Spoilers ahead for 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5, Episode 6, “Naked Truth.” Read at your own risk!
As 9-1-1: Lone Star’s final season continues on the 2024 TV schedule, storylines are getting a lot more personal and emotional. The Fox first responder series has been keeping fans on the edge of their seats and not just with the intense emergencies. Last night’s episode included a major game-changing moment for one character and evidently, Sierra McClain suggested the idea before she left Lone Star.
In Season 5, Episode 6, “Naked Truth,” Brianna Baker’s Nancy was worried she had breast cancer after Tommy (Gina Torres) spotted a lump on an NSFW picture that Nancy did not mean to send to everyone. After Tommy told Nancy she should get a mammogram, she got one at the same time as Nancy. While Nancy was thankfully in the clear despite her family history, it was revealed that Tommy had cancer.
Even though it seemed like the storyline came out of left field, it actually has been a long time coming, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Showrunner Rashad Raisani told EW that the breast cancer story was pitched by none other than McClain, who exited Lone Star ahead of Season 5 after portraying dispatcher Grace Ryder since the beginning, explaining:
She and I are very close, and we met to talk about her character, but then she brought up Gina. She said, 'I think that Gina Torres is just such a special actor, and she could take on an arc that could be even bigger than anything we've ever done for anyone, with more depth and more stakes.' And she said, 'I mean, I don't want to speak for another character, but what if she found out she had breast cancer?' And I just thought, 'Wow, that was kind of a genius pitch.'
Tommy has already been through a lot since coming on in Season 2. Between losing her husband, getting kidnapped, nearly dying on more than one occasion, and breaking up with her reverend boyfriend, breast cancer is another piece of adversity she's facing.
It is pretty interesting to know that McClain was the one who pitched the idea because she knew her co-star would be able to pull it off. Unfortunately, McClain departed, and she isn’t able to see the story executed, which is a bummer. However, including the arc now gives the series the opportunity to dig deeper and really allow Torres to show off her skills as an actor.
Raisani shared that the storyline will start Tommy and Nancy’s “closing arcs,” but the cancer will “affect everyone” as the 126 paramedic captain deals with it. It does make me wonder just how different the storyline would be if Grace was still around, but just the fact that they included this major storyline that Sierra McClain had a hand in pitching is pretty great.
It's going to be an emotional arc for Tommy, and it’s hard to tell how it will go, but knowing how close the 126 is, she has a great support system. And we can't wait to see how they all come together to help her as the season continues.
To see this storyline unfold, you can watch new episodes of 9-1-1: Lone Star on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.