Oliver Stark has opened up about Buck and Eddie’s relationship in the eighth season of 9-1-1.
Earlier this year, the seventh season of Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear’s hit drama surprised fans when Evan “Buck” Buckley (Stark) came out as bisexual.
Taking place in 9-1-1’s milestone 100th episode – titled ‘Buck, Bothered and Bewildered’ – the fan favourite character shared a heartwarming kiss with former firefighter/LAFD Air Operations pilot Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.).
Following the monumental episode, Buck continued to explore his sexuality, coming out to his family and best friend Edmundo ‘Eddie’ Diaz (Ryan Guzman), in addition to developing a closer romantic bond with Tommy.
On 26 September, 9-1-1 returned for its highly anticipated eighth season, and it was jam-packed with action, including a killer bee accident and a rogue flying saw.
The premiere episode also featured more adorable Buck and Tommy content, with the lovebirds joining Eddie in wishing his son Christopher Diaz (Gavin McHugh) a happy birthday on Facetime.
With 9-1-1 season eight officially underway, Stark recently opened up to TV Insider about the new batch of episodes, including the “unforeseen challenges” that face Buck and Tommy.
“The relationship is obviously still in its very early stages at the beginning [of the season], and there are lots of things they don’t know about each other, and I do think as they start to uncover more things – baggage comes with people,” he explained.
In addition to “BuckTommy’s” relationship, Stark answered the age-old question of whether his and Guzman’s character will take their relationship to a romantic level.
“Look, Buck is obviously in a new phase of his life, and he has a lot to uncover about himself, and I’m just excited for him to find out and to really explore what bisexuality means for him. And that isn’t tied to Tommy, and it’s not tied to Eddie,” he revealed.
While we’ll have to wait and see if season eight will include a love triangle between Buck, Tommy and Eddie, we know that Stark is open to a potential Buddie romance in the future.
In an April interview with GAY TIMES, the beloved talent said he doesn’t “think that the Buddie fans wrong“ in recognising his undeniable chemistry with Guzman: “I see what everybody else sees. I watch the same show.
“So, I decided this year that I wanted to possibly lean into some kind of sexual awakening for Buck, anyway. When the storyline was brought to me by Tim Minear, who writes the show, it was like, ‘Great! I was gonna do that anyway. Good to know we’re all on the same page.’“
However, if a Buddie romance were to come to fruition in the future, he explained that it “will be because the story naturally progresses in that way. It shouldn’t be done just to please a specific sub-set of fans.”
“It should be done because that’s the right story to tell, and that’s in fact the much more progressive and positive way to tell the story anyway,” he added.
New episodes of 9-1-1 air every Thursday on ABC.
