Emotions clashed last night during the penultimate episode in 9-1-1’s eighth season. It’s been a bumpy ride for fans who are still reeling from the loss of one Captain Bobby Nash (Peter Krause), and the characters are each feeling that rollercoaster of emotions in their own way. For Oliver Stark’s Buck and Ryan Guzman’s Eddie, things came to a head during a difficult conversation surrounding the latter’s job offer in El Paso. Solidifying their “best friend” status, each man took verbal swings at the other that were said to hurt in a way that only someone who is that close to us can. But, now, the speculation and rumor mills have begun churning again, with fans wondering if there could finally be a romantic future for the pair who so many have seen as a couple for a long time.
Happy to address the shippers and toss in his two cents, Stark recently made his feelings about “Buddie” clear while appearing alongside NBC New York’s Sarah Gore. Open to whatever direction the creative team takes him in during the upcoming ninth season, Stark said,
“Fans have certainly become very invested — let’s say — in that relationship and there’s quite an intense following to it. I don’t know. I’m down for wherever — Listen, I just work here. I’ll go with it regardless. I think we’re just trying to tell heightened but still authentic stories of these first responders and if that’s the direction they choose to take it in, then let’s go.”
Attention Has Been Taken Away from Buddie
For much of the eighth season, it seemed like showrunner Tim Minear was steering the storyline in a direction that would get to the bottom of the hopeful Buck and Eddie romance plot. And then — like an explosion of trauma — the plot took a sharp left turn when Captain Bobby Nash (Krause) sacrificed himself to save the rest of his team. Since that episode aired nearly one month ago, our brains have been far too busy processing the loss to focus on anything that might bring us any joy — say like a relationship we’ve been shipping. Next week, the hit ABC procedural celebrates its Season 8 finale, so it will likely be quite a wait until the writers really dig into the Buddie of it all again. Plus, there’s the other huge unanswered question of who will step up to fill in the spot of captain to the 118? Unfortunately, it will likely be Season 9 that will get to the bottom of these and so many more burning questions.
