Spoilers ahead for Episode 4 of 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 2, called "Friends with Benefits."
The first responders of 9-1-1: Lone Star managed to beat an apocalyptic wildfire last week (with some help from the heroes of 9-1-1), and this week saw one firefighter going on a much more emotional ride than the crossover. The seemingly unstoppable Marjan Marwani who made such an impression on 9-1-1's Buck and Eddie last week faced a figure from her past who represented a future that very much didn't involve fighting fires in Austin. That said, Marjan didn't wind up leaving, and comments from actress Natacha Karam may indicate that fans don't have to worry about losing her so soon after another loss.
Marjan unexpectedly reunited with Salim, played by Aladdin's Mena Massoud, to whom she'd been engaged since she was 12 years old. Despite their agreement to hold off on actually getting married until they were 30 and Salim finished school, Salim wanted to stop waiting and was willing to commit to another woman if Marjan wasn't prepared to tie the knot and return to their families in Miami. Salim breaking up with her gave her the jolt to realize that she was in love with him after all, but that wasn't enough for a happily-ever-after.
Natacha Karam spoke with The Wrap about Marjan's emotional ride in "Friends with Benefits," saying:
She’s going to be heartbroken now, moving forward, because she lost something that she never really knew she had. I don’t think she has a romanticized notion of romantic love. I don’t think that’s ever been her thing and I think maybe she was trying that. She got swept up in a bit of a fairy tale that was never really her fairy tale when she showed up at his room and tried to do what they do in the movies. And then her heart wasn’t in it; she couldn’t follow through. Sometimes you can want something with your mind, but your heart just doesn’t allow it. And she knows that she can’t be the same with him ever again. So it’s a lot for her to process having found a thing, having lost a thing and now having to mourn it.
Poor Marjan went from all but dismissing the importance of romance and chemistry when it comes to marriage to realizing that she was in love with Salim to realizing that Salim's willingness to toss aside his commitment to the other woman was something she couldn't just forget. The explosive food poisoning at 9-1-1: Lone Star's version of a wedding worse than Game of Thrones' Red Wedding (according to one 911 caller, anyway) might have been the least complicated part of the episode!
While it's too bad for Marjan that she's going to be heartbroken at losing her fairy tale so soon after she realized she even had that fairy tale, at least Natacha Karam saying that Marjan can't be the same with Salim "ever again" indicates that 9-1-1: Lone Star viewers don't have to start worrying that Marjan will pack up and head to Miami to marry Salim. That's not to say that Marjan doesn't have more surprises in store; after all, her fellow first responders didn't even know she was engaged until her fiancé showed up at her roller derby event.
That said, the next episode seems to be shifting focus to other characters after this big Marjan installment. The description for the next episode, called "Difficult Conversations," reveals that Judd is in for a surprise:
Judd is shocked at the latest victim of an emergency call, Grace and Carlos must save a woman literally trapped in a domestic abuse situation and the 126 arrive at a horrific highway crash that threatens the lives of a father and daughter. Meanwhile, Owen and Gwyneth face a difficult decision in their relationship and Mateo regrets his new tattoo.
I'm not surprised that Owen and Gwyneth are facing a difficult decision in their relationship, considering Gwyneth's reveal in "Friends with Benefits" that she's pregnant. I just hope that 9-1-1: Lone Star lets T.K. find out about the pregnancy to see his reaction, but I can see Owen and Gwyneth wanting to keep the news quiet until after they've decided how to handle it. Judd sounds like he could be in for a rough ride, and as for Mateo, I just hope it wasn't a big tattoo in a noticeable place!
The next new episode of 9-1-1: Lone Star without having lost Marjan airs on Monday, February 15 at 9 p.m. ET on Fox in the 2021 winter premiere schedule.
