#911 lone star reaction

[callmebrycelee]

9-1-1: LONE STAR REACTION

This reaction is for the season 5, final episode “Homecoming” which originally aired February 3, 2025. The episode was written by Rashad Raisani and directed by Bradley Buecker. Just a heads up, this reaction will not only contain spoilers for the episode, but also the entire series. Without further ado, let’s talk about the series finale of 9-1-1: Lone Star.

The year is 2020 and a spin-off to the hit procedural drama television series created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear debuts on Fox. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a little over five years since we were first introduced to Owen Strand, his son Tyler Kennedy Strand (TK) and the rest of the 126. Being huge Rob Lowe fans, my mom and I tuned to watch the pilot episode having not watched a single episode of the original series. We loved it immediately and once the 10-episode first season finished; we started binging the original series which we also instantly loved. In the midst of all this television-viewing, lockdown happened, and both shows became more than a source of entertainment for us. They became a source of joy and light during a time of uncertainty and darkness. Not to sound dramatic but both these shows along with New Amsterdam, The Rookie, and RuPaul’s Drag Race truly saved me during the months of not being able to see or interact with my family members and friends. 

Five years and some change later, I’m still trying to wrap my head around 9-1-1: Lone Star coming to an end. Even though the show never quite garnered the popularity the original 9-1-1 has, one thing you can never take away from Lone Star is the impact it had on its queer viewership. I remember when the show originally aired, there were quite a few reviews commenting on how “woke” the show was with its queer, trans, Latinx, and Muslim characters. I always found this critique baffling considering there are quite a few LGBTQ+ and POC characters on the original series. I always took these commentaries in stride along with the ones that talked about Austin as a setting for the show and the lack of realism when it came to the emergencies. None of these things mattered to me because at the end of the day, I don’t watch TV for realism. Television has always been an escape for me, and I love the world these characters exist in. 

So, as I mentioned earlier, Lone Star has come to an end which means a lot of us had to say goodbye to some much beloved characters. It’s hard to believe that when the next winter/spring rolls around, there will not be a new season nor new episodes of one of my all-time favorite shows. Recently, there have been talks of another 9-1-1 spin-off, this one based in Nashville, Tennessee which is only a few hours away. I have many thoughts about this news, but I’ll save that for a future reaction. Tonight, what I want to talk about is the series finale episode of 9-1-1: Lone Star and my overall thoughts about the show.

The episode begins where the last left off. The 126 and all of greater Austin were alerted of an asteroid racing towards earth. Chaos quickly ensues. One the last five years, we have seen Austin get hit by a tornado and electric magnetic pulse in season one, a volcano, forest fire, and sandstorm in season two, a blizzard in season three, and a derecho in season four. Ending the series with an asteroid seems like the obvious choice but upon second viewing, I do think the writers bit off more than they could chew with this disaster. For starters, when it was revealed that an asteroid would be involved in the series finale, a few bloggers pointed out that things couldn’t get too apocalyptic on Lone Star due to its connection with the original series. If an asteroid truly destroyed Austin, then the original show would have to address it. The second thing I find objectional about the usage of an asteroid is the finale, is the scale of the disaster. When a tsunami hit Los Angeles on 9-1-1, the three-episode arc did a great job of making the disaster feel real and widespread. We got to see every day characters dealing with the aftermath of a giant wave that took out most of Santa Monica. Another thing, the effects of tsunami were felt outside of that three-episode arc. Buck got injured, which set his recovery back which impeded his ability to go back to work. Christopher had nightmares about the whole ordeal. 

With the asteroid hitting Austin, the one thing that bothered me was how the characters reacted. I get wanting to go out in a blaze of glory with you fellow firefighters, but Judd and TK are parents. They’re also married. We did see TK speak with Carlos but I wish we got this with Judd and Marjan. Marjan is newly married. What did her phone call with Joe sound like? Couldn’t we also get a one-sided call with Judd and Grace? I get that they’re first responders, but I just found it odd how none of them really seemed to give their spouses all that much thought in what could have been the last moments of their life. And poor Tommy! No one picked up the phone to check on her. Now you can argue that since none of us in modern times have ever experienced the threat of an asteroid taking us out, then none of us can really know how anyone would react in such a situation. With tornadoes and hurricanes and forest fires, things get destroyed, lives are sometimes lost, but we find a way to move forward. We mourn and we rebuild. Presumably, if the asteroid hadn’t broken up into smaller pieces upon entering our atmosphere, this would have marked the end for most of Texas. There wouldn’t be any mourning or rebuilding. Still, since this was the last episode of the season, I would have liked to see those characters have scenes where they are figuring out how to say goodbye to their loved ones. 

