Yahoo Sports 9-1-1: Lone Star star Gina Torres on Tommy's new romance — and reuniting with costar D.B. Woodside
Love (and frogs) were in the air on the season 4 premiere of 9-1-1: Lone Star.
The latest episode of the Fox first responder series saw a freak storm system wreak havoc at a carnival, particularly for a newly single dad, Trevor (Lucifer's D.B. Woodside), who had to be rescued by the 126 twice in one day. But along with a literal frog in his throat and a burned hand, Trevor walks away with Tommy Vega's (Gina Torres) number.
This new story line is actually a reunion for Torres and Woodside, who've also shared the screen on 24, Suits, and Pearson. (They co-starred on a CBS pilot at some point as well.) That shared on-screen romantic history "is maybe a reason not to do it," series co-creator Tim Minear tells EW of casting Woodside. "But to me, you see them together and that chemistry is not fake. These two people have really great on-camera chemistry."
"I was so happy that we were able to get D.B. to come and play with us," Torres adds. "And who knows? Maybe the fourth time's the charm for us. Maybe we'll finally get it right on screen."
FOX Gina Torres and D.B. Woodside on season 4 of '9-1-1: Lone Star'.
Trevor isn't the first time Tommy has had a romantic interest since her husband, Charles (Derek Webster), died suddenly in the season 2 finale, but Torres says this time feels different.
"It feels like this is the season where Tommy tries to normalize her life, tries to find some kind of new normal," she says. "Her husband was just ripped away from her overnight, and she's gone through a mourning period, trying to figure out who she is in the world. And last season we saw a reawakening — her deciding for herself that life isn't over, that there is still more to enjoy as a woman, even though maybe her choice [to kiss Charles' brother Julius (Nathan Owens)] wasn't the best."
And now in season 4, "she is excited about and a little forward about realizing her life as a woman," adds Torres. "She's asking herself 'What do I want in a companion?' I don't think she's looking to get married, but I think she's absolutely up for engaging and dating."
But the final moments of Tuesday's episode revealed Trevor is actually the new pastor at Tommy's church. "That's super complicated. I don't think she was expecting that," says Torres. "There's a formality to dating somebody in that line of work that she's not particularly prepared for. This isn't something that she can just be casual about. It's not something that she can sort of hit and quit. Not that she's a hit and quitting type, but this is a man who's going to be part of her life unless she changes churches, so it takes the casual slow roll out of it altogether. She really has to kind of rethink it."
FOX Gina Torres and D.B. Woodside on season 4 of '9-1-1: Lone Star'.
That said, Minear thinks Trevor is a perfect match for Tommy. "I wanted to give her somebody that felt like that that was a compliment to all her terrific qualities," he says. "And when you think back on the relationship that Tommy had with Charles, it was sort of idyllic. So I kind of wanted to go down that road a little bit again, which is why we devised this character of Trevor. The idea of dating the new pastor who is a single dad just felt unbelievably wholesome to me. But his role at the church also presents Tommy with a conundrum, which I couldn't resist."
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