The season two finale of 911: Lone Star lets me know, not for the first time, that I am very scared of Texas and its weather patterns. What starts as an episode about being split up and misplaced independence soon becomes an episode of family and support. Given that the 126 literally exploded, everyone is sent to different firehouses or is out of work.
Marjan, Paul, and Judd (best trio in the world) are sent to a cushy country club-like firehouse, while Mateo is stuck on his own. Literally and figuratively.
It’s hard to decipher exactly why his new team dislikes him and looks down on him, a few possibilities being, of course, toxic masculinity and racism. Maybe they’re just pulling a good ‘ol picking on the new kid, but regardless, it’s completely unnecessary.
Of course, we know that firefighting – even being a paramedic – is a boys club. (Let’s be honest, I could say that about almost any field and it’d be true.) They “joke” harshly, they’re abrasive, and whether that’s true in real life, it’s always been true in the 911-verse.
Not our 911 and Lone Star firefighters, though! They’re gentle, caring, and helpful to each other just as much as they are to the public.
This is why Mateo was the best person to place with this sort of team.
Not that he won’t defend himself or his friends if need be, but he’s very by-the-book. If he’s told he needs to do something, he will, no matter how unfortunate or time-consuming the task is.
Where Marjan, Paul, and Judd will automatically say something to a supervisor, Mateo goes along with it because he knows, or at least thinks, he has no other option.
I don’t think any viewers expected Mateo not to step up in the middle of a dust storm, but the way he does it completely alone was truly fantastic to see.
We’ve gotten to see Mateo go from insecure, shy season one Mateo, to going into season three as firefighter Mateo. His growth is consistently expanding, and it’s what makes him a great character.
Tommy’s decision to quit and take care of the girls is extremely realistic, and just as heartbreaking, but even her kids know that she belongs out there helping people. It’s calling her. Even if one of those people she’s saving is Mateo’s mean boss. Even through Charles’ death, it called to her.
Grace getting back into the call center and helping again on calls is easily one of the best parts of the episode. Seeing her light up doing what she loves is so wonderful. Also, I’m pretty sure none of us knew there’d be a protocol for being buried alive in a coffin. Yikes.
I cannot put into words how little I care about Billy. Like, okay, forgive and forget and all that, but Owen – this man tried to run you out of a job you loved when you had cancer. That is literally evil.
Here’s the thing about not reopening the 126: logically, it makes some sense. Just some, though. Owen came up with that budget cut plan (that no one else did!) as a way to make sure everyone is impacted by the cuts, so who tossed out the idea to permanently close the 126, and why?
If Owen’s plan covered everything involved with the 126 as well, why cut it now? Why wait weeks to decide that? If Charles’ funeral was two weeks ago, I’d bet the station has been closed for close to three. And if the budget plan is saving money, why wouldn’t they have enough for the 126?
It’s an incredibly strange scenario, one that was undoubtedly brought up by Billy, which made Owen punching him so, so sweet. Finally, someone puts Billy in his place for real.
While I was kind of hoping that Owen would take that pencil-pushing job, the finale gave us a good dose of what Owen used to be like.
Season one Owen, who fights for his team, his family, and himself. Season one Owen who loved TK more than anyone else in the world; who supported, and was supported by his team.
Let’s break down the ending possibilities. Everyone is moved to a different team, except maybe TK and Nancy, and then what?
Given the upside-down way we’re going into season three, this could give us more opportunities for episodes to explore the characters we haven’t seen the backgrounds of yet. If the first few episodes are centered around respective characters and beginnings, then they’re all back together, it would give us so much more context into these characters.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, I’m just so grateful they all have each other to lean on.
What did you think of the episode? Are you excited for season three? What do you think about Billy? Let me know in the comments below!