The asteroid doesn’t turn out to be a major threat. However, a piece of the asteroid does end up hitting a nuclear reactor which proves to be an even more dire situation. To make matters worse, the only person who knows how to stop a meltdown from happening slips, falls, and cracks his noggin which renders him unconscious and useless. It’s a perfect storm of awful but there’s no need to fear. The 126 is here. Oh, and Tommy miraculously raises herself from the dead and from her sofa and makes her way to the station to help Nancy and TK. More on that later.

I won’t hold you. The 126 manages to save the day and as we fade to commercial, we watch as Captain Strand presumably takes his last breath. Having spoiled myself, I knew Owen wasn’t gone and even if I hadn’t spoiled the episode for myself, I don’t think I would’ve thought he was dead. When we get back from commercial, we flash forward five months. We see Carlos passed out on the sofa only to be awaken by his new ward – Jonah. I thought the scene was an adorable conclusion to the Tarlos story. I know Carlos had his reservations about being a parent, but he seems right at home with TK and Jonah. The only thing that made me full-body cringe was the name Jonah had for TK. Seriously, writers! Couldn’t we have workshopped ‘Papa Bro’ into something a little less Deliverance? Also, we learn that TK is now a stay-at-home dad, which is a good idea. Having both parents be first responders is a bit much. 

On to Mateo. In the series’ penultimate episode, we saw him get into an altercation with an off-duty cop which resulted in him getting almost deported from the country. Mateo’s story is super relevant, and I was worried that they were going to have him marry Nancy so he could stay stateside. Thankfully, Mateo not only gets to remain in the country, but he also got to do it on his own terms. I like that he and Nancy aren’t going to get married. Not every relationship has to end in marriage. You can have a meaningful relationship with another human being without making it legal.

Tommy is okay! Actually, our favorite paramedic captain is more than okay! The tumors around her heart are gone as a result of the experimental treatment she received. I wondered based on the previous episode if they were going to kill Tommy off the show. Lone Star, unlike its predecessor, gives zero fucks when it comes to killing off characters. RIP Charles Vega. RIP Gwyn Morgan. RIP Robert Strand. RIP Gabriel Reyes. I’m so glad they didn’t go that route. I absolutely adore Tommy Vega and she’s such a dynamic character. I am a bit sad that we didn’t really get to see more of her life beyond her diagnosis this season. A part of me was hoping she would reunite with Trevor or maybe find another beau. Then again, Tommy had the love of her life in Charles Vega, so I don’t think she’s particularly in a hurry to find love again.

We don’t get much resolution for the remaining characters. Last episode we saw Paul take a young trans kid under his wing, but we didn’t get to see anything beyond that. Also, are Paul and Asha still an item? I really liked them together. I noticed she was absent at Marjan’s wedding but that could be because the actor was unavailable. I really wish we got to see more of Paul. Of all the characters on the show, I think he’s the one I feel like I know the less. Also, it appears that Paul will remain in his lieutenant role at the 126 which I initially was annoyed about due to reasons I will point out here shortly. As for Paul’s bestie, Marjan is now pregnant which is awesome! I hate that the show is ending because I would love to see Firefox pregnant. Other than that, there’s not much else we get about Marwani. We don’t even get to see Joe again. 

On to our last two characters. We get to see Judd take over as the captain of the 126 in Owen’s absence. At first I was confused by the promotion. Judd was technically a probie. Why not promote Paul to the role of captain. Then someone on Reddit pointed out to me that while Paul outranked Judd prior to the promotion, Judd has the experience. On top of all that, it is a more satisfying story with Judd taking over the very firehouse he started at years ago. I know it sounds cheesy, but I wish we could’ve seen the ghosts of the 126 firefighters who all lost their lives in the pilot episode standing behind Judd as he was made captain. It would’ve really brought things full circle for me. 

Speaking of full circle, Owen Strand is not dead. After the events of the apocalypse that wasn’t, Owen accepted the captain’s position in New York City and is now back in the Big Apple. When we were first introduced to Owen, he was still living in New York with TK. Now he’s back and I love that for him. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge Owen Strand fan and an unapologetic Owen apologizer. People online chronically complain about how much screentime he gets but I think we got a lot less Owen this season. Perhaps this is why I felt this season was lacking. I think the show works best with Owen as our main character. I think people forget that Lone Star is very different than the original series which is more of an ensemble show Since the beginning, Lone Star has always been about the two city slickers (Owen and TK) heading down to Texas to start life anew. I love this ending for Owen, but I wish we got more of a resolution on his storyline dealing with his brother’s death. That felt rushed. Then again, that could be said about a lot of things.

