9-1-1: Lone Star co-creator discusses Marjan's exit: 'She needed to go away for a moment'
9-1-1: Lone Star fans were shocked to see Marjan leave the 126 at the end of last week's episode of the Fox first responder drama — but co-creator Tim Minear says it was the "most satisfying conclusion" to a story he'd been eager to tell.
"I knew that I wanted to do the HR episode for a lot of reasons," Minear tells EW of the human resources investigation that led Natacha Karam's Marjan to resign from the fire department. "But one of the reasons was to see how people with bad intent can manipulate the system, meaning the Geralds, who, by the way, will be coming back," he continues, referring to the dysfunctional couple viewers met in the season 4 premiere. The Geralds returned last week to threaten a lawsuit against Marjan after she called the wife "crazy" for hesitating while being rescued from a stolen mobile home barreling down the highway.
Kevin Estrada/FOX Natacha Karam on '9-1-1: Lone Star'
"And when we were breaking the story, the question was, 'Who would be the most surprising person to be under an HR investigation?' Well, there's a few contenders there, but the idea that it was Marjan appealed to us all because it was so counterintuitive," explains Minear. "We were literally shooting that scene in the runaway house where she comes to the skylight and says, 'Small hold up with her being a crazy lady.' Right at that moment, I knew that was what would set this all in motion. I loved the idea that just one thing that somebody could say without thinking could come back to haunt them."
The co-creator was also excited to present an HR rep "who wasn't a joke. I wanted to see somebody that you respect." It was also, he says, an opportunity to "give Paul a love interest," hinting that we haven't seen the last of Asha (Amanda Payton) flirting with Paul (Brian Michael Smith): "I felt like this story allowed us to do all that at once."
Kevin Estrada/FOX Natacha Karam and Rob Lowe on '9-1-1: Lone Star'.
But did that all have to mean Marjan leaves the 126?
"Marjan is completely supportive of the inclusivity and the culture at the 126, and of HR, and of a safe work environment, all that stuff. And the fact that she is in the teeth of it, I think, is something that would really set her back on her heels," Minear says. "And what is the most satisfying conclusion to a story like that? She could get the better of the Geralds, she could take a stand, and everything could work out for her, but I think she needed to go away for a moment to explore what her feelings about her own identity as a firefighter are."
Speaking with EW after last week's episode, Karam said, "Any part of her that was like, 'Oh, we may be able to find a creative solution. Let's see if we can come to some kind of compromise,' is quelled by what happens out in the field where she's unable to follow her instincts." Because of the HR investigation, "she second-guesses herself when trying to rescue a man from a fire. Those extra seconds she took could put everyone's life in danger. So that feeling that maybe she could figure out a way to stay is very quickly disappearing."
Kevin Estrada/FOX Natacha Karam on '9-1-1: Lone Star'
Minear points out that this isn't the first time Marjan has had a crisis of professional identity.
"Last year, when she lost the husband of the couple who were hanging from the car, she questioned if she was doing this for the clicks and the likes, and the celebrity on social," he says. "She had ask herself that, and she is going to ask herself again on the road, 'What is my purpose?' She will figure it out, yes, she will."
9-1-1: Lone Star airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
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