Lone Star’? Benito Martinez weighs in on fan theory

9-1-1: Lone Star fans were just as shocked as Carlos when his dad, Gabriel, was shot and killed in the two-part season 4 finale last year.

Gabriel (Benito Martinez) was introduced earlier in the Fox as a possible antagonist, not ready to accept his openly gay son (Rafael Silva). But over the seasons, the Texas Ranger and Austin police officer grew close and Gabriel was thrilled to celebrate Carlos’ wedding to TK (Ronen Rubinstein). But just days before the wedding, Gabriel offered Carlos the chance to join the Texas Rangers — an opportunity that led to a tense argument over the complicated history of the law enforcement organization. Before the father and son have the chance to reconcile, Gabriel is seen answering his front door and being shot by an unseen murderer.

As Carlos searches his dad’s office for a will, he discovers tapes and documents that reveal Gabriel had been investigating corruption within the Rangers and that his father believed if anything ever happened to him that it would be because of his investigation. The final episode of 2023 saw Gabriel buried and Carlos on a mission to avenge his father’s death

Following the finale, Silva told Entertainment Weekly that he’s “pretty sure this is not the last that we will see Benito” on the Fox first responder drama. That could just mean Carlos will discover more video messages, but some fans have shared theories online that Gabriel is not really dead.

“I always live in hope, my brother,” Martinez tells EW in an interview conducted prior to the filming of season 5 (and before it was announced that Fox is not renewing the series for a sixth season). Here’s what he has to say about his time on 9-1-1: Lone Star and the chances of a big Gabriel return before the show is over.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was it like to grow Gabriel over the seasons?

BENITO MARTINEZ: From the jump, they’ve been great at giving my character an interesting arc. He was able to always either know what’s going on or have sage advice — and really get into cool investigation stuff. Last year, we did the whole arson investigation [with Gabriel and Rob Lowe’s Owen, who is TK’s dad] and that was really cool, the fathers getting to know each other. I love d that aspect, and it paid dividends this season. It really helped Gabriel feel more a part of the world of the show.

When did they tell you what was going to happen to Gabriel in the two-part finale?

The previous episode, so not very much time at all. The season had been going really well and then I got a call from one of producers saying, “Tim [Minear], the showrunner, wants to have a call with you.” And I was like, “Oh, boy, what did I do? What happened? What’s going on?” So in my world, that’s either a really good things, like a spinoff, or really bad. I didn’t know. So the conversation started off great. He’s like, “Man, it’s been great watching you, your character grow and all this stuff over the years.” I’m like, “Yeah, man, you guys really wrote this character beautifully. It’s all been great.” And then they said, “Having said that, we need to take a dramatic turn and in this case, this is what we really see happening.” So I was like, “Oh, okay. All right then.” So that was pretty much it. I mean, after that I was like, “Okay.”

Do you feel like you’ve fully processed what happened?

It’s strange for me. I’ve been killed off on other shows. But personally, I really liked this character in such a way that…. It was such a unique character. The Texas Rangers are a revered institution, but they’re also known for some of their bold ways — I’ll try to be politically correct as I can. And showing my face versus my skin tone in that role speaks volumes without having to do or say a lot. And I think that was wonderful of the company to take that risk and to put me in that role. So walking away from that was kind of like, “Oh, wow.” That was kind of like, “Oh, crap,” kind of feeling.

How did the cast respond when they found out?

Both the crew and cast came up to me on a daily basis when I was working and just were as kind as can be, talked about how they’ll miss me and they didn’t want to see me go. They really loved the character. So that was really nice. I had that in my secret heart because nobody [outside the production] knew, but the cast and crew were really kind.

Fans started to speculate ahead of the finale that Gabriel might die. How did you navigate that?

It really touched my heart, I have to say. They were like, “Wait a minute, I don’t see [him in pictures from the wedding released online ahead of the finale].” And I was stunned. I mean, not since The Shield have I seen people this careful and detailed about what is leaked about the show. These fans picked up on every little nuance, every picture that we released, every story. They knew.

But you tried to throw them off the scent…

I had some of the fans following me, so I was trying to leak things like, “Oh, here I am, getting ready for the party,” trying to throw the people off. But once it happened, it was a flood of just wonderful support and got tons and tons and tons of, “You’re like my dad,” or “You’re the best dad I ever saw,” or “How could Carlos go on? He’s got to find out what happened.” They were completely 100 percent invested in the show and my character and just really shared their pain about it, which was just awesome, really awesome. I mean, as an actor, you always want to do stuff and make sure it’s seen and that you can reach the audience, somehow motivate or touch them in some way. And this show touches them in so many different ways.

Fans also believe Gabriel may not actually be dead. What do you have to say about that?

I always live in hope, my brother. I always live in hope. I would love to come back. I would love to continue this journey on this character. I know some fans have suggested he’s in the witness protection program, but I don’t know what the writers have in store. Obviously, you see that they have great instincts and the show is in great hands, and so I don’t want to second-guess their artistic endeavors, but for me, coming back would be tremendous. It would be an honor, truly, because there’s a lot more of Gabriel to be explored — his relationship with his son, his wife, and how he became a Texas Ranger. There’s a lot of ways that Gabriel’s influence could be felt or seen again.

9-1-1: Lone Star season 5 premieres Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. ET.

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