So, we’ve reached the end of 9-1-1: Lone Star and if you’ve read this far, you’re probably curious about how I feel about the ending. I think this was an okay series finale, but I think that it was always going to be an okay finale. The truth of the matter is, Lone Star needed another season to really put a bow on things. So much was crammed into the twelve episodes we got and a lot of it could’ve been trimmed. Did we really need the Tommy Vega cancer diagnosis or Judd Ryder’s alcoholism? Did we really need an asteroid almost hitting Texas as our finale? If I could redo this season, I would’ve spent the first four episodes dealing with Carlos solving his dad’s murder, the middle four episodes dealing with TK becoming guardian of his brother, and the last four episodes dealing with Owen’s decision to leave the 126. Also, peppered into those twelve episodes, I would have spent some time wrapping up the other characters’ stories. Marjan’s marriage. Paul becoming a lieutenant. Mateo becoming a U.S. citizen. Tommy stepping down to be with her kids and Nancy stepping up to be captain. Unfortunately, this is not the finale we got. A part of me wishes that ABC would adopt Lone Star like it did the original series and we get another season. Or two. But with talks of another spin-off, I don’t see that happening.

Also, let me acknowledge the elephant in the room. The lack of Grace this season was truly offensive to me. Having Grace be off camera this season, off in another country spreading the Gospel, was such an insult to viewers and so out of character for Grace. Grace is a woman of faith. This is made abundantly clear in the pilot episode. However, over time, that became less and less a defining attribute for Grace Ryder. In fact, in later seasons, it wasn’t Grace’s religious beliefs that were her driving factor. The thing that motivated Grace was this call to help people and that’s not exclusive to her Christian beliefs. So, ​when it was revealed that Grace left her family behind to do mission work in the premiere episode, I was immediately turned off. The Grace I know would never abandon her husband and young child to go to the other side of the world. I get that Sierra McClain left the show, but the writers really did her character a disservice which ultimately did Judd and Charley a disservice as well. As far as what they could have differently to better explain Grace’s absence, perhaps they could’ve recast the actor. They did it on 9-1-1 when they recast Harry Grant. Or, and I really would’ve hated this idea, but we could’ve started this season off with Judd and Charley visiting Grace’s grave and Judd’s whole arc this season could have been dealing with his grief and being a single parent. This would’ve given him something else in common with Tommy. Think of all the poignant conversations they could have had reminiscing about their dead spouses. Maybe then the writers wouldn’t have to give Tommy cancer and Judd alcoholism to give them something to do. Maybe they didn’t want to insult Sierra by killing off her character or maybe they thought she’d come back. Either way, they did my girl Gracie wrong this season and that’s one of the major reasons I feel like this final season was so lackluster.

The last thing I want to touch on before I end things are my feelings about the show overall. 9-1-1: Lone Star was my comfort food. I looked forward to the nights when it aired because no matter how bad my day was, I knew I could count on Owen, Judd, Grace, Tommy, TK and the rest to lift my spirits. I liked that it felt like a smaller show compared to other procedurals. I liked the setting. I liked the inclusiveness. I love how daring the show felt. 9-1-1: Lone Star wasn’t afraid of an unhappy ending. Some of the emergencies we got throughout the show were downright heartbreaking. I will never forget the dad who died after he saved his two kids during the tornado back in season one. I remember when Charles and Gwyn died. I remember when TK was shot. I remember wondering for a week if Grace and Judd would be okay after their accident. I remember Owen’s face watching his brother take his last breath. I remember the look on Gabriel’s face when he opened the door and was shot. I also remember the happy moments, too. Like when Mateo passed the firefighter’s exam or when TK celebrated his sobriety. I remember the shock of finding out that Nancy and Mateo were hooking up. I will never forget the Tarlos wedding or the birth of baby Charley. These characters feel like family because they are family and that’s what I’m choosing to hang on to knowing this is the end. To the actors, the writers, the producers, the directors, to all the wardrobe and makeover people, to the folks who did the lighting and edited the show, to the PAs behind the scenes, and to the FOX network, thank you for giving us 9-1-1: Lone Star. There may be other spin-offs in the 9-1-1 universe but there will never be another Lone Star. 

