9-1-1: Lone Star spoilers follow.
Gina Torres has opened up about that unexpected kiss on 9-1-1: Lone Star.
In Monday's episode, Torres' character Tommy came face to face with her brother-in-law Julius (Nathan Owens), who she has been furious with since he missed her husband Charles' funeral.
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However, Tommy and Julius' rage soon turns into something else. The two discuss their issues and share a brief kiss.
Related: 9-1-1 star Angela Bassett crosses over to Lone Star
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Torres was quick to point out that this kiss, which the characters call a mistake, is another sign of two people processing their grief.
She reflected: "Grief manifests itself in so many different ways. And with these two people, who are missing this big love in their life, that kiss comes from wanting to comfort.
"It's born of a familiarity, and something that we're grasping at – we're grasping at that love. I think the tricky part about it... What Tim and I discussed was really, 'We don't want the audience to feel like either one of us is betraying Charles'.
"We just wanted to make sure that it came from a place that was so organically pure that the audience can't help be as stunned as we are and get to a place of, 'Oh, okay. All right'.
"They haven't lost their minds. This isn't about sex. It's about love. It's about love and grief, and how those things can get twisted up in wanting to be comforted in that moment."
Torres expressed that she hopes Tommy continues to move forward and through her grief, to meet someone in the future. She just doesn't know if that will be Julius.
Related: 9-1-1 boss responds to latest episode's romance twist
"What I can tell you is my hopes for Tommy's journey," she said. "My hope is that she continues to move forward past her grief and creates more and more space for herself, and redefines what it is for her to be not a wife but a single mom.
"And it makes really interesting television to have her make mistakes along the way, as we all do, and see the fear, and sometimes some confusion. And who knows, maybe at some point she'll get it right.
"I hope there'll be somebody wonderful in her future that she can settle in with and be excited and be giddy about, and maybe even exhale."
9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star both air on FOX and Hulu in the US and Sky Witness in the UK.
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Jess is a freelance writer and editor with a passion for over-analysing everyone’s favourite movies and TV shows. As an English graduate from the University of York with an MA in Creative Writing, Jess worked as a magazine editor before turning freelance. Since then, Jess has written for outlets such as GQ, The Guardian, Inverse, Huff Post, Stylist, and Insider. She specialises in the representation of mental health, grief, and women in film. She’s also a major Marvel nerd and is writing a YA fantasy novel. LinkedIn
