exploring-the-cosmos

Latest Posts by exploring-the-cosmos

Two Quick Thoughts.

First, this isn't a criticism, just something I would have liked to have seen. I get Athena, May, and Harry walking directly behind the coffin during the funeral procession, and Buck walking with the 118 behind them. I think that fits who Buck is and being part of the fire family. But what I would really have liked to see (other than eulogies) was Buck standing with Athena, May, and Harry at the final gravesite. The show has made a big deal, on more than one occasion, about Buck being Bobby's son. I think it would have been nice if he could have been there.

Second, does anyone know if they shot the funeral in a church or built the set themselves? I ask because I'm wondering if it is a coincidence that the scene above the casket is everyone gathered at the crucifixion of Jesus.

One more thing though. So let's say this episode was supposed to just be about Athena's grief, and the rest of the fallout will be in the next two episodes. Well, unfortunately, they did a bad job of handling Athena's grief too.

Don't get me wrong, Angela Bassett was AMAZING. She did a perfect job with what she was given. Her breakdown with Hen was heartwrenching, and the scene at the end with his casket was the closest I got to crying, all on the power of her acting.

But as far as the character of Athena goes, I think the writing only failed her.

First of all, and most importantly, the subplot of the mom with the dead kid was not the mirror to Athena's grief that it should have been. Athena was not in denial that Bobby's dead. She wasn't avoiding planning the burial and funeral because she was in denial. She was avoiding it because those are hard things to do, things that no one who has lost someone wants to do. So did investigating this case help her avoid that? Yeah, but it did it in a way that was confusing to the audience, because it made you wonder if Athena, and we the audience by extension, SHOULD be doubting whether Bobby is dead. But then that emotional thread didn't play out and just left Athena's inherent cynicism reaffirmed. Miracles aren't real. The end. How did that show us anything about Athena's grief? How was that narratively satisfying?

Second of all, they did several things that didn't make sense for Athena as a character. The biggest one, I already mentioned: she was avoiding her kids' calls. I don't for one second believe that Athena would leave her children alone in their own grief. May and Harry saw Bobby as a father, and it would be one thing for her to be acting withdrawn or stoic, but to IGNORE their calls is cruel in a way I don't think Athena would be.

Also, while I did enjoy the scene where Athena gets angry with Chim, the fact that this is her only interaction with him in the episode is I think another disservice to her. The fact that she barely interacted with the rest of the 118 is a disservice to her. This was an important chance to show that Bobby was not the only glue holding Athena to the 118, but instead they drove a wedge between them. Maybe they will address this in the next two episodes, but even in the short term, in a season that has far too frequently had Athena off doing her own cop thing, to further isolate her when it really counts just makes you wonder what they even plan to do with her if Bobby is really gone.

And this is without even getting into what it says about the 118 that THEY aren't shown to be surrounding Athena. Anyone who has lost anyone knows that that's just not how it works. Families huddle together when someone dies. The episode made it seem like Athena was alone, and they could have justified it with writing that shows how grief can make a person feel alone, but they didn't do that. She literally just WAS alone in a way that doesn't make sense for her character or for any of the other characters either.

at this point we're going to get an emergency next season where a fan girl hurts herself or goes to a production studio with the intention of hurting other people because her favorite character on a tv show was killed off and she can't accept it or demands it be retconned and captain hen has to talk her down telling her while it's understandable that she's emotionally invested in the show and has so much love for this character she can't let that cause real life consequences for herself and others and ultimately it is just a tv show and she needs to come back to reality and accept the loss. 911's version of sherlock's season 3 fan theory fake out

they’re cooking on 911twt part 2 (miserable edition)

