Fans of FOX's hit series 9-1-1: Lone Star are frustrated after last night's episode where a kiss between gay characters TK and Carlos was advertised but didn't seem to make it to the final cut of the show.
FOX advertised #Tarlos as "hotter than a volcano" in a promotional video last week and showed some steamy scenes from the season alongside adorable everyday couple moments.
"Portraying LGBTQIA+ characters in that light is imperative," said actor Rafael L. Silva.
The sentiment is sweet, but makes last night's season two premiere all the more confusing since the intimate moments between TK and Carlos were seemingly edited out of the scene, including the kiss between the two seen in the trailer.
Fans of the show were not happy:
\u201cwhere was this #911LoneStar\u201d— maya (@maya) 1611024212
\u201cWhat the heck. How dare them cut this \ud83d\ude21\ud83d\ude21\ud83d\ude21I was looking forward to it. Shame, shame \n#Tarlos @911LoneStar\u201d— #Chrissy \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6Malex/Wilson/DeanCas (@#Chrissy \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6Malex/Wilson/DeanCas) 1611027612
\u201cAll #tarlos fans are disappointed right now. We got so much Tarlos content in the promos and now they already cut two scenes out\n\n#911LoneStar\u201d— jessica (@jessica) 1611024318
\u201cwhen they base their whole marketing on tarlos but they cut these scenes from the episodes ... yeah\u201d— vee (@vee) 1611023868
\u201cHey @911LoneStar loved tonight's episode. What I didn't love is that #Tarlos scenes were cut \ud83d\ude20 #911Lonestar\u201d— Bi_Fangirl8\u270a\ud83c\udfff\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Bi_Fangirl8\u270a\ud83c\udfff\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1611026384
\u201ccc: the king of excuses @CancelledAgain \nthere was MONTHS this time and no reason to hype the scenes and best duo if they aren\u2019t going to ever be seen\u201d— \u267b\ufe0f \ud83c\udf0e (@\u267b\ufe0f \ud83c\udf0e) 1611027595
\u201cwhy is lonestar so scared to show us a tarlos head kiss? this is the cutest shit ever and they just cut this scene out okay \ud83d\ude44\u201d— bun (@bun) 1611024586
\u201caight tarlos clowns im starting a thread of their moments that got CHOPPED that i\u2019ll update as the season progresses #911LoneStar\u201d— yas (@yas) 1611026380
It's unclear how intentional the edit was, perhaps it was just a time constraint, but fans were still upset the moments were cut while full sex scenes involving Rob Lowe's character made it through, especially since the relationship between the two characters was so heavily advertised.
Fans of the franchise might be a bit sensitive to gay-baiting as they've been baited before. In 2019 in the original 9-1-1 series, there seemed to be a romantic relationship forming between Buck and Eddie, or so the internet believed, before they were confirmed as just good friends.
Neither 9-1-1: Lone Star or FOX have made statements on the controversy.
