[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5 Episode 3 “Cl2.”]
The 126 officially has a new lieutenant—and a new probie!—for 9-1-1: Lone Star‘s final season!
First, the 126 had to get through the massive train derailment and the serious threat of a toxic chlorine cloud, but once everyone made it back to the station safely, including Judd (Jim Parrack) who rode in to help in a truck with his potential new boss, it was time for some changes. Marjan (Natacha Karam) and Paul (Brian Michael Smith) had been after the open lieutenant spot, both stepping up in major ways during the emergency, while Owen (Rob Lowe) struggled with making the decision, concerned it could lead to whoever didn’t get it leaving. But in the end, Marjan realized Paul was the right person for the job and said just that in a speech, stepping down from the competition.
That’s a decision she’d made before Judd stopped by to see Owen and the captain then gathered everyone to make a couple of announcements, Karam tells TV Insider in our 9-1-1: Lone Star aftershow, First Response, which is available to watch in full above.
She knew “probably on the way home in the firetruck” after everyone was safe, she says. “She was able to look at it from an outside perspective and realize the whole scope of what had happened and what was her doing and what she’s good at and what her shortcomings were, which Paul excelled in. And the humility to step down and say, you know what? That actually isn’t the right role for me. And the self-awareness to be like, I know myself well enough and I know what my strengths are. … I know when to hand it over and be like, there’s someone better. There’s definitely someone better for this job.”
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Something that she would have struggled with, and Karam says we’ll see with Paul, is “the difficulty in then having to be the person who’s delegating as opposed to doing it yourself and how that becomes really challenging. And I think that she would have—in the future in some universe where the show continued—struggled with it immensely.”
There’s also some fun coming up with Judd as probie as well as “really endearing moments where we do what we do best, which is sort of the interpersonal relationships and playing on the different dynamics that we have between us,” previews Karam. “I really, really like that Paul’s stepping into this new position and Judd’s coming in at a lower position. There’s a lot of heartfelt moments and then there’s just a lot of piss-taking—I don’t know what the American expression for that is. That’s very British.”
While everyone’s celebrating Paul’s promotion and welcoming back Judd to the 126, Owen whispers something in Marjan’s ear, which we don’t hear—and Karam’s not sharing what that was. “That’s for me to know. If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” she jokes. “No, I don’t think that’s public knowledge. I think that’s left up to interpretation.”
Also coming up is more in Marjan’s personal life, with her relationship with Joe (John Clarence Stewart) going well. “There are developments, very wholesome developments, a very different side to Marjan, and a lot of giggling,” Karam teases. “I certainly hadn’t giggled that much on set for the last five years. It’s very cute to see her in a very different light where she is not so much Firefox and she’s a bit uncomfortable and a bit like, oh, this is all new to me, and out of sorts.” But, she cautions, “Marjan and Joe do encounter some difficulties.”
Plus, watch the full video above as Karam talks about what’s still to come this season for Marjan and in general as well as the show ending, what she took from the set, and more.
9-1-1: Lone Star, Mondays, 8/7c, Fox
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