9-1-1: Lone Starmay be over, but the franchise’s upcoming Tennessee spinoff seems eerily similar, for better or worse. The Texas-based offshoot of the franchise began in 2020, with Rob Lowe leading the9-1-1: Lone Starcastas Captain Owen Strand, a firefighter who moves to Texas with his son, TK (Ronen Rubinstein). Together, the father-son duo build a firehouse in Austin, Texas following the disaster that killed the previous 126 crew, save for Judson“Judd”Ryder (Jim Parrack). Along with Judd, Owen assembles a dream team to respond to quirky and catastrophic emergencies in the greater Austin area.
Unfortunately,9-1-1: Lone Star’s cancelationcame after its fourth season aired, cementing the fifth entry as the last in the series. With other roadblocks, like Sierra McClain leaving the show and taking mainstay Grace Ryder with her, the final season of9-1-1: Lone Starseemed doomed from the beginning. The Texas spinoff pulled no punches in its final episodes, introducing storylines like Tommy Vega (Gina Torres) discovering her breast cancer, Mateo Chavez (Julian Works) facing deportation, and Judd suffering from alcoholism.9-1-1: Lone Starseason 5, episode 12resolved its biggest issues, but the series finale now feels moot.
Chris O’Donnell’s Captain Don Sharpe From 9-1-1: Nashville Is Too Similar To Lone Star’s Owen Strand
A Captain Working With His Son Was One Of Lone Star’s Main Selling Points
What makes9-1-1: Lone Star’s ending feel counter-intuitive is how the upcoming Nashville spinoff seems poised to merely replace it. The first confirmed cast member of9-1-1: Nashvilleis Chris O’Donnell as Don Sharpe,“a rugged fire captain […] who runs Nashville’s busiest firehouse with his beloved son”(viaDeadline). Immediately,Sharpe’s character reads as a copycat of the Strands from9-1-1 Lone Star. It was unique whenLone Starintroduced the father-son dynamic at the firehouse, since there was nothing like it in the original series. Now thatNashvilleis directly followingLone Star, it feels like an imitation.
TK began the series working under his father as a firefighter, but he joined Tommy as a paramedic in9-1-1: Lone Starseason 2 and held that role until the series finale.
9-1-1: Lone Star’s endinggave Owen and TK their happy-ever-afters, but seeing the same dynamic at the heart of the next franchise entry makes the carefully crafted endings feel inconsequential. Even the traits that are meant to set Don Sharpe apart are immediately recognizable in other9-1-1: Lone Starcharacters, like Don’s rodeo experience feeling reminiscent of Judd’s backstory and how he had Wyatt (Jackson Pace). The only aspect of the character that seems truly unique is that Don Sharpe is described as a devoted husband, breaking the9-1-1franchise’s silliest trend of captains starting the series as bachelors.
9-1-1: Nashville’s Captain Could Have Helped Set The Spinoff Apart From Lone Star
The Protagonist Could Have Ensured Some Originality
Aside from feeling similar to the Strands, Don Sharpe’s character hints at an underlying issue in9-1-1: Nashville. The very setting of the impending spinoff is risky, with9-1-1:Lone Starpotentially sabotagingNashvilledue to already having explored such regionally-distinct storylines. Compared to Texas,Nashville doesn’t provide a dramatic change of scenery, weather, or— most importantly— culture. There are unique characteristics to Nashville, but the nuances will inevitably be lost in translation and feel indistinguishable from9-1-1: Lone Star.But aside from the location, O’Donnell’s loving husband and father simply fails to offer anything new as a protagonist.
9-1-1: Nashvillecould’ve [had] a new kind of captain— a woman, a person of color, a younger firefighter who was just promoted— but instead it perpetuates the status quo with a predictable lead.
Following Peter Krause’s Captain Bobby Nash from the flagship series,Don Sharpe will be the third captain in as many series to be an aging white man with complicated family problems. Bobby, Owen, and Don could each individually be great protagonists for a standalone series, but them being presented as the protagonists sequentially in the9-1-1franchiseimplies a frustrating pattern.9-1-1: Nashvillecould’ve easily made a name for itself by having a new kind of captain— a woman, a person of color, a younger firefighter who was just promoted— but instead it perpetuates the status quo with a predictable lead.
Lone Star’s Cancelation Doesn’t Make Sense If It’s Replaced By A New 9-1-1 Show That’s Very Similar To It
The Series Finale Now Feels Futile
The similarities between Nashville and Texas could help the second spinoff to a certain extent, but it would cheapen9-1-1: Lone Star’s series finale and call into question why it existed in the first place. While9-1-1: Lone Star’s ending left many unanswered questionsinvolving the characters and overarching storyline, it was still a mostly acceptable ending to the first-responder drama. If the Texas spinoff had to end and not every character could get the perfect ending,9-1-1: Lone Star’s finale at least gave closure to the biggest unresolved plots and the unofficial“main”characters of the ensemble cast.
7 Near Catastrophes In 9-1-1: Lone Star That Would Have Ruined The Show
9-1-1: Lone Star was packed with exciting emergencies and touching character development, but the procedural narrowly avoided ruin with certain plots.
Yet, after all the commotion surroundingLone Star’s ending,9-1-1: Nashvilleseems like it’s stealing the heart of the Texas spinoffand repackaging it under a different name. News of the second spinoff’s location broke after viewers had finally come to terms with9-1-1: Lone Starseason 5being the end, meaning that9-1-1: Nashville’s glaring similarities make the series at large feel like a consolation prize. There’s still time for9-1-1: Nashvilleto prove it has something unique to add to the franchise, but it might never fully escape9-1-1: Lone Star’s Texas-sized shadow.
9-1-1: Lone Star
Cast
A spin-off series of 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star is an action-drama series created for Fox. The series follows Rob Lowe as Owen Strand, a firefighter from New York City who, after having rebuilt a team in the aftermath of September 11th’s attacks, is brought in to form a new one in Austin, Texas.
