As the dust settles on season three of 9-1-1: Lone Star, viewers are already looking to what comes next - especially after the middle-of-the-night proposal from TK Strand (Ronen Rubinstein) to boyfriend Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva).
Exclusive: Corinne Massiah opens up on 9-1-1, working with Angela Bassett - and finding her voice
The finale saw the 126 come together as the found family they are after a terrifying building collapse saw Owen Strand (Rob Lowe)trapped - and forced to finally confront his buried trauma surrounding being a firefighter on 9/11 - and Mateo Chavez and Nancy Gillan seemingly confirm their romance is full steam ahead.
WATCH: Promo trailer for 9-1-1: Lone Star season three finale
With Lone Star officially renewed for a fourth season, showrunner Tim Minear tells HELLO! that 'yes' we will see a wedding in season four.
Tim also shared details on the decision to offer a "contemplative and personal" viewpoint on Owen's past and 9/11, and his surprising inspiration...
Exclusive: 9-1-1: Lone Star actor Ronen Rubinstein shares what he really thinks of TK’s 'traumatic' storylines
Have you always been working towards a 9/11 flashback, and how did you work on being sensitive to this subject?
It's been something we wanted to do for a while and early in the season I decided it would be great to somehow visit it by the finale - this is the 20th anniversary of 9/11. We talked a lot about how to be sensitive because I did not want to recreate the day and do some sort of Lone Star action set piece of that tragedy, I wanted it to be more contemplative and personal so merging it with a collapsed building in the present day was a way to do it without abusing it.
Owen finally confronted his past
The proposal was so TK, so spur of the moment - do you think he is ready?
Yes I think he is - the manner it happens is very TK, very spur of the moment, but the things that his father said to him and all the stuff he has been through in the last year, and what he and Carlos have been through, I think TK needed to step forward and Carlos needed to step back a little bit.
They both weren't ready and in particular Carlos wasn't sure about TK given how flighty he was at the beginning of the season in breaking up with him.
But by the time we get to this proposal they are both in a great space.
Tarlos are engaged!
This is a relationship that is so beloved, but as a showrunner how do you balance what serves the show best versus potentially upsetting a fandom?
There are different pockets of fandom and if you listen strictly to one pocket you are going to end up betraying the story on some level.
I have had the studio do some deep dive research so I can get a better picture of what the entire audience values - and mostly it's the same things, but it was not reflective of what you see on social media.
I think I am safe now though [with Tarlos]. I won't upset anyone because this story will go places that it wanted to go and that also pleases the fans.
The 126 came together as a family at the end of season three
Will we get the wedding in season four?
Yes!
Did you always plan for Judd to have a son? From where did this character development arrive?
That had been percolating for a while, we started talking about it last season, this idea that he had a kid out there he didn't know about.
I know it was met by some ambivalence but I think Wyatt very quickly won the audience over. I also wasn't trying to throw a grenade into the Ryder marriage - it doesn't cause upset. What was so satisfying for us, and the Ryders, is that when they are met with any challenge they will do the right thing, so it was then satisfying to watch this family expand in this way and to see how accepting Grace is, to see that Judd is not keeping any secrets, and they roll with the punches.
And it helps that Wyatt is an appealing character played by an incredibly appealing actor
'I also wasn't trying to throw a grenade into the Ryder marriage,' says Tim
When we introduced Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman) in 9-1-1, there was some friction for half of an episode, but he was never there to create drama - and the same with Wyatt, he is not there to create fake drama.
It's just another way to explore something about Judd. I thought it was an interesting time because they just had a baby and so it's not fair but it makes that more complicated - also it's easier to do scenes with a character that is 17-year-old rather than 17 months!
We saw Lucy joining the 118 in 9-1-1 this season - any plans to expand the characters in Lone Star?
I don't have any big plans to introduce new characters at the moment but I would love to see Amy Acker come back for a period, and I am not finished telling the Wyatt part of the story with Judd and Grace.
At some point I am sure we would love to see what's going on with the little Jonah and Enzo - there are places to go.
There has been conversation about expanding the 9-1-1 franchise into new series, where are plans for that?
It's always a possibility and it is talked about and definitely it could happen - but it's not immediately in the pipeline.
There’s been some really wonderful character developments this season - what are you most proud of?
I have a special place in my heart for an episode called In the Unlikely Event of an Emergency, the episode after Gwen's death and telling the backstory of TK's mom taking him to rehab.
That was an episode that pretty much turned out exactly as I wanted it to, and it was a little bit of a tribute to my own mom who took me to rehab and passed away in the last few years. That episode meant a lot to me.
Tim says he is most proud of an episode called In the Unlikely Event of an Emergency
Overall though, if you watch this season as a whole, it's more coherent as an 18-episode story than we have achieved before and hopefully we will get even better at that.
The season started with everyone scattered and there's a real sense of the 126 as family by the end - what's your big picture for season four?
The family element will definitely continue, and that's the most appealing element of a show like this, [the idea of a] found family, the family you choose.
Going forward in season four there will be more of that.
'My inspiration for Lone Star is a show called Thirty-Something'
You've said before it's tricky to find ways to expand a character story and find different things for them to do, where are your inspirations for Lone Star?
The emergencies are tricky because one thing that can quickly become a trap is when you are constantly putting your own people in peril - which I will continue to do! - but you don't want them rescuing each other constantly, you want them rescuing people out in the world as well.
My inspiration for Lone Star is a show called Thirty-Something which had a big cast, and there were different cohorts in the cast - single women and married couples, and single men - and they were all going through different things. In one episode you would see them focus on two or three characters and the others would be in the background or not at all. and the next episode, it would be about another character.
I had my favorites I always wanted to see but the job of the runners on Thirty-Something was to get you to fall in love with the other characters as well, and I did, so that is my inspiration.
I'd love to know who your favourite characters from 9-1-1 and Lone Star are, and why?
If they are still on the show I love them!
9-1-1: Lone Star is available to stream on Hulu
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