This week, Han, Cil, and Rachel stage an intervention for 9-1-1 Season 9 Episodes 8 (“War”) and 9 (“Fighting Back”), two episodes that are doing a lot emotionally, narratively, and metaphorically — especially when it comes to grief, disability, and the slow, messy work of holding a found family together. Nothing is wrapped up neatly here, and that’s on purpose.

From Avengers: Age of Ultron energy at dispatch with Maddie to what amounts to forced group therapy at Athena’s house, these episodes cover a surprising amount of ground. We discuss Chimney learning that firing your best friend comes with interventions and consequences, and Harry’s graduation into his 9-1-1 Nepo Era (after a brief existential crisis).

We examine why Hen’s “meltdown” is not out of character (and why some fandom reactions missed the point), how grief is a non-linear process, and how chronic illness becomes a physical metaphor for everything the characters have been carrying since losing Bobby. We also talk about the uneven emotional labor women carry in families and friend groups, disability representation that actually hits, and why the 118 re-assembling outside the firehouse for the first time post-Bobby is so important.

Plus: lore callbacks, Athena Grant stepping fully into her matriarch-in-chief era, and Buck and Eddie acting like divorced coworkers who absolutely did not finish the emotional paperwork.

Buddie remains a major gravitational force in these episodes, not because the show is shouting it, but because it keeps structuring the story around Buck and Eddie anyway. From near-partner dynamics at work to the show’s habit of emotionally separating them while keeping them locked in each other’s eyeline, their relationship stays narratively loud even when it goes unspoken. Call it a forecast or extremely informed clownery, but Buddie is still one of the engines driving the emotional stakes of season nine — and the text keeps putting that directly in front of us.

If these episodes hit harder than expected and you’re still picking emotional shrapnel out of your brain, spent the hour defending Hen with your whole chest, or clocked Buck and Eddie slipping back into their favorite stress response — bickering with feelings attached — this episode is for you. We break down why none of this is accidental, why the feelings are the story, and why the 118 falling apart is actually how it starts putting itself back together. Hit play — we’ll do the processing so you don’t have to do it alone.

Episode title inspired by “Beauty in the Hurting” by Jared Benjamin

📔 Articles & References From This Episode 📔

🫂 Buddie Haunted by Kitchens – Check out this week’s Patreon-exclusive Best Buddies Mini-Segment here!

🐤 Buddie Made It About Themselves, ircnshield on Twitter

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“Give me a call if you ever get lonely

I’ll be like one of your girls or your homies”

This week, Han, Cil, and Rachel head back to the clurb (unwillingly, in Eddie’s case) to break down Season 9 Episode 7 of 9-1-1, "Secrets."

Hen pushes herself past the point of reason trying to solve her own mystery illness, Chimney is forced into an impossible leadership position, and Ravi continues to be the funniest man alive. Meanwhile, Buck goes on two dates — one with a man, one with a woman — only to discover they’re married, want him as a third, and ultimately help him realize something much bigger about what he actually wants.

And Eddie Diaz? Eddie Diaz is exhausted.

We focus on how the club sequence functions as a pressure cooker: a space designed to produce desire, where Eddie’s disinterest in women becomes impossible to ignore and Buck’s attention keeps circling back to him anyway. Through blocking, reaction shots, and repeated visual callbacks, the episode frames their dynamic as intimate, loaded, and unresolved — less about jealousy and more about proximity, comfort, and habit.

From chastity belts (literal and metaphorical), to wingmen who keep getting stolen, to the Comp-Het tango Buck and Eddie cannot stop dancing, this episode gives us some of the clearest text and subtext we’ve seen all season.

Then we unleash Queer Eddiemaxxing, where we trace Eddie’s long-standing pattern of performance, abstinence, and denial — and how this episode finally flips the script. From there, we head straight into Buddiemaxxing (lol), the delayed gratification of Buddie, and the “right in front of you” storytelling that continues to define the season.

This episode positions Buck and Eddie as each other’s emotional constant, even when they’re supposedly looking elsewhere.

“Say what you want, and I’ll keep it a secret

You get the key to my heart, and I need it”

Episode title inspired by “One of Your Girls” by Troye Sivan.

📔 Articles & References

🫂 Buddie Power Dynamics – Check out this week’s Patreon-exclusive Best Buddies Mini-Segment here!

📰 ‘9-1-1’s Oliver Stark On “Awkward” Time Filming Buck’s Bi Love Triangle With Real Married Couple, “Charged Moments” For Buddie Shippers, Deadline

📰 9-1-1 Midseason Premiere: Oliver Stark Breaks Down Buck’s ‘Self-Discovery’ After Returning to the Dating Scene (Exclusive), People

📰 9-1-1’s Ryan Guzman Worried Eddie Might Be Killed Off — But Now He’s Hoping for a Season 9 Romance (Exclusive), Us Weekly

📰 ‘9-1-1’ star Ryan Guzman reflects on Eddie’s journey leading up to Season 9 in exclusive interview, YardBarker

📰 Oliver Stark Teases What’s Next on 9-1-1 After That Shocking Midseason Premiere Twist...

As lovers of good television and queer stories, Heated Rivalry has bewitched us body and soul, so we’re taking a field trip with our bestie Niki to the gay boy aquarium (and hopefully you’re joining us)!

We’re applying our thoughtful media analysis from our usual format — where we yap about the show 9-1-1 — to the best book to screen adaptation we’ve ever seen!

This week Han, Cil, Rachel, and Niki dive into the production, music, parallels, and changes from the book by Rachel Reid that make this an absolutely captivating episode of TV, championed by writer and director, Jacob Tierney.

We share our first impressions and review of Episode 1 “Rookies” with plenty of flowers for the acting powerhouses of Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander.

Then cool off in the penalty box where we defend Yuna Hollander’s honor against the internet’s media illiteracy, you don’t need to read the book to know that she’s a MOAT (Mother of All Time).

Party like it’s 2008, grab your iPod nano, and listen to our many thoughts on the first episode of Heated Rivalry!

📔 Articles & References

🫂 Exploring Similarities Between Shane Hollander & Eddie Diaz – Check out this week’s Patreon-exclusive Best Buddies Mini-Segment here!

💦🐤 Our Reaction to Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams Read Thirst Tweets – Patreon Exclusive!

📰 Heated Rivalry Cast & Crew Press, thoroughly compiled by _mika60_ on Twitter 🫶🏼

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The Buddie System is a Nerdvergent Media production.

Music by DIV!NITY

Chapters

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:00:27) Welcome to the AQUEERium

(00:01:36) Starting Lineup - Co-Host Introductions

(00:07:59) Post-Game Highlights - Episode Recap

(00:17:56) Line Change - Reaction & Episode Review

(00:32:32) Chirp of the Week - Loving Roasts

(00:38:01) Man in the Crease - Production Appreciation

(00:46:39) Mirror Watch

(00:54:08) Blocking in the Locker Room Scene

(01:00:11) Needle Drop

(01:02:25) Hat Trick - Three-Peats of the...