Prince Albert in a Can

"**Prince Albert in a Can**" is the eleventh episode of the third season of *9-1-1: Lone Star* and the thirty-fifth episode overall. It aired on March 22, 2022.

## Synopsis

Owen and the 126 race to the rescue when Catherine receives a package at the governor's office that may contain a bio-hazard. Meanwhile, Carlos and Grace team up to investigate a prank 9-1-1 call that turns deadly.

## Full Synopsis

Grace receives a call from a woman with a baby, who claims that her boyfriend, who is high on meth, is threatening to kill them. She says that her and the baby were hiding in the back of the house and that her boyfriend was pouring gasoline on house. A male voice comes out the call shouting before the call disconnects and Grace is shouting for the victim.

S.W.A.T, APD and the 126 arrive at the scene, with S.W.A.T ordering that every street within four blocks gets shut down. The 126 crosses paths with Carlos and Captain Strand says hello as they walk past and T.K. subtly nods at him. S.W.A.T leader informs Tommy and Owen of the situation and says that he wants them behind the truck ready to enter when the scene is secure. Owen argues that they would be better off having AFD support behind them in case the building catches alight before then. The teams enter the house and SWAT does their checks in every room to find nobody in the house.

Carlos, who is outside of the house, notices a figure moving in the dark coming out from the back of the house and radios it in before following the suspect and Grace tells him to be careful.

Back in the house, Owen, Mateo and Judd notice a gaming setup surrounded by money, a gun and some drugs and Judd brings up the fact that they should be able to hear a baby crying, when there is no noise of a baby.

Outside, Carlos has reached the suspect and tells him to freeze and questions about where his girlfriend is when Mark says that she's gone and Carlos questions if he has hurt her, before Mark reveals a knife that he was hiding. Owen radios back into dispatch that there is nobody in the house and that they think they have been had and Grace frantically tries to reach Carlos through his radio. Carlos is trying to negotiate with Mark to drop the knife as Grace comes through on his radio, Carlos ignores the radio initially to focus on Mark. He holsters his gun and pulls out his taser as Mark gets closer and still doesn't drop his weapon and then after multiple commands to put the knife down, Carlos deploys the taser. As Carlos approaches Mark and taps him on the back to get up and he doesn't respond, Carlos rolls him over onto his back and finds the knife is in Mark's throat. Carlos radios in for EMS support and Grace checks in that he isn't injured, when he reassures her it's just the suspect that was hurt. T.K. and Tommy come running over to Carlos and Mark as Carlos mutters that it wasn't his fault and that he fell onto his own knife. Tommy reassures him before T.K. says that they are losing his pulse and Tommy starts CPR on the suspect, whilst Carlos stands in the distance watching in fear. Marjan and Judd come running over to the scene asking what happened and Carlos walks up to them desperate to know that they found the girlfriend and the baby. They tell Carlos that the whole thing was a prank and that there was nobody in the house and Carlos turns back in fear as Tommy announces that Mark is dead.

Judd is singing to Charlie as Grace walks in from work and asks how it went with the brass and despite the fact that she was cleared from any responsibility, she wants to take a leave of absence. She tells Judd that Mark was a known drug dealer and that the APD assume that the fake call was made by a rival drug dealer and that the call was made through a fake IP address so they can't trace it. Judd thinks that Grace is blaming herself for Mark's death and she thinks that she can't trust herself for missing some key signs and not asking key questions. Judd reassures her that it isn't her job to be suspicious but to help people and she says that she didn't help anyone but instead got someone killed. Judd tells her that she is the best dispatcher in all of Texas and that she can't be mad at herself but instead should be mad at whoever made the call. Charlie starts crying so Judd picks her up and starts to walk about with her saying that it wasn't her fault nor Carlos' fault for Mark's death. Grace asks about how Carlos was looking and Judd mentions that he looked about as rough as Grace currently looked.

