Critic’s Rating: 3.55 / 5.0
3.55
The midseason premiere started on a rather depressing note, but by the end of 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5 Episode 10, we had a gorgeous wedding and a spark of hope for Judd.
We’re coming down to the wire, with only two installments remaining for the series, and it’s a difficult one to process.
In many ways, we’ve spent the season enjoying the characters as much as we can, but now one has to wonder how they could possibly close out storylines in two episodes.
If “All Who Wonder” belonged to any 126 characters, it was Marjan and Judd. Their story arcs dominated, with at least one of them being something the series has built up to over the season.
Dropping in on Marjan’s life felt like it came out of the blue, especially when we caught up with Joe when we hadn’t seen the character since last season.
I almost forgot he was courting her, but it was nice to follow Marjan into her personal life again.
Make no mistake, Natacha Karam is great as Marjan, and her performances in the hour exemplify the layers she brings to the character.
My only issue is that we didn’t have enough time over the series to spend with her in this capacity.
We know Marjan as this bold, fearless, unapologetic woman who speaks her mind and doesn’t allow anyone to silence her. However, this fiery personality vanishes when you place her in the direct path of her traditional parents.
Joe’s line about Marjan figuring out if she wanted to be a Firefox or a mouse was an excellent play on words, addressing Marjan’s other monikers and her different personalities.
The Marjan who sits down with her parents comes across as a meek, passive woman eager to please and make them proud. She disappears and even shrinks under their assessing gaze. And it’s not that her parents were domineering in any way, either.
From their perspective, it was easy to assume that Marjan wasn’t sure about any of the plans she and Joe diligently went over.
She didn’t speak with any confidence or authority on the issue and crumbled anytime her parents, especially her father, prodded at a statement.
It was totally different from how we’ve seen her, and it’s no wonder Joe (or Yusef, as she made him respond to her parents) felt as if she didn’t have his back in any way, left him hanging, and issued an ultimatum.
He fell in love with a fiery, confident, outspoken woman who stood by her convictions, and he didn’t recognize this shrinking violet who sat before him.
As a side note, Marjan conveniently wearing that STUNNING lavender/violet/cream ensemble at that lunch with her parents only punctuated the point.
Marjan is assertive with everyone but fails to be that way with her parents. But what made the storyline work even better was how relatable it is for people of all walks of life.
They easily could’ve made it seem as though this was something only exclusive to the conservative traditionalism of Lebanese Muslim culture, but we all know that isn’t the case at all.
People-pleasing can affect even the most independent and assertive of us all, and parents or relatives can have this hold on a person. I’m afflicted with my own level of people-pleasing to a certain point, and it’s hard to shake with some people more than others.
Concepts like “respecting your elders” can contribute to that quality, and it’s easy to mistake a potentially damaging flaw as virtuous when it isn’t applied appropriately.
The case with the sisters hit home for Marjan because of that.
The poor young woman nearly experienced third-degree burns and her skin coming off because she was trying to appease and help her older sister with a project.
She was adamant about never wanting to do that again. Yet, the second her older sister said they’d go for another round, she caved even though she didn’t want to.
Marjan couldn’t believe this young girl allowed her older sister to silence her and put her happiness aside to appease a sister she loved and felt indebted to, but she was doing the same with her parents.
This season, they’ve been careful and stringent with the calls, but when they have them, they’ve always utilized them to reflect on a character’s struggles, development, and growth.
Marjan standing up to her parents and realizing they merely wanted her to be happy wasn’t that surprising, but the last-minute wedding was.
The series showing their rendition of an Islamic wedding was lovely.
It makes you think about how rarely we see any weddings onscreen that aren’t very traditional and Christian-oriented.
Once every blue moon, you get a jumping of the broom at a Black wedding, and of course, on occasion, you’ll see the Jewish glass breaking, but that’s about it, especially on broadcast television.
The series also took a big swing and once again took advantage of the fact that Karam isn’t a hijabi Muslim in real life by giving us a glimpse into how a husband finally gets to see his wife without her hijab after a Muslim couple ties the knot.
It’s a moment that’s supposed to be intimate between a husband and wife, as no other man should see her hair, and the hour played into that heavily with the mood lighting and selling the special intimacy of the moment.
I’m sure it’s all something that some of the audience will have mixed feelings about, every bit as much as when Marjan’s hijab randomly came off, prompting the others to form a wall around her during 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 1 Episode 3.
