stg the more I think back to the first episodes of S7,
I am more and more convinced lfj/T was chosen for Ryan/Eddie.
Firstly, they actually had chemistry, it was evident on screen, and Oliver says so himself in an interview before the break up.
Second, the whole dialogue and interaction between Eddie and Buck, and Buck and Maddie, was as if Buck was afraid he'll lose his Diaz boys rather than his straight friend beating him to the trunk of a man.
Thirdly, Tommy had a personality with Eddie, he was former military, who loves everything Eddie loved and was into everything Eddie was into from martial arts, to basketball, to working on cars, to boxing fights in Vegas.
Fourth, Tommy took Eddie to freaking Vegas and he met Christopher who liked him.
Fifth, T/lfj face lit up with a goofy smile whenever Eddie entered a room and that is evident even in B&T disastrous restaurant date.
Sixth, when they play on the basketball court, Eddie passes with the ball and Tommy inserts himself between Eddie and Buck telling Buck he's not getting past him.
Seventh, T takes Eddie to the clinic and then home, after Buck, in his frustration with T's presence and that he gets between him and Eddie, physically hurts Eddie.
Tommy being the one to drive Eddie to the game and then take him to the clinic and then home, is just too telling.
Everything that came after that for T from the moment he kissed Buck after freaking talking about how great Eddie is, from both talkers, mind you, is all downhill from there.
What could have been a redemption story for T, dating a Latin man, getting in his friends' good graces again, helping him or even just bonding with Christopher, as they keep clicking, like Eddie flat out told Buck in the beginning of 7x04 on that call with Ravi (I miss Ravi!!) as Buck watched and pined from the sidelines, would have made for a much better story and probably would have had us much more in Tommy's favor than the crap writing we got.
Tommy could have been the Chris to Eddie's Chen (The Rookie reference).
We would have been much more invested and heartbroken at the breakup, if he wasn't reduced to Buck's background boyfriend.
Did I have any affection towards him after Hen and Chimney's begins? Hell no.
Was I sad to see him walk out that door in 8x06? Nope.
It was long awaited because that's how the story was told, when things are tough, complicated and don't go his way Tommy, like all of Buck's previous engagements just walk out that door.
The way Tommy was introduced in his connection to Eddie (that pretty much evaporated after that kiss with Buck, like wtf?) indicated that he could have been written in a different way,
That last minute change, reduced Tommy to what Taylor was reduced into in S4 finale and then in S5 - nothing but a LI.
I was disappointed, not that Buck is bi, but that the LI he had, didn't get the storytelling we all could have had fun with. It was bland and meaningless in the grand scheme of things, cause, somehow, 6 months later Buck still has no idea what he is exactly.
(Buck's supposed heartbreak is a whole other post and it is centered solely around Buck.)
So yeah, Eddie and Tommy made much more sense and probably would have been a fun ride, if not for the truly bad last minute change that turned the "nester" into a cheater with a ghost. And what could have been a beautiful redemption arc into a sham.