Buddie vs Lone Star meta (2/3)

Notes: || LS = 911 Lone Star || OG = original 911 || These three meta posts were written before watching LS s3… || part 1

LS 209

Okay, I love Grace, Judd and their ship (Grudd), they’re probably the best part of LS for me (and I also love Tarlos, so that says a lot). Obviously a “Grudd Begins” ep was bound to be a fave. But yes, we’re here to talk about its parallels to Buddie… Because there are A LOT, I tried to be brief in what I wrote. Here we go! ~~~

Let’s kick off with the fact that Grudd and Buddie are both partners who experience a shared major trauma! As I’ve pointed out before, it is A Choice who the show chooses to go through this together… ~~~

When they met, Judd instinctively trusted Grace and confided in her, despite thinking he’s not in a confessional mood and saying he’s not much of a talker. Over time, he gradually kept telling her more and more of his truth (I mean, that idiot was in love before the end of their first talk, telling her his real name already). Similarly, Eddie trusted Buck intuitively, despite their initial friction in OG 201, and after a few seconds of hesitation he showed Buck Christopher’s picture and told Buck all about Chris. Over time, he kept letting Buck more and more into their lives (TBH not even after that much time, either. It took him what, presumably one week to move from, “this guy is being a jerk to me, I should ruffle his feathers” to “hell yeah, I will trust you with intimate info on my son”? More meta on just HOW MUCH trust Eddie put in Buck early on in season 2 in regards to Chris, here). ~~~

Grace is shown as someone who makes Judd’s life better by advising him on how to approach Kyle’s mother, which is exactly what we saw of Grudd in LS 101, and as I’ve already mentioned in part 1 of this series, that parallels the way Buck is shown as helping Eddie and making his life better in early s2. Except, if in LS 101 Grudd are already married, here we see that this theme started even before they became an official couple, which is even more similar to Buddie… ~~~

Judd lets Grace know as early as their second talk that he sees how good she is at what she does. Eddie lets Buck know as early as their second shift together that he sees how good Buck is at what he does. Buck and Grace both get to feel seen and valued thanks to these new found relationships! ~~~

After their initial connection, Grudd proceed to flirt under the guise of a growing platonic bond over the phone. After their initial connection, Buddie proceed to flirt (most undeniably in eps like OG 309 and 408) under the guise of a growing platonic friendship. ~~~

After Grudd had become set in their routine, Judd is shaken up when he thinks Grace has left her job at the prayer hotline, which is how they met in the first place. In OG 510, after Buddie had become set in their routine, Buck is visibly shaken up when he thinks Eddie is leaving his job with the 118, which is how they met in the first place… ~~~

Grace’s father says he trusts Judd to do the ‘right thing’ (for her), which would mean letting her go so she could have a better life without him, but eventually it becomes clear that the best life for Grace is with Judd. In OG 315, Eddie’s mom says they trust him to do what’s right for Chris, which would mean letting him go so he could have a better life without Eddie, but eventually it becomes clear the best life for Chris is with Eddie, who chooses to share that life he’s building for Chris and Buck, a point that is made even clearer when we later learn that this is the very same episode in which Eddie decided to write Buck into his will as Christopher’s legal guardian (revealed later in OG 414). ~~~

When Judd was hurting without Grace in his life, he went off and punched a random asshole parking where he shouldn’t have, an incident for which Judd got himself arrested. In OG 305, when Eddie was hurting without Buck in his life due to the lawsuit, he went off and punched a random asshole parking where he shouldn’t have, an incident for which Eddie got himself arrested. Both of these morons couldn’t deal with this emotional loss of their other half.

~~~

In the present of LS 209, we see Grudd together in the sinking car, and Judd is unwilling to leave Grace because he would rather die than live without her, which immediately reminded me of OG 315 (yes, again!) when Eddie was buried underground. Buck wanted to go down there to get him and Hen’s response made it clear that if Buck was allowed to, they’d just end up with two cut ropes (an accusation which he doesn’t deny), meaning Buck too would rather have died than live without Eddie (something that he repeats explicitly to Eddie in OG 414, I SCREAM). ~~~

Grudd getting together in 209 despite some bumps along the road is finally resolved when Grace lets Judd know he’s actually been her man all this time, even when they weren’t officially a couple (he’s just an oblivious moron and didn’t realize it). Buck and Eddie might not have reached this conclusion explicitly yet (Grace has an advantage over them because she apparently has more than a single brain cell), but tell me that what she implies doesn’t basically sum up Buddie’s dynamic, where they’re married and are raising a kid together despite not officially being a couple… ~~~

…In conclusion, the 911 verse has spoken, loud and clear, and the only question left is, “Buddie Begins” when, Tim?

~ ~ ~ Thank you so much to the superstar @judsonryder​​​ for making the gifs for these posts. She’s been unbelievable with these! You can find more of my Buddie meta, gifs, humor posts here, and my Buddie fics here. Please feel free to poke me if you need help with anything, and thank you in advance for any show of support! xoxox