This story contains spoilers for the Dec. 2 episode of “9-1-1: Lone Star”
While one key storyline was wrapped up in Monday night’s episode of “9-1-1: Lone Star” as we learned who was responsible for murdering Carlos (Rafael Silva’s father, but two major developments left us hanging: Will Owen Strand (Rob Lowe) take the job of Fire Chief in New York or will he stay in Texas to take care of his relapsing best friend Judd (Jim Parrack)?
“We wanted to use this midseason finale to give Carlos some closure, so that when we come back, we can focus on the final pieces of this show that we need to resolve,” showrunner Rashad Raisani told TheWrap.
He explained that the final three episodes, which will air in 2025, will focus on Paul (Brian Michael Smith), Marjan (Natacha Karam) and, as he previously told us, the “apocalyptic” disaster that all of the characters will not necessarily survive. We now know, from the trailer released on Monday, that it’s a meteorite hurtling towards Austin that may prove to be an extinction level event.
Watch the trailer here:
Here’s more of his conversation with TheWrap about how the show about Judd’s relapse all season.
TheWrap: We find out that Judd is drinking heavily and has barely hanging on since Grace left. And no one had any idea until this episode. How did that storyline come about?
Rashad Raisani: When Sierra McClain, who played Grace, was unable to come back to the series, I had a lot of conversations with Jim Parrack about his character and where he would go.
We started looking back at where Judd was when he met Grace in Season 2. And we see that he was A) drinking too much, B) had a lot of issues with anger, and C) met her by calling a prayer crisis hotline, which was essentially a suicide hotline.
We talked about he’d look like without his center. Jim, who has a lot of experience, and I don’t want to speak for him, but with recovery and dealing with things like that, he talked about how invisible it is to a lot of people.
We’ve tried to play that this was just sitting there all season in plain sight, but it was only when Owen took Judd home and saw it with his own eyes [that viewers realized what was going on].
And, frankly, we also wanted to give Jim Parrack a big story before this season was over. And I think in Episode 10 in particular (which airs on Jan. 20), you see maybe the most haunting performance of the series, the way that Jim plays it.
I think the plan was always to put Judd in crisis. Also, it’s a way to honor what Sierra and Grace meant to the show that without her, look where Judd is.
And none of the other characters picked up on it this whole time?
[The clues are] there from the first episode of the season [where he offers Owen a drink when he comes over]. And then Tommy (Gina Torres) comes by his house to get a baby monitor, and in the background, there are bottles on the sink. And at TK’s birthday party, we cut away to Judd, drinking pretty heavily.
TheWrap: Is it still on the table that Owen might go back to New York and take the Fire Chief job?
Rashad Raisani: It seemed to me, as we wind this show up, that it was only tragedy and crisis that brought Owen to Texas between his son’s overdose and the 126 —the previous 126 — how they all died in that horrible tragedy in the pilot.
Until he discovers Judd’s alcoholism, both of those crises have sort of abated. And now he feels the call to New York because the children of his teammates who died on 9/11 need him, and so that that is pulling him back to New York.
The scene at the 9/11 memorial is so moving, where he leaves a note to his fallen comrades.
Brad Bucha, the director of producing, also directed the pilot and he had this incredible footage that we never got to use where Owen went to the 9/11 memorial wall. We shot the scene at two o’clock in the morning, when it was available to us, and the docent told us about how people would write messages on little pieces of paper and then tuck them into the wall as either promises or statements of love.
I remember talking to Rob about putting something in there, like a promise. We thought that would air in the pilot, and then it just didn’t fit. And then this episode became the perfect opportunity to use it. I think that also was part of what led us back to this New York storyline.
The final episodes of “9-1-1: Lone Star” begin airing on Jan. 20. All previous seasons are now streaming on Hulu.
