Sumith Prasad
The fourth season of FOX’s action series ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ follows the preparations for Tyler Kennedy “TK” Strand and Carlos Reyes’ much-awaited wedding. In the fifteenth episode of the season, Owen Strand’s half-brother Robert Strand arrives in Austin for TK to bond with his uncle. Robert arrives with the possessions of his father to gift the same to his brother and nephew. After the family dinner, the two brothers talk about their lives, only for Robert to astound Owen with a startling revelation. Since the viewers must be concerned about Owen’s fate after knowing Robert’s secret, let us share our take on it! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Owen’s Future and Huntington’s Disease
During the family dinner, TK asks Robert about his family to know about his cousins. Robert fails to remember the names of his children initially but eventually talks to his nephew about them. After dinner, Owen and Robert share a drink, only for the latter to drop the glass. The firefighter notices that his brother is not able to move his hand freely, only for Robert to reveal that he has Huntington’s disease, an inherited disorder that affects the nerve cells in the brain. Robert adds that his motor functions will be restricted in no time and ultimately, he will die. Since there isn’t any cure for the disease, he has accepted his impending death.
Since Huntington’s disease is inherited from parent to child, Owen does stand the chance of getting diagnosed with the same since his father had the disorder. As of now, Owen doesn’t have the disease or specifically, hasn’t been diagnosed with it. He and TK may need to conduct tests to find out whether the disease-causing gene is present in them. If the gene is present, Owen is expected to get diagnosed with the disease with no cure. Having said that, there isn’t any outright certainty that a parent’s Huntington’s disease will get passed on to his/her/their child or children.
According to reports, each child stands a chance of 50% to inherit the disease from one’s parent, which indicates that Owen can be fortunate and not get diagnosed with the same as well.
High Chances of Owen’s Survival
Owen’s life is threatened several times in ‘9-1-1: Lone Star.’ The firefighter deals with lung cancer, which makes him confront death in a short disease. However, he has always found a way to survive those threats to stay alive. Owen’s possible death only becomes a concern if he gets diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. Since he is yet to officially get diagnosed with the inherited disorder, the viewers may not need to get worried about his death. The possibility of Owen having the disease must be conceived to add tension to his storyline, which was the case with his cancer. We can hope that the 50% chance of not inheriting the disease will favor Owen when he gets a test done to find out whether he has the inherited disorder.
The storyline revolving around Huntington’s disease can also be conceived to reunite Owen and Robert. “I also sort of wanted to complicate Owen’s life as we got into the last third of the season. And the connection that he made with his half-brother [Robert] was only tentative last year, and so I wanted to explore that more,” co-creator Tim Minear told EW. “Owen’s whole backstory is about how he lost a brother and he just found a new younger brother, and now it looks like he might lose him too,” he added.
Rather than getting diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, Owen may take care of Robert when he deals with the worst symptoms of the same. The firefighter must have realized that he doesn’t have a long time to share his life and love with his brother, which may strengthen their bond. Considering that Owen is the de facto protagonist of the procedural series, it is unlikely that he will get diagnosed with a disease that doesn’t have any cure. As long as Rob Lowe, who hasn’t expressed any desire to leave the series, wants to remain a part of the show, we can expect Owen to stay alive.
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