It’s a pop culture emergency: One of network television’s gayest shows will soon be coming to an end!
Fox shared the news today that the upcoming fifth season of 9-1-1: Lone Star would be its last, a sad announcement for both champions of LGBTQ+ representation in media and fans of campy procedural dramas.
Premiering in 2020, the Ryan Murphy-created series is a spin-off of the original 9-1-1 (which now airs on ABC), following a group of first-responders as they balance their messy, complicated personal lives with jobs that find them addressing emergency after increasingly ridiculous emergency.
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Sure, Lone Star‘s penchant for melodrama and over-the-top action has made it ripe for meme fodder over the years, but it’s also been a surprisingly thoughtful showcase for multi-dimensional queer characters, having won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series for its most recent season.
For example, Brian Michael Smith has been part of the show since the very beginning playing firefighter Paul Strickland, making history as the first Black trans man in a series regular role on broadcast TV. His status as one of Lone Star‘s most reliably hunky heroes has been a major win for trans representation.
And then there’s paramedic TK Strand and police officer Carlos Reyes—played by bi actor Ronen Rubinstein & gay actor Rafael L. Silva, respectively—whose love story has played out over the course of the series, and has been a huge part of Lone Star‘s success.
When “Tarlos” (as the couple’s been affectionately dubbed) finally got married in the most recent season, they made every ‘shipper’s dreams come true.
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‘9-1-1’s’ Buck is far from the first LGBTQ+ first-responder on a network procedural, and he won’t be the last either!
Deadline reports that the final, 12-episode season—which returns after a prolonged break due to last year’s Hollywood labor strikes—will premiere on September 23 and will air its finale some time in early 2025.
In response to the cancellation news, Fox’s network president Michael Thorn shared the following message: “From the start, fans have followed the heroic and deeply moving stories of the men and women who make up Austin’s 126, so a huge thanks to one of the greatest creative teams in all of television—Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear—for creating one of the most action-packed dramas anywhere”
“Now in our final season of the show,” he continues, “we’re set to give it the high-stakes send-off it deserves, complete with breathless rescues, insurmountable odds and relatable personal struggles, thanks to our incomparable, stellar cast led by Rob Lowe and Gina Torres.”
On Instagram, Rubinstein posted the final season trailer with the caption, “One last ride y’all 🥹,” and shared further thoughts on his Story, accompanied by photos of what are presumably from an early costume fitting:
“This young man would’ve been happy with just 1 Season. Thank you for changing his life forever,” Rubenstein writes. “Playing TK these last 5 years has been the greatest honor of my career. I love y’all so fckin much.”
We expect to see more happy memories and reflections on the show’s impact from the rest of Lone Star‘s cast in the coming days, weeks, and months.
Of course, the news isn’t the biggest surprise—audiences have been speculating the end of Lone Star was near for quite some time—but that doesn’t make it any less hard to hear. Here’s just a few reactions from fans online:
— Christopher Mac 🦭 (@motherquoter) September 5, 2024
At least we have Rafael Silva’s thirst traps to cheer us up, right?
But not all hope is lost: A casual reminder that the original 9-1-1 series got exponentially gayer in its last season, with first-responder Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark) coming out as bi to his long-time bestie Eddie Díaz (Ryan Guzman), and even finding a boyfriend in square-jawed firefighter Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.).
That series returns for its eighth season on September 26 on ABC, and you better believe we’ll be watching along to see what’s next for Buck now that he’s an out and proud man. And, hey, maybe Eddie will realize his feelings for Buck run deeper than friendship? A girl can dream!
If nothing else, the first promo for the new season teases… a bee-nado? Never change, 9-1-1, never change!
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“I love that we get to dispel that ideology and we get to showcase and reflect to the world that your sexual preference has no meaning in friendships and connection.’ – Ryan Guzman
