I Wish I Had A River (3x10: Christmas Spirit)
But it don’t snow here, it stays pretty green…
This week Han, Cil, and Rachel put on our buddie elf hats to chat about Season 3 Episode 10 of 9-1-1, “Christmas Spirit,” where everyone is having a very blue holiday.
Maddie goes over the river and through the woods to revisit the ghost of her Christmas past: Doug. We discuss how Frank’s prescription of immersive therapy to confront her biggest trauma marks a turning point in Maddie’s emotional turmoil, where she can finally let go of her guilt and truly move forward.
We break down why Christmas really sucks this year for the 118 — because they all have to work. This is especially hard for Eddie and Christopher and when Buck notices he teams up with Athena to throw a heartwarming celebration at the station where they surprise the team with their families and a feast. Watcha doing with that mistletoe, Buck? The festivities run the emotional gamut from elation when Karen and Hen decide to foster to somber (understatement) when Michael tells Bobby he has a brain tumor.
We wish we had a river to skate away into a happier episode, let’s just say the “Christmas Spirit” was not in the room with us (or the writers) but the dark humor was. And hey, at least we’re depressed together!
Episode Title inspired by “River” by Joni Mitchell
📔 Articles Mentioned
📰 '9-1-1' boss weighs in on teary fall finale, shares what SPOILER's diagnosis means for the show, Entertainment Weekly
📰 9-1-1 EP Offers Hope for [Spoiler] After That Grim Confession in Fall Finale, TV Line
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Music by DIV!NITY
Chapters
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:00:50) Welcome to Dispatch
(00:02:10) General Thoughts
(00:08:01) Jaws of Life - Deep Dive
(00:13:37) Production & Behind the Scenes
(00:15:21) Needle Drop - Music Analysis
(00:18:21) Parallels & Foreshadowing
(00:21:29) Flashover - Themes
(00:31:10) Who’s Cookin’? - Character Analysis
(00:31:48) Hen
(00:36:28) Maddie
(00:43:20) Michael
(00:55:39) Michael Confiding in Bobby
(00:59:30) Bobby
(01:01:54) Where’s The Fire? - Scene Dissection: 118 Christmas Party
(01:14:53) Buck
(01:27:47) Eddie
(01:39:59) Slow Burn - Bi Buck & Buddie Watch
(01:48:50) Buddie at the Christmas Party
(02:02:42) Take a Buddie With You & Outro
Transcript
This week we discuss Maddie freeing herself.
Speaker B:From Doug, Michael isolating himself in his.
Speaker C:Loneliness, and how Buck continues to show up and act like Eddie's co parent.
Speaker B:Have you ever watched something that completely rewired your brain chemistry?
Speaker C:A procedural network drama might not be.
Speaker A:Your usual pick, but it's ours.
Speaker A:This is the Buddy System, a 911 deep dive podcast hosted by three friends who you have DMed each other enough character dissertations to earn a PhD in media literacy.
Speaker B:I'm Han coming to you straight from the characters heads.
Speaker C:I'm Syl bringing you to the observation deck.
Speaker A:And I'm Rachel connecting the dots with my red string.
Speaker B:With our powers combined, no stone is.
Speaker A:Left unturned and no buddy is left behind.
Speaker B:This episode brought to you by Cancer Roulette.
Speaker B:Welcome to Dispatch.
Speaker B:What's on call this week?
Speaker C:This week we're discussing Season 3 Episode 10, Christmas Spirit.
Speaker C: ,: Speaker A:Have some festive calls of the week, first one being the Nice list finished last, where holiday shopping escalates quickly when parents start fighting over the hottest toy in town, resulting in a pepper sprayed Santa and kids Christmas dreams getting crushed.
Speaker A:Our next one is plane Cracker suite at the tarmac valet.
Speaker A:An airport luggage cart seemingly gets a mind of its own when a set of golf clubs get slammed onto the gas pedal, causing chaos and a worker to get into a jet engine of a plane as it's about to take off.
Speaker A:Our next one is Santa's Biggest Helper where a young boy giving his mommy Christmas surprise has to call 911 after she suddenly collapses.
Speaker A:And the last one is a blue, blue, blue Christmas where a woman treats her severe toothache by overdosing on benzocaine and wakes up Smurf Blue.
Speaker A:It doesn't feel like Christmas because we're recording this in June, but.
Speaker A:But we're trying to be in the spirit because nobody else is in the spirit in the episode.
Speaker B:Gym miss, I guess.
Speaker A:Gym miss.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Christmas in June.
Speaker A:Ly.
Speaker A:June.
Speaker A:Ly.
Speaker A:Dear Lord, whenever this airs.
Speaker B:Christ, what a great episode.
Speaker B:What a depressing episode.
Speaker B:I feel like I've been saying this for several episodes in a row.
Speaker A:Bro.
Speaker A:We have.
Speaker B:I said row and then it was like I gotta say bro just sounds nice, right?
Speaker B:It's just trolls off the tongue.
Speaker A:You're so right, bro.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:How long do you think it's gonna be until people are sick of us.
Speaker B:Saying bro every other sentence?
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I want to know what the uptick in Bro is, if there even really is much of one, because I know.
Speaker A:That for us, or it's gone up.
Speaker B:I don't know that it's gone up that much.
Speaker B:I think there's just emphasis on us saying bro.
Speaker A:That is true.
Speaker A:For funsies.
Speaker B:For funsies.
Speaker B:Anyway, really good episode.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I love this season, but, bro, I need more comic relief.
Speaker B:Like, a lot more.
Speaker B:I think, because this was a lot of, like, cancer.
Speaker B:I feel like if you're gonna give me two deaths potentially with cancer, I need more comedy to kind of, like, balance that out a little bit.
Speaker B:But, yeah, really good.
Speaker B:I really love the scene, the end with everyone at the firehouse and we should do those things again.
Speaker C:Yeah, I really think we need.
Speaker C:We need another Christmas episode.
Speaker C:I'm glad that they brought back Halloween for season eight.
Speaker C:I need a Halloween episode, and I need a Christmas episode.
Speaker C:As far as this episode goes.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's a good.
Speaker C:It's a good episode.
Speaker C:I feel like I said this previously where I'm like, oh, it's like wrapping.
Speaker A:Up everyone's, like, three A storylines again.
Speaker C:Which is really what they.
Speaker C:They did and pretty much succeeded, I think, kind of piggybacking off of what Han said.
Speaker C:I do want another, like, everyone at the firehouse and everyone celebrating, or I do.
Speaker C:Or a barbecue at whoever's house, whoever's hosting, because I don't know who's hosting.
Speaker B:And, like, for a happy occasion, not.
Speaker B:Eddie's moving back to Texas.
Speaker B:That does not.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:That was not.
Speaker B:Bobby just died and he's moving back to Texas.
Speaker B:And then Buck says some out of pocket about switching firehouses.
Speaker A:Oh, God.
Speaker A:That does not count.
Speaker C:No, it does not count.
Speaker C:It is depressing.
Speaker A:I mean, like.
Speaker C:And I feel like this is so typical, like, when you do, like, a Christmas episode and then you just, like, put that, like, little bomb.
Speaker C:Bombshell or bomb at the end, of course, so.
Speaker C:And it of course, has to be cancer.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:I just feel like it's so typical.
Speaker A:But it's still a good episode overall.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's like.
Speaker A:I don't know, there's something about, you know, you can have, like, a.
Speaker A:A really cute Christmas episode.
Speaker A:I think they gave that to us in season two where it was, like, really heartwarming and everything like that.
Speaker A:So they had to kind of do something a little different.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And again, I think we're realizing how, like, depressing season three is.
Speaker A:So it's kind of par for the course here because they say, like, the whole time, like, it doesn't feel like Christmas because it kind of.
Speaker A:It kind of doesn't.
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker A:Because there's.
Speaker A:They've been through so much and.
Speaker B:But it's a.
Speaker A:It's a fantastic.
Speaker A:It's a fantastic episode because again, every.
Speaker A:It's a great ensemble.
Speaker A:Everybody has their moments.
Speaker A:Everybody kind of interacts with each other in slightly different ways and.
Speaker A:But they still have their own stuff going on.
Speaker A:And I am kind of a little bit of a sucker for, like, you know, people not feeling the Christmas spirit, but then eventually someone does something for everybody and it kind of like turns the tide a little bit and it's just like, oh, there's the heartwarming, like, ah, holiday thing.
Speaker A:So it.
Speaker A:So like, it leaves you, well, mostly on a.
Speaker A:On a better note, but then it just kind of like hits you again with.
Speaker A:With the Michael Blow.
Speaker A:But it's.
Speaker A:It's really.
Speaker A:It's really well done.
Speaker A:And I think this was Andrew Meyer's second episode that he wrote for 91 1, the first one being Ocean's 911 from last season.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's such a different vibe.
Speaker A:It's like totally, completely, like, opposite vibes.
Speaker A:So I think, like, his range, he's.
Speaker B:Got a good range.
Speaker B:He has a really good handle on.
Speaker A:The characters, the characters.
Speaker C:He did 704, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:Co. Wrote it silly.
Speaker C:Love his brand.
Speaker A:I know, I know, right?
Speaker A:Like, oh, let's see.
Speaker A:Brawling.
Speaker A:Cell block.
Speaker A:91 1.
Speaker A:Fearophobia.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Recovery.
Speaker A:Pay it forward.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Bothered and bewildered.
Speaker A:Ashes.
Speaker A:Confessions.
Speaker B:Confessions.
Speaker A:Like, we love Andrew Myers in this house.
Speaker B:We do love Andrew Myers in this house.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So excellent episode.
Speaker A:It gives you enough of, like, the holiday thing at.
Speaker A:At like, by the end.
Speaker A:And I think it infuses a little bit more of that, like, and then takes it away immediately.
Speaker A:But, you know, par for the course for season three.
Speaker B:It's a more realistic Christmas episode, honestly, because holidays are just stressful for the most part.
Speaker B:As an adult, the magic is for children.
Speaker B:Like, as an adult, it's just stressful.
Speaker A:To provide that magic.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Even on the day, if you are lucky enough to be off work, it's still stressful.
Speaker B:We're gonna need the Jaws of Life over here.
Speaker A:All right, shall we just slide around right into Jaws of Life?
Speaker A:So I found two articles from this week, and the first one being from Entertainment Weekly, another one from.
Speaker A:From TV Line.
Speaker A:Both of them are with Tim my near.
Speaker A:So he's saying a lot of similar stuff in each, the Interviewers are asking about, you know, some of, some of the storylines and this being the mid season finale, you have to like tie some things up, but then also like leave some things hanging and make people like come back for more.
Speaker A:So Tim said, I think for a lot of the characters on the show, by the middle of the season, Michael notwithstanding, they're sort of coming through a dark patch and into the sunlight a little bit.
Speaker A:This does not mean that they won't face any more challenges in the next eight episodes.
Speaker A:But I think what the audience loved and what I loved about the season finale last year for season two is that it ended on a very high note.
Speaker A:They've gone through so much and it just made them tighter and stronger and now they know better.
Speaker A:So I'll keep throwing bricks at them and making them stronger.
Speaker A:So he's, he's like very aware of like the, you know, like the ebbs and flows.
Speaker A:So like season two ended really high and then they've been going through like a bit of a, you know, an undercurrent and then they're coming back up a little bit and, and it's just going to continue that, that wave pattern.
Speaker A:And we get a little bit about Maddie being able to finally leave Doug behind.
Speaker A:And Tim said that they wanted to make sure that they didn't just ignore or forget about what Maddie has been through and her and Maddie trying to fix Tara was destined to fail.
Speaker A:From the beginning.
Speaker A:It was about her realizing that she can't save somebody else and she needs to stop talking about Doug as though he just died.
Speaker A:So the, this episode is really her facing that head on, looking at it, looking at it in the eye and leaving it in the woods where it belongs and walking away.
Speaker A:And then we have a little bit of talk about Bobby and Michael.
Speaker A:One of the interviewers asked, why have Michael give Bobby the bad news first?
Speaker A:And Tim said, when you have two father figures who have become friends, they have something in common.
Speaker A:They love the same people.
Speaker A:Michael is the one who couldn't stay married because he was gay.
Speaker A:So there's no real acrimony there in terms of the divorce.
Speaker A:So he loves that Athena and the kids have Bobby.
Speaker A:We've seen that previously, like with rage.
Speaker A:And, and afterwards something could have gone terribly wrong in that traffic stop, he said.
Speaker A:And he, and Michael was glad to know Bobby was still there for his family in case something happened.
Speaker A:And he said it there.
Speaker A:And that's what, that's also what he's saying at the end of the Christmas episode.
Speaker A:So he wanted to Explore that some more.
Speaker A:And the idea that Michael is entrusting his family to Bobby, this is a way to continue that idea and tell it a little.
Speaker A:Tell that story a little more deeply.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And then I thought this was an interesting comment from one of the interviews.
Speaker A:The interviewer asked, not only has Michael become a more important character, but they've also enjoyed what we've been seeing from the kids.
Speaker A:And Tim says that he's definitely finding ways to incorporate the kids into the show a little more.
Speaker A:And it was tough in the beginning because Michael and Harry and May aren't first responders.
Speaker A:They're.
Speaker A:They're family members of the people who do the jobs.
Speaker A:And it's been a slow process, but also a natural evolution to bring them more into the foreground to tell their own stories.
Speaker A:For May, it started with a tsunami episode, and he really wanted to give Corinne a showcase to show what a terrific actress she's become.
Speaker A:There will be more Harry and me moving forward.
Speaker A:So I think that's definitely something that has been in their minds, like, the whole time, especially when we see going into season five, with May joining dispatch and everything like that.
Speaker A:So just, like, ways to incorporate them into the stories, that is still very organic, even though they may not necessarily, at that point, be like the first responders themselves.
Speaker A:And I thought this was just really funny.
Speaker A:This was a really funny one.
Speaker A:So from Entertainment Weekly, the interviewer said, the holidays are ahead, and fans would surely appreciate one more gift from you.
Speaker A:What can you tease about the final eight episodes of the season?
Speaker A:Will Ronda Rousey's Lena come back and become Eddie's love interest at all?
Speaker B:Incredible.
Speaker B:I got that.
Speaker A:And I was just like, what?
Speaker A:When I read that, I was like that.
Speaker A:Who asked that?
Speaker C:Was that the interviewer?
Speaker A:That was from Entertainment.
Speaker A:The Entertainment Weekly article.
Speaker A:I was just kind of taken aback.
Speaker A:I was like, what?
Speaker A:And so Tim said, you're gonna have to take that up with Twitter.
Speaker A:Twitter was not happy with Lena moving on.
Speaker A:Smart man.
Speaker A:Moving in on Eddie.
Speaker A:I don't think she was.
