9-1-1: Lone Star Showrunner Confirms Bad News for Fans Ahead of Final Episodes
The showrunner of 9-1-1: Lone Star had a disappointing update for fans before the series airs its final episode early next year. A character who was key to the show will not be returning in the episodes to come.
On TVLine’s “Matt’s Inside Line” feature, 9-1-1: Lone Star co-showrunner Rashad Raisani confirmed that Sierra McClain’s character of Grace will not appear in the remaining episodes in the show’s final season. Raisani added that McClain’s absence from the show was “not for lack of effort.” News of McClain’s exit from the show broke earlier this year, with the original cast member reportedly leaving the show when contract re-negotiations fell through. The fifth season of 9-1-1: Lone Star premiered on Sept. 23, 2024 and the final episode will air on Feb. 3, 2025.
The show has explained Grace’s absence from the fifth season by saying the character went off to do missionary work with the Christian nonprofit organization Mercy Ships, a real charity that operates non-governmental hospital ships around the world to offer free surgery and medical training in areas where these resources are hard to come by. With Raisani’s recent revelations, it appears that Grace’s missionary work will be the only closure that fans will receive regarding the future of the character, unless more details about her are revealed while she is off-screen.
9-1-1: Lone Star premiered in January 2020 as a spin-off of the popular 9-1-1 procedural drama series. McClain was a part of the main cast from the beginning of the series, with other cast members including Rob Lowe, Ronen Rubinstein and Jim Parrack.
9-1-1: Lone Star Showrunner Spoke About Grace’s “Higher Calling”
While Raisani told TVLine that McClain not returning to the series was “not for lack of effort”, he had previously expanded upon this, adding how the showrunners worked diligently to find a way for Grace’s exit to be satisfying for fans and to also allow the character to come back in the future should an opportunity present itself. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in September, Raisani said, “We always want the door open for her to come back.”
He added: “The big thing to me was, ‘We have to protect her character so that’s still a possibility.’ And then secondly, ‘It’s a challenge because you have to suddenly explain the absence of someone who is so dedicated to her community and to her family and to her child and her husband.”
The show ultimately settled on Grace pursuing work with Mercy Ships, which Rasani said fit the character, noting, “The only thing that I think could get Grace away from her family was this higher calling, which has been a part of her character from day one. I just thought that that was the best way to protect her character and also to honor her character.”