Can we also admit that even if somehow Bobby is alive how would this have been good writing because we know Tim is not capable these days of writing character driven arcs so if Bobby were to come back then essentially we used SIX episodes…252 minutes….4.2 hours of screen time for a non permanent NDE that essentially served to change things up aka find a new Captain for the 118 and if that was the point then there are many different ways this could have been done and still move the characters forward compared to what ever this disaster was. Also, even if they somehow pull off more of an exploration of grief in the last two episodes it will still be completely overshadowed for how poorly executed Bobby’s actual death and funeral were….the man’s funeral was literally treated like the C plot of the episode…..and the actual 118 that Bobby built felt like guest stars in an episode that should have felt like us mourning with the Firefam. Gerrard wasn’t even around when Bobby got to the 118 so miss me with that shit…..

god "I think youre just supposed to live" is such a bobby line I'm gonna throw up. you can hear how much buck is chanelling him in that moment. the entire scene feels like something we would normally see with bobby. the way buck hangs back and just listens and lets chim get it all out before delivering a heartwrenching line of very good advice. he really took Bobby's last order to heart

The 911 episodes ratings on imdb are sending me.

This is fucking WILD.

the way they had a solid rating across the board and now they have an episode rated 2.2 is insane.

(x) bro kenny literally kept telling him it's a shit idea. if bobby really is dead then this is just... man...

Eddie got a phone call OFF SCREEN. Eddie’s talks with Chris were OFF SCREEN. HE IS A MAIN FUCKING CHARACTER, WHY THE HELL CAN’T WE SEE HIM DO THESE THINGS ON SCREEN?! FUCKING HELL.

Eddie isn't sure what he's expecting when Buck meets him at the airport. Red-rimmed eyes, splotchy face, hunched shoulders probably. Not this. Distant eyes, blank face, straight-backed. He'd been braced to catch Buck as soon as he landed, had spent his whole flight locking every bit of his own grief away to be thought about at a later date, let the guilt pool in his chest instead.

I should've been there, I could've -

He'd been ready to catch Buck, but it's Eddie who falls into Buck's waiting arms. Eddie who tears up. Eddie who clutches at the back of Buck's shirt like a scared child. And it's Buck sweeping his hands up and down Eddie's back, holding him together, murmuring:

"It's okay. I've got you. It's not your fault."

Eddie doesn't cry in LAX. His grief is a private thing. Always has been. He locks it into his bedroom and lets it out behind closed doors. But Buck is the safest space he's ever had, so he lets himself break a little. Lets himself shake apart under Buck's hands until he can ground himself with a deep breath at the junction of Buck's neck and shoulder. Until he can stand on his own.

Buck looks at him, eyes searching, deepest of furrows between his brows, so devastatingly gentle. And Eddie kind of wants to fucking scream at him for being okay. He'd needed to take care of Buck. He'd needed to have something to do. But now Buck is looking at him like he can fix him, and Eddie wants him to. So badly. But Buck knows Eddie's grief is for South Bedford Street, not LAX, so all he does is lead Eddie out to the parking lot.

It's a silent drive. Buck tells him the details of the funeral. Clinical. Sparing. And Eddie watches Buck's knuckles turn white on the steering wheel. Listens to the creak of leather under an unyielding grip. And he sees it then. The countdown over Buck's head, ticking away steadily. He's grateful in a way.

They pull up to the house silently. The engine falls quiet. And they stare at the door. The door Bobby had appeared on the other side of just a few months ago for a goodbye dinner. At the house. The house Bobby made coffee in when Eddie couldn't stomach being alone. At the home. The home Bobby helped him build in every way.

Buck gets out of the car. Eddie follows. Buck unlocks the door. Eddie locks it behind them. Buck disappears into the kitchen. Eddie pauses.

Can't quite separate Bobby from kitchens in his mind. And it's not like Bobby ever cooked anything in Eddie's kitchen, but there's some stupid grief-crazed part of his brain that thinks he'll find Bobby at the stove for a last supper. A parting gift to Eddie. Because Bobby was always too good. Too generous. Too understanding. When it came to Eddie.

When he finally makes it in there, Buck is stood staring into the fridge. Vacant. Eddie joins him, presses their shoulders together as hard as he can without knocking Buck away, and looks at Buck's fingers curled loosely around two beer bottles. Eddie knows it's not the early hour staying his hand.

