9-1-1: Lone Star (Ep. 5x1) ⁞⁞ Episode Spotlight

The FOX first responder drama 9-1-1: Lone Star returned for its fifth and final season on September 23rd. The season premiere featured a major plot line for one half of the show's gay couple, as Carlos (Rafael L. Silva) was revealed to have joined the Texas Rangers during the show's hiatus, leaving behind the Austin police force to follow in his slain father's footsteps. The episode began with his husband paramedic T.K. (Ronen Rubinstein) arriving to a major emergency after an armored truck was attacked, leaving the drivers' lives in jeopardy. T.K. sprung into action with his paramedic team, saving the lives of the two men. Carlos then arrived on the scene, which sparked a major investigation for the Texas Rangers. Carlos explained the situation to his supervisor Ranger Bridges (Alan Autry), revealing his belief that the attackers were thieves who were also responsible for two other armored truck attacks. He encountered some resistance to his efforts from Ranger Campbell (Parker Young), who questioned Carlos' credentials to be a ranger, accusing him of nepotism. Bridges suggested that both men run separate investigations to find the culprits. Campbell's needling got to Carlos. He joined T.K. for lunch and T.K. quickly noticed that he wasn't paying much attention to his chatter, leading him to get Carlos to open up about what was bothering him. He assured his husband that his father believed in him and he could figure out this case, even as Carlos doubted himself. When T.K.'s radio reported a streetlight outage, T.K. expressed annoyance that it would divert traffic, making it a pain for him to get back to the station, Carlos realized the thieves might have been purposely diverting the armored trucks to set traps for them. 

Carlos left T.K. behind and headed to the headquarters for the emergency operators, where he talked to the supervisor, hoping she might be able to help him pinpoint a connection between some city service issues that occurred near the robberies. Wyatt (Jackson Pace), the son of Carlos' friends Judd & Grace, was revealed to be working there as a 9-1-1 operator. He spoke up, putting them on the right track to check 3-1-1 calls where city service emergencies were reported. Hearing the same voice on calls around all three of the previous attacks, Carlos found the connection he needed. He reported it to Bridges, only for Campbell to step in, revealing he had also pinpointed six suspects based on his connections. Bridges ordered the two to work together to catch the culprits. Carlos & Campbell set their own trap, driving an armored truck that they used as bait to catch the thieves. That evening, Campbell apologized to Carlos for underestimating him. He told Carlos about the respect he had working alongside his father for years. Carlos made his own apology for misjudging Campbell as well, before Campbell departed. Carlos then called T.K., informing him that he was staying late at the office. T.K. was curious, given that he saw the news of the case being solved. Carlos told him that he was still working on a different case. Knowing what he meant, T.K. wished him a good night. Carlos hung up and then retrieved his father's file from his desk, signaling his intent on catching his father's killer.