Stream It Or Skip It: ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ On Fox, Where Rob Lowe And Liv Tyler Rescue People In Austin

Two years ago, Fox dropped the crazy 9-1-1 on unsuspecting audiences, giving us a glimpse into what it would be like if Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk created a procedural series. It’s not your typical procedural: The stars (Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Connie Britton, then Jennifer Love Hewitt) are exceptional actors and appealing stars, and the rescues were over-the-top. The show was so successful for Fox that it’s now become a franchise, with 9-1-1: Lone Star. Read on for more.

9-1-1: LONE STAR STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: At a fertilizer plant, a security guard starts the World’s Dumbest Fire when he leaves the foil on his sandwich when he warms it in the microwave, then tosses the on-fire sandwich in a trash can full of paper.

The Gist: The World’s Dumbest Fire had very serious circumstances, though. Austin Fire station 126 was the first on the scene, not knowing that fertilizer was stored there. Firefighter Judd Ryder (Jim Parrack) sprints out and finds a standpipe 100 yards away from the factory, but he’s the only one who ends up surviving when the factory explodes. His wife, 911 dispatcher Grace Ryder (Sierra Aylina McClain) is on the line with the 126 when the explosion happens.

Six months later, we see Captain Owen Strand (Rob Lowe) and his son TK (Ronen Rubenstein) working for the NYFD. Owen is the sole survivor of his unit, who was killed on 9/11, and he’s spent the last 19 years rebuilding his unit from the ground up. But his time at Ground Zero has resulted in lung cancer, which was caught early but still troubling to Owen. He’s approached by the Austin Fire chief to rebuild the 126 like he did with his unit in New York. He turns the offer down, but when TK overdoses on opioids after his boyfriend dumps him right when he’s about to propose, Owen figures the change of scenery will be good for both of them.

In Austin, he’s charged with not only restarting the 126 but looking for diversity in his hires. Owen’s looking for unconventional firefighters, ones that are the best but have had issues where they work. Marjam Marwani (Natacha Karam) has had discipline issues in Miami, mainly because her antics have gone viral. Paul Strickland (Brian Michael Smith) has great instincts, but has always felt ostracized in his Chicago FD position because he’s trans. Mateo Chavez (Julian Works) keeps flunking out of the academy, but he’s detail oriented enough that the chief hired him as his driver. Ryder wants to rejoin the squad to honor his fallen colleagues, but Owen thinks he’s not quite ready yet; of course, Ryder doesn’t react well to it, but Owen knows what it’s like to bottle up the grief that Ryder is suffering.

On one of his first rescues, a man who has a violent reaction to swallowing a super-spicy pepper, Owen finds out that EMS is in charge of rescues in Austin, and captain Michelle Blake (Liv Tyler) is in charge of the squad they work with most often. She also has issues of her own, as she is constantly accosting her late sister’s husband to goad him into telling her why she died so young.

Our Take: The quickest take on 9-1-1: Lone Star is this: If you loved 9-1-1, you’ll love this show. If you hated the original, then you’re not going to find much different here.

Really, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and showrunner Tim Minear have put together 9-1-1: Lone Star exactly the same way that they did the original show. The situations that these first responders are in are usually ridiculous, like a baby in a car seat that’s been flung into a tree, or the guy whose esophagus ruptured because his hot pepper prank went awry.

But what the superstar producing trio has done is to plug excellent actors, who are award-winners or have recently been in beloved prestige shows, into the main roles and let them sell the silly dialogue and over-the-top rescues, as well as effectively play each character’s back story.

Even when Lowe is speechifying to the people he’s recruiting, trying to convince them to join him in Austin, his ability to bring out Owen’s intensity and caring almost makes us want to fight fires with him. Any other actor in the role would come off as the platitude-spewing semi-sage, but Lowe does a fine job making Owen almost a realistic character. Tyler is a little less convincing as she breathily spits out medical jargon when she and her EMS crew perform procedures on the scene, but she’s more than capable of handling Michelle’s grieving sister story.

It’s those character arcs that will make 9-1-1: Lone Star palatable, just like it did with 9-1-1. If Minear and his writers do their job and give some depth to Lowe’s, Tyler’s and the other characters, the silly disasters and rescues will just be an entertaining diversion. If the show becomes all about the ridiculous rescues, though, it’ll likely collapse under its own weight.

Sex and Skin: Nothing.

Parting Shot: To the strains of “Old Town Road,” we see a montage of the 126 in action; when they respond to a call, Ryder is back in uniform, driving the rear of the ladder truck.

Sleeper Star: Brian Michael Smith stood out in Queen Sugar and he does so here, as well. It’s also good to know that a trans actor is being put in a prominent trans role on a network show.

Most Pilot-y Line: After Grace appeals to Owen about her husband, he meets with Judd again. “I was surprised when I met your wife,” he tells Judd. “Because she’s black?” Judd stupidly asks. “No, because she’s wise,” Owen sagely replies.

Our Call: STREAM IT. We weren’t huge fans of 9-1-1 when it debuted two years ago, but we have to admit the formula has worked for Fox, so there’s no reason to think 9-1-1: Lone Star won’t be a hit as well. The presence of Lowe and Tyler helps offset the silliness that goes on around them.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.

Stream 9-1-1: Lone Star On Fox.com