9-1-1: Lone Star’s ‘big gay wedding’ finale twist has fans weeping: ‘An emotional rollercoaster’
TK Strand (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva) finally got hitched. (Fox)
After almost three years of ups-and-downs for 9-1-1 Lone Star’s gay couple TK and Carlos – Tarlos, to fans – the pair finally tied the knot.
Warning: spoilers ahead.
In the two-part finale on Tuesday (17 May), fans got to see firefighter TK Strand (Ronen Rubinstein) and policeman Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva) share their vows, although the big day didn’t go ahead without a rather large hitch.
Long-time viewers of Ryan Murphy’s procedural drama series have known for a while that Tarlos would eventually wed, given that the duo became engaged during the season three finale last year.
But, despite TK and Carlos evidently being perfect for one another, their relationship has had more than a few bumps in the road. Their home burning down, for one. TK being shot, and his hypothermia. Oh, and Carlos getting kidnapped. Yep, they have truly been on a journey together.
As season four came to a close, 9-1-1 Lone Star co-showrunner Tim Minear cryptically teased a “really emotional” but “beautiful” nuptial ceremony, but added that “tragedy will strike and the entire thing will be put in question”.
As you can imagine, fans were a little concerned about whether the unlucky couple would finally get their happy ending.
Now, viewers know exactly how the big day played out. The tragic twist turned out to be the murder of Carlos’ dad, Gabriel (Benito Martinez), with the cop being consumed by grief, rage and despair ahead of what should have been the best day of his life.
“[Carlos] is never going to be the same. Carlos has been for ever changed,” Silva told TVLine. “He now lives in a world in which his father has been murdered. Murdered. It wasn’t an accident, there was no attainable explanation, there’s nothing.”
As if Gabriel’s death wasn’t enough, the 9-1-1 Lone Star team decided to ramp up the finale trauma another notch: firefighter chief, Owen (Rob Lowe,) helped his estranged brother Robert (played by Chad Lowe, Rob’s real-life brother) take his own life.
While the wedding eventually ended on a high, with Tarlos finally getting to live their big moment, TK is yet to find out about his uncle’s death, opening the door for a very rocky follow-up season.
“Owen and TK have been sharing bad news for four seasons now, so maybe he wants to give him a little bit of a break,” Rubinstein suggested about how Owen will break the news to TK. “I’m very interested to see what that secret does to Owen. That’s probably going to f**k him up pretty good.”
Despite the ultimately happy ending, the events leading up to the wedding have left fans full of different emotions, with some describing watching the finale as like being on a rollercoaster.
“I have so much mixed emotions – happy, sobbing, laughing, love, glad, grateful,” one tweeter shared.
A second commented: “This moment was so beautiful and perfect. They are finally married. I’m sad about the other event, but this was perfection. Husband era here we come.”
A third wrote: “Nobody talk to me for the next three to five business days, no I am not OK.”
With season five already given the go-ahead, it remains to be seen how the two character deaths, plus married life, will change Tarlos.
9-1-1: Lone Star airs on Fox in the US and streams on Disney+ in the UK.
