9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5 Episode 11 Review: Impact

Critic’s Rating: 2 / 5.0

Honestly, the asteroid didn’t come fast enough.

It was about the 20-minute mark of 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5 Episode 11 when so much bullshite happened to such a depressing degree that I wanted to turn the television off and spare myself.

But then I remembered that I’m covering the series for you guys until the bitter, and it’s definitely 97% cacao levels of bitter to that end.

There were a blissful few moments when I lost power and was spared the depressing goodbye montage due to the asteroid and Owen’s big speech didn’t include his announcement of his departure, from what I’ve gathered.

But other than that, I went through the entirety of the installment sober and frustrated.

It’s the series’ penultimate episode, and they threw so much at us at once it was enough to give a person whiplash. It was so incredibly depressing that it physically hurt to see these characters go down like this.

Is the world not bleak enough as it is? I will spare you a segue rant into how it feels like we’re on a fast track to hell as it is.

But there are moments when you want to have a touch of escapism or at least see your favorite characters get something that resembles a happy ending.

And here’s the thing — I know how heartbreaking it was for this cast and crew when FOX canceled the series. No one has been as passionate and openly pouring their hearts out about 9-1-1: Lone Star as showrunner Rashad Raisani.

When there’s a last-minute cancelation, and you’re forced to come up with something that honors all the characters and wraps up the storylines, it’s an incredibly challenging situation.

But this is not it at all.

Most of the season has felt disjointed, with us wondering what direction the series would go with many of the characters.

And this specific hour felt as if it clicked at the last minute that they were at the end, so they had to go balls to the wall to throw as much into the final two episodes as possible.

We’ve already discussed the Judd situation and how damn depressing and disappointing his arc has been this season.

The series simply could not survive a Grace-less season and has suffered so much as a result. She’s the gaping hole in the series — an unfillable void that has not only taken a toll on the season but ultimately dragged it down.

Now, after the dark arc that was 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5 Episode 10 we’re to believe that what saved Judd from the grips of his depression, suicide ideation, and alcoholism was a single damn phone call from Grace.

I know she’s his savoir, but come on! Crisis averted because Grace called!

And the longer we’ve gotten into this storyline, the worse Grace comes across despite efforts to showcase the contrary.

We’re supposed to accept that it’s perfectly fine that Charlie still doesn’t live with her father and has been staying at her grandparents’ house for months.

We’re also supposed to believe that whatever contact Grace has had with Tommy was offscreen and that she wouldn’t have the desire to come rushing back home to help her single best friend battling breast cancer.

Hell, maybe that’s why what we’ve always known to be true: the Ryders stepping up to take care of the twins in the event something happens to Tommy is no more.

It seems Julius has stepped up to the plate. If or when Tommy passes away (did she die already on the couch?), the twins will probably stay in Atlanta with their uncle.

Even the smallest little things we value, like the Vegas and the Ryders’ special dynamic, are stripped away from us in these dark times.

I get it. Gina Torres is a phenomenal actress, and there is nothing you can throw at her that she can’t slay. She rises to the occasion in everything that she does.

But why did we need this storyline? The breast cancer storyline is so upsetting and horrific. It’s a terrible arc for this amazing character who has been through hell and back since they introduced her.

Of course, the cancer wasn’t enough, nor was the fact that she’s essentially alienated from the rest of the cast.

Now, we learn that the tumor has somehow expanded into her heart, and she may have mere moments left on earth.

Oh yay! Oh, joy! Thanks, Lone Star!

If they hadn’t already kicked us while we were down with this news that Tommy had to face all by herself, she didn’t tell anyone, and we last saw her talking and touching her dead husband, who was ready to “take her home.”

We last saw Tommy on the couch, presumably asleep after dreaming about her dead husband (it was great to see Charles again, but not under these circumstances), with the ticking time clock suggesting that Tommy’s time will run out sooner rather than later, or they’re pulling a Buffy.

And her kids won’t know about it since she couldn’t bear to tell them. I’ve found this storyline depressing and triggering since they introduced it, but now I’m just pissed off.

But hey! There’s more!

If it’s not bad enough that Tommy is dying, then let’s toss in the fact that Mateo is getting deported for real this time over some contrived altercation with an asshole over plants. PLANTS!

Mateo’s ultimatum comes down to leaving of his own accord and being able to come back in a couple of years or getting kicked down to Mexico for good.

At this point, head to Mexico, my guy. The president is a badass, the weather is nicer, and it’s filled with a bunch of expats anyway. Hell, I’ll go with you.

But what exactly are we doing here? What was the point of circling back to this storyline and shipping him away?

If this is how he and Nancy end up married, even though she doesn’t believe in marriage, it’ll suck. Is she willing to go with him when he leaves?

The 126 will be down so many members. At this point, we’re looking at the entire EMT department gone if Tommy dies, Nancy goes with Mateo, and T.K. quits.

Speaking of Carlos and T.K., the rushed adoption storyline left a bad taste in my mouth from the beginning, and now it’s worse.

In T.K.’s impulsive move to adopt his brother rather than be his guardian without so much as talking to his husband about it and giving him an ultimatum, he, for some reason, didn’t think about how his former addiction or even their jobs could interfere with the process.

I’m glad the social worker acknowledged that his addiction wasn’t an issue as long as he agreed to drug tests.

But how in the hell did T.K. never consider or plan for how the two of them having dangerous, demanding jobs would have to change?

Didn’t Carlos bring that up himself, or was T.K. too busy getting upset that Carlos wasn’t excited enough about adoption thrown at him without a chance to process it?

Carlos is called by Tommy for babysitting duty. — (FOX/Screenshot)

This would mean that T.K. will be sacrificing his paramedic job to care for his brother. It’s the fair thing to do, given it’s been his choice all along.

Also, he’s not as tied to his career as Carlos.

He’s more passionate about family and Jonah. Presumably, that’ll be the best solution unless somehow they get the social worker to change her mind if she survives the freaking asteroid that’s hitting Austin.

The hour did that thing they always do where it felt like Carlos was mostly there to support and uplift T.K. It’s been frustrating the entire season how he always has to play second fiddle to his husband, but that’s a rant for another day, or not. It gets redundant.

Amid all of this, Owen took the job in NYC, and he had to find the nerve to tell the others.

Presumably, he feels comfortable leaving Judd and T.K. despite all these life changes.

The implication is that Judd is fine enough to take over now, which would be a wild swing from restarting as a Probie.

He and T.K.’s brotherhood was highlighted, serving as a reminder that they’ll have one another in Owen’s absence.

Understandably, Marjan didn’t get much this hour, and Paul connected with a young non-binary teen. I’d like to think it was a mark of his own leadership skills and how he can keep the memory of the 126 alive.

Of course, that’s assuming the asteroid doesn’t destroy everything in its wake.

At this point, it can, and I wouldn’t blink. It can hit us, too. What do I care?