911: Lone Star season 5 premiere sneak peek hints at what's keeping Grace from her family

The 911: Lone Star bosses have addressed how they're going to handle the surprise exit of Grace and what it means for season 5!

911: Lone Star fans are in for a bittersweet time this fall. After taking a whole year off due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes, the series is finally ready to return. Sadly, this comes with the confirmation this will be the last season for the first responder drama. 

Season 4 left off with some dramatic moments: TK and Carlos got married despite Carlos mourning his murdered father; Owen aided his dying half-brother (Chad Lowe) in taking his own life; Tommy was getting more serious with her pastor boyfriend; and, most importantly, Judd (Jim Parrack) leaving the 126 to care for his son Wyatt (Jackson Pace) who was paralyzed after being hit by a car. 

However, plans for the season hit a huge snag when Sierra McClain, who played dispatcher and Judd's wife Grace, announced she was leaving the show. It was a huge shock to fans as well as the producers as showrunner Rashad Raisani told Entertainment Weekly how they didn't expect this.

"The first thing I would say is we all adore Sierra McClain. If not for her, we wouldn't be talking right now. She's a central piece to the show. She's the voice on the phone of the title, you know what I mean? And we didn't know [she was leaving], so we had stories [for her]. Then when this stuff happened, we had to go back to the drawing board in some storylines. You have no choice but to find silver linings, let me put it that way. If Sierra was willing to come back.... As I told her, 'Any time I'm here, there'll always be a place for you.' I would love it, I'd beg her. But [her departure] did force us to do some unexpected things that led to some beautiful storylines."

It's not the first time the show has had to deal with a cast departure as Liv Tyler, who played Michelle Blake, left after the first season and was replaced by Gina Torres as Tommy. However, losing McClain was a huge blow as it naturally leads to the question of how Judd handles her departure and how the show writes off such a vital character.

How will Grace be written off 911: Lone Star?

The original plan was for Wyatt to join the call center with Grace as his mentor. Now, Pace is a full cast member and has formally taken over as the main dispatcher for the 126. There were worries on how Grace would be written off and now we have a clip explaining Grace's absence.

The clip has Judd helping Wyatt move into the home with his wife Leigh Ann (Jessi Case) and their son and getting a picture for Grace. Leigh Ann says Grace is doing more important things and Judd replies "she's doing the Lord's work."

That indicates Grace is off on some sort of missionary job, which does fit the character. It would leave the door open for a return, but given that the show was filmed before the announcement of the cancellation, it makes it tough to see it happen. Raisini did discuss how Grace's absence is going to affect Jud.

"He is kind of finding himself a bit adrift. His purpose is in his job, his purpose is with his wife, his purpose is with his son — and all those things leave him almost at once, and that's where we kind of meet him. So that's going to have ramifications for the whole season, really. He's a man whose life has been shaken to the core because of things that have happened, both for good and for bad."

It's good to know Grace isn't being killed off yet it still seems tough that we're not even getting a proper goodbye for her or McClain. It would have been nice to at least see her saying farewell rather than just written off so abruptly even if this was McClain's decision to leave. At least we do get an answer to how she's gone and what happens with her.

The show promises more drama, like Carlos joining the Rangers and a fight to see who takes Judd's spot. Yet it's not going to be quite the same without Grace, and hopefully, the producers have found a way to honor the character's departure while showing its affect on Judd. 

This sudden absence is going to be among the reasons why it'll be hard to say goodbye to 911: Lone Star, yet the final season promises to have the show go out with a bang.

911: Lone Star Season 5 premieres Monday, Sept. 23 at 8/7c on Fox.