9-1-1: Lone Star fans had a big shock on Tuesday when the hit Fox show returned for season four only for TK Strand's fiancé Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva) to reveal that he was already married to a woman - and not any woman, but Iris Blake. Fans will remember how Iris was the younger sister of Michelle Blake (played by Liv Tyler) who was discovered in season one living in a homeless camp, years after disappearing.
Iris had been Carlos' best friend in childhood and he had helped Michelle continue looking for her over the years. But with TK and Carlos in the middle of wedding planning - and given eight weeks notice for their dream venue - Carlos finally had to come clean that he had married Iris years before he had come out publicly as a gay man, and had never asked for a divorce because Iris was being helped by his health insurance. Thankfully, Iris is now thriving but that doesn't mean she's going to make life easy for the pair.
Ronen Rubinstein, who plays TK, spoke to HELLO! about this major development, and how it's going to affect everything moving foward...
WATCH: 9-1-1: Lone Star season four - Carlos Reyes has a big secret
Carlos is married! How did it feel to read that?
Ronen: "Rafael [Silva] and I definitely nerd out when there's stuff like this in the script. We always talk about what we hope for with the characters and what we hope for with the story lines, and I think the one thing I can say is, Tim Minear (exeuctive producer) always keeps us on the edge of our seats.
"I definitely had a feeling that we would have to earn getting to the point of the wedding but I could have never predicted that Carlos is already married. Let alone to a woman!
"But Tim is a master at creating tension and separation in order for characters to have a beautiful journey back together. Now we have, yet again, another massive hurdle, and I think that's just Tarlos in a nutshell. I've lost count how much crazy [expletive] has been thrown at them."
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Rafael Silva as Carlos Reyes
TK surprisingly doesn't spiral when he gets this news from Carlos - how do you feel about TK's journey so far?
Ronen: "This is not a minor situation and I think the beautiful thing about that bunk room scene in episode one is that TK may have just received a lot of intense information but at the end of the day he says, 'I've got your back. We're going to make this work and I love you and whatever we need to do to make this work we will.'
"In a short amount of time TK has experienced highly stressful, high anxiety situations. A lot of it has literally been life or death; he's had to deal with possibly losing his father to cancer, nearly dying himself multiple times, losing his mother, relapsing. You name it, he's been through it, so I think he's had a lot of experience and has now gained tools to know how to handle these situations.
"We thought about that scene very carefully though. This could easily be an interrogation from TK but instead me and Brad Buecker, the director, spoke about the how and why. Carlos did this purely out of being a really good, supportive friend, and in order for Iris to get her health care. Of course Carlos would do that and it was like, 'Okay, this actually has nothing to do with TK,' so he needs to just be a supportive fiancé.
"It's just one scene but that one simple scene has so many waves of different notes and colors, and I feel so blessed and and grateful for the kind of story lines that Tim gives me because they're really complex and super layered."
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Lynsey Fonseca (left) is back as Iris Blake
How complicated is Iris going to make things for TK and Carlos but also the 126 as well?
Ronen: "Very complicated! In episode two, we will definitely see how complicated she makes things for TK and at the end of that episode, we'll see how complicated she makes things for everybody else.
"My favorite episode this season is episode four, and I think you'll definitely understand why [when you see it]. It's one of the biggest hurdles that Tarlos (a portmanteau of TK and Carlos) will have to go through. This is a season where Tarlos is going to have to overcome difficulties and obstacles in order to get to this wedding.
"But, how we're gonna get there... Is it gonna be smooth? Is it gonna be rough? Is it gonna be a bunch of things? Who knows, but everybody believes in Tarlos and knows they are truly endgame."
Ronen joked he would love more scenes with Mateo Chavez (played by Julian Works)
What is your vision for Tarlos long-term?
Ronen: "I think the natural sort of progression would be to have a kid but that is such a major step. I think these two are fully committed and in love with each other so I say, 'Let's just be happily married for a little bit and then down the road, who knows?' I think the whole world would love to see Tarlos with a baby, and that's my wishful thinking.
What can we expect from Owen and TK this year?
Ronen: "I know people were a little frustrated last season with Owen (Rob Lowe) and TK's storyline. But we definitely patch things up this season and there's really beautiful scenes with Owen and TK.
"I can tease that in episode eight - which is our 50th episode and that is very special to me - there's a beautiful TK and Owen moment at the very end that I think people will really appreciate. I think it's a scene a lot of people needed and it explains why their relationship has been a bit more distant than usual.
"Plus we get to see Owen become complete Dadzilla with the wedding so there's gonna be some hilarious stuff that includes both sides of the family."
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Owen Strand (Rob Lowe) will 'patch things up' with son TK
Who's gonna be TK's best man?
Ronen: "I always tease Tim that it should be Julian [Works] (who plays Mateo Chavez) just because me and Julian have got extremely close outside of work but I don't think it necessarily makes sense story wise. So I think it would have to be Owen."
How will Owen's extremist group storyline affect TK?
Ronen: "This storyline is going to put Owen in a position where he can't really be there for TK when he might need him and I think we're really going to see that in episode four when TK needs his dad the most and Owen's just not there - for these really insane reasons that TK doesn't know about - so there's definitely tension there.
Are we going to get more scenes of TK with Nancy Gillan and Tommy Vega?
Ronen: "Yes! In the second half of the season there's going to be a TK-Nancy-Tommy episode.
"It's primarily medical, and I think people are really going to love that because I don't think we've really had a full episode established just to the medical side - and it's gonna be a really fun one."
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Are there going to be any other crazy incidents?
Ronen: "Personally, TK has three insane rescues. TK is very much becoming a Tom Cruise-eque paramedic and I definitely get to show more of that this season.
"One of them is one of the most epic rescues of his life, and another one has to do with Mateo, and it's really, really cool rescue and medical situation. "
If you could sum up the season in one sentence, how would you sum it up?
Ronen: "The first word that comes to my mind is just stressful. All capital letters. Every single one of us goes through some real stressful [expletive] this season multiple times."
9-1-1: Lone Star airs 8/7c on Fox on Tuesdays.
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