Sumith Prasad
The first season of FOX’s action series ‘9-1-1’ depicts Evan “Buck” Buckley’s efforts to deal with his sex addiction. Due to the same, he fails to form meaningful relationships, only for him to seek solace in sexual encounters with numerous women. Buck’s meeting with Abigail “Abby” Clark changes his life as he succeeds in getting into a committed relationship with the 9-1-1 operator. Their endearing togetherness captivated the admirers of the show, which explains why their separation was an affecting development for the same. If you are eager to know why Buck and Abby break up, let us provide the answer! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Abby’s Self-Discovery and Changed Priorities
Buck and Abby get together in the first half of the first season as Abby instructs Buck during an emergency intervention. They strike a connection with each other during the call, which leads them to an official date. Buck, who has been struggling with his sex addiction, realizes that Abby is not like any other woman he had been seeing for a while. The firefighter also finds Abby’s mother Patricia for her. They eventually form an endearing relationship despite their age differences. Their togetherness gets threatened when Abby’s mother dies. To deal with the sorrow, she leaves for Ireland.
After arriving at the place, Abby decides to travel across Europe since she hasn’t been able to go anywhere for a long due to her obligations as a daughter. Abby’s newfound freedom threatens her relationship with Buck. He initially waits for her return to reunite with her but eventually, the firefighter realizes that Abby isn’t coming back. He starts to believe that she ghosted him, which makes him finalize their breakup for good. In the third season, Abby returns to Buck’s life but with a fiancé. She makes it clear that she moved on from their relationship. The former couple ends their meeting after deciding to remain friends.
According to co-creator Tim Minear, Abby’s European journey changes her severely, which influences her decision to break up with Buck. “For Abby, Buck was the thing that helped dislodge her from the rut that she was in and allowed her to go off on this adventure to discover who she was,” Minear told TVLine. “The danger of going somewhere and discovering who you are is discovering who you are. You may not come back as the same person, which is what happened with Abby,” he added. When she makes progress in her journey, Abby’s priorities and feelings for Buck change, which makes her ghost him. “[…] she [Abby] went off and basically ghosted him [Buck]. That’s how he felt about it,” the co-creator clarified.
Since Connie Britton joined the cast of the series only for the first season, Buck and Abby’s break up seemingly was always part of the plans. The writers must have conceived the same to depict Buck’s transition from a hothead to a mature man. “Buck feels mature to me at the end of that story. He feels like a guy who realizes that a chapter is over. It did them both some good, and he can’t be angry at her. In fact, while he thought that his metaphorical train might have jumped the tracks, he’s not at the end of the line. He’s still on his journey,” Minear added in the same TVLine interview.
Buck’s time with Abby makes him realize that he is capable of nurturing a committed relationship. Such a realization leads him to his relationship with Taylor Kelly. Although they do not end up together, Buck succeeds in saying to himself that he doesn’t have to limit himself to casual sexual encounters.
Read More: Who Does Buck End Up With in 9-1-1? Theories