Speaker C:I don't think so either.
Speaker A:For Tim, Lena was never intended to be a love interest.
Speaker A:She was just somebody that could give him a different point of view on things because she wasn't in the inner circle.
Speaker A:But you never know who it might be.
Speaker A:And then the interviewer asks, does this mean Eddie will definitely be getting a love interest?
Speaker A:And Tim says, I don't think you can walk around looking like Ryan Guzman and not have a love interest.
Speaker A:We don't have to keep that part in, but I Just thought you guys needed to know.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Tim, I'm so sure of us.
Speaker C:He's always said it.
Speaker B:He's always said it.
Speaker C:He said it, he said it.
Speaker B:So when you show up to who's more obsessed with the Ryan Gmont and.
Speaker A:To my nearest opponent and I'm just like.
Speaker A:And he doesn't get a love interest in season three either.
Speaker A:Well, besides Buck, he does anyways.
Speaker A:So I just thought you guys needed to hear that specifically.
Speaker A:Anyway, moving on.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And then for production stuff, there were also a couple pieces in the interviews where Tim was teasing what was going to become coming up next because again, this episode was the mid season finale and I don't think they came back until March.
Speaker A:So this, this episode aired in like the beginning of December and I think the next one 311 is March 16th.
Speaker A:So that is, that's a long hiatus.
Speaker A:But I did think it was interesting how much they, they did know what, where they were going with the season, which again, I think they, they plan things out very much ahead of time.
Speaker A:But the most part like they, they make a plan and then sometimes they throw the plan away.
Speaker A:I think season three was very succinctly planned.
Speaker A:So Tim was teasing about Eddie Begins, which is episode 315.
Speaker A:So that's a bit away.
Speaker A:And he said we're going to tell the story of what it was like for Eddie when he first learned of Chris's diagnosis, the difficulties that ended up in the dissolution of his marriage.
Speaker A:And also we're going to see how he won that silver Star in Afghanistan.
Speaker A:We think we know that story, but we'll come to learn that it's not as simple as we thought.
Speaker A:And then he was also teasing a little bit about the Josh storyline, which we'll see in 3:12 and which will lead into the Taking of dispatch with 314.
Speaker A:And I think both of those were also written by Andrew Myers.
Speaker A:I'm barely certain which ones.
Speaker A:312, which I think is fools, and 314, which is taking of Dispatch.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:So those are both Andrew Meyer's projects.
Speaker B:Which I think is really cool.
Speaker B:He co wrote the Taking of Dispatch with Nadia Basmatin.
Speaker A:Just stuff to keep in mind.
Speaker A:Needle dropped.
Speaker B:Okay, great.
Speaker B:So all of these songs are Christmas songs.
Speaker B:There's not a lot to get into here.
Speaker B:But they had a couple really funny needle drops.
Speaker B:Starting with when Michael is coming out of the mall.
Speaker B:It's playing Winter Wonderland where it says walking in a winter wonderland and then he walks through a glass door.
Speaker B:Made me laugh.
Speaker A:And it looks like it's Snowing Glass.
Speaker B:And then we have the.
Speaker B:The Bluetooth lady.
Speaker B:And that's playing Christmas.
Speaker A:I should have called it that.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:There were a lot of blue jokes.
Speaker A:Darn it.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker A:Continue.
Speaker A:That was really good.
Speaker B:And it's playing Blue Christmas song by Kelly Clarkson.
Speaker B:So just.
Speaker B:Just funny.
Speaker B:And then we have.
Speaker B:I was like, why didn't they just play on blue?
Speaker B:Because it's Christmas.
Speaker B:I know, I know.
Speaker B:And we have two Christmas songs at the family gathering at the 118 that I'll mention quickly.
Speaker B:So like when it first starts and everyone gets there, it's playing what Christmas Means to Me by Stevie Wonder.
Speaker B:Not the Hanson version, which is my favorite, but it just plays like the first.
Speaker B:I want to say, like third of that song.
Speaker B:And I think it's just very like 118 with their, like, significant others, but.
Speaker B:And each other.
Speaker B:So it's like I see your smiling face Like I never seen before Even though I love you madly it seems I love you more the little cards you'll give me Will touch my heart for sure all these things and more Darling, that's what Christmas means to me, my love so it's like I love you all year, but like, this part of the year is special and it just makes me love you even more.
Speaker A:That's so cute.
Speaker B:There's some parts in there about mistletoe.
Speaker A:Oh, interesting.
Speaker B:It's not playing at opportune moments.
Speaker B:I checked.
Speaker A:Darn.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:Then we have Please Come Home for Christmas sung by Aaron Neville.
Speaker B:I always say sung by with Christmas songs.
Speaker B:I don't know who the originally wrote most of these.
Speaker A:Probably someone Jewish.
Speaker A:I'm not kidding.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker B:Most of.
Speaker A:Most of the classic Christmas songs are written by Jewish people.
Speaker B:Jewish people love Christmas.
Speaker A:Can.
Speaker A:Can confirm.
Speaker B:Anyway, I'm not going to read any lyrics from this song, but it's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's a song about someone being depressed during Christmas and like begging their significant other to come home.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And it's playing like, while Michael is giving the news about his brain tumor.
Speaker B:So I thought it was like poignant for like the like sad vibes of it for that, but also like, because he feels so like displaced and out of, you know, out of the nuclear family.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's it.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:So cute.
Speaker A:And also depressing.
Speaker A:I don't know if you guys have any parallels or foreshadowing, but there was one.
Speaker A:One more quote from one of the articles and the interviewer asked, with everything going on with Michael, can we assume Bobby is clear of all cancer danger?
Speaker A:And I Hate that we're watching this now so much.
Speaker A:Tim said, I think we can rest pretty easy with Bobby right now.
Speaker A:I mean, for me it was.
Speaker A:You never know.
Speaker A:But, you know, all of his tests have been clear.
Speaker A:And from a writerly point of view, for me, it was about kind of the head faint of having you worry about Bobby so that I can hit you with the Michael thing.
Speaker A:Head faint is basically just like red herring, right?
Speaker A:It had us very worried about Bobby, so then we weren't worried so much about Michael, even though he was having, like, the actual bad things happen to him.
Speaker A:And I think they kind of.
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:They kind of use this a number of times.
Speaker A:I think they also did this a little bit with Shannon's death in season two, where, like, the mom who was giving birth, she died, but then she was okay, and then have it, like, subverted for.
Speaker A:For Shannon and stuff like that.
Speaker A:So just.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker A:And they use that again with the contagion arc.
Speaker A:They had the.
Speaker A:That head faint thing.
Speaker A:So they had you work.
Speaker A:Had us really worried about Chimney, who has nine lives.
Speaker A:So, like, he's fine.
Speaker A:And then it was like, oh, so he could hit us with the Bobby thing.
Speaker A:And I'm not over it.
Speaker A:So just bringing a little more depression into this depressing holiday episode.
Speaker A:And then just kind of a little bit of either foreshadowing or parallels, whichever one you choose to.
Speaker A:To take this as the parent NDEs right with like, Michael, Bobby, specifically in this episode, Leo and his mom.
Speaker A:Like, what, like, what would happen to the little boy Leo if his mom didn't make it?
Speaker A:And to me, that was.
Speaker A:That is really kind of like foreshadowing Eddie's NDE coming up very soon in just a few episodes.
Speaker A:And especially because the, well is like the impetus for Eddie deciding to put Buck in his will.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So we're seeing that with.
Speaker A:With Michael and Bobby and.
Speaker A:And Michael being very, you know, glad that the kids have Bobby and what would happen to.
Speaker A:To kid if their only parent is no, can't be around anymore, and then they have to go into the system and all that stuff.
Speaker A:So I think that is like, very like, those are.
Speaker A:That's tied into like, Michael and Bobby, but I think it's also very tied into Eddie as well.
Speaker A:So uplifting, guys.
Speaker B:It's so funny because, like, I keep watching these episodes and going, wow, this is really depressing.
Speaker B:But it's so interesting, though, because it's just like it is their best season.
Speaker B:So it's like.
Speaker A:And it is the most.
Speaker A:It's the most depressing.
Speaker A:Season consistently.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:This is why I had to take that.
Speaker A:That break.
Speaker A:When I got to season four originally.
Speaker B:It was like Covid on top.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because I was just like, it's.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Too many slices.
Speaker B:I get it.
Speaker A:All right, so we'll go over some themes very briefly.
Speaker A:I think they're going to be fairly obvious.
Speaker A:Did you want to do yours first?
Speaker B:Oh, I don't really know.
Speaker B:This is not a concise theme, but sorry about your trauma.
Speaker B:Here's some money.
Speaker A:Can you explain that?
Speaker A:And it seems to be.
Speaker B:It seems to be a Buckley theme, specifically this season.
Speaker B:Sorry you got kidnapped and almost murdered by your husband.
Speaker B:Here's some money.
Speaker B:Sorry you got crushed by a ladder truck and abandoned by your family.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:I didn't even connect that as like a Buckley thing.
Speaker A:Oh, interesting.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:And it's like neither one of them have any interest of money.
Speaker B:Like, not even like a little.
Speaker B:Like, oh, like, I hate where this came from.
Speaker B:But they're trust.
Speaker B:So be so real.
Speaker B:The place that Maddie moves into after running away from, like, all of her belongings and assets and talking about how it's going to be fun to acquire new.
Speaker B:I'm like, you're a trust fund kid.
Speaker B:That is, if you were a normal person, you would be taking some of Abby's dishes instead of making jokes about it.
Speaker A:Like, like, yeah, they're trust fund kids, but they have absolutely no attachment to money.
Speaker B:No, that's because they're trust fund kids.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So they're not motivated by money because they've never had to worry about money.
Speaker B:But yeah, I just thought that was like an interesting connection for them both to have.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, I mean, hers is only like almost half a million dollars only.
Speaker B:And then Buck had, you know, like millions and millions, and it was like he wouldn't have to work for life when we looked that up.
Speaker B:And it was.
Speaker B:It was a substantial amount of money.
Speaker B:So anyway, that was mine.
Speaker A:Like seven figures minimum.
Speaker A:Probably would have been more.
Speaker B:Hold on, let me look it up again.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker B:Five to $10 million in order to retire comfortably in your 30s in LA.
Speaker A:And it was almost definitely more than that.
Speaker A:All right, so these are obviously going to have a lot of tie into the holiday season.
Speaker A:So just like so much of 91 1, just in general, where, you know, you have to confront your past traumas that you never really let go of.
Speaker A:Facing your.
Speaker A:Your past traumas head on.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So, like, the ghost of Christmas has passed, if you will.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And how, like learning.
Speaker A:Learning how to leave those traumas in the past.
Speaker A:Like, actually in the past and embrace the present and the theme of the show and let go.
Speaker B:I was laughing at present.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:Past and present.
Speaker A:And then we have finding joy specifically in the holiday season.
Speaker A:So remembering, like, you want to remember and honor the things that are worth celebrating.
Speaker A:However, we see so much in this episode that, like, just real life sucks and you have the stress of everything that's just ruining the holiday spirit.
Speaker A:So everything that they've been going through up to this point has been really heavy stuff.
Speaker A:And then kind of just like the less heavy stuff, like just working on Christmas, having to work on the holidays and not be with your family.
Speaker A:So that kind of takes the wind out of the sails a little bit.
Speaker A:And even the Bluetooth girl, I think her name is.
Speaker A:Is it Lorna?
Speaker A:I'm not sure we learned that in this episode.
Speaker A:It is Lorna.
Speaker B:Oh, I forgot to.
Speaker A:I forgot to mention in parallels that we see Lorna again, the bluetooth girl in 8:17 randomly, also with more tooth injury, which really sucks for her.
Speaker A:And it's just like a weird callback.
Speaker A:I still haven't quite figured that out.
Speaker C:But I don't understand that callback.
Speaker A:She's there.
Speaker B:Was it the same Raiders?
Speaker A:No, it was not Andrew Myers.
Speaker A:That was Molly Green and James Leffler, I think.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was 8:17.
Speaker B:A favor for.
Speaker B:A favor for Andrew Myers.
Speaker A:A favor for Andrew Myers.
Speaker A:Maybe.
Speaker A:Maybe the only.
Speaker A:The only reason I can think about tying that in is because this episode, like, we were so worried about Bobby for so much of it.
Speaker A:So, like, maybe bringing that.
Speaker A:Bringing her back in to, like, think about that.
Speaker A:But that's like a really, like, kind of weirdly roundabout way to do so.
Speaker A:Yeah, it might have just been funny.
Speaker B:I mean, that's always an option, too.
Speaker A:Maybe they just needed like.
Speaker A:Like, they had the idea of, like, the dentist and.
Speaker A:And the.
Speaker A:The methane water, and they were like, oh, here's someone who already dealt with, like, tooth issues way back, like, five years ago.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Anyways, so.
Speaker A:So back to themes.
Speaker A:But, like, working on Christmas and how that takes the wind out of the sails and just kind of sucks.
Speaker A:Like, even the Bluetooth girl, Lorna, has to work on Christmas, and she's like, what kind of loser has to work on Christmas?
Speaker A:Meanwhile, she's looking at the losers who are working on Christmas and helping her, and they're like, we know it sucks.
Speaker A:You don't have to remind us.
Speaker A:So just like, those little things that, like, kind of defeat the Christmas spirit a little bit and Then another theme that we see very heavily focused on in season three is this feeling of displaced or this feeling of, like, searching for belonging.
Speaker A:And we see that a lot with Michael.
Speaker A:Like, this has been kind of breadcrumbed for us for a number of episodes.
Speaker A:And kind of like in.
Speaker A:In terms of the way that I saw it for Maddie, like a reclaiming of sense of self.
Speaker A:So, like belonging in the life that she has now as opposed to, like, belonging in the past a little bit, or feeling displaced, like she doesn't feel like being there.
Speaker A:And displacement also in the way of, like, they're not home with their families on Christmas, so they're not where they're supposed to be, similarly to the trauma stuff, is like feeling helpless.
Speaker A:We get stuff with Maddie about that.
Speaker A:We get some stuff with like, some of the.
Speaker A:I don't know what else I was going to put in there.
Speaker A:Just feeling helpless.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's in there.
Speaker A:You can figure that out.
Speaker A:Or feeling.
Speaker A:Feeling helpless.
Speaker A:Like there's nothing.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker A:It's coming back to me now.
Speaker A:It's about control, which is a season theme as well.
Speaker A:Sometimes I don't explain.
Speaker A:I don't have time to explain things in here.
Speaker A:And then I forget why I put up.
Speaker A:This is why I have to.
Speaker A:This is why I have to write notes.
Speaker A:It's about loss of control, right?
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker A:Loss of control and feeling helpless.
Speaker A:Like you can't do anything and it's Christmas time.