[reasonandfaithinharmony]

That sounds sexual. 😏

Felt like maybe we needed this reaction gif, here on tumblr dot com.

[carlos-tk]

his face journey is always a highlight

[tellmegoodbye]

I really loved the small detail of Carlos working on (presumably) Gabriel's case when Tommy and TK got home. He's used to TK being out in the danger, but I wonder if he used the case as a distraction so that he wouldn't worry too much.

He made a beeline for TK as soon as he arrived, but I still get the feeling this is no longer just an obsession. It has also become an unhealthy coping mechanism.

I assume that was the same reason he stayed behind to work on the case in 5x01. I don't think he was planning to until he and Campbell had that conversation about Gabriel, and the grief that came with that conversation was just another emotion that he needed to deal with, so he channeled it into the case.

[alrightbuckaroo]

Work is Published Wednesday

Happy Wednesday, everyone! As it seems most fitting, I wanted to share something from my Carlos character study, tender eyes that shine, just because it's giving me a lot of feelings and maybe I can share those with you <3

When he married Iris at the tender age of eighteen, he didn’t invite his parents and even now, he thinks the Austin High School Soccer Team t-shirt he wore to the courthouse barely counts as a tuxedo.

He didn’t think his parents would want to be an active part of his life after coming out, let alone that his mother would be the one helping him get ready to marry the man of his dreams. 

“Hey mom,” Carlos begins, his voice trying to fight through the current of a flood of emotion. “Thank you,” He pauses, catching his breath and letting his feelings guide him to his words. “For everything.”

Andrea’s eyes shimmer with unshed tears as she replies with, “Always.”

After, she raises Carlos’ arms, looking down at the sleeves of his tuxedo. Her eyes are drawn to the cuff links looped through the open holes placed on both sleeves. They’re the same cuff links that Gabriel planned to wear to Carlos’ wedding.

Her eyes sustain their misty demeanor as she says, “He would have been so happy to know these were still able to make it to your special day.”

“You think so?” Carlos asks, looking down at them. Though they’re small, Carlos can still make out the tiniest impression of his reflection smiling back up at him. He thinks that if he looks hard enough, he’ll see his Dad smiling back at him too.

“Oh I know so,” Andrea responds and Carlos looks back up at her.  

“You know that’s all I ever really wanted,” Carlos’ voice sounds fresh with heartfelt honesty. “For Dad to be happy,”  

“Oh Carlitos,” Andrea leans up to place a peck on his cheek. “He always wanted the same for you.”

Thanks for the tags: @ironheartwriter, @henrygrass, @whatsintheboxmh, @strandnreyes, @paperstorm

and @theghostofashton!

No pressure tagging:

@heartstringsduet, @carlos-in-glasses, @reyesstrand, @lemonlyman-dotcom, @herefortarlos

@actual-sleeping-beauty, @sheholdsthemoon, @sanjuwrites, @freneticfloetry, @fifthrideroftheapocalypse

@honeybee-taskforce, @literateowl, @lutavero, @irispurpurea, @thisbuildinghasfeelings

@emsprovisions, @eclectic-sassycoweyes, @welcometololaland, @rmd-writes, @bonheur-cafe

@butchreyes, @basilsunrise, @never-blooms, @carlos-tk, @mikibwrites, @tellmegoodbye

@lightningboltreader, and here's an open tag <3 <3 <3

[guardian-angle22]

911: Lone Star | Paul Strickland in 5.04

[watchyourbuck]

Hold on bc Eddie introduces Buck to Tía Pepa as “someone he works with” and Carlos introduces TK as his “friend” and both Buck and TK have the same disgusted face SJDKDKSK but only ooooone of those scenarios is gay right ?? Mmhm bye

[lonestardust]

9-1-1 : LONE STAR : SERIES FINALE TONIGHT Feb 3rd. 2025 ❤️‍🔥

[reyesstrand]

[swords-and-starlight]

ok i think this is my first time ever watching a show while it’s coming out so i’m gonna write out my reactions as i watch the episode for the first time, even though i’m watching it from streaming (i don’t have cable rip) and i already got a bunch of spoilers.

obviously spoilers ahead

CARLOS!! first time we’re seeing him with his friends this season! and he looks so good!

Natacha looks so good in green, man. they seriously need to have her wear it more.

