My thoughts on 9-1-1's Evan Buckley and Natalia's breakup

I was not surprised that in the 9-1-1 seventh season first episode Abandon Ships that it showed Evan "Buck" Buckley saying that him and Natalia broke up. They didn't seem like they would last long to begin with. Because aside from their lack of chemistry, one of the reasons that I didn't think they were a good match was that Natalia only seemed interested in Buck because he died and came back to life. His connection with death was the only thing that interested her and it truly showed. I wrote about this before in a few other posts and I remember when the last half of the sixth season was airing, fans who were not interested in a Buck and Natalia relationship were being called negative. However, Buck's reasons for the end of their relationship was very telling. I posted the quote of his conversation with Edmundo "Eddie" Diaz below (along with the gifs of the scene further down):

Eddie: Why don't you invite Natalia go-karting? I'm sure she'd love it.

Buck: We, uh, we broke up. I don't know why I thought it was such a great idea, dating a Death Doula.

Eddie: To be fair, you had just died.

Buck: Yeah, well, that's all she ever wanted to talk about. Death, death, death. Got kind of boring, to be honest with you.

Eddie: Well welcome back to the world of the living, Buck. You were missed.

~ Edmundo "Eddie" Diaz and Evan "Buck" Buckley, 9-1-1 season 7 episode 1: Abandon Ships

So, having Buck say that all she ever talked about was death feels like vindication. Especially since one of my friends who is also a 9-1-1 fan had said I was being negative about Buck and Natalia since I ship Buck and Eddie (or Buddie). I might ship Buck and Eddie but my thoughts on Natalia and the Buck and Natalia relationship were formed by what was being shown on screen. And you could see that from the moment he met her during an emergency at a live funeral in the episode Death and Taxes (season 6 episode 15) that she only seemed interested in him once he told her about his brush with death.

To me, even as a Death Doula, she seemed a bit too enthusiastic about death and not to mention she didn't understand Buck. Which is ironic since he was so adamant when he was telling Eddie that there was something different about her and that she saw him when Buck and Eddie were talking in the cemetery scene in Death and Taxes. However, that's not the story that was being told because in the three episodes that she appeared in, it was clear that she neither saw nor understood him. Unfortunately for Natalia, she was a lackluster love interest that was nothing more than a last minute add on so that Buck would be in a relationship at the end of the season. And the same goes for Eddie, who is also unfortunately still in a bland and boring relationship with an equally lackluster last minute add on love interest Marisol. And not to mention the actress who plays Marisol is transphobic, however, Eddie's terrible relationship is a topic for another post. Buck and Natalia's break up was not unexpected especially since there was nothing there to begin with for them to build on.

(gif source: 1-2: austen (swiftiebuck) and 3-8: neethu (captain-hen))

(9-1-1 season 7 episode 1: Abandon Ships)