Spoilers ahead for 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 11, “Holy Mother of God.”
9-1-1 just served up some serious drama this past week. Since Season 2, many have been wanting Oliver Stark’s Buck and Ryan Guzman’s Eddie to get together and, when Buck came out last season, it seemed like it could actually happen. Now that Eddie has moved to Texas, though, Buck is having a tough time dealing with it. The latest episode to air amid the 2025 TV schedule delivered a vital conversation between Buck and Maddie about the whole situation, yet there was a deleted moment that the showrunner is pissed he didn’t include.
On Thursday’s episode, “Holy Mother of God,” Buck was having trouble staying occupied and finding new friends with Eddie gone. With that, he invited Ravi out to the bar though, in time, Ravi sought to leave. Miraculously, he spotted Buck’s ex-boyfriend, Tommy, and that allowed Ravi to dip. After spending the night together, Tommy told Buck he wanted to try things again, jokingly saying that the competition was out of the way. This led to Tommy suggesting that Buck was in love with Eddie and Buck denied it, leading him to have a conversation with his sister.
Maddie also wondered if Buck was in love with Eddie, leading Buck to deny it again. Maddie told Buck it wouldn’t be far-fetched if that were the case, Buck didn’t get why everybody wanted him to be swooning over his straight best friend. Interestingly enough, all of that material wasn't included in the first version of the scene. Tim Minear told TVLine that more was meant to be said between the siblings, with the comments harkening back to Buck’s first relationship on the show -- and I really wish this would've made the cut:
In the original version of that scene, Maddie tells him, ‘Well, you did live in Abby’s house for six months after she walked out on you.’ And Buck’s point was like, ‘Yeah, well, I thought she was coming back. The reason I don’t want to unpack here is because, if I do, that means they’re really not coming back.’ It was sort of a dichotomy, but I got some notes on that scene. People were like, ‘No one’s going to understand this,’ and I should have just listened to my gut. The audience would understand.
To be fair, Tim Minnear was faced with a tricky creative decision, but I absolutely understand why he's kicking himself about it now. If there had been mention of the fact that Buck moved into Abby’s house and stayed there for months after she left, it would have added a whole new layer to the conversation. Especially since Tommy brought up the fact that Buck was living at Eddie’s house or, rather, taking over his lease.
It took Buck a while to come to terms that Abby wasn’t coming back, and perhaps that’s why it took Buck so long to really settle into Eddie’s place. In short, he just wasn’t ready.
At the very least, it’s likely this will not be the last conversation that Buck has with his sister about the whole Eddie situation and the feelings he may or may not have. Maddie seems to know her brother better than anyone, and it wouldn’t be surprising that if Buck does admit to having feelings for Eddie at some point, Maddie would be the one he'd confess them to first.
There are still several episodes of 9-1-1 Season 8 left, and I wager there are still some surprises in store. Since Ryan Guzman hasn’t officially left the series, it’s likely it’s only just a matter of time before Eddie returns from Texas for some reason or another, or maybe Buck ends up heading to the Lone Star state. Regardless, I'm excited to see what pans out!
New episodes of 9-1-1 air on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.
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