It feels wrong. To find comfort in alcohol at Bobby's expense.

Carefully, Eddie unpicks Buck's fingers from the bottles and watches as Buck's arm falls limp to his side with such weight it bounces off his hip. Swings once, twice, stops suddenly. Eddie grabs the water filter. Closes the fridge.

"Sit down," he whispers. Sure, steady.

Buck sits down.

Eddie grabs two glasses. Fills them with water. Leaves the filter on the side. Who cares? Who fucking cares? Takes the glasses over to the table in shaking hands. Spills only a little. Sits opposite Buck. Stares into his cup.

"I didn't say it back," Buck rasps eventually.

Eddie picks his head up with great effort. Ony manages it because he wants to see what hurt he's caused. Their missing medic. Absent in their hour of need.

"What?"

"B-he-he told me he loved me." Buck's eyes go wide. Horrified. Haunted. Hollow. "He t-told me he l-loved me, and I could-couldn't say it back be-because that would mean..." Buck chokes a sob into his hand. "I thought we'd fix it. I-I-I thought we'd find a way. We-we always do. I couldn't say it-it. I didn't want t-to let him go. And now, he's..." Buck's face crumples first. Then, the rest of his body follows, folding in on itself in the chair until he looks almost as small as Christopher had the first time he'd ever sat at this table. "He's d-gone, and he doesn't know I love him."

"He knows, Buck." Eddie's hand curls into a fist on the tabletop. Doesn't know what to do. For all he'd been ready to hold Buck together, he's not sure how. "He knows you love him, Buck. You told him every single day."

"But I never said the words!" he snaps. Pure rage. Pure guilt. He looks up at Eddie. Blue eyes wet and red and wild. The rage and the guilt seeps away, leaves only pure grief. "I never said the words."

He sobs then. Doesn't choke it down. Lets it out. Eddie reacts like it's instinct even though he's never done this before. Just somehow knows in his bones what to do when it comes to Buck.

He stands, rounds the table, slides a hand into Buck's hair, one on his shoulder, pulls Buck's face into his stomach and holds him there, holds him together. Buck's fingers tangle themselves in Eddie's belt loops. A lifeline. And Eddie holds him tight as he can.

"All the times you cooked for him. All the times he cooked for you. The two of you cooking together. You had your own language, Buck. He knows you love him."

And all Eddie hears is: you're gonna stand there with a hundred-something bodies on you and tell me I'm not fit for duty. Did Bobby know Eddie loved him too?

Squeezing his eyes shut tight, Eddie drops his cheek to the top of Buck's head. Stops holding Buck together and starts holding on. Buck's hands grasp at his hips, twist into the back of his shirt just like Eddie's had at the airport.

And all Eddie hears is: I just want to make sure you don't think you have to lose everything before you can allow yourself to feel anything.

idk how to articulate how fucking stupid it is to call it a "creative decision" after killing off the character whose whole storyline is about creating his second chance and building a family again and being worthy of love despite your past and just. for what. for him to die alone. all 8 seasons of that just for him to fucking die alone.

and actually if you are making people being upset about eddie's absence about like some sort of ship win then fundamentally you are misunderstanding why people are so upset. like, it's INSANE that eddie wasn't there. from just, a general point of view. the fact that a main character of SEVEN YEARS was left out. was not there with his family of SEVEN YEARS when someone deeply important to him died* is crazy and unjustifiable. like, it wasn't egregious because of the buck of it all. it was the fact that eddie should have been there with his family. i literally couldn't give a fuck if tommy was also there. whatever. but including him and not including eddie in a 118 main character death. eddie for whom the 118 is literally his family. who has worked with and loved and supported and been supported by and almost died with these people over and over for the past SEVEN YEARS. that's simply a terrible and absolutely unnecessary choice. and people are justified in being upset by that.

