Promotional image of Season 1 9-1-1 Lone Star
Based on face value, shows like 9-1-1 Lone Star and its mothership 9-1-1 aren’t known for shacking things up in the traditional “popcorn tv” genre- that is based on looks they are the traditional emergency services show where the good guys (i.e the emergency services) always come out on top and any trauma (emotional or physical) is resolved usually within an episode or two.
Having said that, I have recently just completed watching 9-1-1- Lone Star and I am pleasantly surprised at the emotional punch that the show packs, as well as the development and the choice of backgrounds of the main characters.
In a nutshell, Lone Star contains not only the traditional straight white male, but we also have a young and gang ho female Muslim firefighter, along with a young gay male recovery addict, a black trans man and an illiterate Mexican immigrate who must keep his job in order to stay in America.
Now, admittedly, on face value while that is strong representation it could also be accused of simply ticking the box in representation exercise and because the 9-1-1 universe is crated by Ryan Murphy (the idiot behind the trashy Glee), it’s a fair cop and can’t be ignored.
HOWEVER.
As cliched as it sounds, both 9-1-1 and Lone Star have strong writing and surprisingly well written characters, that you can’t help but savour not only the disasters and medical calamities, but also the well plotted character arcs.
9-1-1 Lone Star’s T.K Strand (Ronen Rubinstein)
In Lone Star, not surprisingly my favourite character is the “troubled” and hot T.K Strand (Ronen Rubinstein). Without spoiling (well I’ll try not to), why I love him is not just because he’s smoking hot, but he’s also “troubled”- i.e he’s not perfect as no one is. In the pilot episode you think he’s going to be all cookie cutter sweet but in a matter of moments you are given an emotional rollercoaster and your jaw ends up on the ground!
I’m in the process of writing this while watching the season 1 finale and holy moly my heart is breaking! I feel like I’m going to cry because of the strong emotional resonance this episode has.
Anyway I just wanted to show the awesomeness that is 9-1-1 Lone Star with my readers- if you think this and 9-1-1 are cliches of the genre, you are surly mistaken. It’s worth the investment in both time and emotions