Fox's "9-1-1: Lone Star" Proves Everything Really Is Bigger in Texas

Created by Brad Falchuk Tim Minear and Ryan Murphy 911 Lone Star follows NYFD Captain Owen Strand Rob Lowe pictured top and below left as he relocates to Austin Texas with his son and fellow firefighter TK Ronen Rubenstein below right in order to help the firefighters of Firehouse 126 start anew after the tragic loss of their entire crew almost amp160Also in the mix is Michelle Blake Liv Tyler pictured top right a paramedic who leads the Austin EMS teams amp160Sheamp8217s still reeling from the mysterious disappearance of her sister three years prior that she feels had to have involved some foul play amp160Jim Parrack who I remember as Hoyt from True Blood but saw most recently in a chilling episode of The CWamp8217s Two Sentence Horror Stories plays Judd Ryder great name the sole survivor of the tragic incident that took the entire 126 crew or as he called them his brothersWhat works for this series is how grounded it is amp160A lot of times shows feel like they really have to take things to a borderline absurd level for the stakes to increase or change in a way that doesnamp8217t end up feeling repetitive or underwhelming over timeamp160 Lone Star doesnamp8217t do that amp160Every situation the characters have dealt with so far and there have been many in each episode whether theyamp8217ve been personal or professional has been steeped in a healthy helping of reality amp160For example Captain Strand was the lone survivor of his firehouse the brave souls of which lost their lives on 911amp160 Almost twenty years later heamp8217s been diagnosed with lung cancer amp160Thatamp8217s real amp160There was a situation in the second episode in which a womanamp8217s car rolled during a traffic incident and her baby was thrown still in the carseat right into a nearby tree totally unharmed amp160People are thrown from vehicles all timeamp160 That includes children and sometimes those children are lucky enough to emerge unscathed amp160Itamp8217s happenedThe most recent episode opened with a young man trapped in a grain silo filled with corn which as the show made sure to tackle immediately sounds silly as hell at first amp160The truth is that being stuck in something like that could crush you to death if you arenamp8217t rescued and itamp8217ll do it sooner rather than later if you panic amp160Lone Star is good about balance amp160The incident that took the 126 was essentially a manure explosion not 911 but the lives lost the pain felt the bravery that those guys had to have every time they went out for exactly that reason thatamp8217s all real amp160Indeed more often than not in real life itamp8217s something stupid that gets you like choking on a pepper thatamp8217s too hot to swallow or drinking so much water that you have literal water poisoning or some idiot starting a fire that gets your friends killed because he doesnamp8217t know how to use a microwave and that truth is right there in our faces during every single episodeThat baseline of reality comes in handy so damn much in this series and that has a lot to do with all the cultural bases that are being covered as well amp160Right in the first episode a representative of the Austin FD straight up says that of the over 140 firehouses in the metroplex something like 99 have dealt with any amp8220inclusion problemsamp8221 amp160Check amp160Then because Cap Strand needs his new blood to be the absolute best of the best weamp8217re treated to a classic and narratively sound recruitment montage as he builds the most diverse team possibleStrand Blake and Ryder are all straight and white and TK is white and gay as well as being in recovery from opioid addiction amp160Juddamp8217s wife Grace Sierra Aylina McClain and firefighter Paul Strickland Brian Michael Smith are black and Paulamp8217s a trans man as well amp160Firefighter and paramedic Marjan Marwani is a female as well as a devout Muslim and both police officer Carlos Reyes Rafael Silva and rookie firefighter Mateo Chavez Julian Works are Latinoamp160 Reyes is also gayIamp8217m sure Iamp8217m missing someone but the point is that this show is set up in a way that allows for any number of fresh angles at any time amp160At its core it seems like Lone Staramp8217s going to mostly be about Strand dealing with his diagnosis while Blake deals with her missing and probably dead sister and Ryder deals with his PTSD but thereamp8217s really no calling it because not only could anything happen but thereamp8217s a lot of room to shift the focus amp160The most recent episode delved a bit into Marjanamp8217s cultural beliefs and how they put a specific kind of pressure on her amp160Yes that kind of pressure is different from the kind of pressure Strand puts on himself trying to hide his condition but itamp8217s still pressure nonetheless and like the corn in that silly ass silo panic will only make it worseAs good as all of that is at the end of the day the true cherry on top is that this is a legitimately solid show amp160Period amp160The special effects teams pulled no punches on the explosions or the necessary amount of gore while making the calls intense nor did the stunt team when pursuing the same goal amp160The characters are deep and interesting but this show is also actionpacked and funny amp160Additionally thereamp8217s an almost palpable respect to the depictions of both Austin Texas and New York New YorkWe love to see ourselves on the shows we watch especially when those shows feature people that are kind brave and just as complicated as we are amp160And we especially admire the hero firefighters police officers and EMTs on TV but we love them even more when we can either identify with them personally or when they help us see life in new ways amp160911 Lone Star is perfectly indicative of how the word amp8220weamp8221 is continuing to expand and the experiences that we allow ourselves to sample through our individual screens is what will decide how the collective amp8220weamp8221 sees themselves in the future amp160I for one like where this is goingClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160

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Fox's "9-1-1: Lone Star" Proves Everything Really Is Bigger in Texas

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Ainsley Andrade

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Fox's "9-1-1: Lone Star" Proves Everything Really Is Bigger in Texas

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