Coping HARD rn

yeah idk man maybe i just don't like it when characters whose whole story is about choosing to live and overcoming suicidal ideation end up dying in a hero sacrifice. kinda leaves a bad taste in my mouth, not gonna lie.

My thoughts on the episode:

• ⁠I’m so angry that Eddie wasn’t there, whether Bobby’s death is real or a fake-out. He’s a main character who’s been so sidelined it’s insulting, an integral part of the 118, and maybe the character most similar to Bobby himself, with their connection to Buck, their Catholic upbringing, being both widowers and having PTSD/PTSD-type issues.

• ⁠For real. They could’ve shown Buck answering Eddie’s videocall and Eddie immediately understanding that something went wrong from Buck’s devastation. It would’ve taken one minute at most and said so much. But no.

• ⁠I’M NOT A BIOTERRORIST. But if I was one, I would have FOUR doses ready: two of the superstrain and two of the antidote. a. 1 superstrain to unleash onto the world, b. 1 antidote to use on myself in case I catch the superstrain, and c. 1 dose of superstrain and 1 dose of antidote to sell to Big Pharma for millions so they develop both the antidote and a vaccine. But I guess crazy clouds your mind.

• ⁠They could’ve just escorted Moira out of the building before she had the chance to do anything.

• ⁠So Bobby caught the illness from a tiny tear in his breathing system but Hen didn’t catch it from having HER CHEST CUT OPEN AND INTUBATED??? Ok

• ⁠THEY COULDN’T HAVE TRIED A HAIL MARY OF DOING A TRANSFUSION OF CHIM’S NEWLY CURED BLOOD TO BOBBY? If he was gonna die anyway, couldn’t it have been tried?

• ⁠I guess Athena now will have to pretend she didn’t just try to kick her children out of the house.

• ⁠Also, how will Athena stay connected to the rest of the cast?

• ⁠If Bobby’s death is real, it’s a terrible decision on Tim Minear’s part. 9-1-1 is comfort TV, and striked gold with the cast from season 2, but now they’re messing with the formula. The GA watches mainly for Athena and Bobby (who’s now dead) and the fandom watches mainly for Buck and Eddie (who’s being sidelined). It’s a New Coke situation - if there’s a moment for executive meddling on ABC’s part, this is it.

i think this will either go one of two ways. either A) they see the backlash, realize it's not going to go away, and reverse bobby's death, (cmon you're gonna risk losing angela basset?) saving the very little face they have left for their very popular show. or B) they won't have the balls to tell Tim Minear to change the story and he runs the show into the ground. either the show will become incredibly grief stricken and depressing that it's not fun to watch anymore or they're going to move on so quickly from Bobby it feels unnatural and the show will feel incredibly soulless.

Angela Bassett has already said she doesn't see a world where Athena and Bobby don't end up together at the end of the show. the interviews have revealed that literally everybody (the cast, the crew, the execs) did not think this was a good idea. we know there were multiple endings filmed, that the execs had to talk Minear out of a 4 minute helicopter chase scene in the middle of an episode when they couldn't even be bothered to show eddie once, and the deadline article points out that this was a this was "the biggest risk Tim has ever taken in his 30 year career." people apparently understood this was an incredibly risky and stupid move.

and as much as i would like to hold onto all of that, i think there's a very real, simple, and terrifying possibility that they're not going to reverse this and that the show is going to be run into the ground, despite all of the obvious reasons not to.

i think the best thing to do is keeping up the pressure because there are so many cracks in this already that it's very possible we could fix if we don't let it die.

i'm sorry for the dramatics, but i really don't wanna lose this show to a bad writing decision, especially not when i feel like there is something we can do and this could maybe be reversed.



Idk not to read into it or anything but I think making the suicidal addict, a man cursed to be alone and responsible since young childhood, sacrifice his life for the sake of his team and die a painful gratuitous death, alone in a glass box with no one to hug, just when his life was finally worth living is fucking cruel and twisted writing.

He was building a house. He wanted to live. He was happy.

