“9-1-1” may have resolved its latest catastrophic emergency. But for the first time across eight seasons, the firefighters of the 118 returned home having lost one of their own.
Episode 15, titled “Lab Rats” followed the aftermath of most of the firefighters getting stuck in a lab containing a dangerous virus that had infected Chimney (Kenneth Choi). Athena (Angela Bassett) and Buck (Oliver Stark) led the charge from the outside to secure an antiviral dose that would help heal their friend, even if it meant going against both the FBI and the U.S. Military. Like most “9-1-1” adventures, the team succeeds in saving Chimney with the sole dose of the virus and freeing the team from the lab, until Capt. Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) locks himself back in and reveals he too was infected, but chose to sacrificed himself so Chimney would live. After sharing a heart-shattering goodbye with his wife Athena, Bobby succumbed to his illness and his body was taken out of the laboratory hours later in a body bag.
Bobby’s death marks the first major character to be killed off the Fox-turned-ABC first responder drama — one that will send shockwaves across both the series and its fandom. Creator Tim Minear told TheWrap a death felt necessary for the show to continue moving forward, having Bobby as the victim was about choosing “the scariest character to kill.”
“Bobby is the most impactful character to kill … it made sense on every level,” Minear said. “[The show] needed a major character death for the audience to feel that there were real stakes in any of these cases … Next season, when our characters are in a precarious situation, you might be gripping the arms of your chair a little bit tighter.”
Minear emphasized that the twist did not come from Krause wishing to leave the series either. Minear said he chose the character to put himself in a corner creatively, as he’s done many times before, to explore how the show and its characters will evolve from the loss of their fearless leader.
With three episodes left in Season 8, Minear also said “9-1-1” will dedicate significant time to the aftermath of Bobby’s death, so fans can “grieve” with the characters before moving forward to the next big emergency in the finale and Season 9 after that. TheWrap: “9-1-1” killed off Bobby! It had to happen eventually but we finally lost a member of the 118 to a heroic ending. What led you to saying goodbye to the 118’s leader now?
Minear: It was a combination of things. Like you said, it had to happen eventually. I needed a major character death if I wanted, going forward, for the audience to feel any kind of suspense or that there were real stakes involved in any of the cases … If you feel like everyone’s going to be fine, I think that the show just dies of inertia at that point. So I felt like it was important.
Then when I was breaking this two-part lab leak episode, I saw an opportunity for an epic death. And what’s perfect about it is not only the scenario, but not making it the season finale. If I do this at this juncture in the season, I’ll have three episodes to process the loss. I didn’t want to end the season on that. It’s too dark and cheap for the audience … you want to be with the characters in the direct aftermath of that and grieve with them. So it just felt like if not now, when? It’s such a hero’s ending for Bobby. Was Peter Krause ready to leave or did this come organically from the show? Why did it have to be Bobby?
This was entirely a creative decision. It’s not like Peter came to me and was like, “I’m ready to go.” That’s not at all what happened. Things could not have been better between us, the show, the cast, everyone was just happy as little clams. It would have been a lot easier to not do it and stay status quo. But you understand why, creatively, I needed to do something moving into Season 9.
The reason it was Bobby is because then I had to ask myself, “Who should it be?” I needed to pick the character that had the most impact on all the other characters. And there’s just no contest. Bobby is the scariest character to kill, the most impactful character to kill. And usually when I have written myself into a place where I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen next, it forces something to come from that. So I just went with my instinct.
And not only does his death impact the other characters the most, it makes the most sense for Bobby. It is the conclusion of his complete arc of him coming to L.A. — a guy with a death wish — looking for redemption, finding love, finding his place in the world again, doing good works, really getting in touch with the decent man that he is. And then when he’s put in a position where he’s got to sacrifice himself to save those around him, he does it without hesitation. But it’s not because he has a death wish. It’s because now life means everything to him, and it is a real sacrifice and actual atonement for what his origin story was. It makes sense in every way.
