Why Sierra McClain’s Grace Left 9-1-1 Lone Star In Season 5

A few months ahead of the 9-1-1: Lone Star season 5 premiere, it was announced that Sierra McClain wouldn’t be reprising her role as Grace Ryder in the show’s final episodes. McClain had been a part of the 9-1-1: Lone Star cast since its first season. So, the news of her leaving the Fox procedural drama TV series was shocking, to say the least. McClain’s character, Grace, also had many responsibilities and connections to other characters in 9-1-1: Lone Star, which made her exit difficult to navigate.

The speculation of whether 9-1-1: Lone Star would end after season 5 ran rampant in the months leading up to its premiere. After 9-1-1‘s move to ABC, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before its spinoff got canceled (or potentially moved to a different network or streaming service). Unfortunately, Fox canceled 9-1-1: Lone Star a few weeks before the release of season 5, episode 1, and its cancelation might go hand-in-hand with McClain’s exit from the show.

Sierra McClain Reportedly Exited 911 Lone Star Because Of Contract Negotiations

The 911 Lone Star Cast Couldn’t Renegotiate Their Contracts Ahead Of Season 5

Deadline first reported that Sierra McClain was exiting 9-1-1: Lone Star before the season 5 premiere. The article (and many others) claimed that the Grace Ryder actress left because of “cast renegotiation drama.” For context, the cast of 9-1-1: Lone Star had been trying to renegotiate their contracts for pay raises since before the season 4 premiere. However, they were unsuccessful. During the season 5 contract discussions, 20th Television completely shut the stars down, indicating that 9-1-1: Lone Star would end after season 5. Then, McClain parted ways with the series, suggesting her exit was related to the aforementioned drama.

As of the writing of this article, McClain hasn’t commented on her 9-1-1: Lone Star exit. So, the reasoning behind her leaving the Fox procedural drama hasn’t been confirmed. Sources claim that the contract renegotiations played a large part in the original 9-1-1: Lone Star cast member departing before season 5, though.

How 911 Lone Star Season 5 Wrote Out Grace (& Why It’s So Controversial)

Grace Joined Mercy Ships

The 9-1-1: Lone Star season 5 premiere’s explanation for Grace’s exit was disappointing to many. Thankfully, the writers didn’t kill her off. Still, the reason for Grace’s departure was frustrating as it didn’t line up with her character.

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While Mercy Ships’ goal of providing life-saving care and surgery to those in need is something that McClain’s character would be interested in, Grace leaving her husband and child in Texas for an unspecified amount of time (especially when Judd was working through some problems) didn’t make sense.

Grace had joined Mercy Ships, an international faith-based organization with non-governmental hospital ships. While Mercy Ships’ goal of providing life-saving care and surgery to those in need is something that McClain’s character would be interested in, Grace leaving her husband and child in Texas for an unspecified amount of time (especially when Judd was working through some problems) didn’t make sense. Hopefully, 9-1-1: Lone Star will fix Grace’s controversial exit ahead of the finale.