9-1-1 Lone Star Season 3 - What We Know So Far

Fox has just announced that it's renewing both "9-1-1" and its Texas-based spinoff, "9-1-1: Lone Star," which is no surprise since the parent show is Fox's most-watched scripted series, and "Lone Star" is right behind it. Fans of "Lone Star" know that, as the show nears its season finale, the show is amping up the drama in the firehouse lately thanks to the fallout from an arson investigation (via Entertainment Tonight), a recent death in one character's family, and a coming storm that promises to wreak plenty of havoc in Austin, Texas, as noted by On The Flix.

The season ends on May 24 after just 14 episodes this time around, possibly a result of COVID-19 restrictions and woes in 2020. However, fans can rest easy knowing that a new season is coming, as announced on Twitter yesterday by the show's official account, which means more of Rob Lowe, Gina Torres, Ronen Rubinstein, and the rest of the 126 and their families and friends. Here's what we know about the upcoming third season. 

Brace yourselves, "9-1-1: Lone Star" fans. Fox has announced that the show won't actually be returning in the fall alongside the original "9-1-1." While "9-1-1" will retain its regular Monday night timeslot at 8 p.m. ET, "Lone Star" isn't slated to return until January 2022. And at that point, it'll be split from the flagship show for a bit while Fox tries out "The Big Leap" on Mondays, a Scott Foley-fronted dramedy set in the ballet world as depicted in a reality show.

TVLine reported that the two "9-1-1"s won't reunite on Mondays until March after the football season ends. However, once the shows return to their back-to-back schedule, fans can expect an epic crossover event that includes both series, according to Michael Thorn, Fox Entertainment's president of entertainment, via TV Insider, that could be worth the wait. However, the midseason replacement status of "Lone Star" may mean another truncated season — and this is a series that, after two seasons, only has 24 episodes in the can.

The cast of "Lone Star" experienced its biggest cast change when actress Liv Tyler opted not to return for the second season because of the COVID-19 difficulties involved in commuting back and forth from London to Los Angeles for shooting. According to The Hollywood Reporter, that led to the casting of Gina Torres as Captain Tommy Vega, a mom who is forced to go back to work as a first responder when her husband's restaurant goes under during the pandemic. It's hard to say at this juncture if any similarly high-profile departures will take place between Season 2 and 3, but we hope not.

The series currently stars Rob Lowe as Owen Strand, a firefighter who came from New York City to help Austin's firehouse rebuild, along with Ronen Rubinstein as his son T.K., also a firefighter and then a paramedic. Jim Parrack plays firefighter Judd Ryder and Sierra McClain plays his wife Grace, a 9-1-1 operator. Brian Michael Smith, Rafael Silva, Natacha Karam, and Julian Works also star.

The plot of Season 3 partially hinges on what happens at the end of Season 2, of course. The recent upheaval in Tommy's life will certainly have long-lasting effects going into the new season, and Judd and Grace are probably going to have to deal with parenthood following her rather tumultuous pregnancy, which took place at the same time as her recovery from the truck crash in the middle of Season 2. Carlos and T.K., who've just moved in together, may continue to experience conflicts (like the one that had them on different sides during the recent arson case) as they navigate life as live-in partners.

With that giant dust storm on the way, fans should also expect some big fallout from that. The season finale hasn't dropped yet, so you'll still have some time to ruminate on what the results might be when it airs in less than a week.