**Spoilers Ahead**
The snowstorm is finally clearing in Texas with this season’s fourth episode of 9-1-1: Lone Star. This entire arc has included some strong character work, weird story choices, and everything in between. It’s been quite the ride, watching the members of the 126 come back together after being scattered to the wind.
The big story of this saga has been T.K. (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos (Rafael L. Silva), or Tarlos has been breaking hearts since the season’s first episode. Even though they broke up, they are clearly still in love, and connected to each other now more than ever. Silva delivers yet another masterclass in conveying emotions through his expressions alone. Although it’s doubtful that this particular storyline or conflict will ever be addressed or brought up again, it is endearing to see this couple happy in a franchise not known for giving it’s LGBTQ+ characters a modicum of the same.
In the course of T.K.’s dream sequence, we got to see a brief glimpse of his Jewishness. With a timely reference to Hamentashen (Purim being right around the corner), his mother, played by Lisa Edelstein, suggests he return to the Jewish community to reconnect with that part of himself. 9-1-1: Lone Star has at least two opportunities to show characters of a faith besides Christianity, and they should really lean into it. Having Marjan (Natacha Karam) as a devout Muslim, and having cultural consultants on the show to help develop this character, 9-1-1: Lone Star should have no issue making a fully formed character connecting to his Judaism.
As much as I am personally an advocate for more inclusion of nurses in medical shows, this episode made me rethink my stance. In the real world, nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system. As a nurse myself, I always laugh when I watch shows centered around doctors ambulating, assisting with activities of daily living, and otherwise spending inordinate amounts of time with their patients. However, the nurses in this episode were absolutely awful. Are there nurses who would be saying terrible things while at a patient’s bedside? Of course. But this is far from the norm, and most nurses at least know that they shouldn’t do this. It remains elusive for a medical show that has a good portrayal of nurses.
The other big news out of this episode is the fact that Grace (Sierra Aylina McClain) and Judd (Jim Parrack) are now parents to an adorable baby girl. The fact that she is named Charlie in honor of Tommy’s (Gina Torres) late husband is such a beautiful tribute to their friendship. We know Grace and Judd are going to be amazing parents, and we definitely have this to look forward to for the rest of the season.
The Billy (Billy Burke) redemption arc was questionable, and it’s difficult to see where this will fit into the show for the rest of the season, especially considering where Season 2 left off. Owen (Rob Lowe) continued to be the weakest story in the episode, except when he rushed to his son’s bedside, and the migrant storyline was completely abandoned which was predictable enough.
The last minute fake-out could have been incredibly cheesy and predictable. While fans could all see that the 126 would indeed eventually be re-established, we got to see strong team bonding both when the team thought the 126’s firehouse was going to be demolished, and when they reconnected to re-establish their unit. The fact that the donation came from the family whose daughter was rescued from the building collapse was a poetic way to bring the story full circle.
The four episode blizzard arc of 9-1-1: Lone Star is now complete. Not everything about it worked, but it did set the foundation for the show going forward. Hopefully, not every story is going to be cast aside and never mentioned again. The fact that T.K. and Carlos are back together is great, and we’ll hopefully get to see more of Carlos on his own, in the spotlight as he deserves. The rest of the season will hopefully continue in this upward direction, and give us more of these first responders that have so much potential.
9-1-1: Lone Star airs Mondays 8/7c on Fox.