“9-1-1: Lone Star”'s Ronen Rubinstein on Tarlos marriage woes and the 'massive wrench' to come

The actor breaks down Tarlos' emotional roller coaster in season 5, episode 5 of the Fox first responder drama, and what's to expect as we meet TK's stepfamily.

Tarlos is definitely past the honeymoon phase.

As TK (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos (Rafael Silva) prepared to celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary on Monday's 9-1-1: Lone Star, the firefighter and Texas Ranger found themselves in therapy over Carlos' lack of focus on their marriage as he takes on the stresses of his new job (and investigating his father's murder).

By the end of season 5, episode 5, "Thunderstruck," the couple found a new appreciation for each other — but Rubinstein teases there's a "massive wrench" to come for Tarlos before the Fox first responder drama ends. ("It's surreal," the actor tells Entertainment Weekly of approaching the series finale.)

Related: 9-1-1: Lone Star's Benito Martinez has read your Gabriel conspiracy theories — and agrees

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The episode starts with Tarlos in therapy. How long do you think this problem has been brewing?

RONEN RUBINSTEIN: Season 5 picking up a year since the finale of season 4, I think that justifies the amount of time that it would take for a relationship to start getting a little rocky. I think it wouldn't really make sense if we came back immediately after the honeymoon and things started to go south. For me, it was just really trying to understand where Carlos is coming from and knowing that, yes, TK has his wants and his needs — but at the end of the day, it's always about "How can I be the most supportive, loving, caring husband?" And I think that's just TK as a person. He's done that for his father, for his mother, for Carlos, for all of his firefighter comrades, his paramedic comrades, and all the patients out in the field.

So TK is not necessarily upset with Carlos...

I think the stress and anxiety for TK doesn't necessarily come from, "I'm not feeling seen, I'm not getting attention." It's more of "I'm really scared for my husband and he's hunting down some really bad people that could lead to a really, really scary situation, might even get him hurt." I would be curious to see which one of them suggested we try couples counseling. I would like to think it's TK, and it just shows how incredible their relationship is that Carlos would agree to do it. I think they're obviously so madly in love, and so committed to each other, and they know that they're going to need some extra help in order to figure things out.

Related: 9-1-1: Lone Star's Carlos and Ranger Campbell will form a 'beautiful partnership,' says co-showrunner

And their anniversary gifts show the therapy worked.

It just shows how beautiful these two are and how much they care and love each other and just how uniquely different they are. I think that scene is a perfect example of that. It seemed like it turned out to be a beautiful anniversary.

So what's next for Tarlos?

Well, [TK's step-father] Enzo and [half-brother] Jonah coming into their lives is going to throw a massive wrench into everything. What's cool about the Enzo storyline is it's something I've been asking for and daydreaming about since season 1, since I learned that Enzo was actually the person that raised TK. We're going to have so many questions answered about that dynamic, and we're going to find out even deeper about the dynamic between TK and Owen [Rob Lowe], which you kind of feel like you know everything, but we actually don't. And I think it's going to come to a head of actually what went on with TK and Owen when he was younger. So I'm really excited about that. It brings such an incredible scene between Rob and me. And then with Jonah, that's going to ask a lot of questions. I think a lot of things that the fans have hoped for and have feared, I think that's coming.... You'll know exactly what I'm talking about when that episode airs.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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9-1-1: Lone Star airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.