Ryan Tanner sadly did not make it out of the Feb. 6 episode of Station 19 alive. The beloved character died after falling victim to “family fire.” He sacrificed himself to save Andy and she desperately tried to save him in return. HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with Alberto Frezza about Ryan’s last moments. “I think that if there’s one person in the world that he would give his life for it would be Andy. It’s beautiful to see him actually do that. He doesn’t have a connection with anybody in his life, even his parents. I don’t think he’s as close to his parents as he is to Andy and I think the closest thing to a parent that he has is Pruitt. I think that he did it with an open heart and he did it without thinking twice. He would have done that 300 times if he had the chance.”
Just before Ryan was shot, he was beginning to open up to Andy about something important: his feelings for her. Ryan had already admitted that he told his ex that he was still in love with Andy. Alberto opened up about Ryan and Andy’s final conversation. “Unfortunately, it was cut short. But I know that Ryan made the decision to come back to Seattle and really open his heart to Andy and tell her all the things that he’s been wanting to tell her for years. They’ve just been a little immature and a little scared to say certain things to each other. They’ve been so focused on work and never really made it a priority to actually take things between them very seriously. This was him going for it 100 percent and he was laying it all on the line. I think the conversation would have been like, ‘Let’s try and do this 100 percent because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’ I think that’s what he was going to do.”
The episode also featured touching flashbacks of Ryan and Andy’s time together. For Alberto, getting to show another side of his character, even under tragic circumstances, was something he enjoyed. “It’s really nice because you really see how far these characters have come and you really get a sense of how much they know each other,” Alberto continued. “I believe that the little things are the one matter and we usually spend more time focusing on the bigger things that happened. A very simple scene of them laying on the hood of a car talking about certain things may be more formative in their relationship than something like a breakup, you know what I mean? I think that we see these little intricate moments between the two characters that really show us how much love they have for each other and how far they’ve come.”
Ryan and Pruitt’s relationship was also showcased and explored more in the episode. Ryan and Pruitt’s discussion is what prompts Ryan to be honest with Andy about his true feelings. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end with a happily ever after. “It’s devastating but it’s so funny because they all complement each other in some way. Pruitt finds out that he’s not doing too well, so he decides to open up to Ryan. Ryan takes it all in, he sees what life really means, what’s important, and what he wants. He finds the courage to open up to Andy and tell her how he feels. It just doesn’t really go the way we all wanted it to.” Station 19 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.