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Rob Lowe as Captain Owen Strand on 9-1-1: Lone Star
Photo via Fox

‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ gave a fan-favorite character a terrifying diagnosis and no, the kids are not alright

Should we freak out... or take a collective deep breath?

9-1-1: Lone Star season 5 has featured a train derailment, a horse running into a restaurant, and a woman about to have her baby in an elevator. But nothing has upset fans as much as the recent tragedy that struck one of the most wonderful characters (which is saying a lot, since everyone at the 126 is inspiring and impressive).

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Tommy Vega (Gina Torres) learns that she has breast cancer in season 5, episode 4, “Naked Truth,” and excuse me, I didn’t give permission this could happen! Viewers were emotional wrecks, and talked about their (many) feelings on X.

Fans kept sharing their anguish over the storyline on X, with one user writing, “Not Tommy with the bad health news.”

9-1-1: Lone Star, which is in its fifth and last season, is putting fans through a lot, and if you’re just as upset about this as everyone else, it turns out Sierra McClain came up with the idea! The actress, who played Grace Ryder and left before season 5, told Rashad Raisani, the co-showrunner, that she thought Torres “could take on an arc that could be even bigger than anything we’ve ever done for anyone, with more depth and more stakes.” After McClain suggested this health condition, the storyline was put in place.

It would have been shocking to find out about Tommy at any point in the episode, but since it came after a sillier moment, fans were especially freaked out. Brianna Baker, who plays Nancy Gillian, told TV Line that this made sense because “When you get shocking news or bad news, you’re just like, la dee da, then all of a sudden there’s like a hammer that comes down.” After Nancy sent a photo of her chest to her coworkers by mistake, Tommy thought there was a lump. Nancy was okay (yay) but Tommy wasn’t (no!). This is a brutal reminder that while going in for a mammogram will usually be fine, sometimes people are told the same scary thing as Tommy.

Rob Lowe and Gina Torres on 9-1-1: Lone Star
Screenshot via Fox

McClain was right that Torres is the best and, with her background in TV dramas ranging from Suits to Westworld (and the short Suits spinoff Pearson), there’s no question that she needs all the powerful storylines.

As one X user pointed out, Tommy’s husband Charles Vega (Derek Webster) passed away from an aneurysm in 9-1-1: Lone Star season 2, so why make her struggle even more? Okay, yes, conflict is a necessity on TV dramas. But, since these characters have suffered in spades over the past few seasons, I can only imagine that Tommy will beat breast cancer. Sure, it can’t happen super quickly since that wouldn’t be realistic, but it’s bad enough that this special and sometimes unhinged show is ending. Killing Tommy off can’t happen. I’m just going to put my wishes out into the universe: Tommy will get treatment, have a challenging time, and feel the love and support and good vibes of her coworkers and friends. Then, she’ll be told she’s to be okay because they found it early enough.

There are still many more episodes of 9-1-1: Lone Star to go, so let’s not panic yet. There’s always something to feel concerned about, both IRL and on this Fox procedural, but I refuse to think that Tommy won’t be healthy and happy by the series finale. There has to be an epic and positive ending for Tommy, doesn’t there?


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Image of Aya Tsintziras
Aya Tsintziras
Aya Tsintziras is a freelance writer at We've Got This Covered who has been writing about pop culture since 2014. She has a Masters of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University and enjoys writing about TV dramas, horror movies, and celebrities. When not working, she's reading a thriller novel, catching up on The Real Housewives, and spending time with friends and family.