Speaker A:You can't spend the time with the families.
Speaker A:And even like Leo with his mom, he's feeling helpless.
Speaker A:He thinks he hurt her, but he saved her.
Speaker A:Maddie's feeling helpless.
Speaker A:Michael's feeling.
Speaker A:Everybody's feeling helpless.
Speaker A:Buck is feeling helpless because he can't do anything for Bobby.
Speaker A:Control.
Speaker C:Amazing.
Speaker B:It's just the fact that we're a podcast.
Speaker B:We're supposed to break things down for people.
Speaker B:And you were like, figure it out.
Speaker A:Our listeners are smart.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah, they tell us.
Speaker A:I can just point at some point thing.
Speaker A:It's like, can you.
Speaker A:Can you help me out with this one?
Speaker B:Can you tell us actually do our work for us?
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:That's why you.
Speaker A:And then.
Speaker A:And oh, and then we have.
Speaker A:And then we have also heavily Featured in Season 3 Parent Child Relationships.
Speaker A:So you have parents not wanting to disappoint the kids.
Speaker A:Like the.
Speaker A:The first call with the parents, like trampling each other and pepper spraying each other trying to get the toys.
Speaker A:But you also have kids assuming more responsibility.
Speaker A:So in terms of like Leo saving his mom and Buck, you know, Taking.
Speaker A:Taking on some of the.
Speaker A:The idea of making this whole Christmas party.
Speaker A:And so you have, like, more responsibility in the way of, like, the.
Speaker A:The kids or the kid figures, trying to make the holiday special for the parents.
Speaker A:And I mean, we see.
Speaker A:We see that with every.
Speaker A:Everything in here.
Speaker A:And then similarly, what does family look like?
Speaker A:Because it doesn't have to be a nuclear family.
Speaker A:We're seeing that especially with Athena and Bobby and the kids and Michael.
Speaker A:We're seeing that with Bobby and Buck and.
Speaker A:And the greater 118.
Speaker A:You also have Hen and Karen saying that because it doesn't have to be there.
Speaker A:It doesn't have to be just like blood family.
Speaker A:It's just like the family that you find and the family that you grow organically.
Speaker C:Or do you mean the family that you choose?
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:Family you choose.
Speaker B:Also, I rewatched episode 11.
Speaker B:I have been saying that this one scene is at the end of season three.
Speaker B:It's in one of those episodes.
Speaker B:Oh, which one scene with the scene where everyone's at Eddie's house.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:I think it's in 3.
Speaker B:11 or 312.
Speaker A:Yeah, it sees the day.
Speaker A:That's 11.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:That's why I always mixed it up and thought it was at the end.
Speaker B:Like, it's the end of the season.
Speaker A:That's why I kept thinking it was at the end of season two, and it was not.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's all I have for themes.
Speaker A:We can move on now.
Speaker B:Okay, so let's jump into who's cooking the oven.
Speaker B:What's cooking.
Speaker B:It's not turkey.
Speaker A:It's takeout.
Speaker B:It's not delivery.
Speaker B:It's du jourge.
Speaker A:Listen, listen.
Speaker A:I am a. I am a big fan of.
Speaker A:Of Chinese food on Christmas also because I am Jewish and that is a tradition, so I get it.
Speaker A:But also, it's in my favorite Christmas movie.
Speaker A:Points to anyone who guesses what that is.
Speaker A:Crickets.
Speaker B:Who's cooking?
Speaker B:All right, so Hen and Karen have a storyline again.
Speaker B:We love to see it.
Speaker B:We don't love to continue seeing that.
Speaker B:It's still about their kids.
Speaker B:I mean, it's early days, so I guess we weren't tired about it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But it's just like, in retrospect, 7.
Speaker A:And 8, this was still, like, exciting for them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Well, it's.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's the beginnings.
Speaker C:It's the beginnings of.
Speaker C:Of their struggle to have a.
Speaker C:Another member of their family.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But it's like, you know what happened.
Speaker B:We know what happens because this is a rewatch.
Speaker B:So we know what happens with Mia, and it's just like, they're so painful, actually, any.
Speaker C:Yeah, they were happy.
Speaker B:I mean, they're happy at the end of the episode, but, like, you know, when Hen is over at Eddie's, she's like, yeah, this year has sucked.
Speaker B:Like, it has not been great for any of us.
Speaker B:And it has.
Speaker A:It has.
Speaker A:Or Karen going through all the IVF stuff.
Speaker A:Have.
Speaker A:And then, you know, losing all of the embryos and then, like, them having to mourn, like, the.
Speaker A:The realities and the possibilities of that.
Speaker A:And then this is coming from.
Speaker A:Still coming right off of Hen and the ambulance crash.
Speaker A:And so she's, like, still reeling from that a little bit.
Speaker C:Like, yeah, my girl is going through it.
Speaker A:Yeah, both of them.
Speaker B:But, you know, I do like that even though, you know, stuff has sucked and they're talking about how stuff has sucked, like, they're still making the best out of it because they're together and they're having a good time.
Speaker B:Hen is.
Speaker B:Is trying to leave the call with Leo's mom and this poor kid.
Speaker B:It's like, why was I allowed to go with her?
Speaker B:And of course, that, like, really tugs at her little heartstrings, especially because it's a kid and, you know, but she can't do anything because you can't just, like, take.
Speaker A:No, that's kidnapping.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:It's called kidnapping.
Speaker A:Mm.
Speaker B:So she goes.
Speaker B:I'm sure.
Speaker B:I'm sure she went home and told Karen about this.
Speaker B:We don't see.
Speaker B:See it, right?
Speaker A:We do see it.
Speaker B:We do.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:When they're getting the presents out of the attic.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker B:I don't think I paid attention.
Speaker A:That's why I said telling Karen about Leo's call.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I. I was just like, oh, they have so many presents.
Speaker B:And, like, they're like, oh, like, I knew they were talking about, like, kids being lucky, but, like, anyway, yeah, I think.
Speaker A:I think Ken and Karen really have a very grounded perspective on how lucky they are.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And it's really kind of shown how Karen specifically has kind of turned.
Speaker A:Turned this corner in.
Speaker A:In their, like, mourning process of.
Speaker A:Of losing, like, the IVF opportunities.
Speaker A:And, you know, they've.
Speaker A:They've gotten all of these gifts for Denny and just like, wow, this kid is so lucky to.
Speaker A:To have two parents who love him and who are able to be around during Christmas time.
Speaker A:And aren't we lucky that we have a kid who loves us?
Speaker A:And it's also a nice reminder that, like.
Speaker A:Because I think I forget which one of them says it, but like, they kind of consider.
Speaker A:They're like, where would.
Speaker A:I think it's Henry.
Speaker A:Where would Denny be if they hadn't taken him in?
Speaker A:Because again, like, Denny's not actually, like, blood related to either of them.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And they.
Speaker A:They just love him so much.
Speaker B:Think she specifically was like, would he have to be spending Christmas in a. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So I think they really have like a very, like, deeply profound perspective on family during holidays and.
Speaker A:And how, you know, a family doesn't have to look like a nuclear family.
Speaker A:You know, like 2.5 kids and a white picket fence and a dog or whatever.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I think they.
Speaker A:They really.
Speaker A:They really are aware of that in like a.
Speaker A:In a beautiful way, in a way that they are not taking anything for granted, especially with everything that's.
Speaker A:That's occurred for them in 3A.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I think they.
Speaker B:They both, like, together, but separately came to the conclusion that they wanted to try fostering.
Speaker B:And then they, you know, talk about it in front of everyone.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Which is naturally where you have conversations about expanding your family.
Speaker A:Well, because it's all.
Speaker A:It's all around family, so.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It kind of.
Speaker A:It kind of works out.
Speaker A:I. I do love.
Speaker A:I do love that part as well.
Speaker A:Natty time.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Daddy's going through it still again.
Speaker A:Continually.
Speaker B:It's like a law that at least one Buckley has to be going through it at all times.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Buckley's Law.
Speaker A:If it's not one, it's the other.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:We see her receiving this money that she wants nothing to do with because she feels like she murdered Doug.
Speaker B:Like, she feels guilty for killing him.
Speaker B:And she brings up like, Slayer's law, how, like, you can't inherit money if you murdered that person.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:But wasn't it because it was self defense?
Speaker B:Yes, exactly.
Speaker B:So she didn't murder him.
Speaker B:It was self defense.
Speaker B:So she inherits the assets because she was married to him and the hearse legally.
Speaker B:And she's.
Speaker B:She's like.
Speaker B:It feels like blood money and she doesn't want it.
Speaker B:Did we ever find out what the.
Speaker B:She does with this money?
Speaker A:Not in this episode.
Speaker B:I just feel like we don't talk about it.
Speaker A:I feel like maybe we do touch upon it, like maybe in another episode.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah, I don't think.
Speaker A:I don't think that's resolved yet because I think she was more working through.
Speaker B:The feelings around it.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:The money itself, like, like that's kind of a secondary.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Situation.
Speaker A:Like, in order.
Speaker A:In order to deal with the money, she has to deal with her feelings about what transpired finally.
Speaker B:And Chimney's with her.
Speaker B:I think that's important to note.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, he's there to.
Speaker A:He's there and with her and supporting her, and they just have, like, great communication because he also, like, speaks up for her as well.
Speaker A:Like, he advocates for her, too.
Speaker A:And it's a.
Speaker A:It's a really beautiful relationship that they've fostered, especially with Maddie, like, trying to.
Speaker A:To truly move on, move past the Doug thing.
Speaker A:Because I think once she does that, then she can, like, fully give herself to the life that she's building, especially the new.
Speaker A:The relationship that she's building with Chimney.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But she can't.
Speaker A:She can't do that.
Speaker A:She can't live in the present until she's defeated the.
Speaker A:Until she's killed the monster.
Speaker B:Final boss.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The ghost of Christmas is his ass.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Which I think is also the monster.
Speaker B:She already slayed the monster so many times.
Speaker A:But I. I do think it's kind of fitting, though, that, like, we're dealing with.
Speaker A:With Doug in this Christmas episode, because that's when we were introduced to him in.
Speaker A:In the Christmas episode last year.
Speaker A:So it's kind of like a lovely parallel mirror for that.
Speaker A:She's, like, closing the book, and she.
Speaker B:Says it in the office.
Speaker B:She's like, it's always Christmas.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And we know that Maddie, like, loves Christmas, so it.
Speaker A:It's hard for.
Speaker A:Or she loved Christmas, like, when she and Buck were younger.
Speaker A:It's also probably harder for her to deal with all of this because it's surrounding Christmas.
Speaker A:But she's.
Speaker A:She's still going to therapy with Frank, like, voluntarily.
Speaker A:And she's talking about how he's.
Speaker A:He just, like, every time she thinks she's done with him, he just, like, keeps popping back up and haunting her thoughts.
Speaker A:And I think Frank asks a really poignant question where he says, like, has she moved past him or just around him?
Speaker A:And I think that it's, like, a very subtle thing, but it's still, like, it's different.
Speaker A:It's not the same thing.
Speaker A:Especially because she's still, like, defining herself through Doug, through Doug in, like, the present tense.
Speaker A:Like, he's haunting her.
Speaker A:He's popping back up, like, all that, like, current tense of it.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And he really implores her.
Speaker A:Frank really implores her that, like, it might.
Speaker A:It's time for Maddie to live a life that's purely hers because so much of her adult life has been attached to Doug.
Speaker A:And I think she said she was 19 when they got.
Speaker A:When they met.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I just think that's really interesting.
Speaker A:Like, 19, specifically.
Speaker A:Also a very important age for someone else.
Speaker A:Kind of Maddie coded, I just pointed out.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:So Frank tells her that, like, she.
Speaker A:She can live a life not after Doug, but without him.
Speaker A:So, like, completely removing him from the equation, as opposed to, like, a before Doug and an after.
Speaker A:You know, he proposes exposure therapy to.
Speaker A:To really face things head on in a very literal manner.
Speaker A:And they.
Speaker A:They both travel up to Big Bear to retrace Maddie's footsteps and.
Speaker A:And she sees the cabin, but it's really the woods that.
Speaker A:That are kind of.
Speaker A:It's kind of like where it happened, right?
Speaker A:Where.
Speaker A:Where he truly hurt her.
Speaker A:And Maddie does, like, this whole healing thing, which I think the.
Speaker A:The monologue that she has is really beautiful.
Speaker A:And it's all about forgiveness.
Speaker A:And she starts by forgiving Doug, which, like, he doesn't deserve, but she does that more for her, for herself.
Speaker A:But then she forgives herself as well, which I think is what was really needed.
Speaker A:She says, I forgive myself for loving you too much, for staying too long, and for not dying with him.
Speaker A:She's deciding to live, which I think is another beautiful parallel to Fight or Flight from last season, because this is the moment where Maddie decides to live and, like, literally leave Doug behind.
Speaker A:But also in Fight or Flight, when she was literally fighting for her life.
Speaker A:And, you know, she.
Speaker A:If you remember, like, she.
Speaker A:She stabbed him and.
Speaker A:And she, like, did the thing and she kind of collapsed, right.
Speaker A:And closed her eyes.
Speaker A:Like she was.
Speaker A:She was ready to let go in that sense.
Speaker A:But then she made the conscious decision to live and to keep fighting, and.
Speaker A:Which is another one of season three's themes as well, like, to keep on fighting.
Speaker A:So she's.
Speaker A:She made the decision to live last year, but now she's making the decision to live without Doug.
Speaker A:Like, she survived him, and she'll never be sorry for that.
Speaker A:And I think that's.
Speaker A:It's a great.
Speaker A:Like, if you look at those two things together, like, it shows the difference there.
Speaker A:Like, you can.
Speaker A:You can still live, but are you really living?
Speaker A:And this is.
Speaker A:That's her deciding that Michael.
Speaker B:Oh, my.
Speaker A:Michael is also going through it.
Speaker A:Like, you know, what season I relate.
Speaker B:To Michael so much because, like, being depressed and gay.
Speaker A:Oh, man, what a combo.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So Michael, simultaneously is, like, a husband, father of the year, but also, like, the loneliest boy in the world.
Speaker B:We see him, like, setting up a tree with May and Harry, and he's doing it for Athena.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because, like, this is her holiday and she goes crazy for it, but, like, she's so worried about Bobby and, like, she's out with him as he's getting one of his regularly scheduled tests to see if he's gonna become the Hulk radioact.
Speaker B:I was like, am I making a Hulk or an imagine dragon stroke?
Speaker B:I had to decide.
Speaker B:I'm glad we have both.
Speaker B:So, yeah, so he's having a great time.
Speaker B:He's like, oh, like, who's gonna make the popcorn?
Speaker B:And then he sees, like, an ornament that's like an old family photo of the four of them before he didn't live there anymore.
