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Fans have been shipping “Buddie” since Season 2 of 9-1-1, but Buck and Eddie’s relationship has always remained platonic. Now that Buck has come out as bisexual, however, will Buck and Eddie finally get together? Keep reading to find out.
9-1-1 is ABC’s first responder drama that follows the heroic firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel at the Los Angeles Fire Department’s fictional Station 118. Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, the show premiered in January 2018 and spawned the spin-off series 9-1-1: Lone Star. The first six seasons aired on FOX, but the series was canceled by the network in May 2023 and picked up by ABC.
Oliver Stark stars as Evan “Buck” Buckley, a firefighter at Station 118 and the younger brother of 9-1-1 dispatcher Maddie Buckley (Jennifer Love Hewitt). His best friend is Eddie Diaz, who is portrayed by Ryan Guzman. The two firefighters have grown very close over the years and fans have been dying for them to take their friendship to the next level. With Buck coming out as bisexual, fans now have hope that Buddie might finally happen.
Stark and Guzman have also weighed in on the possibility of their characters’ getting involved romantically, so scroll on for their reaction.
Do Buck and Eddie get together on 9-1-1?
Do Buck and Eddie get together on 9-1-1? Although we don’t know for sure, the writers have clearly listened to the fandom’s shipping of Buddie and there is a possibility that they end up together. Although Buck has been portrayed as somewhat of a womanizer in the past, that changed in the Season 7 episode “Buck Bothered and Bewildered,” which introduced the show’s first queer storyline. During the episode, Buck kissed former Station 118 firefighter Tommy Kinard (Lou Ferrigno Jr.).
Showrunner Tim Minear later confirmed that Buck is bisexual and labels himself as such, teasing that the following few episodes will see him continue to explore his sexuality. “That’s the way I have it in my head. We’ll see flashes of how he might look to label it in the next episode, but yeah, I think that would be the correct term,” he told TVLine.
Although Eddie is currently dating Marisol (Edy Ganem) and has not indicated that he is queer, fans are rooting for Buddie even more now that Buck has come out. Additionally, there has been a handful of moments on the show that alluded to Buck’s feelings for Eddie. In the last episode, Buck appeared to be jealous of Eddie and his friendship with Tommy. Several fans interpreted the moment as Buck not wanting to see Eddie with another guy.
While speaking to TV Insider, Minear explained the root of Buck’s jealousy. “I just thought it’ll be an interesting way to tell the story if it feels like even to Buck that he’s feeling jealous that this guy is stealing his best friend, but the feelings underneath are a little bit more complicated and even Buck doesn’ t quite understand what they are,” he told the outlet. “It just feels like a more interesting way to get to that point by the end of the story is to play the dynamic between Buck and Eddie, not the dynamic between Buck and a character that we haven’t really come to know yet,” he added, referencing Tommy.
As for Buck’s budding romance with Tommy, fans have plenty of theories. “A part of me thinks that Buck is only attracted to Tommy because he is SOOOO similar to Eddie. Perhaps Buck hasn’t realized that the only reason he likes Tommy is because he actually wants Eddie,” one fan wrote in a Reddit thread. Another commented: “I think you’re right. Buck is going to realize that it’s Eddie he wants.”
Fans think that a photo of the cast appearing on Celebrity Family Feud may indicate that Eddie is also queer. Stark, Guzman, Aisha Hinds, Bryan Safi and Tracie Thoms all participated in the game show together, and fans were quick to notice that each cast member, aside from Guzman, portrayed a queer character on 9-1-1. Hinds and Thoms star as fan-favorite lesbian couple Henrietta “Hen” Wilson and Karen Wilson, while Safi plays gay 9-1-1 operator Josh Russo. “Notice how all of them are playing queer characters in the show (yes Eddie is next),” one fan commented on the Twitter post. Another wrote: “I can’t believe Celebrity Family Feud outed Eddie Diaz.” A third fan commented: “Does this mean Eddie is gay?”
Although fans are feeling hopeful that Buddie will finally happen, Minear has indicated that the two characters are on separate journeys… for now. “Right now, Buck is exploring something about himself and he’s made a new friend. I can’t really even predict for myself exactly where the story might go in future episodes,” he told TV Insider. As for Eddie, he teased: “Right now, Eddie’s with a woman. Eddie’s been married to a woman. Eddie has a child with a woman. Eddie also has very complicated feelings about, I think, his place in the world … I don’t know if they’re the same exact issues that Buck has, but we’ll be exploring some of that with Eddie coming up actually in the next episode as well.”
9-1-1 airs on Thursdays on ABC at 8/7c and streams on Hulu.
