"Abigail's parents cared more about the bible than being good to their own child"

This week, Han, Cil, and Rachel are covering 9-1-1 Season 9 Episodes 10 ("Handle With Care") and 11 ("Going Once, Going Twice") — a two-parter that had us experience the whole range of human emotions, separated by a four-week hiatus that sent us into full red-string mode, and worth every second of the wait.

Chimney is freaking out about Harry's first shift, haunted by the ghost of captains past, until Hen shows up with wine and a much-needed reality check. Harry saves Chim’s life, earns a toilet to scrub, and Bobby's knife gets passed down in a scene that cut our hearts into little pieces (the blade is sharp.) Eddie spends two episodes being the only person willing to see Abigail clearly — testifying for her, bringing her to the 118, continually advocating for her — while the psychological professional and cop around him are busy filling in the blanks with the single white female trope, without much evidence. Then there's the auction, where Buck shows up as himself — baker, uncle, man who has fully stopped apologizing for who he is — and beats Buck 1.0’s record by a whole dollar thanks to the Stitch & Bitch widows. Meanwhile, Eddie, is hiding in his makeshift closet (it’s a coat rack guys, like seriously, come on) getting Maddie to bid on him for HIMSELF, and coughs up $2,500 of his own hard earned cash, because he’s worth it! And he’s seriously over the idea of performing on dates with women.

We dig into Eddie's unrepression checklist, the parallel journeys of Eddie and Abigail, and why this storyline is so personal for Eddie — the queer coding mirror, the religious trauma, the anger, and don’t forget the terrible parents. We talk Buck's very relatable 30-something realization, Hen standing at the crossroads of identity and health, and May and Ravi being the newest Disney Prince and Princess. Plus a Psycho-inspired theory that is probably crack, but you never know! And of course, Buck and Eddie being absolutely not normal about each other.

Buck calls Eddie sexy to his face and we break down how this is actually a first and why that matters, why Eddie’s reactions to Buck at the auction are not jealousy but something way more interesting, and why the auction as a whole is basically an unwitting argument for both of their untapped feelings for the other. We don't do jealous Eddie in this house — but possessive Eddie? We could write a dissertation.

These episodes are building off the already great momentum we have for Buck and Eddie’s individual arcs to come back together in Season 9, and Gay Eddie Stocks™️are at an all time high! Hit play and listen to us strut our stuff (incredible media analysis) on the catwalk.

"Well, I hope they know how proud we are they were created with the courage to unlearn all of their hatred"

Episode title inspired by “hope ur ok” by Olivia Rodrigo

📔 Articles & References From This Episode 📔

🫂 Inside Buck & Eddie’s Minds At the Auction – Check out this week’s Patreon-exclusive Best Buddies Mini-Segment here!

📰 9-1-1's Aisha Hinds on Directing That Hilarious Firefighter Auction, TV Guide

🐤 Buck’s Auction & Thirst Tweet Parallels, ircnshield on Twitter

🐤 Blurry Eddie Gobsmacked at Buck’s Auction, ircnshield on Twitter

🐤 Eddie, Driving, & Freedom Meta, keylimedean on Twitter

🐤 9-1-1 Nashville Crossover Speculative Character Team-Ups, ircnshield on Twitter

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Music by DIV!NITY

Chapters

(00:00:00) Previously on 9-1-1…

(00:01:12) Welcome to Dispatch 🚨

(00:02:00) 9x10 “Handle With Care” Review

(00:08:59) 9x11 “Going Once, Going Twice” Review

(00:18:13) How the Episodes Fit Together

(00:23:58) Athena – Grant Family Business

(00:25:20) Harry & May – Probie Nerves & Auction Chaos

(00:29:33) Chimney – Loosening the Grip

(00:32:54) Maddie – Sister Mode Activated

(00:37:01) Ravi – Seen for Who He Is

(00:39:10) Hen – The Healer Instinct

(00:42:20) Buck – Self Worth Spiraling

(00:46:28) Eddie – Protecting Abigail & Himself

(00:50:28) Queer Eddiemaxxing

(00:52:25) Does Eddie See Himself in Abigail?

(00:58:56) The Alex Nothingburger

(01:06:29) Buck’s “We Can Sell This As Sexy”

(01:09:23) The Closet is a Coat Rack

(01:18:17) Hen’s Voiceover – Queer Coding

(01:20:00) Buddiemaxxing – Buck is Being Perceived

(01:24:25) Eddie’s Possessiveness Jumps Out

(01:28:50) Buck is “Shameless”

(01:38:33) Buddie Parallels

(01:50:29) Eddie’s Un-Repression List Check In

(01:58:00) Is Eddie an “Angry Man”?

(02:03:02) What’s Coming Next

(02:13:57) Our 9x13 “Psycho” Theory

(02:19:49) The Narrative Is Side-Eyeing Us – Foreshadowing

(02:32:54) Season 9 Wi$h Li$t

(02:39:23) Take A Buddie With You – Outro