The fifth and final season of 9-1-1: Lone Star premieres September 23 on FOX, with new episodes airing weekly on Mondays. Although its ending feels premature from a story perspective, there have been rumors about the show’s cancelation ever since 9-1-1 moved to ABC in 2024. The news came months after Deadline reported that main cast member, Sierra McClain, had exited the series, leaving the fate of Grace and her relationship with Judd in question.
The 9-1-1: Lone Star season 4 finale saw fan-favorite couple, TK and Carlos, finally tie the knot after years of build-up. However, the ceremony was accompanied by an unexpected tragedy. Days before his son’s wedding, Gabriel Reyes (Benito Martinez, How to Get Away With Murder) is shot and killed by an unseen attacker. The Texas Ranger isn’t the only character who meets their end, with Owen’s brother, Robert, choosing to die humanely rather than succumb to his Huntington’s disease. Co-showrunner and executive producer, Rashad Raisani, shares that the new season will pick up one year later, with the events still weighing heavily on the characters’ minds.
Screen Rant interviewed Raisani about the creative decision behind season 5’s time jump, what Sierra McClain’s exit means for Grace and Judd, TK and Carlos’ year of marriage, and whether fans will be satisfied by the 9-1-1: Lone Star series finale.
The Writers Suspected That 9-1-1: Lone Star Would End After Season 5
“We knew that a big-budgeted show like ours, in the current TV environment, where people are all trying to cut costs and make savings, was kind of a perfect storm against us.”
Screen Rant: When you were writing the fifth season of Lone Star, did you know it was going to be the last one?
Rashad Raisani: We had a sense that it very well could have been because of some of the financial realities of our situation. We’re a Disney-owned show, and we’re airing on Fox, and we were hitting the end of our contract cycle before there was a big renegotiation for fees. So we knew that a big-budgeted show like ours, in the current TV environment, where people are all trying to cut costs and make savings, was kind of a perfect storm against us.
Even though, I think the show has never been more successful from a viewership point of view, our financial realities and our corporate alignment wasn’t right. And so we had the sense that it was coming, although it was not official-official, because I think people from the two different companies tried to find ways to make it work, but I think it was just not in reach. So that said, we definitely came into this season thinking we have to make sure that our stories line up to give us a proper ending if this ends up being the last season.
Sierra McClain has exited the series. Is she completely absent from the final season, or did you have a little bit of time with her beforehand?
Rashad Raisani: Yeah, unfortunately, she departed before we rolled any cameras. We didn’t have access to her at all, as much as we tried.
Grace has been such an integral part of the show since the beginning. Is there anything you can tease about how the show will address her absence?
Rashad Raisani: The thing that I would say is that Sierra McClain is so central to the DNA of this show. She’s literally the voice on the other end of a call on a show with 9-1-1 in the title. She’s the one who says, “What’s your emergency?” So not even just from her job, but her spirit and her soul have been sort of the center of the show from an emotional point of view. I think most people would say Judd and Grace are the heart and soul of Lone Star, and half of that is gone now. So there’s no way that we could just dispatch of it or quickly write it off.
We just had to embrace that loss to our show and, frankly, share the pain that we felt behind the scenes in front of the cameras, as well, and make that the story, particularly, for Judd. To not hide from it, but at the same time, to try to honor what both Grace and Sierra McClain meant to the show and to try and make sure that we kept the utmost respect and love for Grace and for Sierra as we went forward. And I think we did it.
Judd Needs To Find A Purpose Outside Of Grace In 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5
“His wife is gone, his son is moving out, he gave up his beloved job, and now he doesn’t have anything. He doesn’t have his center in Grace, so where does he go from there?”
What’s next for Judd without Grace physically present?
Rashad Raisani: That’s a great question. If you remember in our sort of prequel episode called “Saving Grace”, when Judd and Grace met each other, Judd was in a very desperate place. He was even considering suicide going back to when he met Grace, and she saved him. I mean, “Saving Grace” is the title of the episode. Since day one for them, she has been the center of his life, the moral center. She’s the thing that’s just kind of held Judd together.
And so as we were approaching this season, we were thinking, if Judd is a guy who needs purpose, he needs the purpose of being a firefighter, he needs the purpose of being a good husband to Grace, he needs the purpose of being a father to Wyatt, particularly in the wake of Wyatt’s horrific injury, what would happen to Judd if we stripped all of that purpose away? And his wife is gone, his son is moving out, he gave up his beloved job, and now he doesn’t have anything. He doesn’t have his center in Grace, so where does he go from there?
And so his arc for our final season is to find his purpose on his own two feet. And then, as far as his job goes, Judd desperately wants his old job back at the firehouse. That’s who he’s meant to be. But as he’s going to find out, there’s no way to just walk back into the situation he was in before because the world has changed. And so if he’s going to find a way back to that purpose, he’s going to have to pay a significant price. And so we’ll see just how comfortable he is doing that.
There were multiple deaths last season. Owen kept his word and stayed by Robert’s side, so what impact will that have on him?
Rashad Raisani: It is going to have a massive impact because, as you said, we did a number of deaths, and two of them in particular, the death of Robert, Owen’s brother, and Gabriel Reyes, Carlos’ father, but also Owen’s consuegro, which is his co-father-in-law, they were going to be in-laws together with Carlos and TK, he had that double loss right at the end of last season, and so he was traumatized by it. A year later, when we pick up, he’s been trapped in this fog of both grief and guilt.
