by Michelle Willson, Feature/Entertainment Editor
The trills and drama of the 9-1-1 franchise has come to texas. The franchise premiered the first episode of its 9-1-1 Lone star tv show on January 19th.
The show was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear. The trio has worked together on projects like American Horror Story and the original 9-1-1 series. The show follows Owen Strand (Rob Lowe) as he and his son T.K. Strand (Ronen Rubinstein) move from New York to Texas to help rebuild a department after an explosion killed all but one of the members of the old unit 126.
The sole member Judd Ryder (Jim Parrack) comes back and has to learn how to work with his new crew.
The show gives viewers an indepth look about how the emergency units work together on different cases and how it differs from team to team. In NYC the firefighters always took charge of the situation but in texas it depends on the call. On medical calls EMTs are in charge and you can see that it will be hard for Chief Strand to give up that power to the head EMT Michelle Blake (Liv Tyler).
When Owen was asked to come a rebuild the department he was told to make team diverse. He recruited the best people around. One of the areas that the show excels in most is the diversity.
The fire fighter unit includes Marjan Marwani a muslum women, T.K. Strand a gay man and Paul Strickland a black trans man played by trans actor Brian Michael Smith.
The show falls into the same category as Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, New Amsterdam and The Resident but even though the shows are similar there’s not much overlap in scenarios. Since 9-1-1 Lone Star is set in Texas they see different types of cases. Lone Star also focus more on the combined work of the EMT, Police and Firefighters where shows like Station 19 follow one unit the whole time.
You get to see the close relationship between Owen and his son. As they fight personal battles while trying to save the lives of others. Viewers are left wondering what will happen when secrets come out will their relationship last and how will it affect the fire department.
The episode excels on every level, Each actor, character, scene and drama filled situation make makes the show worth watching.
I give this pilot episode a 5 out of 5 stars because I am already hooked and it’s only been the first episode. I can not wait to keep up with the first season of this show.