TK Marjan and Mateo look so good in that shot even if the person they’re being mean to is Paul :((

i really want to see them actually play a whole game of catan it would be so fun

i fs know those two boys are from paul’s past. i thought they might be people he lost but i feel like people who bullied him would make more sense in the context of the nightmare?

i know this is gonna turn out badly but i feel like this dinner is going surprising civilly for now

“LT” aww

why is the chore chart so big i don’t think we’ve ever seen it before

this is kinda making me miss clipboard Marj

paul is gonna crash and burn poor baby

wyatt is so cute omg but i miss gracie

i missed judd soooo much he’s the ultimate cutie pie

paullll why you doing this to yourself

PAUL CALL FOR HELP JESUS

tommy is so nice actually i would never facetime someone i didn’t like just to check in on them

love tk and nancy giving each other looks lmao they’re so siblings coded

gina torres is literally the cutest woman on this show (with the exception of sierra) i love her so much

tk and nancy “it’s convenient” “a little too convenient” omg this feels like one of those disney movies where the kids are trying to solve their parents kidnapping or something

why does tk know that??

nancy loml keep being a dramatic suspicious bitch please

“the enemy is behind the gate” so dramatic for no reason omggg what’s cassandra gonna do?

love paul and owen bonding time, i feel like we barely saw owen interact with the house on a personal level so far this season

genuinely how does judd afford that house by himself especially when grace was out, he didn’t have a job, and he was taking care of wyatt

TOMMY UP TO SHENANIGANS AGAIN oh i’ve missed you devious bitch tommy

i love that tommy has just fully embraced her work kids’s delusional ideas and judds the one trying to talk sense into her now

aww i know judd and tommy have been best friends forever but i know if sierra was here she would be going to grace :(

PAUL BABY WHAT ARE YOU DOING

rich people are so strange

i already love jenna hope nothing happens to her

nancy and tk sending each other looks again lmaooo

ofc the elevator broke down

damn poor augie

aww ok they’re better now

WHAT THE SHIT why is she bleeding from her eyes!?!

it’s really cute that wyatt takes all of 126 medic teams calls it feels like he’s trying to look out for them after they saved his life

paul’s gonna get hurt and mess up on this call isn’t he

oh nooo paul it’s so hard to see him cry

i feel like we need more people to die yk like how does tnt consistently bring people back from the dead? like the kid that was trapped underwater in a frozen lake for at least ten minutes and was expected to make a full recovery but tk who was in there for ten seconds was in a coma? but it was for the drama so whatever

tommy’s hair is my favorite part of every episode. is she even allowed to be whipping that horse tail around?

weed pen lmao

judd is such a nice probie

ok so i was kinda right about the kids in paul’s dream

aww paul he must have been so lonely growing up

i’m sorry i can’t take the weed pens

girl miss melody how did you think poisoning your mom and getting ur sister suspended would be better than just asking to live with your mom

episodes almost over :((( i don’t wanna wait till next week

tkmarjan friendship i’ve missed you!

im glad joe and marjan are still together! they were so cute

PAUL!! i love this entire scene with my whole heart

controversial but i really love it when people choose logic and their personal values over love. this show does that so well. like with marjan and salim, they were both in love but marjan couldn’t see herself building a life with someone so flaky and that’s a valid reason to break it off! with tommy and trevor, i think it makes sense that tommy can’t love someone who might contribute to a family breaking apart.

i know that tk and nancy are gossiping about all of tommy’s drama right now

TOMMY CALLING HER MOM!!!

idk if this is obvious yet but tommy is in fact my favorite 9-1-1 character

anyway that’s a wrap i loved this episode

[callmebrycelee]

9-1-1: LONE STAR REACTION

This reaction is for season 4, fourteenth episode "Tongues Out" which originally aired on April 25, 2023. The episode was written by Bob Goodman and directed by Keith Tripler. Spoilers ahead!

This episode was wild from beginning to end. The stuff with Owen and Paul going all Scooby Doo Mysteries was pretty fun but it's actually Tommy's plot that takes the cake for me. I'm all about saving the best for last so let's talk about Owen first.

We pick up where we left off with the whole Owen dating a married woman who may or may not have killed her husband. Owen meets with his soon to be in-law, Gabriel Reyes (Benito Martinez) and is shown Brett Collier's autopsy report. Apparently prior to him freezing to death he was administered a paralyzing neurotoxin. Owen learns that Brett wasn't Kendra's first husband. Her first husband was a man named Logan Daniels. Their marriage was short-lived due to Logan falling over the balcony outside their hotel suite. Kendra insisted she had nothing to do with his death but Logan's parents suspected she killed him. With two husbands dead, it appears that Kendra Harrington (Michaela McManus) may be a black widow. Gabriel tells Owen to watch his back but the latter insists he has ended things with Ms. Harrington. 

