Tommy Isn’t As Bad As People Think He Is

I’ve been watching 911 since the beginning and with a lot of the viewers of the show have seen the characters grow, mature and change over the course of the show, but what I find is that if someone doesn’t like a particular character or actor on the show, they will find reasons not to like them in their personal life.

There are some hardcore fans that try and bash Tommy and say that he’s always been the same and he’s never really changed as a person. They still think that Tommy is the same person as he was when we first met him in season 2. People are still stuck with the Tommy that was who he was when he was working with Gerard. We all know how Gerard is and we can all agree that he isn’t the nicest, warmest person to be around.

When Tommy had him as captain, he felt like he had to hide who he was to fit in. He had recently came out in his personal life, but not at work and he felt like he wasn't able to be who he was when Gerard was at the 118. Tommy was going to get harassed, bullied and maybe physically harmed because being gay wasn’t accepted under Gerard’s “power” so Tommy had to hide his true self to be able to keep himself safe. He needed to prove that he was able to do the job and be able to be one of the guys.

It wasn’t until after Bobby became captain when Tommy was able to relax and be more open because he felt safe around him and be able true to himself. He knew that Bobby would have his back whereas Gerard would laugh at him and tell him to deal with it on his own. Tommy didn’t feel like he was able to trust anyone with personal information when Gerard was there, but with Bobby, he felt more comfortable.

When we see Tommy later on in the show and he gets together with Buck, people were giving him more of a hard time. They kpet going back to season 2 Tommy and made him seem like he hadn’t changed. They felt like getting together with Buck was getting in the way of Buck’s true feelings for Eddie and Tommy was just that stepping stone to that realization.

No matter how you feel about Tommy and Buck’s relationship, it was about to happen at some point. If Buck was meant for Eddie then it would have happened already, but Tommy was the person that made Buck realize his true self. Even if the relationship didn’t last, their relationship was something that needed to be told.

As much as we like to see people for who they were in the past, there comes a time when people change, some change may be for good, like for Tommy. He was dealt with a toxic work environment where he had to find a way to survive even if it meant fitting into a role that he wasn’t comfortable with. As time went on and things shifted, Tommy started to see the good in things and he began to feel like himself and feel comfortable in who he was. He needed to have someone in his life that saw the good in him and be that support.

Everyone needs time to figure things out and be able to find that peace that they need and for Tommy, working with Bobby, even for a short time really made him believe that he can live his best life. Bobby made him a better person because he started to see that there was more to life then whatever Gerard was putting out into the world.