Bobby Nash was an incredibly well written character, it was a well done portrayal of survivors guilt, addiction, loneliness and suicidality.

He was a man cursed with the burden of feeling responsible for everyone in his life, for his dad, for killing his family, for his team.

I truly think killing him in such a horrific way on the Nobody Dies Show was a disservice to his character and all that he represented.

As someone who felt seen and portrayed by his character, I don’t think that was a brave and heroic death. I think it was utterly tragic and thankless. You made him die alone in a glass box, with no one to hug. Just at the point of him feeling truly happy and secure.

I think the conversation about having stakes in the show with Bobby's death is ultimately irrelevant to the issue at hand and doesn't make sense as an argument in this case because it's not what people are actually upset about. Me personally? Love a show with stakes. I have other shows I watch where I actively root for a character death at times, even if it's a character I enjoy, because I think it would make for narratively interesting consequences. The difference with that though is those are shows where the stakes have always been there. Where they're baked into the DNA of the show and the universe it's existing in. This is not true for 911. Yeah sure there have been some minor character deaths, yeah there's a lot of dangerous situations the main characters are in, but it is a huge tonal shift to kill off one of the most central characters to the show in a very sudden way with an extremely depressing ending for him that does not match the previous themes of the show about found family and being there for each other. So I don't enjoy Bobby's death playing out the way it did even if that means the stakes are more exciting because that's not the story we've been told for 8 years now and to me is just yet another sign that the production team has lost sight of what made 911 the show it is.

maybe it seems silly to people who consume media in a ‘normal’ way, but for some people this show has been a huge part of their lives since it first started. we love these characters. we’ve put so many hours and so much work into fanfics and art and edits because these characters matter to us. we see ourselves in them.

and it would have been one thing if we went into this show knowing characters would be killed off, but we’ve been told that wouldn’t happen. it’s next level cruel to take a show that we feel so safe with, and suddenly turn it into this. and in his interview it genuinely feels like tim is mocking the fans for believing what he told us about not killing mains.

idk. i’m angry and i’m sad.

bobby’s boybestie and co-dad michael won’t even be at the funeral. btw. which is not only sickening for the sanctity of male friendship which everyone seems to worry about but is so mean to athena bc michael would never leave her and the kids alone at a time like this. tv sucks.

the difference between this eddie and the eddie from buck's perspective last episode. and they're both real. eddie IS so cool and so funny and so good and he has a silver star and he's a loser and a yapper and a liar and the best dad in the world. he is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie.

buck is so so good at the bits of parenting that eddie is struggling with at the moment, and eddie sees that as a personal failing on his part because he thinks he has to be everything to chris at once. but actually they can both parent chris, they can complement each other!!! he just hasn't realised that yet but he's so so close!!!!

Ok we’re slowly making progress. We went from “You do matter to me” to “I appreciate you Buck.” Soon we’ll get an actual “I love you Buck”

Eddie’s pov of buck is Buck supporting him and caring for him and encouraging him. I’m soooooooooo

a second FaceTime has hit the episode

Literally Buck being Eddie’s biggest supporter is so important, Eddie feels so alone and isolated and like he’s on the outside right now, but he’s got Buck. No matter how far away he always has Buck like!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uber product placement , Playstation product placement , whatever those caffeine shots are is product placement , U-haul product placement , his fucking truck Denali product placement , AMAZON PRIME product placement AGAIN . What is going on why does Eddie have all the products in his scenes I'm dead

Okay btw the parallels between someone who's lost literally their voice and Eddie who's lost his voice when it comes to parenting his kid and doing what he wants... yeah...

800 miles between them but still have each other’s backs🥹

things (other than actual feelings realisation) that would drive me insane if they happen tonight:

- ANOTHER "I'm straight"/"Eddie is straight"

- someone else asking Buck about his feelings for Eddie

- someone asking Eddie about Buck

- "wish you were here" buddie facetime scene

- the will being mentioned