Owen returns to the firehouse and is accosted by Kendra who tells him she is the primary suspect in Brett's death. Owen lets on he knows about her first husband and Kendra says everything he's been told is a lie. She insists what happened to Logan Daniels was a terrible accident which she had nothing to do with. Owen points out that it looks super suspicious that both her husbands are dead under mysterious circumstances. Kendra counters that she had nothing to gain by killing her husband. Owen finally tells her he believes her and encourages her to turn off her phone since the Texas Rangers are trying to get in touch with her. 

We then get a funny scene that only exists to remind us viewers that Paul is the most perceptive character on the show. When his pudding cup goes missing, Paul believes either Marjan, Mateo, Nancy, TK or Carlos is to blame. Paul accuses Carlos and our resident police officer admits to eating the pudding cup. Paul ends up getting recruited by Captain Strand to investigate the potential murder of Brett Collier in hopes of clearing Kendra's name. What's particularly funny about this is that once again, Carlos - the actual cop on this show - is sidelined in favor of another character with zero law enforcement background. We've seen this happen so many times and it makes me wonder, is Carlos Reyes a shitty cop? We very rarely, if ever, get to see him do police stuff and when we do finally get to see him do some police stuff he usually gets overshadowed by another character, namely Owen. Remember the missing little girl last season? Carlos solved that mystery yet Owen is the one who saves the day. Oh, and then there was the whole swatting situation involving the online gamer which he teamed up with Grace to solve and the result of that is Sergeant Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) making the arrest. I still believe one of the biggest missteps of the show is making Owen Strand a firefighter instead of a cop. Imagine if Owen Strand was chief of police and Carlos was one of his subordinates. TK could still be a firefighter and maybe Judd could be captain of the 126. We could still have our Tarlos romance with the added tension of Owen being Carlos' boss.

Anywho, I digress. Paul puts his detective skills to good use and we learn that Brett actually administered the neurotoxin himself. It was Brett trying to kill Kendra and not the other way around. His first attempt was disabling the brakes on her vehicle. When that backfired, he tried lacing a bottle of wine with insecticide. Unfortunately since he was working with one arm, he spilled some of the insecticide on his hand which was then absorbed through his skin. He then got in the cryotherapy chamber and froze to death because he was unable to get out of the machine due to being paralyzed. Kendra's name is cleared but she is poisoned when she drinks from the wine bottle Brett gave her for her birthday. Owen performs CPR on her and ends up getting poisoned as well. When he comes to, he is in a hospital room. Kendra, TK, Carlos, and Paul are present at his bedside. Gabriel Reyes drops by to apologize to Owen for being justifiably angry at him. I'm sorry but I don't think Gabriel was wrong about what he said to Owen. Some would argue that Gabriel should've never shared police information with Owen in the first place but I think he was coming from a place of this man is the father of the man my son is marrying and we're going to be family. Owen really nutted up by compromising an ongoing investigation which could have resulted in Gabriel losing his job so I don't think he should've gone easy on Owen. 

Now let's talk about Tommy's storyline. Tommy Vega is still seeing Pastor Trevor Parks (DB Woodside) and regularly attends a bible study he leads along with her daughters and Grace Ryder. When Grace overhears a few gossipy church ladies insinuating Tommy and Trevor are doing something inappropriate, she tells her friend. Tommy is pretty chill about it and when Grace asks if she and Trevor have been intimate, she doesn't exactly give an answer. Now this is the part I found a wee bit unbelievable. Tommy and Grace are besties. Tommy is Grace's girl and vice-versa. These two have weathered a lot of storms together. Grace and Judd's accident. Tommy losing Charles and then hooking up with his brother, Julius. I would like to think that if there's anyone on the planet Tommy can be candid with regardly her romantic and sex life, it's Grace Ryder. I get the point the episode is trying to make. Regardless of what Tommy and Trevor are doing behind closed doors, it's no one's business. Yes, he may be a minister, a man of God, but he's still a man and therefore subject to the same follies as any other man. However, it's odd that Grace doesn't know more details about Tommy and Trevor's romance. 

