Judd is shocked at the latest victim of an emergency call, Grace and Carlos must save a woman literally trapped in a domestic abuse situation and the 126 arrive at a horrific highway crash that threatens the lives of a father and daughter. Meanwhile, Owen and Gwyneth face a difficult decision in their relationship and Mateo regrets his new tattoo.
In 2020, the television industry aired 493 scripted shows across numerous outlets. The way people consume content now is different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, it's less necessary to provide ample coverage of each episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site provides shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of FOX's 9-1-1: Lone Star.
"Difficult Conversations" was written by Wolfe Coleman and directed by Sanaa Hamri
Grace is phenomenal at her job. She is intuitive and always listening for clues on how to help. All of that is on proud display during the call that starts as domestic abuse and turns into a hostage situation. She asks someone to take a leap-of-faith with her. It's a scary prospect. And yet, it is all delivered in a comforting way. She offers that strength and certainty that things will work out despite the various risks involved. Again, she is the best that the 911 call center has to offer. That is frequently where the show features her as well. Outside of the workplace, her stories are typically connected with Judd. That's not inherently bad. It highlights the strength of them as a couple. They are bonded together. What is important to one of them has become important to both. It is a true partnership. One that is always working to get better. It's just as necessary for Grace to have a personal story every once in awhile too. The show doesn't inherently have to invite drama into her life in order for that to happen. That's what ultimately does occur here. This episode is all about the difficult conversations that these first responders frequently have to have. It's the most devastating when Owen has to tell the father in a car wreck that his injuries are too severe and he is going to die in a matter of minutes. That's the only amount of comfort he can provide in that situation. He has to promise to console and embrace the daughter who survives. He passes on a message that will be the last words the two get to share. It's absolutely gutting. That's a part of this job. The firefighters and paramedics recognize the danger involved and try their best to always offer the appropriate responses to care for the various victims in these emergencies. It's grueling. The conversations in their personal lives are also difficult. This episode frames several of those in different lights. TK, Paul and Marjan struggling to tell Mateo that his new tattoo has a spelling error in it doesn't quite play on the same level as the conversations happening elsewhere. It's included to be the levity to lighten up the hour. It prevents the episode from being too dark. That emotion is perfect capable of taking over an entire episode. It is sometimes beneficial to have peaks and valleys to ensure that the viewer is experiencing a broad array of emotions during the experience. This particular story just stands out because it is much more lighthearted and non-essential in comparison to the other developments. Judd learns that his father-in-law is cheating. He is caught because the firehouse has to respond and save his life because he is careless with it. He sees it as a blessing that Judd was there and knew exactly what was going on. He doesn't change his ways or feel remorseful for his actions. Instead, he only puts Judd in an awkward and compromising position. Judd wants to tell Grace about what truly happened. He doesn't want to hurt her though. She figures out what's going on herself. She knows that there is something Judd isn't telling her. She understands that impulse too. She doesn't want to hurt her mother with this revelation either. It's difficult. She's not ready to talk about it fully yet. She recognizes that it's what happened. They can't just ignore it. It's a conversation for another day because the emotions are so complicated. All of this promises to be an engaging story for her character as the season develops. Meanwhile, it's still unclear just how the audience should react to the news that Owen and Gwyneth want to continue with the pregnancy. They have very legitimate fears regarding the risks. It is very dangerous. This news also takes them back to the fond memories they once had as a family. So much has changed since that time. And yet, this peaceful beauty was also present. They each feel a desire to recapture that. That is sweet and sentimental. It's the show once again explaining that insane things happen to the main characters as well. This particular story is a twist the audience just has to go along with. It can certainly be questioned. The fundamentally elements of it though have to be sold in order to tell engaging stories with it. In that respect, it mostly comes across as a work-in-progress instead of something that can easily be accepted as the story of chief importance to these particular characters. It's a fun thought. It struggles to go much deeper than that which could create a problem sooner rather than later.
Grace is phenomenal at her job. She is intuitive and always listening for clues on how to help. All of that is on proud display during the call that starts as domestic abuse and turns into a hostage situation. She asks someone to take a leap-of-faith with her. It's a scary prospect. And yet, it is all delivered in a comforting way. She offers that strength and certainty that things will work out despite the various risks involved. Again, she is the best that the 911 call center has to offer. That is frequently where the show features her as well. Outside of the workplace, her stories are typically connected with Judd. That's not inherently bad. It highlights the strength of them as a couple. They are bonded together. What is important to one of them has become important to both. It is a true partnership. One that is always working to get better. It's just as necessary for Grace to have a personal story every once in awhile too. The show doesn't inherently have to invite drama into her life in order for that to happen. That's what ultimately does occur here. This episode is all about the difficult conversations that these first responders frequently have to have. It's the most devastating when Owen has to tell the father in a car wreck that his injuries are too severe and he is going to die in a matter of minutes. That's the only amount of comfort he can provide in that situation. He has to promise to console and embrace the daughter who survives. He passes on a message that will be the last words the two get to share. It's absolutely gutting. That's a part of this job. The firefighters and paramedics recognize the danger involved and try their best to always offer the appropriate responses to care for the various victims in these emergencies. It's grueling. The conversations in their personal lives are also difficult. This episode frames several of those in different lights. TK, Paul and Marjan struggling to tell Mateo that his new tattoo has a spelling error in it doesn't quite play on the same level as the conversations happening elsewhere. It's included to be the levity to lighten up the hour. It prevents the episode from being too dark. That emotion is perfect capable of taking over an entire episode. It is sometimes beneficial to have peaks and valleys to ensure that the viewer is experiencing a broad array of emotions during the experience. This particular story just stands out because it is much more lighthearted and non-essential in comparison to the other developments. Judd learns that his father-in-law is cheating. He is caught because the firehouse has to respond and save his life because he is careless with it. He sees it as a blessing that Judd was there and knew exactly what was going on. He doesn't change his ways or feel remorseful for his actions. Instead, he only puts Judd in an awkward and compromising position. Judd wants to tell Grace about what truly happened. He doesn't want to hurt her though. She figures out what's going on herself. She knows that there is something Judd isn't telling her. She understands that impulse too. She doesn't want to hurt her mother with this revelation either. It's difficult. She's not ready to talk about it fully yet. She recognizes that it's what happened. They can't just ignore it. It's a conversation for another day because the emotions are so complicated. All of this promises to be an engaging story for her character as the season develops. Meanwhile, it's still unclear just how the audience should react to the news that Owen and Gwyneth want to continue with the pregnancy. They have very legitimate fears regarding the risks. It is very dangerous. This news also takes them back to the fond memories they once had as a family. So much has changed since that time. And yet, this peaceful beauty was also present. They each feel a desire to recapture that. That is sweet and sentimental. It's the show once again explaining that insane things happen to the main characters as well. This particular story is a twist the audience just has to go along with. It can certainly be questioned. The fundamentally elements of it though have to be sold in order to tell engaging stories with it. In that respect, it mostly comes across as a work-in-progress instead of something that can easily be accepted as the story of chief importance to these particular characters. It's a fun thought. It struggles to go much deeper than that which could create a problem sooner rather than later.
