Sumith Prasad
The second half of FOX’s action series ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ season 4 sees the reappearance of Wyatt in the lives of his father Judson “Judd” Ryder and the firefighter’s wife Grace Ryder. Wyatt shocks his father by announcing that he and his partner are expecting a baby. He also adds that he wants to become a firefighter, only for Judd to start training his son. As Wyatt prepares to become a commendable first responder, his life gets threatened unexpectedly. While the Station 126 family celebrates the wedding of TK and Carlos, Judd worries about his son, making the viewers eager to know what really happened to Wyatt. Well, here’s what we can share about the same! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Does Wyatt Die? What Happened to Him?
As far as Wyatt is concerned, the fourth season of the procedural drama mainly focuses on his preparations to become a firefighter. In the sixteenth episode of the season, Wyatt gets into an accident, only to get injured severely. Tommy Vega and her paramedic team bring him to the best spinal cord surgeon in the city of Austin to deal with his several broken vertebrae. Due to the accident, the doctors also discover brain swelling in Wyatt. Although his life gets threatened severely, he manages to survive the accident to stay alive. The seventeenth episode of the season makes it clear that Wyatt’s life isn’t threatened anymore.
However, Wyatt and Judd confront another tragic news concerning the former’s mobility. After getting a nerve conduction study and electromyography done, the doctors find that Wyatt has a decreased conduction velocity, which indicates that there’s a 99% chance of him never walking again. As a consolation, the doctors inform Judd that Wyatt’s arms and hands are in good condition, which means that he will be able to make use of the same with the help of physical and occupational therapy. Does that mean Wyatt is paralyzed for good? Not necessarily. As Tommy reminds Judd, there is a difference between 99% and 100%. Wyatt’s nerves may regenerate in the future and increase the mobility of his legs.
After Wyatt’s diagnosis, Judd and the former’s mother Marlene initially consider admitting him to a care center where therapists and professional nurses can look after him efficiently. But Judd changes his mind at the last minute since he doesn’t want his son to end up at an establishment all alone, amid a large group of strangers. He realizes that he needs to step up and look after his boy, even if means taking an early retirement. Judd then quits his job and starts to take care of Wyatt upon setting up a bedroom for the latter in his house.
Wyatt’s recovery isn’t going to be easy. Judd may need to learn to be patient with his son, who is a young man forced to accept getting paralyzed. “[Judd learns that] even though his job is to help people, he can’t quite help his son here — not with his self-esteem, not with his ability to not be embarrassed [about] having to change his diaper again,” Jim Parrack, who plays Judd, told TV Guide. “The arc that would come out of that is, ‘The most heroic thing I could do is take off the hero gear, set it down, and go change the diaper of my grown son without embarrassing him.’ […] Parenthood got real, and I think it’s the first time that Judd’s been tested as a father,” he added.
As far as Parrack is concerned, Judd and Wyatt’s dynamic is expected to improve gradually. “There have been emotional hurdles to overcome, like learning how to talk to your son and learning about boundaries, but it’s manageable stuff. This is a crisis, and it’s gonna require new levels of sacrifice,” the actor added.
Read More: Who Killed Carlos’ Dad Gabriel in 9-1-1: Lone Star? Why?