Because, to your point about his brother, Robert, not only was he there, we’re going to find out that there was more to the story than sort of a pretty painless exit for Robert, and Owen is harboring a lot of complicated feelings about how it went down. And those feelings haven’t really gone away, and they’re festering in ways that Owen doesn’t even want to be conscious of. But we’re going to have some incidents later this season that are going to force that to the surface. So he’ll have to have a reckoning to move on from it.
9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5 Picks Up A Year After TK And Carlos’ Wedding
“You get kind of a nice snapshot of where they are as a couple.”
So there is going to be a one-year time jump between seasons 4 and 5?
Rashad Raisani: Exactly. Just under a year. In fact, that becomes a major story point. To be honest, we didn’t know, as we were writing this and shooting it when exactly we would re-air. So we kind of picked the number a year. At the time, it seemed like that was about when we’d come back on. It turned out to be a little longer than that. But also, there are some story reasons.
For example, for Judd to come back as a firefighter, if a year elapses while a firefighter is on sabbatical, they have to go back and start over. So for Judd, it becomes a sort of impossible situation to think I’d have to start all the way over as a probie and have to come back. For TK and Carlos, they’re coming up on their year anniversary. It’s a nice benchmark to see, how has that relationship progressed? What are their struggles? What are their joys in a year? You get kind of a nice snapshot of where they are as a couple.
Why did you decide that the season 4 finale was the right time for TK and Carlos to get married?
Rashad Raisani: I think that the wedding was a long time coming. Since we saw their chemistry, pretty early in season 1, I think we knew that this was going to be a relationship that was going to stick, but we wanted it to have its own space. And I think that season 2, they weren’t committed to each other enough. Season 3, we didn’t have enough real estate to give them the proper lead up to their wedding.
I think in season 4, we finally had the chance to say, “Okay, we’ve done all this, we have enough ground to build this story the right way, so let’s do it.” And then it allowed us, in season 5, because for me, when you talk about a marriage, the wedding isn’t the end of the story—it’s the beginning of the story. And so if season 4 was about them getting to that wedding, season 5 is about, what does this marriage look like? And what will it look like going forward? And so that’s what we’re able to really dive into this season.
Well, flashbacks do happen…is it possible that we could see Benito Martinez again in some capacity?
Rashad Raisani: Nothing’s impossible. I’ll just say nothing’s impossible. Put it that way.
Raisani Hopes The 9-1-1: Lone Star Series Finale Makes Fans Want More
“I hope everybody feels like, ‘Well, that was too soon.'”
Everyone at the 126 has had incredible growth over the past four years, but is there a character whose arc really resonates with you in the final season?
Rashad Raisani: Owen’s arc is about loss and about guilt, and to me, it’s very powerful and universal. I’ve lost family since we’ve been doing this show, and that fog that you’re in, I’ve gone through it and have, fortunately, I think, just come out of it. And so that one’s very personal. I think Carlos and his obsession about finding who killed his father—a lot of us find ourselves stuck in the past over a trauma that we just can’t get past or get through. And we watch his character deal with that and watch this actor, Rafael Silva, really come into his own.
He’s always been a great actor, but when we got him, he was so young. He’s still very young, but he’s really just grown so much as a person, as an actor, and to watch it all fuse into his storyline in this fifth season was really special. And then with Gina Torres and Jim Parrack, we gave them two of the most compelling storylines that we’ve ever given anybody. They have to go to some dark places as actors. They’re not always known for going to those darker places, even though they’re more than capable of it. And I think we see just the full extent of their power as actors.
And so watching those arcs was also great. And then there’s Brianna Baker, who plays Nancy, who hardly had any lines in season 1. And then in season 5, she has a massive storyline where I think she proves that she’s a star who’s going to have her own series before too long. I could keep going. And then I feel bad not talking about Julian, who’s magnificent. I mean, all of them—Ronen and Natacha and Brian—I love all of them, and I think they all do so great with their stories.
Do you think fans will be satisfied with how everything wraps up?
Rashad Raisani: I hope everybody feels like, “Well, that was too soon.” That’s what I really want people to feel like. I am immensely proud of how we end this show. Obviously, I’m a little biased, but I think it’s got the perfect poetic ending for everybody. And that’s not to say it’s necessarily a happy ending, but I think it’s a beautiful ending for these characters and a true ending to who they are.
I’m immensely proud of it. I’m still cutting it, so I haven’t technically seen it yet all finished. But the main thing is, I think people are going to feel like, “Well, wait a second. How come we’re done? I want more.” And I think maybe that’s the sign of a good place to leave, if people still want more. But I have some real mixed feelings because I do wish that it wasn’t the end of the journey with all of these characters.
About 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5
The series was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear
In the upcoming fifth season, Captains Strand and Vega, along with the 126 team, race into action when in a multi-episodic opening storyline, a catastrophic train derailment endangers several lives including some of their own. With Judd resigning from the 126 to take care of his recently handicapped son Wyatt (Jackson Pace), Owen must find a new lieutenant to replace Judd and has a difficult decision ahead of him when both Marjan and Paul apply for the promotion.
9-1-1: Lone Star season 5 stars Rob Lowe, Gina Torres, Ronen Rubinstein, Jim Parrack, Natacha Karam, Brian Michael Smith, Rafael Silva, and Julian Works.
Tommy is ready to take the next step in her relationship, but she finds the road to happiness is filled with obstacles. On his 30th birthday, T.K. gets a surprise visit from someone from his past that could change his and Carlos’ lives forever. Now officially husband and husband, T.K. and Carlos’ marriage is put to the test when Carlos becomes obsessed with solving his father’s murder.
9-1-1: Lone Star season 5 premieres on FOX on Monday, September 23 at 8 a.m. ET.
