9-1-1: Lone Star’s Ronen Rubinstein Reacts to #Tarlos’ Latest Trial, Hints at Possible Love Connection for [Spoiler]

OK, #Tarlos fans, we’ve got good news and bad news.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Monday’s episode of 9-1-1: Lone Star found our boys at odds as they approached their first wedding anniversary, with T.K. feeling that Carlos wasn’t present enough in their relationship, giving too much of his focus to work.

“Knowing Tim [Minear] and Rashad [Raisani], I’m never surprised when they throw some intense drama into these boys’ lives,” Rubinstein tells TVLine. “When things start to go smooth, it means something terrible is about to happen. That’s them keeping us and the audience on our toes, which is brilliant. Like Tim always says, who wants to watch just two people, like, drinking coffee in the morning and having everything go well for 12 episodes? We definitely need some drama.”

Now for the good news: By the end of the hour, Carlos realized what needed to be done. He gifted T.K. with an empty box for their anniversary, promising to keep his work files completely stowed away in there while they’re together at home. (Side note: We appreciate the dramatic effect of the empty box, but couldn’t Carlos have just agreed to leave his files… at the station? Like, T.K. bought him a guitar and paid for lessons, and Carlos got him… a box. Oh well, “sexy time” is saved either way, so it’s a win for us all.)

“I love that they always come out on the other side better, which is one of the most beautiful themes of their journey,” Rubinstein says. “The opening scene with the therapist is a perfect example of how these two are committed to doing the work. They want to make this relationship work no matter what. And it’s not a simple problem. Carlos’s father was murdered, and he’s the one with the responsibility of figuring it out, which is so crazy when you think about it.”

Of course, T.K. isn’t the only Strand man whose love life got our attention this week. During an exciting-but-unfortunate rescue, Owen came into the possession of a monster — sorry, a horse — named Thunder. Like Miley Cyrus circa 2010, this animal could not be tamed, with every attempt to sell him blowing up in Owen’s face. That is, until Judd suggested that he bring the raging stallion to noted horse whisperer Marlene (aka Wyatt’s mom). And did we imagine it, or were she and Owen… flirting?

Rubinstein doesn’t think T.K. would have much opposition to Owen dating Marlene, but he also isn’t confident about their future together. “Oh, man. Owen is batting a solid, like, zero for seven right now with relationships,” he says. “He could definitely take a few notes out of his son’s playbook for how to keep a, a relationship together. You’re going to have to ask Rob [Lowe] about that one.”