Speaker B:And he just kind of, like, is triggered.
Speaker B:And we've seen that a couple of times this season where it's just like, he feels very much like, outside of the dynamic and lonely, even though, like, he is still very much involved.
Speaker B:But it's always inherently going to be different when you don't live in the house.
Speaker B:Like, yeah, you're still co parenting, but.
Speaker A:Like, you don't live in the house.
Speaker B:And there's another co parent added in the mix.
Speaker B:So, like, he feels different.
Speaker A:Very much like he's looking in from the outside.
Speaker A:Like, he, like, again, he's.
Speaker A:He's been displaced.
Speaker A:Like, he's been.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I don't know that he.
Speaker A:Maybe a little bit.
Speaker A:He feels like he's been replaced.
Speaker A:I think he logically knows that's not what's happening, but that's still kind of how it feels.
Speaker A:And even though, you know, both Athena and Bobby have done so much to reassure him, like, you're part of this family, too.
Speaker A:You're.
Speaker A:This is still your house.
Speaker A:Like, you're.
Speaker A:We're all together.
Speaker B:But he has, on a level, like, been literally replaced because he doesn't live in the house anymore and Bobby does.
Speaker B:So, like, he.
Speaker B:He has been to some, to some extent of, like, what his previous role was.
Speaker B:So he, you know, he.
Speaker B:He runs away as he's like, I don't want to talk about it.
Speaker B:And he's trying to, like, deal with his emotions and not make it other people's problems again.
Speaker B:Relatable.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:He's also really just, like, shying away from leaning on everybody.
Speaker A:And we know so much of this season, like, 911 in general, is about support systems.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you have to lean on people, and he's not doing that at all, which is further isolating himself.
Speaker A:So it's just like, exacerbating this feeling.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's this constant cycle of him feeling out of place, but also like not stepping into, you know, like their welcome arms.
Speaker B:It's that like self fulfilling prophecy kind of thing where it's like you're feeling a type of way so you pull away and then you make it worse for yourself.
Speaker B:So relatable.
Speaker A:I do that?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:It's so relatable.
Speaker B:It's not a great thing to do.
Speaker B:Like just don't do it.
Speaker A:Easier said than done though.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's hard when you just feel like a certain type of way.
Speaker C:You're like, maybe it's best if I do remove myself at a situation.
Speaker C:Maybe I'm like, it's like under the guise of like trying to regulate.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But it's actually not.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because I think sometimes I do for mine and other people's benefit where it's like we have regular weekly hangouts and if I'm really feeling so dysregulated that I think I'm gonna be like snippy or just like, you know that it's not going to help me and I might just like bring everyone else down.
Speaker B:I'm like, I'm just going to like take time to myself tonight.
Speaker B:But if that's something that I just continue to keep doing, then that's going to make that worse and worse and worse.
Speaker A:Yeah, so I do that where I'm like, if I'm.
Speaker A:If I'm feeling.
Speaker A:And I don't want to be around anybody, which is when you know something's wrong with you.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But then, but then if like I kind of drag my feet and, and like interact with somebody in any kind of way, honestly, then I just feel so much better about it.
Speaker A:But, but it's like that, that warring within yourself of, you know, doing, doing the thing that, you know, is kind of gonna make you feel better in the long run or wallowing in, in isolation a little bit.
Speaker A:And when you're in that feeling, you want to stay wallowing, but it's.
Speaker A:But you need someone to kind of like drag you, drag you back out.
Speaker B:Pull you out and like hold a mirror of reality up to you.
Speaker B:It's like, I know your brainworms have been telling you that everyone hates you, but that's stupid.
Speaker B:Stop it.
Speaker A:But that's not true.
Speaker A:Yeah, stop it.
Speaker B:Stop it.
Speaker B:So he does get that.
Speaker B:He does get that.
Speaker A:I don't think he's willing to hear it yet.
Speaker B:No, I think he, I think he heard it and listened to some extent, but I still don't think he's really feeling it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, but I think it was still good that he talked to Athena about it and, like, got that.
Speaker B:That reassurance and like, just.
Speaker B:I love their family dynamic and, like, how far they've come and that their communication and, like, how much they still love and support each other.
Speaker B:Not just the kids, but each other is like, so beautiful.
Speaker B:And, you know, I.
Speaker B:So I think we get a lot more of, like, Bobby and Michael lately than we do, like Athena and Michael as far as, like, bigger, deeper, more meaningful conversations.
Speaker B:So I love when we still get to see, you know, how much they still care about each other.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think also because, like, they have to establish the Michael and Bobby stuff more because we already know, like, Athena and Michael, like, they have such a deep love for each other, even though it's, like, more platonic now that, like, you don't.
Speaker A:You don't have to do as much in the story for that.
Speaker A:So, like, just the little things for them where.
Speaker A:Where you know, Athena comes in and Michael's about to head out, he's like, you know, love you and like, like they still are very effusive with their.
Speaker A:With their care for each other, but I do love that they are building up the Michael and Bobby friendship so much, especially when they were.
Speaker A:They had come to blows last season.
Speaker A:And like, they're really working on making their, like, their non nuclear family, like a cohesive unit.
Speaker A:Like, feels so real.
Speaker A:Yeah, I miss me too.
Speaker B:Miss them so much.
Speaker B:I was just thinking while I was watching this episode, I was like, bring Michael back.
Speaker B:I don't care if you have to recast him.
Speaker A:He can have a different face.
Speaker A:I really don't care.
Speaker B:I miss the dynamic and it's like, what dynamic?
Speaker C:Now Bobby's dead.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:For a moment, I'm talking about, like, Athena.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:She's gonna meet someone.
Speaker B:In reality, it would make sense for him to, like, you know, taking away the fiction of it all, but, like, if these were real people, I think it would make sense for him to.
Speaker A:Move back, to be someone that she could lean on.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:In that way.
Speaker C:Because it's not only her, it's also the kids too.
Speaker B:Kids.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because they've lost a father figure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Luckily they still have one off screen.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Anyway.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:So I think.
Speaker B:I think that is where, like, Michael, like, before Athena shows up, that he does find out that he has a tumor.
Speaker A:Yeah, at the hospital.
Speaker B:Yeah, at the hospital.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But he lies about it.
Speaker A:He does.
Speaker A:Because he says later, like, they did scans and they were.
Speaker A:And they found the.
Speaker A:The tumor and So I think you can kind of see, especially on.
Speaker A:On Rewatch, like, he does look shaken up.
Speaker A:I mean, you could, you could assume that's because of the whole, like, walking through the glass door incident.
Speaker A:But I think he's really trying to like, tamp stuff down and like, assure Athena, like, it's nothing.
Speaker A:It's fine.
Speaker A:I'll get it checked out later.
Speaker A:Meanwhile, he's like, processing something life changing, but he's doing it on his own.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Even though Athena is right there in front of him saying, you don't have to do this on your own.
Speaker A:I'm worried about you.
Speaker B:Reminds me of someone.
Speaker A:I wonder who this could be.
Speaker A:And, and I think it also, like, it's at.
Speaker A:It's at this point where, where he kind of admits one of the other things that's been plaguing him where it's his first Christmas alone because he doesn't have.
Speaker B:He's not dating anyone.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:I could not remember his name.
Speaker B:It's like whatever the dude's name was.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think it was like three times.
Speaker A:Because last year he had Glenn, so he wasn't actually like alone during Christmas.
Speaker A:But this is the first year where he doesn't have a.
Speaker A:Well, he doesn't have a partner like at all because every year before them was alone.
Speaker B:Literally.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And so like, he.
Speaker A:He does admit that.
Speaker A:So there's like a little bit of a give there.
Speaker A:And Athena consoles him.
Speaker A:Like, he's not alone.
Speaker A:He has friends and family who love him.
Speaker A:She includes all of them.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But it doesn't feel that way for him.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I know I skipped it just because of the natural progression of what I was saying.
Speaker B:He was having trouble sleeping and taking meds and, you know, I guess like his brain was feeling lonely and missing home.
Speaker B:And so he.
Speaker A:He sleep drove, which is terrifying.
Speaker B:Which is terrifying.
Speaker B:And crawled into bed with Athena and she's horrified.
Speaker A:Almost.
Speaker A:Almost like a, like a muscle memory.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Type of thing, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And, you know, it's.
Speaker B:It's kind of funny until, like, he wakes up and he's just like, what the hell?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:Like the emotion is just like, he again, looks like he wants to run away and he's trying to give his key back because he's like, you know, to prevent me from doing this again.
Speaker B:But I think it's, you know, we know it's more than that.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's him being like, I don't belong here anymore.
Speaker B:Like, this isn't my house because there's.
Speaker A:Like, regular old embarrassment about it, which, like, you could laugh off.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, that's fine.
Speaker A:It happens.
Speaker A:It doesn't happen often, but I'm sure it happens.
Speaker A:But the way he, like, internalizes that embarrassment, he's placed himself back into somewhere where he feel like he doesn't fit anymore just because it's what was like he's been used to.
Speaker A:And again, kind of like a muscle memory.
Speaker A:And I think.
Speaker A:I think that's what really, like, spooks him, that it was so easy for.
Speaker A:For him to fall back into that kind of habitual, like, coming back home to the house that he built with the family that he made.
Speaker B:Driving home that feeling that he already was having of like, I, I don't belong here anymore, and I, yeah, I am alone.
Speaker A:He really came face to face with that in, like, a very vulnerable and embarrassing way.
Speaker A:And, yeah, it's just exacerbated by the fact that I think he was being very nostalgic because this is his first Christmas alone.
Speaker A:He saw that ornament, and it made him think back on all the Christmases that they'd spent together.
Speaker A:So, like, all of this is happening at one.
Speaker A:Like, his head must be so exhausting to walk through right now also because of the brain tumor.
Speaker A:Like, just so full of not great stuff.
Speaker B:Including.
Speaker A:Including cancer.
Speaker B:My God.
Speaker B:Anyway, I guess transitioning.
Speaker B:Speaking of cancer, Bobby is, like, sitting at the table with Athena and Buck, and it's a cute moment, but he's.
Speaker B:He looks up and he sees Michael looking, you know, he's.
Speaker B:He's standing in a room full of crowd of people looking sad.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:He's surrounded by all of his family.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But he's off by himself, just, like, looking depressed.
Speaker B:So he walks over there to, like, have a quintessential, like, Bobby and Michael chat.
Speaker B:And he tries to again, just, like, brush it off and be like, yeah, I'm fine.
Speaker B:And Bobby's like, he was not fine.
Speaker B:Be so for real right now.
Speaker B:And he does get Bob.
Speaker B:He does get Michael to open up, because that's was Bobby's superpower.
Speaker A:Listen, when we're doing the rewatches, it is current events.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Okay, I'm nixing all past tense on Bobby speak.
Speaker A:When we're doing the rewatches, he's alive and well.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:In my mind now.
Speaker A:When we're doing these rewatches.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:Anyway, that's his superpower for now.
Speaker B:He's dead.
Speaker B:Deal with it.
Speaker A:I'm not Bobby alive.
Speaker A:Maxing.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker B:You're like, Bobby is dead.
Speaker B:Talking, denying.
Speaker B:You just don't want to talk about it.
Speaker B:You're still in the denial phase.
Speaker A:I'm not in the.
Speaker B:Anyways, you're in the denial phase of, like, you don't want to talk about it.
Speaker B:You're like, if I don't talk about it, it's not real.
Speaker B:It can't hurt me.
Speaker A:I can still talk about it.
Speaker B:Anyway, just to wrap up Michael in this conversation, like, he tells.
Speaker B:He opens up and.
Speaker B:And, you know, tells Bobby about the tumor, but then he, like, I guess I'm not to tell anyone.
Speaker B:He's like, let me just have, like, this Christmas to be, like, normal and enjoy it before, you know, I tell everyone.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that's a lot to put on Bobby as well.
Speaker B:Like, it is, but, like, also, what was he gonna do?
Speaker B:Like, walk out there and be like, tell everyone right now at this Christmas party that you have a brain tumor?
Speaker A:And Bobby would never.
Speaker A:But I think there's also, like, this.
Speaker A:This aspect of.
Speaker A:That we see kind of throughout like, multiple seasons of 911 or, like, you know, this aspect of, like, secret keeping a little bit and having that, like, burden being placed upon you.
Speaker A:I mean, I guess that's just, like, storytelling and TV in general is like, that creates drama, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But there's something specifically with.
Speaker A:With 911 about that as well.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I don't think, like, stays secret for that long, because I think doesn't it come out with, like, seize the day or something?
Speaker A:But yes, it's Michael watching from the outside, and.
Speaker A:And then he finally lets Bobby in.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:And I do really love that because, like.
Speaker A:And I think that's one of the reasons why he tells Bobby, as opposed to Athena, because Athena would go into, like, fix it mode also, like, someone else we know.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But Bobby is more of a.
Speaker A:Just kind of like a.
Speaker A:An ear to listen and a shoulder to lean on.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:He doesn't have to fix it right now.
Speaker A:He just is.
Speaker A:Is gonna say he's holding space with Michael and, like, even a little later, like, when they take the picture all together, like, Bobby kind of, like, supports Michael and kind of gives him a look of understanding.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:Like, they're in this together a little bit.
Speaker A:Like, Michael really is part of the family and, like, assuring him of that, which is nice.
Speaker B:So Bobby is really about, like, other people in this episode, and not much about Bobby, but there is this really cute scene with him and Athena in bed, and he gets the, like, final results back from his final test.
Speaker B:And he's all clear, and he's not radioactive and he's not the Hulk.
Speaker B:Which I guess happy in this moment.
Speaker B:Sad for us five seasons later because.
Speaker A:He could have been indestructible.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:You know, and it's just like, a really good moment between them where she's like, I feel like I can finally breathe.
Speaker B:Like, I can, like, enjoy the holiday.
Speaker A:Finally.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like a weight has been lifted off of her.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And Bobby, I'm sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And she was like, oh, some good news.
Speaker B:Like, it's finally making it feel like more in the spirit of the holidays.
Speaker B:And he's.
Speaker B:Oh, my God, he's so corny and romantic and cute.
Speaker B:And it's like.
Speaker B:He's like, Christmas Eve is.
Speaker B:Is more important to me because it's the day that you said yes.
Speaker B:And it's so cute.
Speaker A:It is really cute.
Speaker C:I love them.
Speaker A:I miss them.
Speaker C:I hate that they're gone.
Speaker B:Me too.
Speaker B:And then it's spicy.
Speaker B:And then she's like.
Speaker B:She's like, you five hours before your alarm goes off.
Speaker B:Let's see what else I'll say yes to.
Speaker B:And then they turn the lights off, and it fades to black.
Speaker B:Very cute.
