Carlos' dad died in the season 4 finale of the Fox drama…though some fans believe otherwise.
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.
Carlos (Rafael Silva) and Gabriel (Benito Martinez) on ‘9-1-1: Lone Star season 4.Fox
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?
Owen (Rob Lowe) and Gabriel (Benito Martinez) on ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’.Kevin Estrada/FOX
The previous episode, so not very much time at all.
And I was like, “Oh, boy, what did I do?
What’s going on?”
I didn’t know.
So the conversation started off great.
I’m like, “Yeah, man, you guys really wrote this character beautifully.
It’s all been great.”
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.
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?
They really loved the character.
So that was really nice.
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.
And I was stunned.
These fans picked up on every little nuance, every picture that we released, every story.
But you tried to throw them off the scent…
He’s got to find out what happened."
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.
There’s a lot of ways that Gabriel’s influence could be felt or seen again.
9-1-1: Lone Starseason 5 premieres Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.
