The battle for the lieutenant position between Marjan and Paul ended in a surprise. Before Owen could announce who he had chosen as his lieutenant on 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5, Episode 3, Marjan backed out. She gave an eye-opening speech, removing herself from consideration and endorsing Paul. After Owen announced Paul as the new lieutenant, he walked up to Marjan and whispered something to her. Despite the expectation that what was said would be revealed, the truth never came out. In a conversation with TV Line, series star Brian Michael Smith spoke about the moment. Brace yourself, because his revelation of what happened was anticlimactic — unless you’ve read the quote.
The exchange was unscripted, and as everyone knows, Owen may not have said anything at all. “I think it’s a really cool thing, because it’s just between those two people. The audience can fill in whatever they want,” the actor said ahead of time. When asked about his theory about what happened, “Marjan is very similar to Captain Strand in the way they’re both willing to endure. Because they’re so similar, whatever he says probably fits into the, ‘I see you and I recognize you.’” And I loved that,” Michael Smith responded. Natacha Karam spoke to TV Insider about Marjan’s decision. “She had the ability to look at it from an outside perspective and realize the full scope of what happened and what she did and what she was good at and what she cared about, which Paul excelled at,” the actress said. She added how the moment impacted the character, saying, “And the humility to step back and say, you know what? That’s not actually the right role for me. And the self-awareness to be like, I know myself and I know what my strengths are. … I knew when to hand it off and was like, there’s definitely someone better suited for the job.”
The mystery of what was said will forever remain unless Rob Lowe decides to reveal it. Whatever we theorize, I believe Owen thanked Marjan for saving his life not a second too late. “No one will ever know what I decided because I can’t decide,” I think he said. In Episode 4, Paul struggles with his new position while Tommy is accused of poisoning Melody and Cassandra.