Speaker A:It's so cute.
Speaker A:And I think it is, like, a nice little reminder with, like, the whole, like, Michael saying it's his first Christmas alone.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:But at the beginning of the episode, Michael reminds us that it's Bobby's first Christmas with his new family.
Speaker A:And technically, it's, like, the second.
Speaker A:But, like, officially.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:As.
Speaker A:As a married couple.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Living in.
Speaker A:Living in that house.
Speaker B:He wasn't living there.
Speaker A:Yeah, so.
Speaker B:Because he wouldn't live with her until they were married.
Speaker A:So cute.
Speaker B:Because sin.
Speaker A:Oh, Catholic Bobby.
Speaker A:Pick and choose.
Speaker B:Sex before marriage.
Speaker B:Fine.
Speaker B:Living together.
Speaker B:That's crossing.
Speaker A:Oh, no.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So it's like a nice.
Speaker A:It's a nice reminder that, like, this is still new for them as well.
Speaker A:And, like, they can make so many more memories.
Speaker A:And now I'm gonna make myself sad.
Speaker A:Let's move on.
Speaker B:Anyway, it's time to dissect a Christmas party.
Speaker B:Hey.
Speaker A:Where'S the fire?
Speaker A:Actually.
Speaker A:Actually about to make myself really sad.
Speaker C:Stop that.
Speaker B:There's no crying in baseball, Rachel.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:What she said.
Speaker A:Have you met me?
Speaker A:I've cried during so many baseball games.
Speaker A:My God, it's the most sentimental sport.
Speaker A:Okay, have you seen those videos?
Speaker B:Have you seen soccer?
Speaker B:I was like, true.
Speaker A:Soccer's emotional.
Speaker A:I think baseball is the most sentimental.
Speaker A:Oh, soccer is very emotional.
Speaker A:Baseball's the most sentimental.
Speaker B:Anyway, this is not about baseball.
Speaker B:This is about Chris.
Speaker B:We get here because I said there's no crying in baseball.
Speaker A:Because I was getting emotional over Bobby.
Speaker B:Bobby.
Speaker C:There was a.
Speaker B:There was a.
Speaker C:There was a moment in the episode where I think Michael says.
Speaker C:Says his name.
Speaker C:And I was like, oh, he's saying it like how I would say, like, Bobby.
Speaker B:It was like very.
Speaker B:I was like, oh, there you are.
Speaker A:Yeah, there you are, Bobby.
Speaker B:Anyway, Christmas party.
Speaker A:Jesus.
Speaker A:It's his birthday.
Speaker B:It's actually not.
Speaker A:I know who's birthday.
Speaker A:It's in April.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is ironic.
Speaker B:Jesus's birthday.
Speaker B:That's what Christmas is supposed to be about.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because it's the nativity.
Speaker B:It's Jesus.
Speaker A:Birth of Jesus.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:It actually didn't happen in December.
Speaker B:It did not.
Speaker A:But you know what happened in December?
Speaker A:The pagan holidays for the winter solstice.
Speaker A:So let's move Jesus's birthday and put it over here.
Speaker B:Anyway, let's talk about this Christmas party.
Speaker B:Jesus.
Speaker A:Speaking of the holiday magic.
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:So they're coming back from a call, and Bobby is like directing them to back up the fire engine.
Speaker B:And I'm like, does he do this every time, actually?
Speaker B:Because I think it's the only time we see him do it.
Speaker A:One of them does it.
Speaker A:They have to.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But anyway, he's like, you're good.
Speaker B:And then Athena's like, yeah, you are.
Speaker B:Mom and dad.
Speaker A:The PDA at the workplace.
Speaker A:So Athena's on the balcony being like, yeah.
Speaker B:And she's like, I heard you were going to order takeout.
Speaker B:And very judgmentally was like, yeah, no, that's not happening.
Speaker A:She's like, we came to save you.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So they don't see everyone is there, but she said we.
Speaker B:And Eddie's like, did she stay we?
Speaker B:And everyone's running up the stairs.
Speaker B:And Bucks all smiles because, like, he.
Speaker A:He was part of it.
Speaker B:So he knows exactly what's happening.
Speaker B:And they get up there and everyone's there, like all of their families.
Speaker B:And then an entire foster home.
Speaker A:Group home.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So many people.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:We find out pretty early that, like, it was Buck.
Speaker B:Buck's idea.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I mean, we.
Speaker A:We'd seen it kind of breadcrumbed a little bit when Buck was on the phone with Maddie when she was on the road to Big Bear.
Speaker A:And who's like, you really don't mind, like, calling Athena about this?
Speaker A:And she was like, no, it's fine.
Speaker A:So I think this really was like Buck's brainchild.
Speaker B:Brainchild.
Speaker A:But Athena really helped make it happen.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And Karen helped.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah, everybody.
Speaker A:All of the spouses helped.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Anyway, so Buck walks over to Henning Karen, and they thank him, and he's like, well, you inspired me.
Speaker B:And I figured we should all get to immerse ourselves in the magic of Christmas.
Speaker B:And they're like, this is a great surprise.
Speaker B:Then they have their whole conversation and Karen, which we already talked about, so I don't know how much we would talk about.
Speaker A:Well, we can talk.
Speaker A:We can talk a little bit more of how, like, Karen took it upon herself to, like, make it even more of a surprise because she was so touched by what hen was telling her about Leo.
Speaker A:And, you know, Karen took it.
Speaker A:Took it upon herself.
Speaker A:And I think you saw when they were having that initial conversation, when they were taking the presence down from the attic, that, like, Karen was feeling, like, very empathetic to.
Speaker A:To Leo's situation.
Speaker A:So Karen being Karen, you know, girl who gets stuff done, she talked to the social worker and was trying to get Leo to come to the fire station, I think for Hen as well, like.
Speaker A:Like a present for Hen, because she saw how touched Hen was by that whole call, and it.
Speaker A:And it just turned out that, like, you know, why not bring all of the kids over who are less fortunate and just, like, doing this, like, this mitzvah, right?
Speaker A:This, like, good deed.
Speaker A:Wow, this episode is so Jewish.
Speaker A:It's always the Christmas episodes.
Speaker B:They were gonna get Chinese.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So Karen's doing this, like, really beau.
Speaker A:Beautiful thing of, like, let's just bring all the kids from the group home over here and give them a Christmas that they would not otherwise have.
Speaker A:And it's such a beautiful thing.
Speaker A:I think that really speaks to both Ken and Karen's generosity, especially when hen is being very delicate and considerate of Karen when.
Speaker A:And is like, you know, this.
Speaker A:This sounds a little crazy with everything that they've just been through.
Speaker A:And maybe it's.
Speaker A:And I think Ken was.
Speaker A:Was approaching it.
Speaker A:Approaching this idea very gently because.
Speaker A:Because they're still a little raw from all the IVF stuff and.
Speaker A:And Karen's depression and.
Speaker A:And everything like that.
Speaker A:But the fact that, like, hen brought it up so gently to Karen, like, maybe we should think about, like, fostering.
Speaker A:And Karen's like, I already got it covered.
Speaker A:We've got an appointment already, like, after Christmas is one of.
Speaker A:One of the best things about them, too, that they are.
Speaker A:When they're on the same page and when they communicate, they are so good, and they anticipate the others, like, not even just needs, but, like, wants as well.
Speaker A:And I Think that really shows some growth for Karen, too, because she went through.
Speaker A:She.
Speaker A:She took all of the IVF stuff so hard that for her to come.
Speaker A:Come out of it and really look at things in a positive light, like, what good can they do for other.
Speaker A:For other kids and help them help ones who aren't as lucky as Danny is.
Speaker A:I think that really just, like, you know, that that idea, like, nestled itself in.
Speaker A:In both of their heads at, like, the same time, and it's creating, like, this beautiful opportunity.
Speaker A:Unfortunately, it takes a while to get.
Speaker C:There, but five years later, so.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Then it can be assumed that Karen and Maddie work together to coordinate getting Leo's mom.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:There to the firehouse as well, so that they could spend Christmas together.
Speaker B:So it wasn't just having, you know, Leo there with them and with Karen, it was about getting, you know, a mother and so reunited.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, like, we see Maddie, like, show up with her and apologize for being late and, like, you know, hospitals and red tape, which I thought was cute.
Speaker B:And then we have, like, a little moment between.
Speaker B:What is his mom's name?
Speaker A:Whose mom?
Speaker B:Leah's mom.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:Anyway, Leo's mom and Chimney, where she's, you know, thanking him for being one of the paramedics that saved her.
Speaker B:And, like, Chimney looks really touched.
Speaker A:And I think he's like.
Speaker B:I think he's thinking about, like, his mom.
Speaker B:That's kind of what I got from it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And it's interesting, too, because, like, even the stuff with, like, pen and chimney and, like, the kids are all.
Speaker A:Are, like, very often kind of, like, commingled.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because we saw that with the brothers in the car that was, like, hanging over the cliff.
Speaker A:Like, it worked for both to kind of, like, bring up some of those memories for Chimney as well.
Speaker B:And it's also kind of planting the seeds because, like, I think it's two episodes from now that Albert shows up.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then you find out more backstory about, like, his mom.
Speaker A:So they're really, like, laying some subtle groundwork there for Chimney.
Speaker A:And we know stuff about, like, his dad, but, like, his.
Speaker A:His parental.
Speaker B:Stuff.
Speaker A:Choose different word.
Speaker A:You can do that.
Speaker A:Choose.
Speaker A:Choose my word.
Speaker A:Audience participation.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So then we get to see Leo and his mom reunite, and it's very sweet and very touching.
Speaker A:Heartwarming.
Speaker B:And then we see Maddie, you know, tell Chim how it went at Big Bear with Frank.
Speaker A:And she does say that she feels free.
Speaker A:Yeah, she feels free, finally.
Speaker A:And they have, like, a little moment with each other, and they do their classic Maddie spin.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is so cute.
Speaker A:And I think it's just like, that's.
Speaker B:Yeah, I guess that is a callback to what she says to Tara.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:About, like, I. I killed somebody I used to love.
Speaker B:I'll never be free from that.
Speaker A:And now she finally feels free.
Speaker A:So I really think that was, like, the growth that she was kind of, like, looking for or that.
Speaker A:That closure that she didn't realize that she needed.
Speaker A:And especially to be so upfront and open about it with Chimney as well.
Speaker A:Like, they really are.
Speaker A:He is really being there for her, especially after she was closing him out with the Tara thing.
Speaker A:And, like, there's.
Speaker A:There's a lot of.
Speaker A:A lot of real effort on.
Speaker A:On her part to keep him in the loop, which is very sweet.
Speaker A:And just like, their.
Speaker A:Their spin is so cute.
Speaker A:And it's like one of their quintessential, like, couple things, which I think is adorable.
Speaker B:Okay, then I think it's Athena.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Buck.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Okay, so Buck walks over with his little.
Speaker B:I think it's like, one of the most popular gifts, right?
Speaker B:Of, like, his cheesy little grin.
Speaker B:Yeah, his cheesy grin.
Speaker B:And, like, I don't know what the fuck he's doing with his hands, but he's adorable.
Speaker B:And he's very pleased with himself and what they did for everyone.
Speaker A:He should be pleased.
Speaker B:He should.
Speaker B:Yeah, he should.
Speaker B:And she's like, buck, thanks for helping me with this.
Speaker B:I think your New Year's resolution should be to use that head for good instead of evil.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well.
Speaker A:Well, the thing.
Speaker A:The thing, too, is Athena, who I think is sitting on Bobby's lap, by the way, which is super cute, super adorable.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:For them.
Speaker A:But Bobby was thanking Athena for putting this all together.
Speaker A:And Athena was like, santa's gotta help her.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I think Bobby was.
Speaker A:Was kind of like.
Speaker B:She says, Santa isn't the only one who has elves.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:He is ambish at times.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But I think Bobby was, like, kind of prized, impressed and.
Speaker A:And grateful, too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And it was really cute because it was like, a little family moment for them for.
Speaker A:Because, like, that's.
Speaker A:That's Buck, and that's his mom and dad.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:He was doing something nice for his mom and dad.
Speaker A:Well, for his dad.
Speaker A:And he got mom roped into it to help it.
Speaker B:I was like, this is for Eddie and Chris, but.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Also everyone else.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, it's.
Speaker A:It's just, like.
Speaker A:It's mutually beneficial for everybody, but it.
Speaker B:But, like, for that was.
Speaker B:Was Chris Being like, can I spend Christmas with you?
Speaker B:And then he was like, I have to fix this immediately.
Speaker B:And then, you know, sprout from there.
Speaker A:Fix it, Buckley.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Oh my God.
Speaker A:And there's, there's one line that I, that I forgot to say when Hen and Karen were talking to each other and they were saying like there's, there's more than one way to have a family.
Speaker A:I think that's like the thesis of the episode.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because we see all of these different like familial groupings that are not necessarily like blood family, but it's again, it's the family that you choose.
Speaker A:And all of that one, all of the 118 the has chosen each other.
Speaker A:Even like the extended aspects of it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And they all come together and it's beautiful and heartwarming and they take a.
Speaker B:Family photo at the end.
Speaker B:It's all very cute.
Speaker B:And we don't have to talk about the depressing Michael and Bobby stuff because we already did.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I love that for us.
Speaker A:And all the Buck and Eddie stuff is going under sliver, obviously.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So just, just a couple, just a couple things on our boy book.
Speaker B:He is very worried about Bobby.
Speaker B:I think he's already low key about like worried before the nosebleed happens.
Speaker B:I think he's just been keeping like an eagle eye out for any of those symptoms.
Speaker B:Like I, he definitely did what Athena was doing at the end of the episode.
Speaker B:Like how it ended with her just like googling like he was doing the same thing.
Speaker A:He, he went full buckipedia and just like.
Speaker A:Are you experiencing this?
Speaker A:Are you like, like the laundry list of symptoms that, that he specifically is like, that I can't see that I'm not aware of like asking Bobby to be very honest with him because, you know, there's, there's stuff going on that Buck doesn't see that Buck's not privy to.
Speaker A:And, and like Bobby through this whole episode is just constantly like telling everyone like, it's okay, it's fine.
Speaker A:He's consoling everyone.
Speaker A:It's fine.
Speaker A:He says, not like Ross, but he actually thinks it's fine.
Speaker A:We don't really get a lot of like Bobby mental insight in this episode.
Speaker A:But like it seems like he's, he's really thinks things are going to be okay.
Speaker B:He's stressed out more for everyone else worrying.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Than he is worrying for himself because I think he, he does just feel fine.
Speaker B:So he's feeling more anxious for everyone.
Speaker B:Feeling anxious.
Speaker A:Anxious about him.
Speaker B:For him.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So who else does that?
