Who Is Marlene Harris? Robyn Lively’s 9-1-1: Lone Star Character, Explained
Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star began airing in 2020 and is now in its fifth and final season. With just six episodes remaining, the show is trying to wrap up important storylines while also setting its characters up for a future that viewers can imagine them in. 9-1-1: Lone Star jumped forward nine months — also about the same amount of time it was off the air due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes and Fox delaying the show’s return to Fall 2024 — so that some of its storylines could progress differently and so far it is proving to be an excellent season for the procedural.
Set in Austin, Texas, 9-1-1: Lone Star follows the firefighters and paramedics at Firehouse 126, led by Captain Owen Strand (Rob Lowe) and Paramedic Captain Tommy Vega (Gina Torres). Strand is a transplant from New York City who came to Austin after the 126 experienced a terrible tragedy, losing all of their men except one — Judd Ryder (Jim Parrack). Judd, who is married to 9-1-1 dispatcher Grace Ryder (Sierra McClain), has a hard time accepting Strand and the other new firefighters at first, but eventually, he begins to find family and friends at the 126 again. Then, in Season 3, Episode 5, “Child Care,” Judd meets Wyatt Harris (Jackson Pace), who says he is Judd’s son with a woman Judd met only once — Marlene Harris (Robyn Lively).
Viewers First Met Marlene in Season 3
When Wyatt comes to Firehouse 126 in Season 3, Episode 5, “Child Care,” Judd and Grace have just had their daughter, Charlie. That is part of what makes the appearance of Wyatt — and Marlene — so difficult for Grace at first. She thought she was the only person to have Judd’s child, and it bothered her, though not for long. Eventually, Grace realizes that Wyatt and his mother should be part of their lives, and she invites Marlene over for “family dinner.” They end “Child Care” getting to know each other, with both Marlene and Grace admitting that they would do anything for their children, something that ultimately unites them.
As Judd gets to know Wyatt, the Ryders continue to get to know Marlene. She’s a barrel racer — she and Judd met at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo when Judd was in his early twenties — and continues to work with horses on the property where she raised Wyatt in Waco, Texas. In Season 3, Episode 17, “Spring Cleaning,” Marlene and her fiancé, Stanley (played by Lively’s real husband, Bart Johnson), join the Ryder’s for dinner, and she continues to pop up occasionally. In Season 4, Episode 17, “Best of Men,” Marlene and Judd try to help Wyatt come to terms with his new lifestyle after he’s hit by a truck while on his bicycle, injuring his spine. Though Judd is the one who retires from the 126 to help Wyatt through physical therapy and recovery, Marlene is often there with them and joins Judd to gift Wyatt, his girlfriend Leigh Ann (Jessi Case), and their baby, Liam, with a new handicap accessible home in Season 5, Episode 1, “Both Sides, Now.” No matter how much time they spent apart or how their relationship came about, it’s clear that Marlene has become family to Judd and Grace.
Robyn Lively is Best Known For an ’80s Cult Classic
Robyn Lively has had a 40-year career, but what she remains best known for is a 1989 film that has become a cult classic. Teen Witch is the story of Louise Miller, an unpopular underclassman on the verge of turning 16. Just before her birthday, Louise meets Madame Serena, a seer who tells her that she’ll begin to gain powers when she turns 16. With the help of Madame Serena, a book of spells, and an amulet, Louise is able to make herself the most popular girl in school and finally get the guy, but just like in many coming-of-age films, she will eventually have to decide if she can commit to being her true self. Teen Witch fans come to watch Louise find herself but often stay for the music, the outfits, and the fun.
Yes, Robyn Lively is related to exactly who fans might think — television and film star Blake Lively, who is best known for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants , Gossip Girl , and The Age of Adaline . Blake and Robyn share the same mother, and Robyn was adopted by Blake’s father after he married her mother (and took her surname). At Blake’s wedding to actor Ryan Reynolds, Robyn and their brother Eric Lively recreated the iconic dance from Teen Witch as a surprise for Blake and Ryan. Robyn even had a brief cameo in Blake’s most recent film, It Ends With Us .
After breaking out in Teen Witch, Robyn Lively played Lana Budding Milford in Twin Peaks, was a nurse named Michele Faber in Doogie Howser, M.D., and did 17 episodes as Casey Wagonman in George & Leo opposite Bob Newhart, Judd Hirsch, and Jason Bateman. Fans might also recognize her as Jessica Andrews from The Karate Kid Part III — she also made an appearance in an episode of Cobra Kai to reprise the role — or even as Deb Brady from Light as a Feather. Robyn Lively’s extensive career means viewers have likely seen her in something, even if they can’t place her right away.
How is Marlene Helping Owen Move Forward After His Brother’s Death?
When Marlene Harris appeared in “Both Sides, Now,” it wasn’t much of a surprise for fans, given that the show had jumped 9 months and Wyatt was doing much better than he had been when Season 4, Episode 18, “In Sickness and in Health,” aired. What was a surprise was her appearance in Season 5, Episode 5, “Thunderstruck.” After the 126 catches a horse who comes galloping into a brewery with his rider passed out on his back, Owen becomes attached to the horse upon discovering that not only was his rider — and owner — dead, but the man’s son was going to “put [the horse] out to pasture.” Judd and the other members of the 126 try to help Owen keep the horse at the fire station for a while, but eventually the chief caught wind and Owen had to take the horse somewhere else. Not knowing much about horses, Owen planned to take the horse to a wild horse retreat, but Judd knew better, so they drove to Waco, where Judd introduced Owen to Marlene.
One of the major storylines in Season 5, Episode 6, “Naked Truth,” was Owen and Marlene and the horse. For the entirety of 9-1-1: Lone Star‘s Season 5 thus far, Owen has been struggling with the death of his half-brother, Robert (Chad Lowe), in Season 4, Episode 18, “In Sickness and in Health.” Robert, who was suffering from Huntington’s Disease, had decided he wanted to die rather than suffer through the symptoms as they got worse and worse. What the audience learns in “Naked Truth” is that Owen isn’t just struggling because he watched his brother die. He’s struggling because he made a promise to Robert and when Robert started to panic about dying, Owen did what he promised. Ultimately, Owen felt that he killed his brother.
9-1-1: Lone Star has always been somewhat of a family affair for Rob Lowe. In Seasons 2 and 3, Rob’s son, John Owen Lowe, was a staff writer and then a story editor, and his brother, Chad Lowe, directed several episodes in Seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5. In Season 3, Chad made his first appearance as Robert Strand, Owen’s brother, who he also played in the final four episodes of Season 4.
Owen’s guilt and grief has been plaguing him for months, and it takes meeting the horse — who seems to try and save his owner by galloping through that brewery — for Owen to break. When Judd takes Owen and the horse to Marlene, she is very clear that Owen will have to do some work on himself to get the horse to bond with him. He’s on board, but when things don’t happen easily, Marlene tells him that the horse can tell he’s hiding something. While Owen spills his secret to the horse, which is cut slightly short by a gas leak- and then fire- in the barn, by the end of “Naked Truth,” it seems like at least a little of Owen’s guilt has been lifted. With just six episodes left, what will be interesting to see is if 9-1-1: Lone Star continues to build the relationship between Owen and Marlene. She seems to challenge and push him in a positive way, and it would be nice to see Owen fall in love before 9-1-1: Lone Star wraps. Marlene was engaged, though it’s not clear if she still is, and getting the two of them together could be good for Owen, not to mention an interesting storyline for Judd and Owen’s friendship. No matter what happens, it’s clear that Marlene helping Owen with his horse is leading the fire captain to do some important healing.