However, this is what we come to expect from Lone Star.
Natacha Karam is utterly gorgeous and has some of the most luscious, beautiful hair ever, so anytime we see it, it’s like a Pantene commercial.
My ensemble envy also transferred to Marjan’s wedding pantsuit with the long, beaded train and hair piece. It was the beautiful part of the hour, but there was some bleakness.
Our brief scene with Tommy was a real downer and triggering.
I know the importance of cancer storylines on television, but I still maintain that they did not need to do this to Tommy in the final season after everything else she’s been through.
It was so upsetting to see how the Chemo was taking a toll on her as Marjan and Nancy tried to raise her spirits. My heart sank every time clumps of hair fell out of her head as Marjan helped her with the non-slip scarf.
This storyline was unnecessary for the character, and there would never be enough time to do any real justice in the first place.
It’s also tough when we know that Tommy is best friends with both of the Ryders. Because of Grace’s absence and Judd’s issues, there’s a gaping hole where that friendship/family used to be during a trying time.
Owen can at least assist Judd with his often bleak storyline. It works because Owen and Judd are one of the series’ strongest friendships.
Owen works best in a supportive role, like with Judd, and it was pleasing that he set everything aside to ensure that Judd was on the right path.
No matter how much Owen was trying to help Judd, his drinking was still out of hand.It was further proof that there were never delusions when acknowledging how Judd’s best and good parts are through Grace.
Judd’s faith in God has always been tied with Grace. He wouldn’t go to church on his own or even pray all that much if it wasn’t for her having faith enough for both of them.
Unsurprisingly, her absence highlighted the degree to which Judd is lost in that department without her. It spoke volumes that he’d lie in the faith-based alcoholic group directly to a pastor without batting an eye.
But Judd’s faith in God has always been connected to Grace, and so has his will to continue living on this earth.
Naturally, without Grace, his suicide ideation reared its ugly head too. He wasn’t someone who actively tried to take himself out so much as he didn’t mind putting himself in positions where he’d welcome death if it happened.
Judd walking into that gun factory with bullets flying everywhere as if he had nothing to lose felt reminiscent of how he’d sped down the highway and stopped right before he hit a pole during 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 2 Episode 9.
When Grace is Judd’s reason for living and existing, it’s hard for him to deal with her absence, and not even Charlie fills that void, which is incredibly unfortunate.
Again, this is such a depressing arc for one of my favorite characters in the franchise.
It’s enough to make me wish they’d settled for Grace’s working a lot, going to school to get her degree, or whatever else offscreen, and appeasing us with text messages, phone calls, and references to her offscreen.
Judd is a shell of himself without Grace, and Charlie has moved in with her grandparents. It’s not a great situation at Casa de Ryder.
Fortunately, a text message as a sign (or another sign after saving the pastor) was enough to make Judd pour out the booze he was about to drink and give him that spark he needed again.
But it still doesn’t address the initial problem in the first place.
And I was intrigued by the hour hinting at how difficult it may be in AA support groups when you aren’t someone who has faith or believes in God.
Most of the programs, at least traditional forms, are rooted in faith, but if that doesn’t work for you, then what?
How effective is working the program and its steps when you’re already an angry substance abuser who doesn’t believe in some higher power or half the concepts of the program?
The arc had some interesting moments like Owen calling Judd out on possibly resenting Grace for “abandoning” him and Charlie.
I love Grace to absolute pieces, but it’s a valid sentiment for anyone to have and hard to grasp, so it was a fair assessment. Instead, Judd refocusing his anger toward God and faith feels like a cop-out.
However, I wouldn’t have felt any better if he were angry at Grace, and they ruined one of my favorite television marriages, so there’s no winning here.
But Judd’s real addiction is his wife, so once he got that hit, he seemed to be okay. I have a sneaking suspicion, that that’ll be the end of this storyline, and we’ll only get passing references to him actually earning his chips this time, but that’s it.
It feels unresolved that there wasn’t enough time to properly delve into all the nuances of a storyline like this, and therefore, they hit the highlights and wrapped things up.
But that’s how a lot of the final season feels when you know it’s the final season, and you’re just grateful to get a sendoff however you can.
Over to you, Lone Star Fanatics.
How do you feel about Marjan’s quick wedding? Have you enjoyed Judd’s dark arc? Sound off below!
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