Season 3 of FOX’s 9-1-1: Lone Star was a complete whirlwind, especially for T.K. and Carlos. While the season started off a little rocky for the two of them, as they had broken up off-screen during the hiatus, they soon got back together after T.K. had (another) near-death experience. Answering the call of many fans, the couple (finally) got engaged in the season 3 finale.
We are now once again going through the best Tarlos moments of the latest season of Lone Star, which are — in a way — moments leading up to the long-awaited proposal between the paramedic and police officer.
Running Away
Even though we are discussing the best Tarlos moments, I do feel obligated to include this heartbreaking scene as a lead-up to the engagement. When season 3 premiered, fans were perplexed to hear about the breakup and were wondering what happened. While T.K. was in a coma, he talked to his mother. And in the real world, Carlos was struggling with what happened to his ex, worried out of his mind despite T.K. breaking his heart. Rafael Silva’s heartwrenching performance in the hospital room when Carlos angrily and emotionally talked to T.K. was heartbreaking and beautiful.
Meanwhile, T.K. and his mom were watching it all, and T.K. admitted to Gwyn that after he and Carlos were searching for a place to live and Carlos got a loft and put both their names on it, T.K. freaked and ran. It was obvious that T.K. regretted it all, and Carlos still loved him. While it was hard to watch, it proves that they will always care for one another no matter what happens.
Breathe
No matter how many times I watch this clip, my heart melts. After talking to his mom, T.K. finally decides to go back and wakes up from his coma. Of course, Carlos is there while it happens, and he stays back to let the nurses do their jobs. When it’s time, Carlos slowly walks back into the room, and T.K. is the one telling him to breathe. Carlos lets out a breath that seems like he’s been holding in forever and does everything he was afraid to do. Hold T.K.’s hand, run his fingers through his hair, and kiss his forehead. And it is such a beautiful but short scene.
Still makes me cry.
Moving Day
“You moved me in.”
“I moved you in.”
“Moving sucks.”
“Welcome home, T.K.”
Season 3, episode 4 was definitely a Tarlos-centric episode. T.K. and Carlos finally moved into their dream loft, or should I say, Carlos moved in T.K. while T.K. was in the hospital. The touching reveal makes this one of the sweetest Tarlos scenes ever and solidified their relationship coming back stronger than ever. Need I say more?
Detective Reyes and His Sidekick
Season 3 of 9-1-1: Lone Star also brought the possibility of Carlos switching careers and becoming a detective. After a little girl is kidnapped, Carlos decides to look through the camera footage himself and its hours of footage. He stays up one night combing through video, and T.K. comes out into the living room and begs Carlos to come back to bed. After Carlos doesn’t give in, T.K. offers to help. Though it doesn’t last long since he falls asleep on the couch right next to Carlos. Throughout the entire night, Carlos doesn’t move and lets T.K. sleep on him.
Carlos has a breakthrough in the morning, essentially waking up T.K. as he rushes off the couch. Domestic and sweet Tarlos moments are my favorite, and seeing T.K. try to help before falling asleep is definitely both hilarious and sweet.
Support System
Following Gwyneth’s sudden and unexpected death, T.K. was in a state of shock. Owen and Carlos tried their best to help T.K. and pack for him. Carlos was more so unsure of what to do, knowing that his boyfriend was hurting and there wasn’t much he could do for him. He even went to grab food despite T.K. not being hungry. T.K. was sorry that Carlos’ first time to New York are under these conditions, but Carlos didn’t care. He just wanted to be there for T.K.
The episode as a whole is heartbreaking, but this scene shows how supportive Carlos is and that he’s willing to do whatever to help. We also get the first on-screen “I love you” from Carlos and the little forehead kiss, and it just pulls the whole scene together.
Tarmac Reunion
One of my favorite moments this season has to be the reunion on the tarmac. Following Gwyn’s death, Owen, T.K., and Carlos were going to fly to New York for the funeral. Owen and T.K. missed the flight, so Carlos got them tickets to the next one that only had two seats left, and he would take a later flight. After the plane experienced an engine exploding, the Strands found themselves in yet another life-or-death situation, and Carlos feared the worst. Luckily, everything turned out just fine.
Just as everyone had hoped, Carlos rushed out onto the tarmac and lovingly embraced his boyfriend, admitting he blamed himself for putting T.K. on the plane. T.K. assured him that he was fine and that it wasn’t his fault. It was a short but sweet moment and showed that the two literally cannot live without each other. (As if we needed another near-death experience to remind us.)
Trying to Help
After T.K. and Carlos get drugged thanks to Sadie, T.K. finds himself back at Day 1 of his sobriety. When T.K. comes home from an AA meeting, Carlos tries to help by admitting he did some research. However, the sentiment is soon overshadowed as T.K. talks about “Cooper.” While T.K. is clearly thankful for Carlos and how he’s been helping, Carlos can’t help but feel jealous.
