9-1-1: Lone Star Season 4 Episode 4, “Abandoned,” is making the same bizarre choices that have characterized the season so far. While this might be what fans have come to expect from the show, the story isn’t being served well at all. It bears repeating that this show has an incredibly strong ensemble cast. They are still nowhere to be seen.
Literally, Let Tarlos Live
T.K. (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos (Rafael L. Silva) still cannot catch a break. It’s bad enough that the show can’t just allow a prominent fictional gay couple on TV to just live their lives. They always have to be suffering. It’s troubling, frankly, how little time is actually devoted to these two as a couple. They’re only ever shown in the context of danger or chaos, oftentimes both. This time, Carlos’ life’s on the line for seemingly no reason.
At some point, the constant drama and being in danger loses its effect. It doesn’t help that T.K. is given horrifically bad advice to ignore his gut instinct that something is wrong with Carlos. Thankfully, his intuition is stronger than any terrible advice he might get. The use of Narcan as an Épi-pen may have been the final straw in making this storyline
Lone Star Does Criminal Minds
On this note, the Criminal Minds-adjacent storyline falls completely flat. The creepy old woman just trying to be a mom is just odd. There’s nothing genuinely frightening about her. If she’s supposed to be sympathetic, she isn’t. The weird shoehorning In of her wanting her criminal son to be gay is another level of cringe.
Generic bad guys are also rarely the right choice. These episodes may only have so much time in which to tell a story. However, this cartoon villain makes absolutely no impact. This is well outside of what makes a show like Lone Star compelling. Putting firefighters and cops in these bizarre situations can be fun. If overdone, however, these stories can become a snooze-fest.
The Owen Show Continued
Sure, let’s keep talking about Owen (Rob Lowe). 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 4 Episode 4, “Abandoned,” continues this bizarre storyline of Owen and the racist biker gang. This story continues to drag on, with no end in sight. If this is meant to be the show’s take on comedy, everything is falling flat.
The worst part about the story on this episode is that is that it looks like it will continue. There is now yet another stalker obsessed with Owen. What is it about this man that provokes this reaction in criminals? It makes next to no sense. This storyline has all the makings of another distraction from the fact that this man can never be bothered to do his job.
9-1-1: Lone Star doesn’t seem interested in setting up any other stories for the season other than Owen and Tarlos in peril. With an ensemble cast in the wings, changes need to be made soon. The show is already well into the season. It remains to be seen whether things will take a turn for the better.
9-1-1: Lone Star airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Fox.