Unfortunately, Trevor isn't as chill about the idle gossip as Tommy is and he worries about his reputation. Trevor reveals the reason he left his last church and relocated to Austin, TX with his daughter. His ex-wife cheated on him with the choir director. The elders at the church removed him from his pastoral position because they believed him unfit to preside over their congregation since he couldn't even control his own marriage, How humiliating! And disgusting! Church people, I swear! As someone who grew up in the church, the Baptist church, something like this happening totally tracks with things I've seen. The worst part is that I totally get where Trevor is coming from. I just hate that Tommy's the collateral damage. Gina Torres does an amazing job in the scene where Trevor breaks up with Tommy. You could really feel how utterly heartbroken she was. This is the second heartbreak Tommy has endured since we met her in season two.

The best moment of the episode is when Tommy arrives at church looking like the Dark Phoenix in a stunning red pantsuit. Tommy walks down the center aisle drawing the attention of the entire congregation and commandeers the pulpit. She reads a scripture about gossipers and delivers a scathing speech to those who have judged her. 

Tommy: "Keep thou tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy. The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure. Which is what I think is God's way of saying, 'If you can't say anything nice, keep your damn mouth shut'."

Cue me clutching my imaginary pearls! Tommy went off on those two old ladies and the best part of all is she called them by name. That's what I'm talking about, Tommy Vega! Tommy talks about how there is so much tragedy and meanness in the world and everyday she is fighting it. She says those things should be left outside the moment they all walk through the church doors. She then says that she shouldn't have to deal with negativity at church but if negativity comes her way, she will deal with it. She will not be shamed and she will not be driven from church. It should be noted that Grace, Judd and Trevor's daughter, Melody, are all in support of what Tommy is saying as well as most of the other churchgoers. When she finishes, she tells Trevor he can have the pulpit back and he kisses her. This is his way of letting her and the rest of the congregation know that he loves her. The congregation breaks out in applause and we have the end of our episode. 

I really liked this episode. I thought both plots were great. It was nice getting to see Paul shine a bit more. I also love any occasion where we get to see the Tommy and Grace friendship. I found Owen endearing in this episode. Sometimes I have mixed feelings when Owen goes into detective mode but the writers made a great decision when they put Paul in the mix. I still think that moments like this render Carlos useless. We're four seasons into this show and at this point Carlos is there to be TK's fiance and someone who plays Settlers of Catan with the rest of the JV squad. I sort of got the impression that we'd see Carlos exploring becoming a detective this season after the amazing detective work he did last season but we've gotten nothing on that front. I like Carlos as a character. He provides some much-needed Latinx and gay representation to this show. However, what's the point of having him as a police officer when we rarely get to see him save the day. What makes things even worse is that his 9-1-1 counterpart, Athena Grant, is always saving the day. Anywho, enough about that. The episode was pretty great and it's definitely one worth rewatching. We only have a few episodes left this season so I'm pretty excited to see how things end. Until next time ...

[nether-moth]

Just finished watching s5 ep9 of Lonestar

I'm unwell

[carlos-tk]

let us all pretend it’s not tuesday for me and also that this is seven. as you can tell I’m obviously very on top of things lol

thank you for the tags @alrightbuckaroo @rmd-writes @heartstringsduet @welcometololaland @strandnreyes

@carlos-in-glasses @sznofthesticks @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad @tommy-kinard-buckley @zitasempri

@theghostofashton @basilsunrise @eclectic-sassycoweyes 💗

“Are you saying you don’t want to fool around in your childhood bedroom,” he teases, his left hand pinching Carlos’ hip as his right tries to untuck his t-shirt from his faded jeans, his teeth nipping at Carlos’ chin.

He doesn’t make it very far in his attempt to lift his shirt, before Carlos is shoving him away with enough force that he stumbles backwards, hand blindly reaching for purchase on the wall behind in order to steady himself.

One of Carlos’ eyebrows is arched up, a look of half bemusement half horror painted across his gorgeous features.

He stifles a laugh, and wonders at what point Carlos will be done with being baffled by his deviant behaviour. He really should know better at this point of their relationship.

“What are you doing!” he shrieks, tone high pitched and perturbed, “are you crazy?”

TK tries not to laugh again when his face distorts into the same horrific one he once made when the original Lou the lizard crawled across his shoulder.

TK shrugs, an attempt at nonchalance to get Carlos onside.