T.K. assures Carlos that everything is fine, and they have a sweet moment at the end that is the reason why this scene is making it on here. But let’s be real, almost every moment with them is sweet. But, the sweetness ends there in the episode, because in the moment below, the two have an emotional discussion.
An Emotional Discussion
This moment is easily one of the best. After Carlos gets angry and jealous that T.K. keeps going to Cooper and opening up to him, the two have a very open, honest, and emotional discussion. While it’s one of the harder scenes to watch with them, it shows how caring Carlos can be and how much T.K. doesn’t want him to know everything about his sobriety because he knows how it can get.
Luckily the talk gave them both something to think about, and Carlos even calls Cooper to be there for T.K., giving him space. This is really the first time that we see T.K.’s sobriety have such an impact on their relationship, but of course, they get through it with ease.
Lou the Lizard Creates Chaos
Perhaps one of the more comedic Tarlos moments in the entire series and one of the best. After a call, T.K. brings home a new pet lizard named Lou, much to Carlos’ dismay. T.K. assures him he’ll take care of everything, and Carlos doesn’t want to even be near it. However, that soon changes after T.K. later discovers that Lou escaped his cage. T.K. tries everything to not alert Carlos, even kissing him while trying to grab Lou. Unfortunately, Lou soon picks a spot on Carlos’ shoulder, freaking Carlos out.
And we can’t forget a later scene when T.K. comes home to a ransacked loft thanks to Carlos trying to and successfully finding Lou. T.K. figures they should set him free, and Carlos is as happy as ever. We don’t get very many light and comedic moments with Tarlos, so this one is definitely one of my favorites.
Marry Me
Saving the best for last! In the season finale, T.K. admits to the 126 crew that he and Carlos got into an argument (off-screen) over Carlos updating his will and T.K. not having one despite him being a danger magnet. After Owen lands in the hospital following a building collapse, T.K. wakes Carlos up at 3 a.m. and tells him he’s decided to write his will, leaving everything to his “husband.” You can either watch the entire heartfelt (and at times, comedic) moment above or read all about it here, but it just shows how much T.K. and Carlos love and care for each other.
There were so many moments in that scene that make it great. The fact that it wasn’t this whole big ordeal, Rafael Silva improvising two lines (“Tyler” and “a thousand times yes”), Carlos worried about another fire or Lou the lizard, and of course the incredibly touching speech from T.K. I’m so excited for season 4 and what this means for the now-engaged couple. Both Rubinstein and Silva have recently expressed how they don’t want things to be perfect for T.K. and Carlos come wedding day, but with it being 9-1-1: Lone Star, there will definitely be bumps in the road on the special day. Though it will all be worth it and seeing how the two prep for the wedding will definitely be something to look forward to in the upcoming season.
Honorable Mentions
There are plenty more moments that center around Tarlos, some only including one-half of the couple, some hilarious moments that just have to be talked about, and others that are a little bleak but should still be discussed in some way.
So here are some of our honorable mentions of season 3.
- Episodes 2, 3, and 4 of the season all deserve their own little paragraph, but we’ll just condense them. Any moment that happened in the hospital while T.K. was in a coma including:
- “If he loves me so much … then why did he break my heart?”
- “And the worst part about this is … if this is … goodbye, I can’t even hold your hand. Or run my fingers through your hair, or … kiss your head. Not without it feeling like it’s some kind of violation.”
- When Carlos tracks down the little girl who got abducted and finds Owen at the scene, he tells Detective Washington that Owen is AFD, Captain of the 126, and, “My father-in-law, more or less.”
- Episode 7 as a whole is great and comedic (up until those last few seconds we don’t talk about). From the 126 talking in front of Carlos about how people like firefighters more than cops and Carlos basically calling firefighters lazy to Carlos being such a supportive boyfriend during the Red vs. Blue baseball game (why wasn’t he playing, I don’t know) and trying to protect T.K. during the fight. It was all very heartwarming and great.
- We won’t discuss much about episode 12 because the end result is heartbreaking with the drugging, but just the fact that after Carlos realized what Sadie was up to, he immediately wondered where T.K. went. And the last letters he uttered before collapsing were “T.K.” after seeing his boyfriend lying on the ground.
- Of course, the engagement would make everyone happy and when T.K. and Carlos prepped fancy foods and drinks to tell their friends, it did not go as planned. Marjan, Paul, and Nancy quickly figured that something was up (poor Mateo being a little slow) and the looks on their faces when they realized what they were toasting takes the cake. It was emotional and happy and everything that one would hope when telling friends about an engagement.
Do you have a favorite moment that wasn’t discussed? Comment below! Don’t miss even more Tarlos moments now that they are engaged in season 4 of 9-1-1: Lone Star premiering midseason 2023 on FOX! Check out our other Lone Star coverage here. Take a look at previous Tarlos moments with our season 1 article and our season 2 article.
Because it’s also Pride Month, be sure to check out our article praising Tarlos for changing the LGBTQ+ narrative.
