Editor's note: The below piece contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 5 of 9-1-1: Lone Star.
9-1-1: Lone Star Season 3 kicked off with a brutal ice storm hitting Austin, leaving many of our first responders fighting for their lives for the majority of the four-episode event. However, at the conclusion of the event, Grace (Sierra McClain) and Judd (Jim Parrack) finally delivered their beautiful daughter Charlie — named after Tommy’s (Gina Torres) late husband — into the world.
The recently-aired Season 3, Episode 5 cuts the short-lived, primarily off-screen celebration of Grace and Judd’s family expanding short when a teenage boy named Wyatt (Jackson Pace) arrives at the firehouse to confront Judd about being his father, the result of a one-night-stand in 2005 that Judd had been kept completely in the dark about by the mother. Throughout the episode, Judd and Grace are forced to cope with this new information, but there seems to be no question by the end of the episode that Judd is actually Wyatt’s father and their world is forever changed.
This twist is a mistake. First of all, the long-lost child trope is known as one of the worst and most infuriating tropes on television, particularly when it comes along to complicate a romantic relationship — like with Luke, Lorelai, and his daughter on Gilmore Girls, or Lynette's husband, Tom's, long-lost daughter in Desperate Housewives. Grace and Judd have been talking about having children since the series began, and it was one of the first conflicts we saw them endure. As Judd was still struggling with the trauma he had experienced in losing his crew, Grace had to cope with their previous plans for the future being on hold indefinitely while her husband worked through his feelings and until he, too, felt ready to start a family.
So, in the episode following the long-awaited birth of their first child, to reveal that Judd has actually been a father this whole time is incredibly poor timing for a storyline that already wouldn’t have been well-received. Viewers have not even had a chance to watch Grace and Judd deal with the hardship and the joy of being the parents of a newborn. Following Charlie’s birth, the series skipped forward to their firehouse being rebuilt by a generous donation so that the 126 could finally get back to work, together. The reveal of Wyatt immediately eclipses the birth of Charlie. Instead of their relationship being tested by being new parents, it's because of Judd's past.
Believe it or not, that was actually something many were hoping to see. Grace and Judd have had the most stable relationship on the show, so watching them work together to tackle the struggles of parenthood was an interesting and exciting new journey for them. Sure, we might get some scenes showing them adjusting to parent life, but the two starting their own family will always be tainted by this twist, even if it turns out that Judd isn’t the father of Wyatt. The joy of these two characters bringing their child into the world was quickly abated, which is nothing new for the 9-1-1 universe. Moments of joy are often short-lived, usually cut short by the introduction of cheap and unenjoyable twists like this.
This storyline points out a major flaw of the show. While Judd and Grace do indeed have a beautiful relationship, the series has only really looked at this relationship through Judd’s eyes. We’re continuously told how lucky Judd is to be married to Grace, how he doesn’t deserve such an amazing woman, but very little has been done to show what Grace really gets out of this relationship. And, everything they face is through Judd’s eyes.
Even in the flashback episode, “Saving Grace,” which depicted how Judd and Grace met and fell in love, the episode primarily focuses on Judd. It’s Judd calling the prayer hotline and speaking with Grace. It’s Judd benefiting from their calls, as Grace helps him work through the childhood trauma and guilt of losing his best friend over a dumb mistake. It’s Judd getting wonderful advice from Grace about how to assuage his guilt and help his late friend’s mother at the same time. Even when Judd discovered that Grace’s father was having an affair, more time was spent on his feelings over that betrayal and potentially keeping it from Grace than on Grace’s reaction or her feelings about her beloved father’s betrayal.
So much of their relationship is about Grace helping Judd, her being the responsible and mature one that always finds their way forward. At first, it was endearing. Now, it’s growing tired because we hardly get to see Grace’s side of things. This kind of story is happening, again, with Wyatt’s introduction. As Judd deals with the shock of having a teenager, Grace is putting aside her feelings to get Wyatt’s number, reach out to his mom and invite her over for dinner, while comforting Judd and taking care of their newborn daughter. Grace acknowledges she shouldn’t be angry over something Judd had no knowledge of, but that doesn’t mean her feelings are irrational by any means.
We get it, Grace is a “saint,” but isn’t it time for her to get the same focus and development as Judd gets? Isn’t it time we see stories from her perspective? The odds of seeing Grace actually acknowledge her deep, complicated feelings over this — aside from her brief and passing comments in this episode — are low. Too little time is spent by the writers on considering Grace’s perspective, and it comes at the cost of her development and at the cost of their relationship.
So, while this twist is unenjoyable just as long-lost children stories often are, it’s also nearly impossible to believe it will be handled right from both sides. If history is any indication, the writers will put all of their effort into Judd’s feelings about this — even Owen’s feelings about this — while Grace stands by Judd’s side and doesn’t get to address her feelings in any substantial way. It’s disappointing, and Grace deserves better.
9-1-1: Lone Star is streaming on Hulu with new episodes airing Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.