9-1-1 set up a sneaky crossover earlier this season, recruiting a powerful character

from 9-1-1: Lone Star for a key moment in the three-part premiere.

Gina Torres, who plays ambulance captain Tommy Vega on Fox’s Lone Star,

voiced three episodes of 9-1-1 in October, voicing the dispatcher who made the final call at Emmett’s funeral in Athena’s flashback.

“All units, clear the way for priority traffic,” she began. “Dispatcher calling 237, Officer Washington. This is the final call for 237. Officer Emmett Washington is 10-7. Thank you for your dedication, service, and loyalty. You can rest in peace. We’ll be watching from here.”

Given the weight of Athena’s murdered fiancé’s funeral, adding Torres’ comforting presence to the flashback was a nice touch, as well as a nice treat for fans of the 9-1-1 series.

During the editing process, it’s not uncommon for a producer or editor to provide a temporary voiceover, which is then replaced by a real actor. But in this case, Minear “really wanted to understand what this moment would be like” for the audience, which inspired him to enlist Torres’ help.

“I called Gina and just said, ‘Hey, can you do a little voice for me?’” Minear tells TVLine. “I needed a great voice, and she has the best voice. She was even the voice on a ride at Disney World, if I’m not mistaken — and I’m not mistaken.” (Editor’s note: Yes, he’s right. Torres is the showrunner for Mission: SPACE at EPCOT.) After “four or five takes,” Minear included Torres’s audio in the network’s cut. It didn’t necessarily make it into the final edit, but when the episode went to mixing, Minear opted to keep it, confident that no one else could do a better job than Torres.

“I’m always looking for reasons to hire Gina Torres,” Minear says. And he means it. They’ve worked together since The WB’s Angel and continued on Fox’s Firefly, nearly two decades before Torres joined the 9-1-1 universe.

Torres’ cameo isn’t the only loose connection between 9-1-1 and its spinoff this season. In the Halloween episode of 9-1-1, Bobby (played by Peter Krause) announced that it was 118’s turn to host the haunted house, adding that 126 did so last year. That same number is the fire station at the center of 9-1-1: Lone Star; Minear confirmed that Bobby’s line was “just a wink” to the spinoff.

With Lone Star currently in the midst of its fifth and final season on Fox, fans are wondering what the future holds for Tommy and his crew. Specifically, could any of them make the jump to 9-1-1? Or even the second spinoff currently in development at ABC?

“I don’t have any plans for that right now,” Minear told us, “but it’s not out of the question.”

Which Lone Star character would you pick to continue in the 9-1-1 universe? And did you notice Torres’ voice at the funeral? Please leave a comment with your thoughts below.