Speaker B:Sound, like, so interesting.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:So Bobby's nose starts bleeding and Buck freaks out.
Speaker A:Understandably.
Speaker B:He's like, it's.
Speaker B:He's like, it's just a nosebleed.
Speaker B:Like, they're talking back at the station afterwards.
Speaker B:He's like, it's just a nosebleed.
Speaker B:Like, it could have been the.
Speaker B:The Santa Anna's.
Speaker B:It could have been allergies.
Speaker B:It could have been whatever.
Speaker C:Everyone's just blaming the Santa Anas over here.
Speaker C:Like.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I just.
Speaker A:I wanna.
Speaker A:I wanna point that out because, like, wasn't it just the other episode that.
Speaker A:That Buck was like, maybe it's the Santa Anna's.
Speaker A:And it's just like.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's just one of those things that's so funny because it's like, like father, like son in that way.
Speaker A:Just like when.
Speaker A:When Buck was worried about Eddie and being like, yeah, he's acting weird.
Speaker A:Maybe it's the Santa Anna's and Bobby's like, maybe it's the Santa Anna.
Speaker A:Just like, you guys are so stupid in, like, the most loving way.
Speaker B:Yeah, so.
Speaker B:So Buck is like, grilling him.
Speaker B:He's like, was this your first nosebleed?
Speaker B:Have your gums been bleeding?
Speaker B:Do you have a rash anywhere?
Speaker B:I can't see.
Speaker B:And then he's like, what are you doing?
Speaker B:Are you diagnosing me?
Speaker B:Because, like, Buck is the least qualified person there to be diagnosing anyone.
Speaker B:And he's like, I haven't noticed any shortness of breath or bruising.
Speaker B:But you could be hiding symptoms like a headache, dizziness, irregular heartbeat.
Speaker A:Are you this an interrogation?
Speaker A:Really is.
Speaker A:And I think that kind of, like, is meant to go towards, like, Michael hiding some of these symptoms from Athena and Bobby and the kids.
Speaker A:But it's like, you know, it's making us think about, is there something going on that we don't see?
Speaker B:He's like, I'm not hiding any symptoms of whatever it is you think I have.
Speaker B:And he's like, you were in the tunnel.
Speaker B:Buck says, you were in the tunnel too long.
Speaker B:That that much exposure to radiation can cause aplastic anemia.
Speaker B:Do you know that's what killed Marie Curie?
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:Bobby's like, no, I did not know that.
Speaker B:I also did not know that you knew Madame Marie Curie was.
Speaker B:He's like, well, I had to look her up, but she was a really smart lady.
Speaker A:She was a really smart lady.
Speaker B:Died too much exposure to radiation.
Speaker B:I love you so bad.
Speaker A:I had to look her up, but she was a really smart lady.
Speaker A:That's just.
Speaker A:And one of those Buckisms.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yup.
Speaker A:Ear worm and really smart lady.
Speaker A:It's really cute because you.
Speaker A:You see how he goes into like these, These deep dives and just.
Speaker B:He was like, oh, who is that?
Speaker B:Oh, she's so cool.
Speaker A:Oh, she died of radio.
Speaker B:She was so smart, but she still died from this.
Speaker B:So like.
Speaker A:But also like a little, A little sad that like, Bobby is kind of jokingly disparaging about Buck being like, I didn't know you knew who you.
Speaker B:They all do it.
Speaker A:Yeah, I know they do.
Speaker A:They do.
Speaker B:But like, Eddie does it the least.
Speaker B:Honestly.
Speaker A:Yeah, but like, Buck is a student of life.
Speaker A:He gleans information from wherever he can where like, something he finds interesting or pertinent to.
Speaker A:To, you know, someone he loves.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But it's really sweet because he's so concerned.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And Bobby says, like, I. I appreciate your concern, but I am fine, so please stop with the Internet research.
Speaker B:And then he's like, here's our real problem and starts talking about Christmas dinner, trying to change the subject and get Buck's mind off of it.
Speaker B:And it turns out like, Bobby does not want to prepare dinner.
Speaker B:So he says like, I am just not up for cooking Christmas dinner this year.
Speaker B:And then Buck's like, ah, fatigue.
Speaker B:Also a symptom.
Speaker B:Come here and like, puts his hands on his forehead like a mother their kid.
Speaker A:It's so endearing.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker B:And he's like, buck, listen, I know you're worried, but there is nothing to worry about yet.
Speaker B:And then so as my grandmother always used to say, don't go borrowing trouble.
Speaker B:And then Buck says a line that is so depressing.
Speaker A:Now stop that.
Speaker B:So depressing.
Speaker B:Just say the line.
Speaker B:Bobby, I know I do dumb things sometimes and generally drive you crazy, but you're an important person in my life, Bobby.
Speaker B:One of the most important.
Speaker B:And I don't know what I would do if anything were to happen to you.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'm fine.
Speaker A:No, just no.
Speaker A:Oh, no.
Speaker B:And like, I think it.
Speaker B:I think that scene ends on Bobby's face and his reaction to that.
Speaker B:I think he's like, really touched.
Speaker B:But he's just like.
Speaker B:I don't think he realized how important he was to buckle.
Speaker B:Actually.
Speaker B:No, no, Buck actually.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker A:Thank you for getting some levity in there.
Speaker A:No, because I'm actually like crying.
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't think he realized.
Speaker B:I think, I think that really, you know, drove it home for him.
Speaker B:Like, I think he knew that like, they have this.
Speaker B:This father son dynamic and that like, that Buck is Really important to him.
Speaker B:Like, that's been the theme all season of Bobby doing stupid ass things, making terrible decisions because he cares about Bucks so much.
Speaker B:But yeah, I don't know, I. I wonder how that felt for him to realize that because, like, I know he's been ingrained so deeply already into, you know, Mei and Harry's life, but, like, those are his step kids, so it's different because, like, it's kind of almost like a Michael situation.
Speaker B:Like, I feel like there's some parallels there, right, where, like, Bobby does feel like it is his place now with.
Speaker B:To parent and care about me and Harry the way he does, but he doesn't feel like it's his place with Buck.
Speaker B:Like, he feels out of place, if that makes sense.
Speaker A:I feel like.
Speaker C:So, like, there's territory that I don't want.
Speaker C:Like, I don't.
Speaker C:Whatever I'm about to say, like, I don't want to, like, expand too much on it because it's going to go into that whole, like, that.
Speaker C:That shift that we see with like, season seven and eight and like, the family dynamics or just like the overall, like, found family dynamics of it all.
Speaker C:I feel like these earlier seasons, I feel like they.
Speaker C:I feel like they have established that.
Speaker C:I mean, like, the.
Speaker C:The father son thing especially, because, like, I feel like if you look at episodes 301 through 3, this is 310.
Speaker C:Like, as a whole, like, I feel like it is kind of bookend because, like, at like in 301, there's that whole situation of Bobby, like, having to actively care for Buck, but in the most, like, not direct way he's doing it in.
Speaker C:In like that.
Speaker A:Yeah, that way that we're all like.
Speaker B:Why did you do this?
Speaker C:Why couldn't you just talk to him kind of thing?
Speaker C:And then now we've like, flipped it.
Speaker A:Like, their roles are reversed.
Speaker C:Which is why I also say, like, I feel like this.
Speaker C:This episode so, like, it does kind of wrap up these storylines that they introduced in 3A.
Speaker B:So it's like kind of.
Speaker C:Yeah, bookend now.
Speaker C:It's like Buck showing how much that he, you know, how much he cares for.
Speaker C:For Bobby and how, like, you know, that is one of his most important people.
Speaker C:Yeah, I. Yeah, I just think narratively, like, I feel like it.
Speaker C:They are trying to showcase that still in this, like, era of 91 1.
Speaker C:And then like, whatever the fuck happened over there in those future seasons, it really is showing.
Speaker A:Like, we.
Speaker A:You're.
Speaker A:You're totally right.
Speaker A:Like, it's been established how deeply Bobby cares for Buck, even though he showed it in ways that, like, weren't super productive or good or anything like that.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:And this is.
Speaker A:This is really.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Turning.
Speaker A:Turning the.
Speaker A:The roles being reversed again.
Speaker A:We're seeing those, like, parent child relationships and.
Speaker A:And the kids who are taking on a lot of responsibility and.
Speaker A:And taking care of the parents as well.
Speaker A:So it's.
Speaker A:It's really like, instilling that with Buck and Bobby and.
Speaker A:And it really shows, like, how reciprocal their relationship is.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And they're caring for each other in the ways that are kind of like, best for them, but not necessarily always, like, the best for each other, if that makes sense.
Speaker A:Like, Buck is caring about Bobby the way Buck is.
Speaker B:Buck is.
Speaker A:But cares.
Speaker A:I said that so many times.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But yeah, it.
Speaker A:I think it really does hit.
Speaker A:Hit Bobby, like, because.
Speaker A:Because Bobby never really said anything quite this direct to Buck.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:After the whole lawsuit thing.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker C:And that won't come into play until, like, lightning strike.
Speaker C:I would say.
Speaker A:A lot of.
Speaker A:A lot of it goes unsaid.
Speaker A:It's like, go.
Speaker A:It's through actions more than words.
Speaker A:But I think occasionally you do need to have the words.
Speaker A:And at this point, I think that shows something like, very mature in Buck as well.
Speaker A:To tell someone how much they mean to you in your life and that you're concerned for them and that's why you're acting in this way.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:Which is what Bobby was doing, but he wasn't quite, like, mature enough to say it quite like that.
Speaker B:And I think it's such a big thing for Buck to do because, like, as much as, like, Buck and Bobby are similar in this way, where they really show that they care.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Instead of saying it.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And for.
Speaker B:For Buck specifically, I think that's a hang up he has about, like.
Speaker B:Like, if I tell people how much I care, they're gonna think that I'm.
Speaker A:Needy and, like, leave, or then they're gonna.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Leave.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I think it says a lot that, you know, he feels secure enough in their dynamic, especially after everything they just went through, to, like, to voice this and because he's that worried that he feels the need to voice it.
Speaker A:I. I think there's also something to be said for that.
Speaker A:Buck is more of an action kind of person because actions, him being active and doing something got him attention when he was younger.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:As opposed to words.
Speaker A:So when he says something like that, it really comes from the heart because he knows that, like, that in this case, that speaks more than actions for.
Speaker A:For him.
Speaker B:I also think maybe it does.
Speaker B:And this will be.
Speaker B:I guess this will be my last thing, so we can move on.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think it.
Speaker B:It does show that he was willing to say that and put himself out there.
Speaker B:It does show a little bit, I think, a glimpse into that.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:He knew that saying that would get Bobby to take it seriously.
Speaker B:So I think that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think that he knows, at least on some level, that.
Speaker B:That Bobby does see him as his kid.
Speaker B:About him on a different level than he does the rest of the 118.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:He's like, Buck is acknowledging the fact that he knows that he is Bobby's kid in a way that, like, Bobby doesn't really fully acknowledge that at times, even though other people do for him.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:That is a very recognized pattern because, like, Athena clocks that May, and May clocks that so.
Speaker A:And the two of people also closest to Bobby.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Makes me mad.
Speaker A:And I want more from.
Speaker A:Let's talk about Eddie.
Speaker B:Anyway.
Speaker B:Let's talk about Eddie a little bit because most of this stuff is gay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So we only get really one scene focused on Eddie, and it's him sitting at his dining room table with hen.
Speaker B:And the scene just like cold opens in the middle of a conversation he's having with her.
Speaker B:He says it got ugly after I said I had to work on Christmas.
Speaker B:He went straight to his room and wouldn't speak to me.
Speaker A:Oh, no.
Speaker C:It's like, I gotta bring in the.
Speaker B:The big guns.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Later guns.
Speaker A:I gotta smooth this over by bringing in.
Speaker B:But so interesting.
Speaker B:What does that also remind you of?
Speaker C:7,10.
Speaker B:So interesting.
Speaker B:But he also brought in one of his friends.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, because he's young and he's like, oh, I can give him toys.
Speaker B:And Buck and, like, it'll be better.
Speaker A:Gingerbread houses and keep them occupied for a little bit.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But, yeah, he didn't.
Speaker B:He locked himself in his room and wouldn't speak up to the rest of the night.
Speaker A:He's 8 years old.
Speaker B:He's 8 years old.
Speaker B:So he was really upset.
Speaker B:And hence, like, it's just new.
Speaker B:He'll get over it.
Speaker B:And he's like, well, Abuela's bringing him to my aunt's.
Speaker B:I know he's gonna have a great time.
Speaker B:It's just like, last Christmas was special.
Speaker B:This one's harder.
Speaker B:Last one was magical.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because he wished for his mom to come back, and she did.
Speaker B:And now there's no magic this Christmas because not only is his mom gone, he can't even spend it with his dad or his book.
Speaker A:That is actually so heartbreaking.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because, like, how much has changed in that year for Christopher, for Eddie?
Speaker A:And I know we talk about, like, everybody's been having a rough go of it for.
Speaker A:For season three.
Speaker A:It is so hard for Eddie and Christopher.
Speaker A:There's been so many changes, like, monumental shifts in.
Speaker A:Yeah, they're like everyday life.
Speaker A:And it's just like.
Speaker A:And Christmas was already a special time for Christopher with the episode from last season that was almost like, solely about.
Speaker A:Not solely, but that was so heavily about Eddie and Christopher and making Christmas magical for Christopher and bringing Shannon back into the picture, which was huge.
Speaker A:And that's kind of all been swept away with the tide.
Speaker A:Ooh.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:The tide of time.
Speaker B:Anyway, anything else to say about that scene that isn't gay?
Speaker A:Because, I mean, I really love how we get.
Speaker A:Eddie and Hen need more in each other like that.
Speaker A:I love that combo.
Speaker A:I think that's really lovely.
Speaker A:And we do need more of that.
Speaker A:And he needs.
Speaker B:She has to be the new confidant because he needs someone who's going to, like, keep saying this joke.
Speaker B:I can't stop.
Speaker B:Who's going to give it to him straight.
Speaker A:Because.
Speaker B:Yeah, he can't.
Speaker B:He can't take, like, low key, roundabout advice.
Speaker B:He'll do it in the worst way possible.
Speaker B:He doesn't understand.
Speaker B:You've got to be so direct and literal with him.
Speaker A:And Hen can be direct in giving that kind of advice.
Speaker B:She can.
Speaker B:She is.
Speaker B:Most of the time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So we need more of that.
Speaker A:Please.
Speaker B:I just want to talk about some.
Speaker B:Some parallels I wish existed.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Walk with me.
Speaker A:Okay, so we're walking.
Speaker B:So it's parallels that should exist.
Speaker B:Like, narratively it would make sense because there's.
