Spoilers ahead for Episode 11 of 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 2, called "Slow Burn," and for the previews for next week's "The Big Heat."
9-1-1: Lone Star delivered a doozy of an episode with "Slow Burn," and all because Owen couldn't bring himself to sit still and rest after his latest lung surgery. After being told that he would be benched from work for several weeks (with Judd stepping up as captain, no worse for the wear after the big accident) and finding no solace in doing a puzzle, Owen wound up using a dispatch app to listen in on emergency calls. And this unfortunately led to a violent cliffhanger that left Owen wounded and surrounded by flames. But based on the episode description and promo for next week, that cliffhanger may be the least of his problems.
Owen happened to be in the area of a fire that he heard over the dispatch app and raced over to help, beating the actual fire department by five minutes and immediately suspecting arson. Since he was in his civvies, he had to leave the scene after performing a rescue, but his early appearance at the fire, unconfirmed report of what happened, and insistence on arson put him in the path of an investigator who clearly thought Owen was connecting dots that weren't there because he wanted to thrill of a save when he was supposed to be recuperating.
Owen, being Owen, decided that he should recreate the arson himself to prove his case, which he did successfully, and he wound up on the scene of another incident to try and find the proof he needed of arson. Unfortunately, the actual arsonist was also on the scene, and he clobbered Owen over the head hard enough that I was glad that it was lung and not brain surgery that Owen was recovering from. Owen woke to find himself in a burning building, with the hooded arsonist not exactly rushing to his aid.
This really isn't Owen's season, is it? Obviously this cliffhanger leaves Owen's very life in question, but of course 9-1-1: Lone Star isn't going to kill off Rob Lowe's character in an episode that isn't a premiere or a finale, and the preview right after the episode made it clear that he lives. As for what the next episode, called "The Big Heat," will bring, check out the episode description:
A recovering Owen becomes the prime suspect in the serial arsonist case. Meanwhile, T.K. and Carlos find themselves in a fiery situation and Tommy gets the surprise of her life.
All things considered, even though viewers will know that Owen didn't start the fires, he did make it look pretty bad for himself by literally recreating the arson at his own home, illegally investigating without wearing gloves to cover his fingerprints, and bringing Billy in on the secret of what he was trying to do. Owen really makes sense as the prime suspect. When it comes to T.K. and Carlos' "fiery situation," the promo makes it clear that this isn't the normal kind of fire that 9-1-1: Lone Star's firefighters deal with.
I don't want to say that the arsonist is Billy, but the arsonist is totally Billy, right? If the fire at T.K. and Carlos' place is connected to the arson cases, then I have to imagine that they're targeted because of Owen, and Billy knows Owen enough to know how to get to his son. Then again, whoever the arsonist is wouldn't really make the smartest decision if they start a fire at Owen's son's home and therefore make it pretty clear that Owen wasn't the one to set the fires, but there are a lot of unanswered questions at this point.
Fortunately, the wait for answers won't be too long. This next new episode of 9-1-1: Lone Star will air on Monday, May 10 at 9 p.m. ET on Fox. For when Lone Star and more big TV shows will wrap for the 2020-2021 TV season, be sure to check out our rundown of upcoming TV finales!
