This is the beginning of the end for 9-1-1: Lone Star. More than 16 months after its Season 4 finale aired, the Fox procedural drama is finally back for one last dance, kicking off with a three-episode epic train derailment that unleashes a cloud of toxic chlorine gas over Austin, Texas. As they work to save civilians—and in some cases, themselves—from impending danger, past and present members of 126 will soon be grappling with their own mortality in the fifth and final 12-episode season. Below, co-creator Rashad Raisani shares with TV Guide how the show handled the unexpected departure of Sierra McClain (who played beloved 9-1-1 dispatcher Grace Ryder) between seasons, the challenges ahead for each of the remaining characters, and whether there’s any truth to the rumors of a “Tarlos” spinoff.
Owen (Rob Lowe) is still struggling with the guilt of being an accomplice in his late half-brother Robert’s (Chad Lowe) assisted suicide at the end of last season—a fact Tommy (Gina Torres) didn’t know until she brought him to her grief support group. How Owen will continue with Rashad Raisani: We really wanted that journey to have a real impact on him, not just be a one-off for the finale. What you’ll see with Owen is that there’s a lot of psychological pain — one, the pain of losing his brother, but two, there’s also this guilt. In the first couple of episodes, it’s a little bit more subconscious, and he’s trying to repress it, and we’re going to do this really interesting story a couple of episodes [after] Episode 3. We’re going to really start to explore and dig into the whole depth of what actually happened that night and how it affects Owen, and he’s going to have to deal with it. That’s a big part of the first half of this season.
At work, Owen has to make a choice between Paul (Brian Michael Smith) and Marjan (Natacha Karam) to fill Judd’s (Jim Parrack) vacant lieutenant position. Paul and Marjan, being best friends, seem to be having fun with the idea of competing against each other for promotions, but something — and someone — has to give up at some point. How will that affect their friendship?
Raisani: In the first episode, there’s this veil that they think this [battle for lieutenant] won’t affect their friendship. In the second episode, we see the darkest part of them realizing that, where they actually become more openly rivals and that starts to fracture their friendship. The purpose of the third episode is … we get to where it’s at the fastest. We get to the point. We put all these people in extreme danger, and in that extreme danger — both for themselves and the people they’re trying to save — we reveal exactly who these people are. We’re going to test that friendship in these first three episodes, and we’re going to realize that it’s stronger than either of them realize in a really profound way.
Sierra McClain opted not to return for Lone Star’s fifth season, and we quickly learn in the premiere that, after seeing some orphans at her and Judd’s local church, Grace felt compelled to do some missionary work and left Judd alone with their young daughter. Can you talk more about what Grace is doing right now and how you came to that conclusion for this character?
Raisani: Grace is on a Mercy ship. I think it just so happens that its port of call in [episode] 501, when Judd tries to contact her, is in the Solomon Islands. But there are Mercy ships that actually help dig clean wells and support cleft palate surgeries. There are surgeons, doctors, nurses, all sorts of first responders on these boats. They’re just trying to get to these forgotten places in the world where they don’t have access to hospitals—or even electricity, internet, water, you name it. They show up in these places and try to alleviate suffering where they are, so that’s what she’s doing for our story. When Sierra’s ability to be on the show was threatened, I was devastated. I love Sierra. I think she’s a core building block of this series, because that’s her voice. She’s a 9-1-1 dispatcher on a show called 9-1-1: Lone Star, so she’s the heart of the show and she’s really the soul of the show. So it’s always devastating; honestly, the idea of losing her seems unimaginable. That made me say, “Okay, we need to respect Sierra McClain, the actress. We need to respect Grace, the character. So we’re not doing something cheap like killing her off mid-season.” We want to honor her, and I want to protect her.