Speaker B:There's a lot of Eddie and Maddie parallels.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:This episode for Maddie is so huge because she's moving on from the, like, biggest trauma that haunts her.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker B:She directs, she addresses it in therapy.
Speaker B:She goes and addresses the last place that, you know, she saw with you.
Speaker B:And so I just want to read these lines that Frank says.
Speaker B:Maddie says, I think that I've moved past him.
Speaker B:And then something happens and he is right back in my life, in my head again.
Speaker B:And Frank says, have you moved past him or just around him?
Speaker A:Hmm.
Speaker B:You've made a lot of progress, but on some level, it feels like you're still defining yourself through Doug and he is doing the same exact thing with Shannon.
Speaker A:You can transpose that exactly.
Speaker B:Like, because so, like, these traumas both happen to them the same season, right around the same time frame.
Speaker B:Maddie dealt with hers the next year.
Speaker B:It is now five years later, and Eddie still hasn't addressed his.
Speaker B:He still keeps having the.
Speaker B:These, like, triggers about everything with Shannon, not just her death, but, like, the guilt he has over everything that happened while she was still alive in their relationship.
Speaker B:He's never dealt with it.
Speaker B:So, like, he keeps thinking he's moved past it, but he is literally just moving around it, not addressing it.
Speaker B:And I don't think this is why I was so hoping that the Vertigo arc was gonna do what we thought it was gonna do, because it would have done this.
Speaker B:He wanted to address it, like, whether he went to her gravesite or went to where her accident was or, I don't know, while he was in El Paso, went to the lake that they had their first date at or did some.
Speaker B:Some.
Speaker B:Some sort of thing where, like, the root trauma was or the house that they had together.
Speaker A:Like, there was.
Speaker B:Just find that Maddie found that closure.
Speaker B:He needs to have that kind of conversation with her that Maddie had with Doug.
Speaker B:I'm not comparing their relationships, obviously, because one of them was an abusive asshole, and the other one was, you know, just a normal person who made mistakes and died too young and tragically, and there was no closure there for anyone.
Speaker A:And, like, the way Maddie goes to Big Bear and forgives herself.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:That's what Eddie needs to do to fully let go of that guilt is to forgive himself of everything.
Speaker B:Yeah, because, like, I just listened to this whole dialogue because you made.
Speaker B:You triggered this in me when you said the 19 thing back in the naughty section.
Speaker B:Because she says, when I was 19, when we met, so most of my adult life was my life.
Speaker B:And then Frank's, like, now, isn't it time for you?
Speaker B:I mean, a life that's purely.
Speaker B:And only Maddie's.
Speaker B:Eddie has never lived his life for him.
Speaker B:So it's not.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's Shannon and Chris.
Speaker B:Like, he.
Speaker B:Like his life was her.
Speaker B:And it's always been Chris since Chris was born, but his life is still her, even though she's gone.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's the guilt about her.
Speaker B:It's the trying to find someone to replace her or Christopher.
Speaker B:Like, it's.
Speaker B:It's the same thing.
Speaker A:And then it's the guilt about the Kim situation.
Speaker A:So much of.
Speaker A:Of all of that all encompassing is because he hasn't absolved himself of the guilt, and he's deprived himself and punishing himself because he can't let go of the guilt of any of it.
Speaker A:And that proceeds, like, even before Shannon died, It's.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:It's that.
Speaker A:It's that same thing that.
Speaker A:That Eddie was talking about when he had that conversation with Bobby.
Speaker A:Was it in the past.
Speaker A:The past episode or eight?
Speaker A:I forget if it was an eight or nine.
Speaker A:But that.
Speaker A:That conversation that.
Speaker A:That Eddie has with Bobby about, like, being angry at himself for being angry at a dead person, and that's embroiled in all of that guilt, and he has not been able to let that go.
Speaker B:So, like, you could tweak just a couple words in this speech that she does.
Speaker A:Barely.
Speaker B:Barely any.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:For it to apply to him and be huge.
Speaker B:Like, it's just.
Speaker A:You're.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker A:All of Eddie's adult life has been revolving around his responsibilities.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:To Shannon, to Christopher, and even.
Speaker A:Even before that, his adult life.
Speaker A:He was, like, taking care of.
Speaker A:Of his.
Speaker B:I didn't mean the frank conversation that.
Speaker B:You don't have to tweak anything other than the name Doug.
Speaker A:Oh, no, I'm talk.
Speaker A:I'm talking about monolog in.
Speaker B:In big.
Speaker A:Yeah, I was.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker A:I was switching in between both.
Speaker B:That's okay.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But, yeah, both of those.
Speaker A:You barely have to tweet.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because it's like he needs to forgive Shannon, and he needs to forgive himself because it's like she.
Speaker B:She had to forgive herself for loving him too much.
Speaker B:He needs to forgive himself for not loving her enough.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And not in the way that she needed.
Speaker A:She needed and he wanted.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:And hers is for staying too long, and his is for not staying.
Speaker B:For not being there.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Oh, my God, yes.
Speaker B:And for not dying right next to you.
Speaker B:So it'll be, like, probably, like, for dying instead of you.
Speaker B:For not dying instead of you.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And she's like, today, I'm gonna leave you here, and I'm gonna run out of these woods, and I'm going to live.
Speaker A:When has Eddie really, truly lived except for some fleeting moments here and there where he's, like, let go.
Speaker A:Namely, like, the bachelor party and the.
Speaker A:The Risky business dance, and that's kind of it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And the poker date.
Speaker A:I guess that's it.
Speaker B:You know, it's like the parallels are there because they're so closely paralleled.
Speaker A:Mm.
Speaker B:And, like, these words all just almost verbatim make sense for Eddie, too.
Speaker B:So it's just insane that it's five seasons after Maddie had this closure and he still hasn't.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that shows.
Speaker A:Like, they know how to.
Speaker A:They know how to address this, and they know how to write this kind of closure.
Speaker C:What are we Waiting for this is.
Speaker B:Where I thought we were going with the Vertigo arc, which is why so much of fandom was like, oh, my God, I hate this arc.
Speaker B:And I was like, no, it's gonna give us this closure with Shannon.
Speaker B:Like, he's gonna have to address it, and it's gonna be great.
Speaker A:And, like, face her.
Speaker A:Face her face on.
Speaker A:And I think, yeah, that's kind of what that.
Speaker A:That confrontation with him and Kim were trying to do.
Speaker A:But, like, that just.
Speaker A:That was just more trauma to the pile rather than, like, closure.
Speaker C:It's like.
Speaker C:It's kind of like if.
Speaker C:It's kind of like, if I had to rewrite it, like, I just wouldn't have Christopher and Marisol, you know, drop in, like.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Let them continue their conversation.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because then that could have been.
Speaker B:Then that could have been weirdly.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:But instead, like, what happened happened, and that's why I thought, oh, well, that happened.
Speaker B:He's gonna have to address it now because he's gonna have to address it in order to get to the root cause of why the he did this insane thing, because he only ever addresses his trauma if it's for Christopher.
Speaker B:And that's really where I thought we were gonna go.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So now we should still do it, but you gotta get there some other way.
Speaker A:Guys, like, they really had it teed up.
Speaker A:They did a couple times.
Speaker B:Several times.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I would really like to be able to see that, like, come.
Speaker A:Come to fruition in season nine.
Speaker A:If we're.
Speaker A:If we're building.
Speaker A:If.
Speaker A:If season eight, much like season two, was, like, tearing Eddie down.
Speaker A:Season nine can be, like, building Eddie up in, like, a healthier way, and that would be something that they would have to do.
Speaker A:Fascinating.
Speaker B:Put this man back in therapy with Frank or hot Priest.
Speaker B:I don't care.
Speaker B:I'm not picky.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Some somehow work through his.
Speaker B:God damn.
Speaker A:He needs to really bad.
Speaker C:I just think he needed a new therapist.
Speaker A:Frank's.
Speaker A:Frank's good.
Speaker A:Frank is good.
Speaker B:But it's just like, Eddie isn't gonna.
Speaker B:He has to want.
Speaker A:He wasn't open to it.
Speaker B:That's the thing is, like, he was only doing it because he wanted to be better for Chris.
Speaker B:He has to go because he had.
Speaker B:He wants to be better for himself.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Or it's really never gonna work.
Speaker A:And maybe.
Speaker A:Maybe that's something that he can be working on because he's, like, looking to find, like, joy for himself, and he can't do that until, like, he does things for himself.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:What a concept.
Speaker B:Slow bur.
Speaker A:Onto the gay stuff.
Speaker B:Husbands.
Speaker A:Ah, yes.
Speaker A:Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy.
Speaker B:This episode gives us so much with.
Speaker A:So little, really does.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:It's so interesting that his kid wouldn't talk to him.
Speaker B:He was so upset.
Speaker B:And Eddie calls Book, like, he calls Pen to bring Jenny over for a playdate, thinking that that would help because what does he say?
Speaker B:He's like, I thought it would be nice for the boys to have a.
Speaker B:Have a playdate.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then hence, like, all three of them, and they pan over and you see Buck there.
Speaker B:So it's like, literally, what is the reason for Buck to be there in this playdate other than that he's part of the family unit?
Speaker A:It's Eddie throwing a Hail Mary to try to appease Christopher for making him angry.
Speaker A:He called Buck over to help fix it, which has happened how many times?
Speaker C:So many.
Speaker C:But I feel like.
Speaker C:I feel like that kind of.
Speaker C:It's kind of like the.
Speaker C:I guess the bandage to.
Speaker C:To, like, Eddie calling him an absentee father.
Speaker C:And so, like, he actually did call Buck, and he's like, I need help with Christopher.
Speaker C:And he's like, okay, I'm.
Speaker C:I'm on my way.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Maybe it was Buck's idea.
Speaker B:Like, I feel like he called Buck and told him the same story first, and that's why Buck is there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So whether it was Buck's idea or actually Eddie's idea to call Hen and have Danny over, you know, Buck was involved in it first, so of course he's there because his kid is upset.
Speaker A:Something.
Speaker A:Something.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I don't want to open the door.
Speaker A:I want him to open.
Speaker B:But there's no reason for him to be there if it's not Chris and Eddie, because we've literally never seen him hanging out with Denny outside of a group 118 gathering.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:We've, like, barely seen them interact, actually.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So after Hen's, like, all three of them, the camera cuts back to Eddie, and he has the most disgusting goo goo hard eyes.
Speaker A:That's my family is go.
Speaker A:Is what's going through his head.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's my family.
Speaker C:17 vibes right now.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Especially watching Buck and Christopher together smile.
Speaker B:Mm.
Speaker B:Because, like, what's more endearing to you than the person that you care about most other than your child?
Speaker B:Making your child happy and loving your child more than anyone else but you.
Speaker A:That's literally the most Eddie could ever ask for.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, that is.
Speaker A:That is the best thing in the world to him for Christopher to be happy.
Speaker A:And he knows how to make that happen.
Speaker A:And that's Buck.
Speaker A:Like, it's not rocket science, but it's like, how are you not getting it.
Speaker B:So interesting?
Speaker B:And it's, you know, again, he's more than willing to do things that he wouldn't normally do if it's poor Christopher.
Speaker B:So, like, he asks for help if it's for Christopher, not for himself, you know, Then we have Christopher with the soul destroying line.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:Oh, this broke my heart.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:He's like, hey, Buck.
Speaker B:And Buck's like, yeah.
Speaker B:He's like, can I spend Christmas with you?
Speaker A:So many things about that Eddie.
Speaker B:Like, Buck looks up at Eddie.
Speaker A:Like, what's to say?
Speaker B:It's like this wordless parent communication, you know, where, like, it's just like facial expressions very loudly back and forth.
Speaker A:Well, it's classic.
Speaker A:And Eddie speaking without actually speaking words.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:He's like, what am I supposed to say?
Speaker B:I can't tell him no, but I have to tell him no because I can't, you know?
Speaker B:And he says, I'm sorry, buddy, but I'm going to be working on Christmas with.
Speaker B:With your dad.
Speaker B:He's like, stupid.
Speaker A:Which is also something that we kind of revisit in another Christmas episode.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:Oh, it's always.
Speaker B:It's Christmas dead next Christmas.
Speaker A:My God.
Speaker A:There's definitely something there about letting Christopher down.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That also pertains to, like, one of the themes of.
Speaker A:Of parents disappointing their kids.
Speaker A:So that still, it's still positioning Buck in.
Speaker A:In this place of parent, in this role.
Speaker B:So remember in Eddie's section when I was talking about what he said to Hen about how, like, he knows that Christopher is going to have a great time on Christmas even without him, because, you know, he's going to be with Abuela and Aunt Peppa and his cousins.
Speaker B:Freddie's going to be with family.
Speaker B:So, like, Christopher knows that he's already going to be with family.
Speaker B:Why is he asking Buck if he can spend Christmas with him?
Speaker B:Oh, it's almost like he sees Buck as a higher family member, closer family member, closest thing he has to a parent other than his father.
Speaker A:So wild.
Speaker A:Almost like the family that Chris chooses.
Speaker A:Would you say he just.
Speaker C:He just wants one of his dad's dare.
Speaker B:He's like, at least one of them.
Speaker A:I just had, like, this visceral, like, image.
Speaker A:I just needed to, like, bang my head on the desk.
Speaker B:Like, oh, my God, are you rocking back and forth right now?
Speaker A:A little bit.
Speaker A:I was just like, I was just, like, overcome with, like, that like, oh, my God, I just had a violent moment.
Speaker A:I'm fine now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Because, like, that really is a question, like, what is going through Christopher's mind?
Speaker C:Because, like, again, like, if he's going to be spending.
Speaker C:If he's going to be at, like.
Speaker A:Is it Tia Peppers or Abuela's?
Speaker C:Well, it's either.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker C:They're all going to be there.
Speaker A:Yeah, they're all going to be there because that's.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Latino Christmas.
Speaker B:Will is taking him to Peppas.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:That's a whole, like, you know, that is a Christmas where everyone is there.
Speaker C:Like, the whole family is there.
Speaker A:And you're just like, can I spend Christmas with you?
Speaker A:Book.
Speaker A:Like, that's where he wants to be.
Speaker A:He would rather be there, which is.
Speaker C:And not to say, like, he doesn't want to be with his other family, but I'm saying, like, it's.
Speaker C:It's just interesting how it's like the blood family versus the family that you choose, which for Chris is family.
Speaker A:And there's also, I think, something a little interesting here where we know that in the future seasons, like, Eddie is kind of looking for someone to replace Shannon, which is also kind of interesting because we see that theme going on with Michael and Bobby.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And, you know, we know that nobody can replace Shannon, realistically.
Speaker A:But the fact that Chris wants to spend Christmas because he doesn't have his mom there and he won't have his dad, he wants to spend it with Buck, that Buck is, like, that next best thing.
Speaker A:And I think we've mentioned this before.
