9-1-1: Lone Star hit the small screen earlier in 2020 as a spinoff of the popular Fox series 9-1-1, and now the second season has recruited a Suits star. Gina Torres, whose own spinoff failed to launch after a short run in 2019, is coming to 9-1-1: Lone Star in a series regular role. This time, however, she won't be dominating a courtroom. Here's what's in store.
Gina Torres is coming to 9-1-1: Lone Star as a series regular alongside Liv Tyler and Rob Lowe, according to Deadline, with the second season scheduled to begin production at some point this fall in Los Angeles for a launch in Fox's midseason lineup early next year. Torres' new character will be no Jessica Pearson, who Torres first played on Suits and then reprised for the short-lived Pearson spinoff, but she definitely sounds formidable.
For 9-1-1: Lone Star, Gina Torres will play a paramedic captain by the name of Tommy Vega. She gave up her work to raise her twin daughters, stepping away from the action when she was at the top of her game. The COVID-19 pandemic changes her life when her husband's restaurant fails, and she has to go back into the workforce after eight years to support her family.
The separation from her daughters will be rough on Tommy, but she'll prove that she's "still a boss" when she dons her uniform, no matter how many years she spent away. Joining 9-1-1: Lone Star will reunite Gina Torres with showrunner Tim Minear, as they worked together on Fox's Firefly before Torres' Suits days.
The role of Tommy on 9-1-1: Lone Star should showcase a different side of Torres than she was able to show off on Suits and Pearson; Jessica was very career-oriented, with not a lot in the way of family. Tommy gave up her career to focus on her family.
Tommy's status as a paramedic captain presumably means that Gina Torres will share scenes with Liv Tyler as Michelle Blake, especially since both are on board as series regulars. They join Rob Lowe, whose Owen was a sophisticated firefighter out of New York who relocated with his son to Texas.
9-1-1: Lone Star was a hit right out of the gate when it premiered in January 2020. At the time that renewals for both 9-1-1 and its spinoff were announced, Lone Star stood as the top new series in the 18-49 demographic (although tied with another Fox series), and it was a success in post-live viewing as well. Lone Star also stands as one of the relatively few major scripted broadcast TV shows of the 2019-2020 TV season that managed to wrap before production had to stop due to the pandemic.
Gina Torres' plot as Tommy proves that 9-1-1: Lone Star will tackle the pandemic as part of its plot; my biggest questions at this point are whether Season 2 will pick up in real time and if Fox will somehow deliver a crossover between the spinoff and the parent show in the next season.
In case you missed the first season of 9-1-1: Lone Star and want to catch up before Gina Torres makes her debut, you can find the full Season 1 streaming on Hulu now. Two seasons of 9-1-1 (including all the episodes dealing with the tsunami that was quite literally on Titanic scale) are streaming on Hulu as well. For some additional viewing options now and in the coming weeks, check out our 2020 fall TV premiere guide.
