9-1-1 Lone Star: #SavePaul. 3×09 “The Bird” review
At Q+ Magazine, we’re taking a stand. If it ain’t queer, we ain’t reviewing it. So from here forth, the focus of our weekly reviews of 9-1-1 Lone Star will be solely about the queer characters and their storylines. In 3×09 “The Bird,” our man Paul (Brian Michael Smith) takes the center stage with one hell of a plot twist.
We’re not quiet about our love for this man (both IRL and his character) so we were super excited to see that he was finally, after all the time, getting the spotlight he deserves. However, we were less than excited to see 9-1-1 Lone Star putting yet another queer character in the line of the grim reaper.
First T.K. (Ronen Rubenstein) nearly dies himself and then faces a possible drug relapse in just the span of a few weeks, and now Paul is facing a death sentence of his own in the form of a super rare genetic heart condition.
*Insert major eye roll here*
We would like to inform Fox that the bury the gays trope ain’t cute and constantly dangling that in front of the queer fans is cruel. There are other ways to create incredible drama without threatening to kill the community members at every turn. We know this show is capable of that because they achieve it weekly for their heterosexual characters.
So Fox, what gives?
Paul’s condition
After continued crippling nightmares, Marjan (Natascha Karam) drags Paul off to see a doctor. During the visit with the doctor, viewers learn that Paul’s dad died when he was just thirty-six years old from a heart attack. Paul brushes it off, attributing his very early death to a poor diet. Paul reminds everyone that he eats well and works out six days a week, so there is no way he could possibly face the same fate.
The doctor, however, connects Paul’s racing heart rate and his horrible nightmares to an incredibly rare heart condition that is serious enough to be fatal. The doctor says that without the insertion of a pacemaker device, Paul would be dead by 40.
Paul knows what this means though: he would be removed from active duty at the firehouse and possibly forced into early retirement. He doesn’t want this even a little bit and announces that he is not having the surgery. He would rather die like his dad, serving the firehouse, than take the pacemaker and sit by while his coworkers continue to save lives.
This angers Marjan immensely and she tries desperately to change his mind. She is unsuccessful and Paul stands his ground: no surgery.
Then, things take an unexpected turn when Paul collapses at home. Marjan busts into the apartment and calls 911. When he comes to consciousness, he is shaken by the realization that while he was asleep, the doctors had implanted a pacemaker without his consent. Even though she makes it clear that she had nothing to do with the decision, Paul blames Marjan and completely flips out. He tells her to get out of his hospital room and leave him alone.
She does.
So, okay – he didn’t die. So we marginally escaped the bury the gays trope again for one more week, but it was blatantly dangled in front of the viewers for almost the entire episode. Paul is alive, but now it’s against his wishes. We are not happy.
Where is Carlos?
This week, even though we did see T.K. we did not see Carlos (Rafael L. Silva). Carlos only ever appears when it’s to support T.K. through something or advance T.K.’s character in some way. Carlos is such an interesting character and we know very little about him. We’re now halfway through season 3 and all we really know is that he is T.K.’s boyfriend and he is a cop.
We have mentioned this before but we have decided we are making it our life’s mission to keep mentioning it until this situation is rectified. Why is Fox so unwilling to develop the queer character, who also happens to be brown?
We are not the only folks who are talking about this issue. The fandom is dying to know more about Carlos. We want to see him have a purpose and a life outside of just being T.K.’s boyfriend.
Give the people what they want Fox. Why do you hesitate so much on this issue?
We are begrudgingly watching 9-1-1- Lone Star on Fox on Monday nights at 8 pm EST. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram!