“Relax baby, can’t we have just a little fun? We are newlyweds you know, I think everyone expects us to be all over each other. Consummating the marriage and all hmm?”

extremely late but tags for @celeritas2997 @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @thisbuildinghasfeelings @birdclowns @never-blooms @whatsintheboxmh @safeaswrites + an open tag for you 🫶🏼

[slothteainfuser]

thinking about the tarlos break up again and the fact that tk “blew it up” when things were too perfect and he was too comfortable…i wonder if that had anything to do with his relationship with alex, which we honestly don’t know much about. based on what we do have, it seems like the closest to canon is that alex wasn’t obviously terrible and there were no clear red flags (even if tk might’ve had rose-colored glasses) and they probably just drifted away for any number of reasons: maybe the fact that alex was cheating and “in love with someone else,” maybe they had fundamental differences that didn’t click, maybe alex was a dick, etc etc.

just thinking about the fact that, yes, cheating on tk is enough to make alex an asshole, but it’s more upsetting to think that like...until he finally told tk, there were no obvious signs that anything was wrong. to tk, at least, maybe they were drifting apart but he thought that everything was perfect and fine. (yes, he probably proposed out of an act of desperation instead of safety because he felt how distant they were from each other, but alex’s cheating and betrayal also completely blindsided and wounded him in a way that makes me think that he really, sincerely thought they were okay. even after they’ve been broken up for months, tk still calls alex his “soulmate.” for whatever reason, he thought they were in love). i wonder if that affected how he felt when carlos bought the loft, which was, among other things, this huge romantic gesture that almost seemed too good to be true. he was with someone who loved him unconditionally, everything was perfect, and they were about to finally live in a place they called their own. thinking about how desperately he felt like he needed to be in control again, and how hurt he was, enough to blow it up and run — it was a total power move, he said. it just makes me think about what made him so distrustful in the first place and compelled him to end a seemingly stable, good, and loving relationship.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Pulling up to finish my liveblog with everyone rushing off to the reactor!

GOOO GUYS!!!

Tommyyy 😭😭😭🥺

Ohhh crap

THAT DOES NOT SOUND GOOD

Crapppp

ANY SECOND??

Gooo guys 😭😭

OH CRAP

CAREFULLL

That is nottt gooood 😭😭😭😬

Guys I'm scared xdd

Oh no O.O

OKAY OKAY PHEW GO

Guysss you don't have much time left 😭😭😭

GUYSSS

I AM TERRIFIEDDDD

Ohhh noo

There's gonna be another explosion I'm not okay

UAAAAGHHHHHHHH THERE IT IS

OH NOOOO

GUYSSS GUYS 😭😭

How dare they

Okay phew y'all are okay D:?

YEAH phew

YO WHAT THE FREAK

OH MY G O S H 😳 ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ

UOAGH MARJAN AND PAUL HOLDING EACH OTHER 😭😭

Okay okay guysss-

CRAP they've all been hit O.O

GUYSSSS

I am losing my mind :'))

Okay they're all holding each other 😭 guys I actually won't be okay

OWENNN

Honeyy 😭😭😭

I'm gonna need some flashbacks

Give me some flashbacks right now

UAGHHHH

They have been 💀

Yeah xD 😭😭

Y'ALLLLL I'm losing it

NOO DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT BEING COLD RIGHT NOW 😭😭😭

Guys I'm gonna lose it xd

The only thing that's missing is TNT not getting to be with them xdd 😭

OWENNNN

Y'all 😭😭 terrified

MATEO DON'T YOU DARE

UAGH yes guys your family 😭😭😭

THE FAMILY HERE 😭😭😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺❤️❤️❤️💔💔💔❤️

GUYS I ACTUALLY WON'T MAKE IT

THEY BETTER BE OKAY 😭😭😭

THEY ARE FAMILY 😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺❤️❤️

126 FOREVER 😭😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺🥺💔💔❤️❤️❤️

"FOR TEN MORE SECONDS" SLFKDJKDS MATEO NO 💀 XDD

Back to where we are at the beginning of last episode :'((

Y'ALLLLL I will actually not make it 😭😭

Imagine if they seriously just died right now xD like all of them

COME ONNN OWENNN

NOO DON'T YOU DARE

AAAHHHHHH P H E W!! YES :'DDDD

BUT WAS IT TIME

OH YES THANK GOODNESS 😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺🥰🥰

YOU DID IT OWEN :'DDD

Okay now go get them 😭😭😭

WOOHOOOOO YESS CLAPS 🥳🥳👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️🥰🥺

Oh gosh 😭😭😭

Guys get him!!!

GET HIM YES HIM TOO!!

Their cap <333

Imagine if Owen died lol xDD

That would be insane lol

No he better live

No

Oh don't you dare (this is also in that other post)

Don't you dare die on us Owen

DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON US

NO WAY

No way

No he's FINE there's no way they just killed him o.o

[guardian-angle22]

911: Lone Star | TK Strand & Carlos Reyes in S4E12