'9-1-1' and 'Lone Star' Plan Another Crossover

9-1-1: Lone Star finally returned for its fourth season last week. Since the season is starting that late in the 2022-2023 television cycle, there's a legitimate reason to think there will not be enough time for a crossover with the original 9-1-1. Showrunner Tim Minear said one is still on the way, and it will bring the two firefighting teams together in an unexpected way.

"We have some nichey crossover things coming up," Minear told TVLine on Sunday. "If you remember last year, we did that thing with Athena in LA helping Carlos and Grace close out a case. I'm not saying we're doing that again, but there is some cross-pollination that may not have occurred to you. It's not the most obvious way into a crossover, but there is cross-pollination, let's go with that."

Last season's crossover was not as big as some may have hoped. Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) visited Lone Star from 9-1-1 to help Carlos (Rafael Silva) and Grace (Sierra McClain) with a cross-country criminal. However, Athena did not go to Austin. Instead, she just FaceTimed from Los Angeles.

During 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 2, the crossover was more involving. In Season 2, Henrietta Wilson (Aisha Hinds), Edumondo Diaz (Ryan Guzman), and Evan Buckley (Oliver Stark) traveled to Texas in "Hold the Line" to help the Austin team stop an out-of-control wildfire. Hen got trapped in a mine with Owen Strand (Rob Lowe), while Tyler Kennedy "TK" Strand (Ronen Rubenstein) and Buck became friends. Eddie learned Marjan Marwani (Natacha Karam) is a former social media star.

The Season 4 premiere, "The New Hotness," included a shocking revelation. After TK and Carlos got engaged, TK learned Carlos was still legally married to a woman. Carlos was married to Iris (Lyndsey Fonesca), the younger sister of his best friend Michelle (Liv Tyler). It's a secret that was hinted at during the show's first season. It was not addressed immediately, since Michelle left after Season 1.

"So the story behind Carlos and Iris has been brewing," actor Rafael Silva told NBC News. "And it's finally come to fruition now that Carlos and T.K. are on their path to becoming a legally unified couple." Silva went on to say that Carlos thought marriage would have fixed something that was out of his hands. "That's something we can all connect to: Trying to find a way to communicate to the people that you love that, 'Hey, I know I'm not what you expected, but I am still lovable. Love me for who I am,'" Silva said. "I think it coincided with the fact that Iris was also someone who was not accepted for who she was."

The marriage discovery may just be the first speed bump TK and Carlos may face on their own journey to tying the knot. "We're talking about two people coming together to become one for the rest of their lives. Obviously, these are two people from very different backgrounds [and] upbringings," Silva explained. "And just like all of us, we need to, as characters, cure some things from the past, and that immediately starts from episode one."

9-1-1: Lone Star Season 4 finally debuted on Jan. 24, and new episodes will follow on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. The show is also available to stream on Hulu, alongside 9-1-1.