In this week’s episode, titled “You Don’t Know Me,” Buck goes on his first dinner and movie date with Tommy. Having never explored his attraction to another man before, a noticeably bewildered Buck does not quite know how to navigate his new feelings for Tommy. “This is my first date with a dude, but I’m not weirded out. You know, I mean, I’m an ally,” Buck says to Tommy, without realizing that he is more than just an ally to the LGBTQ+ community now.

Things get even more painfully awkward when Buck and Tommy bump into Buck’s best friend, Eddie (Ryan Guzman), and his girlfriend, Marisol (Edy Ganem), at dinner. After Buck says that he and Tommy are going to catch a movie and then “find some hot chicks” together, Tommy decides to cut their date short, telling Buck that he thinks he is adorable but isn’t quite ready for a real relationship. It isn’t until the end of the episode — after Buck comes out first to his sister, Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), and then to Eddie — that Buck asks Tommy for another chance and invites him to attend Maddie’s impending wedding to Chimney (Kenneth Choi).

During a recent break from writing the final three episodes of the season, Minear jumped on a quick call with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss the exploration of Buck’s sexuality, why he chose to have Buck come out to Maddie and Eddie first, the introduction of a new character from fire captain Bobby Nash’s (Peter Krause) past, and the upcoming Maddie-Chimney wedding — which, as far as viewers can tell from the final minutes of the midseason finale, does not get off to a good start.