Following a 9-month release delay caused by the SAG-AFTRA strike, Season 5 of Fox’s hit crime procedural 9-1-1: Lone Star is slated to debut on September 23, 2024. However, when Captain Owen Strand (Rob Lowe) leads the 126 first-response unit throughout Austin, Texas, fans will likely notice a conspicuous absence among the characters before the season concludes.
According to the official logline for the show’s fifth season, the original surviving member of 126, Judd Ryder (Jim Parrack), has a difficult life decision that may force him to leave the unit. Yet, relieving Judd’s duties as a firefighter does not necessarily mean Parrack will depart from the show, leaving many to wonder what lies ahead for one of the most likable and dependable main characters on 9-1-1: Lone Star. With roughly one month left until Season 5 premieres, everything about Judd Ryder’s fate is in store.
What Is 9-1-1: Lone Star About?
Created as a spin-off to the Los Angeles-set police procedural 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star occurs in Austin, Texas. The plot concerns Owen Strand, a prominent NYC firefighter who developed lung cancer after heroically responding to the attacks on September 11, 2001. Following his diagnosis, Strand lost his entire fire unit and rebuilt it from scratch. The rebuild was so successful that Strand was recruited to do the same for Firehouse 126 in Austin, Texas.
The primary draw for Strand to relocate from New York to Texas was his son, TK (Ronen Rubinstein). TK is a fellow firefighter and a recovering drug addict who suffered a near-fatal overdose before Owen arrived in Austin. As Strand gets closer to his son, he also looks out for his unit, including EMT Captain Michelle Blake (Liv Tyler), 9-1-1 operator Grace Ryder (Sierra McClain), firefighter and paramedic Paul Strickland (Brian Michael Smith), Marjan Marwani (Natacha Karam), APD officer Carlos Reyes (Rafael L. Silva), and the original 126’s only surviving member, Judd Ryder (Parrack).
Who Is Judd in 9-1-1: Lone Star?
Appearing in all 60 episodes thus far, Judson “Judd” Ryder knows Austin better than anyone else in Firehouse 126 and Strand relies on his knowledge to become familiar with the area. Judd is also the sole survivor of a deadly blaze that wiped out the former members of the 126 and carries immense grief, remorse, and a sense of survivor’s guilt. Judd is also married to 9-1-1 operator Grace Ryder, who knows about the pressures of being an emergency responder in Austin. While Grace helps Judd deal with his PTSD by attending therapy with him, outside factors force him to make a dramatic career decision.
In Season 3, Episode 5, “Child Care,” a young man named Wyatt Harris arrives in Austin asking for Judd’s whereabouts. When Wyatt claims Judd is his son, Judd learns he had a secret child with a woman named Marlene Harris (Robyn Lively) following a meaningless one-night stand. Shocked, angered, and reluctant to care for his son initially, Judd slowly bonds with Wyatt. Over the next season and a half, Wyatt drops out of college to become a firefighter but is told he is “too soft” to join the squad. In Season 4, Episode 16, “A House Divided,” fans were shocked when Wyatt was suddenly hit by a truck while riding his bike, breaking several vertebrae and being rushed to the hospital for a swollen brain.
Is Judd Leaving 9-1-1: Lone Star?
Following Wyatt’s bicycle injury, Judd races to the hospital and learns his son has been paralyzed. While the swelling in Wyatt’s brain is reduced enough for him to live and regain consciousness, he will not be able to walk for some time, perhaps indefinitely. As a result of the devastating injury, Judd is officially retiring from Firehouse 126 in Season 5 to become Wyatt’s full-time caretaker. However, while Judd leaves his vocational duties behind and will no longer serve with Strand and the other first responders, it is unclear if Jim Parrack will exit the show altogether.
Instead of permanently departing Lone Star, Judd will likely remain on the popular Ryan Murphy TV series, alter his caretaking role, and focus on his household over unit 126. According to the show’s co-creator Tim Minear via Entertainment Weekly:
“The emotional reason was that it felt real, and it felt right, and it felt surprising. It’s gut-wrenching. And in the subsequent scenes, how Judd deals with it and how Wyatt deals with it — and how they’re going to deal with this thing going forward. The way it changes everything for this particular group of characters is super rich and incredibly moving.”
As Judd and Wyatt deal with the injury and rehab moving forward in Season 5 and beyond, Captain Strand will likely appoint a new fire lieutenant that he can trust. While it will be tough to find a replacement with intimate knowledge of Austin and a true emotional tie to Firehouse 126, Judd Ryder is bound to stay on the show and contribute in other ways. Slated to appear in Season 5, Episode 1, Jim Parrack isn’t leaving the series anytime soon.
