A “9-1-1: Lone Star” firehouse 'nudie' pic mishap leads to scary health news (exclusive preview)
Things get serious for Nancy (Brianna Baker) and Mateo (Julian Works) on season 5, episode 6, "Naked Truth."
Things go from bad to worse for Nancy on tonight's 9-1-1: Lone Star.
The Austin first responder (played by Brianna Baker) kicks off season 5, episode 6 of the Fox drama by accidentally sending a nude photo to the entire firehouse. And, in a preview clip exclusive to Entertainment Weekly, her boyfriend Mateo (Julian Works) thinks she may have been fired by Tommy (Gina Torres) over the mishap.
Related: 9-1-1: Lone Star's Ronen Rubinstein on Tarlos marriage woes and the 'massive wrench' to come
But Nancy isn't in street clothes because she's been fired, her boss gave her the rest of the day off because she noticed a lump in the "nudie" photo. "I just checked in the locker room, it's there," Nancy tells Mateo of the mass in her breast. "She recommended that I get a mammogram and she said I shouldn't panic unless I have a family history with breast cancer."
And she does. Nancy reveals that her great aunt, grandmother, and mother all passed away from the disease. "Everyone else got it when they were around 50. I'm 35," she explains. Mateo does his best to comfort his girlfriend, but after he says he's "sorry" her mood changes. "Don't...look at me like that, with pity," she says. "I used to look at my mom the exact same way."
9-1-1: Lone Star co-showrunner Rashad Raisani tells EW that the group text photo scenario was partially inspired by the real-life story of a local news anchor in Florida who caught her thyroid cancer early after a viewer wrote in noticing a lump in the reporter's throat.
"And Mateo and Nancy is a relationship that we love but hadn't really had a chance to explore super deeply this season," Raisani continues. "We thought, 'Well, what if we had the equivalent of a sex tape gets loose, and then what if that could turn into something bigger and it would allow us to explore Nancy's backstory in a profound way?'"
Related: 9-1-1: Lone Star to end with upcoming season 5 on Fox
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
"I think that Brianna Baker has been one of the great breakout actors of this series," Raisani says of the Nancy actress. "She's grown so much. If you go back to season 1, where she was almost an extra in the pilot — she may have had one scripted line. And look at her now. She's hilarious and she can do drama, she can do everything, so really wanted to showcase her."
But is it cancer? 9-1-1: Lone Star season 5, episode 6, "Naked Truth," airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.