, you actually realize it’s not necessarily that he just doesn’t quite understand what he’s feeling. And this jealousy is the way that it manifests itself, but it’s not necessarily the root cause of his unease.”
Stark did not specifywhat this unease meant,but exploring it might bring Buck some much-needed relaxation. He opened up about what that might do for Buck, saying:
“And I think that’s kind of the story that we’re able to start to tell here, is that Buck isn’t consciously aware of the thing that he’s looking for or what’s lacking in his life.And as he hopefully starts to discover that it’s this cathartic, liberating feeling of just being able to ease into it and breathe out this big sigh of relief at last.”
Buck’s arc is expected to extend throughout Season 7, something that Stark was excited for fans to experience, because what Buck experiences is universal: people might not know what they’re missing in life until something shines a light on it.
Buck Needs to Work for His Next Romantic Relationship
Buck is known for many things, but some are not positive. Among the negative things are his failed romantic relationships, each fizzling out and ending unceremoniously. Stark talks about Buck’s past relationships that have been euphemized as “getting a couch” for his apartment and thinks that getting a couch is not the priority for Buck. He has to work hard for that couch.
“I like to think it’s somebody that can challenge him, but I think maybe somebody where it’s not too easy for him.I look back at all his past relationships, and even though he hasn’t necessarily been the one to end them at the beginning, it’s always kind of been pretty easy and smooth sailing for Buck. He’s kind of had a crush, got the person.”
Whomever the next romantic conquest Buck sets his eyes on, Stark would love to see Buck work hard to “earn” them instead of stumbling into relationships just because he wore his firefighter uniform and smiled at someone.
Catch9-1-1’s 100th episodethis Thursday at 8 PM ET on ABC. Watch past seasons on Hulu.
Explores the high-pressure experiences of the first responders who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking, and heart-stopping situations.