Carlos is in the loft, aggressively punching a punching bag as T.K. calls out to him saying that he knows that he is going through something but to tone down the rage punching, Carlos ignores him and carries on claiming that he isn't rage punching. The doorbell goes and T.K. jokes that the round is over and asks if the 'Raging Bull' was going to get it as Carlos stops punching and pulls back the door to find Grace. Grace asks to come and finds T.K. making a salad before questioning if she's interrupting lunch when T.K. jokes that she isn't because Carlos eats six times a day. Carlos asks what's going on and Grace says that they got tricked and Carlos is frustrated but walks over to the fridge to get a bottle of water but fails to believe that it isn't his fault. Grace suggests that they take back the case and start investigating it themselves as Carlos tells her that he's on administrative leave and that APD is already dealing with it and that he isn't a detective but a patrol officer. T.K. chimes in that he solved a kidnapping case and Grace reminds him that he has got rage.

Owen and Catherine are out at the Honky Tonk and Catherine describes her week at the Capitol and Owen mentions about how he worked his budget so well that he shut down his own firehouse. Owen teaches Catherine to two step and then she teases him for being from New York and California. Another man recognises her from across the bar and starts to talk about her political campaign comparing her to Ann Coulter. Owen steps up from his seat, when Catherine tells him to relax, and punches the guy when he continued to talk badly about her. Catherine talks about how he needs to be glad that no one wanted to press charges against him saying that it wasn't about him and he should have just it go and allowed her to be bullied. She tells him about the daily betrayal and bullying she gets with her job saying that she knows its his job to save people but she didn't ask to be saved.

Carlos's buddy in homicide gave him the case file and a couple of suspects that they have including some exes and other drug dealers. Carlos lists out why two out of the three suspects aren't likely people before commenting on how one has a previous history of making fake calls and Grace asks why he didn't mention that at the start and he claims that he likes to set everything out first before listing moving pieces. Carlos places Grace some previous fake calls and what was found when the cops arrived. They begin to rule out their initial suspect when their previous call history doesn't line up with the call Grace received. Judd walks in saying that he put Charlie down and is heading to work before asking about the case. Judd asks if they tried the gaming angle, when Carlos mentions the drug angle was a bust, saying that when they entered the house he found a video game setup for Dread Ops and a camera for streaming. Judd adds that he is never that competitive when he plays and Grace looks at him with a disapproving look as she mentions when a controller smashed their flat screen.

Paul is on desk duty and reorgansing Owen's spice rack, Owen claims that flavour profile is better than alphabetical and Paul describes all the tasks that he has completed already. Paul notices Owen's swollen hand and worries that he might have broken it so he calls over Tommy when Owen denies that anything happened. Tommy then asks him to make a fist and then asks if that's how he got hurt, making a fist into somebody's face and Paul asks if Billy Tyson has got another black eye but Owen mentions that he was simply defending his lady's honour. Tommy pipes up and calls Owen traditional for wanting to protect his lady and says that flowers and chocolate work to fix problems with women.

Catherine is on the phone in her office, when the delivery man came into her office with a boutique of flowers and as she opens the card a powder explodes out of it and into her face. She calls 9-1-1 claiming that there was a possible biological attack and the 126, EMS 126, FBI arrive to work the call. The 126 go into the building in full hazmat suits in order to check on Catherine and take samples for testing. Tommy assesses Catherine quickly and Marjan sets up a decontamination shower whilst the rest of the crew help to seal off the area to restrict any leaks. Judd delivers the samples to the testing unit outside. T.K. and Mateo are stood outside the Capitol helping hand out waters and flyers of the delivery man as given to them by the FBI. Tommy rechecks on Catherine's vitals and she talks about what the card said and asks Owen to be honest with her about the possible side effects or realities that they could be looking at. He explains how some of them are deadly and then Tommy explains the symptoms of what could happen if it was either of the more serious powders. Mateo notices that the guy he is talking to is the guy in the picture so he reports him to the FBI, who begin to question him until he passes out. T.K. radios to Tommy and she tells him to section off the guy as he is bleeding until they know from the lab. Mateo asks T.K. if the delivery man is dead and he simply responds that he doesn't know as they stand from afar and watch. Catherine apologises to Owen for not wanting to accept his help earlier and that she wants it now that he can't have it. Judd paces up and down outside the testing truck before radioing to Owen saying that the powder was nothing but corn-starch. Tommy radios to T.K. telling him check out the delivery man and he wakes up because he only fainted from the sight of his blood.

