9-1-1: Lone Star – Season 5 Episode 9 “Fall From Grace” Recap & Review

Fall From Grace

9-1-1: Lone Star season 5 episode 8 starts with Owen meeting with the fire chief, thinking he is about to be punished for what went down with the mayor. Instead, the committee invites NYFD Liaison Krista Triola to offer Owen a new job. They want him to go back to New York and be the new fire chief of New York City.

Elsewhere, our boy Carlos is still reeling from what he learned about Campbell. Can you blame him? He approaches Bridges and reveals he did more digging on all the CIs who died under Rangers’ protection. Bridges refuses to believe it but agrees to check whether Campbell logged into the specific cases of the dead CIs, even those he was not investigating.  

Meanwhile, TK and Nancy escort Tommy to her first chemotherapy session. TK tells them about his plans to adopt Jonah and Carlos’ hesitance. He notes that he will choose his brother over Carlos if he is not ready to be a dad.

As the day drags on, Campbell asks Carlos to cover for him when he runs a personal errand. Of course, Carlos tries to keep a poker face and agrees. Bridges calls Carlos and inform him that Campbell accessed protected files without authorisation. Carlos is ready to grab Campbell and ask him why he killed his dad.

However, Bridges advises him to hold his horse until they get a warrant. Once they get a warrant, they visit Campbell’s house and find him in the middle of his son’s birthday celebration. They ask to speak privately to him and explain they will be taking him downtown. Campbell asks to wish his son a happy birthday, but he uses the opportunity to escape through the window. In the end, Carlos and Bridges bring Campbell’s wife in for questioning.

In the meantime, Owen has dinner with Krista to persuade him further. She begs him to return to New York and help keep 252 running. She tells him how many of the kids of the firefighters who died are now firefighters themselves. Owen asks for more time to think about it since his whole life, especially TK, is in Austin.

Owen returns to the station and confides in Judd. Judd is happy for him and asks him to consider taking the job. He suggests they go out for drinks to celebrate and strategize how Owen will break the news to the team. They meet for drinks later and Owen says he thinks Judd should replace him  as Captain if he takes the job in New York

Down at the station, Campbell’s wife, Ashley, refuses to cooperate. The police found a gun and a lot of money in Campbell’s safe. They are currently running ballistics on the gun to see if it is the one used on Senior Reyes. Ashley believes this is all a misunderstanding, and her husband is innocent.

Later that night, the police respond to an intruder alert call. A man fitting Campbell’s description attacked a house and stabbed the house owner before running off with the money and guns in their safe. Once Ashley hears about this, she tells Bridges and Carlos that her husband is heading to an old friend’s house in Mexico.

Meanwhile, Owen takes a drunk Judd home and is surprised by the state of his house. Although Judd doesn’t admit it, he is falling apart without his wife. He is drinking every night and having hangovers at work. Owen remains behind to clean the house and talks to Judd the following morning. He informs Judd that he won’t take the job in New York. Owen is willing to stay behind and help Judd with his new drinking problem. He adds that he would rather lose a promotion than lose a best friend.

Back to Carlos, he and his team get back up to go after Campbell. They spot him a few miles near the border of Mexico. Campbell is highly trained and has an advantage given his location. Carlos and Bridges pin him down against some big rocks, and Campbell shoots at Bridges. Once backup arrives, Carlos and Bridges use the cover to get closer to Campbell’s location. Carlos gets a chance to take out Campbell, but hesitates. Bridges orders him to take the shot, but Carlos is hoping to hear answers to his long-time questions. He also notices that even though Campbell is hit, he is still not shooting back.

As Bridges talks, it dawns on Carlos that he is acting suspiciously. He point-blank asks Bridges whether he logged into those files, too. Bridges realises he is caught and shoots Carlos. In a mind-blowing twist, he reveals he is the one who killed Senior Reyes. To make matters worse, he used the same gun to shoot Carlos. Bridges plan to shoot Campbell and then frame him for Carlos and his dad’s death. Just before he pulls the trigger on Carlos, Campbell appears from behind and shoots him down. Thank God!

At the hospital, Carlos apologises to Campbell. Campbell is gracious enough to understand, but his wife, not so much. Carlos also informs Campbell that the stabbed homeowner is okay. Thankfully, both Carlos and Campbell will recover from their gunshot wounds.

The episode ends with Carlos paying tribute to his dad at his graveside. Of course, his husband is standing a few miles away. Carlos admits he is not happy that the Rangers are keeping Bridges’ betrayal on the down low. Still, he found the answers, and now all he misses is his dad more. He breaks down as he honours the wonderful man his dad was. He ends the speech by promising to be a good dad. He plans to tell TK he is ready to adopt Jonah and be a dad.

The Episode Review

The Bridges twist was quite a surprise. The man kept saying Campbell was the coldest killer he had ever seen when the whole time; he was the killer. His level of betrayal is even more painful. Carlos relied on him those first weeks after his dad died. Meanwhile, Bridges was not looking for evidence but hiding his mistakes. For a year, he has been Carlos’ boss. He has been watching Carlos agonise over finding his dad’s killer.  It is appalling that the Rangers plan to hide the truth. It is a dishonour to the real hero, Senior Reyes. May Bridges burn in hell for eternity!

Carlos’ tribute to his dad was the most tear-jerking, yet sweet, speech ever. I am sure Senior Reyes is proud of the man that Carlos turned out to be. Which parent wouldn’t? I am moved beyond tears, thinking of Carlos, TK and Jonah becoming a family. Looking back to how this show started, do you even realise the growth these two have made? What we know for sure is that they will make great dads.

It is a good thing that Owen is staying in Austin, but Judd’s situation is sad. He has been trying to act strong while falling apart. This is not something Grace would have wanted. The writers and the show’s producers messed up by refusing to give the actress a worthy pay. This storyline just gets worse with Grace gone. It makes no sense that she is saving the world when her home is falling apart!