Speaker A:I don't know if it was episode three or just, like, part of the Tsunami arc.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's basically Christopher choosing the family that he wants and having Buck be.
Speaker A:Be that other role and choosing him to be not a replacement for Shannon, but that other parental figure that he wants in his life.
Speaker A:And Christmas is so special to Christopher that he wants that special time and moment to be spent with Buck.
Speaker B:Think about it.
Speaker B:What was Chris's two most special Christmas wishes?
Speaker B:It was first that his dad would be home for Christmas, which happened.
Speaker B:And then the second was that his mom would be home for Christmas, which happened.
Speaker B:So he was like, maybe I can.
Speaker A:Pull it off a third time.
Speaker B:Can I spend Christmas with you?
Speaker A:I absolutely think that went through his head.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:It's okay.
Speaker B:Because he got to spend Christmas with both of his dads.
Speaker B:It's okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But it was so sad.
Speaker B:And then Buck, you know, he stands up after Chris's, like, stupid work, and Buck's like, is it just me, or does Christmas suck this year?
Speaker B:And Eddie's like, definitely not just you.
Speaker B:So, like, you know, it's just two parents being bummed out that they can't.
Speaker A:Spend Christmas with their kid and disappointing their kid.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Anything else about that scene?
Speaker A:That just got more and more depressing the more we talked about it, which is great, but it also got deeper, which is great.
Speaker A:But, like, that hurts so much more.
Speaker B:Okay, so then the only other scene we have to talk about today for Slow Burn is the Christmas party at the end.
Speaker B:I did mention earlier that definitely threw.
Speaker B:Because of this guilt.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:He was feeling about letting Christopher down.
Speaker B:And because he.
Speaker B:It was not just him letting him down, but because it was like, well, Eddie, you know, Chris should get to spend it with Eddie, and Eddie should get to spend it with Chris.
Speaker B:And, like, he asked for me, so I should also be there.
Speaker A:So it just.
Speaker A:It kills, like, all of the birds with one stone.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then it was like, oh, then I get to make everyone happy.
Speaker B:So, like, you know, no one has to not be with their family on Christmas.
Speaker A:It's classic Buck grand gesture.
Speaker B:Like, it very much is.
Speaker A:It came about because of Eddie and Christopher, but it also benefits everybody else.
Speaker A:Like, like, the entire family.
Speaker A:But, like, yeah, the impetus of it being Eddie and Christopher, it is.
Speaker A:It is a grand gesture.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:Of love.
Speaker B:So, like, once everyone runs up the stairs and then Eddie sees Chris and yells, Chris.
Speaker B:And runs over to him and Abuela, it cuts back over to Buck, who's like, you know, his giant bigfoot self has, like, an arm up on one of the big.
Speaker B:The wooden beams.
Speaker B:Well, he has at an angle because he's too tall.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But, yeah, he's just staring at.
Speaker B:At Eddie and Chris and Abuela being so happy.
Speaker B:And he's just cheesing because he's like, look what I did.
Speaker B:Look at them.
Speaker B:That's my family.
Speaker A:It's kind of like a little mirror parallel, like a much positive.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:A reverse.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:A reverse mirror.
Speaker A:To Michael watching his family, like, over.
Speaker A:Off to the side, we have Buck watching his family off to the side.
Speaker A:But, like, it's.
Speaker A:It's much more like happy and positive because, like, he made this happen for them.
Speaker A:But it is kind of a little bit like a slightly removed.
Speaker A:He doesn't necessarily feel like he has that special place in.
Speaker A:In that familial unit.
Speaker B:Well, he's letting them have their moment first because that's family.
Speaker B:Family.
Speaker B:I thought you were gonna say it's paralleling 8, 17.
Speaker B:Just reverse oh.
Speaker A:Oh, that too.
Speaker A:I didn't get that far.
Speaker A:But yes, because it is.
Speaker A:Oh, 100%.
Speaker A:Just, like, looking on, just, like, lovingly.
Speaker A:And that is.
Speaker B:That's just what they do.
Speaker B:They're like, grand gesture.
Speaker B:Here's our kid.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And another family member passes Chris back and forth.
Speaker A:It's like, this is for you.
Speaker A:This is for you.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker C:This makes you happy, Both of yours.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So silly.
Speaker A:Just like Silva just being held up.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker A:Like, here you go.
Speaker A:You know, just kind of like hanging out there.
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:So then.
Speaker B:So then Buck goes over to, like, Hen and Karen.
Speaker C:I'm glad you clocked this.
Speaker B:And he grabs the mistletoe off the ceiling.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And, like, holds it over.
Speaker B:Over Hen's head while he kisses her on the cheek.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So cute.
Speaker B:Which, like, I don't think they were already under the mistletoe.
Speaker B:He didn't need to take it off the ceiling.
Speaker B:He could have just kissed her on the cheek.
Speaker A:Where'd you grab that?
Speaker A:So where was he gonna bring it?
Speaker B:So interesting.
Speaker B:When he walks away from Head and Karen, he walks right over to Eddie, Chris.
Speaker A:Does he really?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:While he's still holding the mistletoe.
Speaker B:And I wrote.
Speaker B:What you doing with that mistletoe, Buck?
Speaker C:It's like, in the background.
Speaker C:Like, you just see him walk over.
Speaker B:Background, buddy.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:It's while Hen and Karen are talking.
Speaker B:It's while Hen and Karen are talking because, like, he walks away and they have their conversation, but it's in the background, him walking over and he's still holding the mistletoe.
Speaker A:That's wild.
Speaker B:It's so interesting.
Speaker B:Why did we need to do that?
Speaker B:Writers, director.
Speaker A:What was.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:What was the point of that blocking?
Speaker A:Why did you need to grab it from the place where you hung it?
Speaker A:Because that's where.
Speaker A:That's what mistletoe does.
Speaker B:That's where they were already standing.
Speaker B:Why did he need to walk away with it over to Eddie specifically?
Speaker A:Fanfiction gap.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker A:That's why.
Speaker B:I wonder if there are fics about that.
Speaker C:I wonder if anyone else clocked it.
Speaker B:There's not a lot of early season fanfiction gap fics.
Speaker B:Sadly, there were not as many fics in the fandom pre season seven.
Speaker B:Like, at the rate that we get them now.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:At all.
Speaker C:Like, the fanfic is being, like, mass produced right now.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:This fandom, it's crazy.
Speaker A:It's like the Gutenberg printing press of so nerdy.
Speaker A:That was.
Speaker B:That was extremely.
Speaker B:Unfortunately, we're also nerdy and understood that I know.
Speaker B:Anyway, so then.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:Is that when everyone is sitting down to finally eat their Christmas dinner, which looks like such a good spread?
Speaker B:There's obviously Bobby at the head of the table, and then you have, like, his nuclear family.
Speaker B:So Athena and the kids and Michael.
Speaker B:And then who's right afterwards?
Speaker A:Oh, Buck.
Speaker B:Buck and Maddie cross from each other because, like, brother and sister.
Speaker B:And who's right next to Maddie?
Speaker B:Chimney.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Okay, well, who's across from Chimney?
Speaker B:Oh, Christopher.
Speaker B:And then who's right next to, you know, on the other side of Christopher?
Speaker B:Obviously his dad.
Speaker B:So it's like.
Speaker B:It's like you were sitting your child in between the two parents.
Speaker A:All of the families were seated next to each other as opposed to across each other.
Speaker A:So, I mean, you get.
Speaker A:You get Bobby and Athena and Michael.
Speaker A:I mean, they take up the.
Speaker A:The head and, like, the four.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Seats at that.
Speaker A:At the top of the table.
Speaker A:But, like, Maddie and Chimney were next to each other.
Speaker A:Like, I think Hen and Karen were next to each other.
Speaker B:I'm pretty positive.
Speaker B:Let me double check.
Speaker A:So it's like the little family units are next to each other, and the extended is.
Speaker A:Is across.
Speaker A:So, like, Buck is across from Maddie.
Speaker A:She's still part of his, like, blood family, but.
Speaker A:But it's Buck, Christopher, Eddie all together.
Speaker A:I mean, the way it should be.
Speaker A:But yeah, like, when you have all of the other couples seated next to each other as opposed to across.
Speaker A:That's something.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:It is Bobby at the head, then Michael and Athena across from each other, and then Harry and May across from each other.
Speaker B:And Buck, Maddie, then Christopher and Chimney, then Eddie and Hannah cross each other.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Hen and Karen are right next to each other, and Denny's right next to them.
Speaker A:So even the kids right next to you.
Speaker B:And then Abuela is obviously right next to Eddie.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:So that's interesting.
Speaker A:Seating arrangements.
Speaker A:Now, the question is, would Athena and.
Speaker A:And Buck have.
Speaker A:Or would Athena have arranged it?
Speaker A:So did they have seating, like, assignments, or did they just naturally all gravitate in that?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:I think I. I mean, I would say with how detail oriented both Buck and Athena are, that they're probably.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is also interesting, too, because if Athena were doing that, because she was the one setting everything up, because the rest of the 118 was at the call.
Speaker A:She did that with intention.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, not only is the attention there, it's the intention that Buck is right next to her kids.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, like, he.
Speaker B:After her kids book is the kid.
Speaker A:Yes, because he's Right next to Harry, I think.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And then you also have, like, May and Maddie together and.
Speaker A:And they get closer later on in the seasons.
Speaker A:And it's just like.
Speaker A:Yeah, that is so interesting because it's the extended family of the extended family, but like, also the kid of.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that does.
Speaker B:That does speak of Athena specifically, I think, because Buck was right there and she was like, well, I want to see Maddie.
Speaker B:And sat Maddie across.
Speaker B:And then Maddie was the one that's next to Chimney.
Speaker B:And then of course, it reminds me of.
Speaker B:I don't know what episode this is from, but it's like, if we invite.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's like if we invite.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Chimney, then he'll want to invite Maddie.
Speaker B:Maddie and Maddie will invite Buck and Buckle invite Eddie.
Speaker A:And one of those things just doesn't.
Speaker A:Isn't the same.
Speaker A:Everybody's bringing their partners, but only one of them is not quote, unquote, romance.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Partner.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's that same thing.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:They're just.
Speaker A:They're just a unit.
Speaker A:Just like the romantic partners.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:Ridiculous.
Speaker A:And then the last.
Speaker B:The last little thing.
Speaker B:Is that over?
Speaker B:Is it by the pinball machine again?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So cute.
Speaker B:It's Abuela and Eddie and Chris over by the pinball machine.
Speaker B:And Buck brings over this gigantic present.
Speaker B:Super interesting.
Speaker B:So we don't see him bring anyone out.
Speaker B:Not one soul.
Speaker B:Not a sister, not his pseudo dad, not the other kids, just Christopher.
Speaker A:Like, he's making up for not being there, for being an absentee dad.
Speaker B:Sorry I was gone for a month.
Speaker A:By your love.
Speaker B:You forget that I was gone.
Speaker B:Meanwhile, Christopher's already forgotten.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker C:It's like he's proving himself to his man over here.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Huh.
Speaker A:That he can provide and.
Speaker A:And like, make Christopher happy.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's really cute because it's.
Speaker A:It's like at that point where all of, like the.
Speaker A:The smaller family unit, all of the nuclear.
Speaker B:Broken off.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:With each other.
Speaker B:Like, May and Harry are bringing presents over to their parents.
Speaker B:Their three parents, you know, and then Denny's with his moms.
Speaker B:And like, everyone's broken.
Speaker B:Maddie and Chimney, like, everyone's broken off into their nuclear families.
Speaker B:And, you know, instead of having Buck just kind of watching everything or being with, you know, Maddie, his sister, he hops over.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:To where Christopher and Eddie and Abuela is, which is just another one of those things.
Speaker A:And, like, I think we really see how early on, like, Buck has been incorporated into the Diaz family.
Speaker A:Like, we see in 8:17, like, how much Tia Peppa has like, sees Buck as family too.
Speaker A:And I think, like, Abuela is the same thing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:It just.
Speaker A:They are, they are the smaller family within the larger family.
Speaker A:There's no refuting that.
Speaker C:I love how pictures of that scene are canon in universe because in season eight you do have.
Speaker C:Yeah, like, I actually have multiple shots from this particular episode.
Speaker C:You have like the group photo.
Speaker C:I think they've used it and put in Eddie's mantle and then they've used the picture of Buck giving Christopher the present.
Speaker A:So wasn't that one of the pictures on, like, fridge?
Speaker C:Yeah, I think so too.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker C:So really he's been so integrated in.
Speaker A:That family for, for so long and like, honestly, it's.
Speaker A:It's longer than.
Speaker A:Than season three.
Speaker A:That's just like when it became like, so much stronger.
Speaker A:But really from 204.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:When Buck is introduced Eddie to.
Speaker A:To.
Speaker A:To bring.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:When.
Speaker A:When Buck met Tia Peppa and brought.
Speaker A:Said bring Christopher over to the station and cleared it with Bobby and got Carla for Eddie.
Speaker A:And just like, again, it's part of the similar, like, grand gesture here.
Speaker A:I. I wonder also if like, there's an aspect of knowing that, like, Eddie wouldn't accept a kind of gift unless it is for Christopher sort of thing, if that makes sense.
Speaker C:I feel like I, like, I feel like if.
Speaker C:If Buck had told him his plans, like, I don't think.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Eddie would be like, no, don't do that or you shouldn't have to do that or go out of your way to do all that.
Speaker C:So, like, everything.
Speaker C:Everything that.
Speaker C:That Buck does, especially for Eddie, like, he can't tell him because then it's like he's going to be met with like some form of resistance because he's like, it's either for Eddie, he's probably going to see it.
Speaker C:Like, it.
Speaker C:One doesn't deserve it to.
Speaker C:It might be like.
Speaker C:Like he's just going to be met with some form of resistance.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And I mean, I know we keep talking about 817 and that kind of like reverse grand gesture sort of thing, but we haven't brought up 809.
Speaker C:I know.
Speaker A:With.
Speaker A:With.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's what I was thinking about.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That sparked for me too, with Buck coming in, not telling Eddie specifically not telling him.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because he used the Freddie Figman name and said, like, I'm going to take care of your lease so you can be with your son.
Speaker A:Our son.
Speaker A:And it's like these are very similar things.
Speaker A:I mean, just like across the board, these grand gestures that Buck makes for Eddie have to do with Christopher specifically because I think that's one of the only ways that Eddie will accept some kind of like nicety because he can excuse it as it being for Christopher.
Speaker A:And Buck knows this, but it's really, it's really for Eddie.
Speaker A:It's some for Christopher as well but like it's really for Eddie and it's just like that continual these things that Buck does to benefit their family unit like that is just phenomenal.
Speaker A:So lovely and so consistent.
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