This week’s episode of 9-1-1 Lonestar had us checking the calendar to make sure that it was indeed February and not October because it felt so much like an hour of television we would see around Halloween. While we enjoy a good supernatural-themed episode, we couldn’t help but feeling like this was a casualty of sharing a time slot with the other 9-1-1 and the writers not really knowing when the episodes are going to fall.
Regardless of the timing, we do love a good campy supernatural theme. Of course we believe that Captain Strand is into alien conspiracy theories. We would expect nothing less. In pure 9-1-1 Lone Star fashion, underneath the fun there were some deeply cutting emotional moments. So, let’s dive into our thoughts on this episode.
Grief Support
We cannot tell you how happy we are that Captain Vega is going to her grief support group. The sudden loss of her husband was a gut punch to us all, and we love to see her working on her healing journey.
Even if her house was not haunted by the ghost of her husband, we loved the idea of her making his favorite meal and talking to him. His death was so unexpected and she really didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. Hopefully, this episode will be the start of some closure for her.
Judd and Junior
While we were less than thrilled last week when Judd’s surprise teenage son Wyatt showed up out of the blue to disrupt their happy life, it was fun to see that storyline play out this week.
They tried to make us think that Wyatt and Judd couldn’t be any more different – the vegan and the brisket lover, the video gamer and the hunter, etc. But they couldn’t fool us. The genuine sweetness and “aw shucks, ma’am” attitude we saw in Wyatt proves more than ever that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. What Judd doesn’t realize is that his son is more like him than he thinks, even if they don’t have the same interests. Being good-natured and kind is a lot better than a shared love of hunting or Magic the Gathering.
Grace continues to be the best human being ever by providing loving support for both guys during their awkward weekend together, and in helping Judd navigate his relationship with his son. We may have needed a few tissues when Wyatt said that it was his best weekend ever because he always wanted to go camping with his dad.
Our only annoyance with this story line was that the writers continued their efforts to make Captain Strand seem perfect at everything, so he instantly had all the common interests with Wyatt was able to connect with him immediately when Judd was struggling.
We love how so many situations with Judd and Grace feel like they are going to be angsty, but end up to work out fine because of the general goodness of their characters. With that said, we’re looking forward to seeing what the writers have in store for Judd’s relationship with Wyatt. And let the story play out on its own without inserting Captain Strand.
9-1-1 Lone Star airs 8 p.m. Mondays on Fox.