911: Lone Star's penultimate episode has left many confused about whether Gina Torres' Tommy died and what the future could hold for her character.
Fans have been fearing the worst for Gina Torres' Tommy for a while on 911: Lone Star ever since the series teased her tragic cancer diagnosis earlier in Season 5.
What Happened to Tommy on 911: Lone Star?
In Season 5, Episode 11 of 911: Lone Star (titled "Impact"), Gina Torres' Tommy faced the unfortunate prognosis that her cancer had grown despite receiving treatment, leaving her with an inoperable tumor and just days to live.
After calling her daughters one last time, Tommy was met by the face of her late husband Charles, who died after an unexpected aneurysm in Season 2. Tommy and Charles had a long conversation, seemingly signaling her journey to the afterlife as he fell asleep on the couch while a clock stopped ticking.
The moment was followed by more on the Lone Star crew's work to prepare for an asteroid strike, while Tommy's apparent death was left unacknowledged ahead of next week's finale which will conclude the series.
In an interview with Variety, showrunner Rashad Raisani addressed Tommy's fate in 911: Lone Star after Season 5, Episode 12 seemingly showed her death.
Raisani reflected on receiving "a lot of heat" for ending the relationship between Tommy and pastor Trevor Parks, but he wanted to take Tommy "full circle" back to the "love of her life," Charles:
"I’ve said when we did this whole journey with Tommy’s cancer and with Gina, the actor, as well is we really were going to have to go all the way. And a big part of it was also an opportunity in this episode for Tommy to have it come full circle. And to be to be frank, I took a lot of heat for ending the Trevor and Tommy relationship, but part of why we did it is because I knew this was where we wanted to take her character full circle with this love of her life."
The showrunner related Tommy's vision of Charles to his personal experience of his mother's passing. He explained how his mother felt as if her own parents came to visit before her death and that moment was "so vivid for her:"
"And not to get too personal, but when my mom, right before she passed, I was in her hospital room, and she was telling me about how her mom and dad had come to visit her that morning. And it was so vivid for her. She wasn’t saying it as if, 'Oh, they’re ghosts.' She was just saying it as if it happened. And then she passed not long after, and it gave her such comfort. And I think that stuck with me."
He called the plans to bring Charles back "a deep anchor of inspiration" that allowed them to show "what the love of her life meant to [Tommy]:"
"And it was actually [writer] Tim Minear who said we should find a way to get Charles back in the show before it’s too late. And that was a deep anchor of inspiration that we really wanted to get to. And it seemed like this was the way that we could really show what that love of her life meant to her, and also this cancer battle was going to require the ultimate, I don’t want to say price — but that she’d have to go to the ends of herself. So that’s what I’ll say about it."
Is Tommy Actually Dead on 911: Lone Star?
Regardless of her cancer fate, the end of the line was always nearing for Tommy, as 911: Lone Star is about to finish for good. In the wake of Tommy's apparent death and an impending asteroid, the next episode will mark the Lone Star series finale (find out why the 911 spin-off was canceled).
As 911: Lone Star prepares to conclude one last time, it certainly appears Tommy has, tragically, passed away in the penultimate episode, leaving the finale time to focus on the asteroid disaster and grieving her death.
But Gina Torres threw a curveball in the mix as she refused to confirm her fate with TV Line and revealed that "we will see Tommy in the finale." Exactly what form her return will take remains unclear, but perhaps she will pull through for one last round of heroics before succumbing to her cancer.
The 911 universe is seemingly preparing to move forward without Tommy and Lone Star as the flagship series is expected to be renewed for Season 9. Additionally, even in the wake of the Lone Star cancelation, a new 911 spin-off is in development that may reportedly take place in Hawaii.
911: Lone Star's series finale will air on ABC on Monday, February 3 at 8 p.m. ET.