Carlos and Grace are watching some gaming streams with Mark in, in some hope of finding some clues as to who might have called for him. Carlos mentions that this opens the pool of suspects too wide as there are many users giving trash talk and Grace suggests watching a couple of different streams to see if anyone appears more than once. One gamer calls Mark a smurf ass bitch and Carlos asks Grace, who is walking around with Charlie, what it means and she responds that it's someone who plays games under their level and Grace says that Judd talks to her about it. They find a gamer who had a hatred against Mark and made numerous threats to him, it doesn't take them long to find his personal social media and his address is in LA.

Athena and the LAPD burst into the suspect's apartment and arrest Derek before leading him out and calling Carlos and Grace to inform them they got him saying that Derek's girlfriend flipped on him very quickly. Athena calls Carlos a detective and he corrects her but she responds that he's not just a patrol officer. Out of the back of the video call Grace notices Derek being led away and asks to say hi much to the confusion of Carlos. Derek says they only found him because of luck and then Grace throws his own catchphrase back at him simply stating that it was 'God's plan bitch'. Athena responds by saying that she likes Grace and Carlos agrees.

Owen and Catherine are swaying in the living room of Owen's house and she says that she would feel safer staying inside so that Owen doesn't punch out anymore Travis County voters. He apologises for punching the guy and promises to not go into full hero mode again, Catherine tells him about her thoughts earlier in the day saying that she wanted to have sex with him. She mentions about how they get loads of hate mail in her job and that it's not the first time. They begin to make out on the way into Owen's bedroom, when Catherine pulls away in shock as she sees the writing of 'toxic pig' in blood across Owen's wall and then as Owen turns around he pulls away the covers to reveal a dead pig.

## Cast

* Gina Torres as Tommy Vega
* Ronen Rubinstein as TK Strand
* Sierra McClain as Grace Ryder
* Jim Parrack as Judd Ryder
* Natacha Karam as Marjan Marwani
* Brian Michael Smith as Paul Strickland
* Rafael Silva as Carlos Reyes
* Julian Works as Mateo Chavez
* Brianna Baker as Nancy Gillian *(credit only)*
* Kelsey Yates as Isabella Vega *(credit only)*
* Skyler Yates as Evie Vega *(credit only)*

Guest Starring* Amy Acker as Catherine Harper
* Ray Stoney as Captain Marcus Stokes
* Randy Vasquez as Special Agent Eli Barroso
* Alexander Neher as Derrick Humphrey
* Justin Alston as Gordon Howard
* David B. Meadows as Man in the Bar

Co-starring* Seth Fuentes as Ari
* Ryan Masson as Mark Poling
* Matt Raimo as Carter
* Veronica Wylie as Susie

## Trivia

* A minor crossover with *9-1-1* occurs when LAPD Sergeant Athena Grant assists Grace and Carlos with arresting a suspect involved in a fatal swatting case who lived in Los Angeles.
* Judd broke his and Grace's tv by throwing a video game controller at it.

### Cultural References

* Mateo refers to the FBI as "*Men in Black*", title of a 1997 film.
* T.K. calls Carlos a "Raging Bull" when he is punching and that is the name of a boxing movie from 1981.
* Catherine says that Owen has a John Travolta cowboy look, John Travolta was in Urban Cowboy in 1980.

### Continuity

* TK mentions Carlos solving the kidnapping case which happened in "Child Care".
* Paul makes a reference to when Owen punched Billy and gave him a black eye in "Dust to Dust".

## References

 **Season 6** | "Let the Games Begin" • "Crash & Learn" • "The Devil You Know" • "Animal Instincts" • "Home Invasion" • "Tomorrow" • "Cursed" • "What's Your Fantasy?" • "Red Flag" • "In a Flash" • "In Another Life" • "Recovery" • "Mixed Feelings" • "Performance Anxiety" • "Death and Taxes" • "Lost & Found" • "Love Is in the Air" • "Pay It Forward"

 **Season 4** | "The New Hotness" • "The New Hot Mess" • "Cry Wolf" • "Abandoned" • "Human Resources" • "This Is Not A Drill" • "Tommy Dearest" • "Control Freaks" • "Road Kill" • "Sellouts" • "Double Trouble" • "Swipe Left" • "Open" • "Tongues Out" • "Donors" • "A House Divided" • "Best Of Men" • "In Sickness and In Health"