Warning: SPOILERS ahead for 9-1-1: Lone Star season 5, episode 1!9-1-1: Lone Star season 5 sees Judd (Jim Parrack) reveal Grace left to volunteer with Mercy Ships, a real-world faith organization helping with life-saving surgeries for those in need, such as orphaned children. This explanation is a polarizing one, however, given her decision to leave home to help orphans around the world means she's also leaving behind her two-year-old daughter, alongside her recently paralyzed son, Wyatt (Jackson Pace).
Speaking with TVLine, Raisani defended the idea of Grace leaving her family behind for Mercy Ships in 9-1-1: Lone Star season 5. The showrunner explained how they didn't want to kill off McClain's character, deciding instead that a higher calling involving religion would make more sense to explain her absence. Comparing her story to a Biblical tale, he explained how her absence would deepen the isolation of Judd's storyline, while also impacting how well Wyatt can perform his dispatcher job. Check out some of what Raisani had to say below:
The only thing we could think of to justifiably pull Grace away from her family and job was an even greater calling. And the only thing in Grace’s world that could answer that was God.... People are allowed to feel the feelings they have about it. But we did all we could do to protect her character. Without getting too churchy about it, the Bible is filled with stories about characters who follow a call from God at great inconvenience to — and frankly to the detriment of — the people they love the most.
Judd doesn’t have his job, he doesn’t have his son and now he doesn’t have his wife, so it puts him into a deeper place of isolation. You’ll see as the season goes on that it creates this great complexity for Judd. On one hand, he ires and loves his wife, but there will be a growing sense of frustration and some uncomfortable feelings he has that he doesn’t want to it to himself that start to come out.
What Grace’s Exit Says About 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5
The Final Season Won’t Be Entirely Satisfactory
The 9-1-1: Lone Star season 4 finale established plenty of difficulties ahead for Judd, deciding to retire after Wyatt’s accident that wound up paralyzing him. Season 5 drops a new challenge on him, with him now a single father during a particularly stormy time for his family. While McClain's exit meant Grace needed to be written out of the story somehow, it's hypocritical for her to leave in order to protect orphans when she has children of her own in need of care. The show also doesn't indicate how long she'll be volunteering for, increasing the uncertainty of her absence.
9-1-1: Lone Star Ending May Be The Best Thing To Happen For The 9-1-1 Franchise
As disappointing as it may be that 9-1-1: Lone Star is ending after five seasons, this may be exactly what the franchise needs right now.
The impact of Grace's absence also extends to the whole team, who now need to rely on Wyatt as dispatcher while he deals with his stepmother's absence. The cast of 9-1-1: Lone Star are also likely to continue being emotionally impacted by her not being on the team, with a hole now in their family that hasn't been filled. Given how quickly she was written out and the impact it will have on multiple characters, her absence in the final season means the series won't be ending as satisfactory as it could have if she had a different fate.
Our Take On How Grace Left 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5
Her Exit Is Unfortunately Underwhelming
Grace's exit from 9-1-1: Lone Star is both unfortunate and underwhelming, as her character doesn't get the closure she deserves after being on the team for so long. However, with McClain not appearing in season 5, it made sense to write her out as not being in Texas instead of outright killing her off. While this means some unsatisfying arcs are likely to happen because of her absence, it also reflects the quick decisions necessary to ensure her absence made sense.
New episodes of 9-1-1: Lone Star air Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
Source: TVLine
9-1-1: Lone Star
- Release Date
- 2020 - 2024
- Network
- FOX
- Showrunner
- Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Tim Minear
WHERE TO WATCH
A spin-off series of 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star is an action-drama series created for Fox. The series follows Rob Lowe as Owen Strand, a firefighter from New York City who, after having rebuilt a team in the aftermath of September 11th's attacks, is brought in to form a new one in Austin, Texas.
- Writers
- Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Tim Minear
- Seasons
- 5
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu
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