9-1-1 Season 8 Finally Gives a Fan-Favorite Character Their Due

In 2018, FOX began airing 9-1-1, an ensemble show created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear. Though FOX eventually canceled the show due to budgetary issues, 9-1-1 was lucky enough to have been created under an economic model that meant the show was owned by 20th Television, allowing ABC to pick up production. 9-1-1‘s 7th season premiered on ABC in March 2024, and the show immediately saw numbers it hadn’t seen in several years. The Season 8 premiere, which aired September 26th, saw nearly 10 million viewers after seven days of multi-platform viewing, and the show’s numbers have remained steady since.

Though 9-1-1 is an ensemble show, Angela Bassett, who plays police sergeant Athena Grant-Nash, and Peter Krause, who plays fire captain Bobby Nash, sit squarely at the top of the call sheet. It is the stories of Athena and Bobby — initially separate but later intertwined — that guide much of the show’s direction, and nothing has made that more clear than the sequence of events that took place for both Bobby and Athena in Season 7 and thus far in Season 8. Bobby, in particular, has spent most of 9-1-1‘s tenure battling some pretty serious demons, but if the first four episodes of Season 8 are any indication, he might finally be leaving some of those demons behind.

What Was Bobby Nash Carrying?

In 2014, while living in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with his family, Bobby was trying to hide his addiction to alcohol and drugs, in part by keeping an empty apartment in their building where he could drink and do drugs alone. After putting his children, Brook and Robert, Jr., to bed, Bobby told his wife, Marcy, that he would be going for a walk but instead went to the empty apartment, where he woke up several hours later and, in his rush to go home, left a space heater on. Marcy was furious when she discovered he was high and told him that while she would eventually forgive him, she needed him to sleep somewhere else that night. Flustered, he left his keys behind and ended up sleeping on the roof, which is where he was when the sirens woke him. The fire that started in that empty apartment ultimately killed 148 people, including Marcy, Robert, Jr., and Brook.

Though the Saint Paul Fire Department found Bobby not responsible for the fire — had any of the countless code violations been fixed before the space heater lit a sleeping bag on fire, the blaze wouldn’t have been anywhere near as devastating — that didn’t matter to him. He held himself responsible and tried to drink himself to death before the fire chief told him that he should consider living to be his punishment and to make something out of the remainder of his life. Bobby rode the desk at work, got sober, and then he made a deal with God. He would save one life for every life lost in the fire, which he kept track of in a little black book, and then he could join his family in death. After six months of sobriety, Bobby asked to be put back in the field. The fire chief didn’t think his team was ready to serve with him yet, so Bobby requested a transfer. About six months after that, Bobby began working for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Chimney and Hen Help Bobby Open Up

Like many of the procedural shows centered around firefighters, 9-1-1 has been very clear about the 118 being a family, but they didn’t start that way. In Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot,” Bobby makes a point of telling Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark) that they are not a family, but that begins to change. After a relapse in Season 1, Episode 4, “Worst Day Ever,” requires Bobby to ask for help, Bobby admits to Henrietta “Hen” Wilson (Aisha Hinds) in Season 1, Episode 5, “Point of Origin,” that he promised himself that he wouldn’t ever get close to anyone again so that it didn’t hurt if he lost them, but that the 118 has made keeping that promise impossible. Hen convinces Bobby to open up and let them in, which is just the beginning.

In Season 1, Episode 8, “Karma’s a Bitch,” Howard “Chimney” Han (Kenneth Choi) convinces Bobby to donate blood, which is how they learn that Bobby is one of just two people whose blood can help save the lives of babies with a rare disease. When Chimney realizes that Bobby is handling the news poorly, he thinks it’s because Bobby is afraid of needles, but it’s actually because it ruins his plans. Chimney is the first one Bobby tells — besides his priest — that he plans to kill himself after he’s saved 148 lives, and saying it aloud is a big step in his healing. Chimney takes Bobby to the hospital to meet one of the families whose child was saved by Bobby’s blood and then tells him, “You’re going to see your own kids again. I do believe that. But right now, Asha and a thousand others just like her–they’re your kids, too. That’s your blood in their veins. I think you better either throw that book of yours away or get yourself a bigger one “cause it seems to me like you’re here to stay.”

Buck and Eddie Put Bobby in Dad Mode

It takes Bobby some time to realize it, but he is changing the lives of the firefighters at the 118. In Season 5, Episode 18, “Starting Over,” after learning that Jonah Greenway (Bryce Durfee), a paramedic Bobby temporarily brought to the 118 when both Eddie and Chimney were gone in Season 5, had been putting patients in danger, even killing them, in an attempt to be the “hero” while at the 118, Bobby was certain it was his fault. He can’t seem to shake it until Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman) arrives at the home Bobby shares with Athena. When Eddie can’t easily convince Bobby that Jonah wasn’t his fault, he finally says, “You saved my life. And my son’s. So, whatever responsibility you take for Jonah, you make sure you take some credit for me. You earned it.” Eddie’s words help Bobby, who had purchased alcohol to drink while Athena was on shift, and instead chooses to pour it down the drain.

The impact that Buck and Bobby have on each other is one that slips into many episodes throughout the tenure of 9-1-1, but it is never more clear than in Season 6, Episode 11, “In Another Life,” when Buck is in a coma after being struck by lightning. Bobby spends much of the episode at Buck’s bedside, praying, except for when he has a conversation with his step-daughter, May Grant (Corinne Massiah), where he admits that Buck is like a son to him, though that’s been obvious to viewers and characters alike for several seasons. In his coma dream, Buck is encountering a different version of Bobby, one who is still consuming drugs and alcohol, which is making him kind of a jerk. Bobby needles at Buck, even telling him that he “can’t fix everything,” which is which Buck snaps. “I fixed you,” he says. “I joined the 118. And I made you mad. And I made you cry. I made you laugh sometimes, you know? I drove you crazy, but I think you spent so much time trying to make sure that I didn’t get myself killed that it made you remember what it is to live.”

Bobby and Athena’s Love Story Changed Everything

It’s the 118 who reminded Bobby what it’s like to love other people and why that’s so important, but it was Athena who gave Bobby the opportunity to let himself be loved again. In Season 1, Episode 10, “A Whole New You,” Bobby and Athena connected when he was having a tough time on a call where a father died in a motorcycle accident. He asked her if she would go to church with him, where they prayed together. Later, Chimney finds Bobby getting ready for a date, and in the last moments of the episode, viewers get to see Bobby and Athena begin their relationship. The rest, as they say, is history.

The relationship between Bobby and Athena moved quickly, with Bobby proposing just 6 or 7 months into their relationship, on Christmas Eve in Season 2, Episode 10, “Merry Ex-Mas,” and though they began to plan a wedding, they ultimately got married at the courthouse — just Bobby, Athena, and Harry and May — in Season 2, Episode 18, “This Life We Choose.” Their relationship has not been without its issues, especially given that both Bobby and Athena are prone to putting their lives at risk, but they’ve worked through uncertainty about their relationship, keeping secrets from each other, and Bobby not feeling like Athena actually wants a partner, just to name a few. The beautiful thing about their relationship is that it has given both of them a second chance at love, and even when they’re struggling, they very obviously love each other.

At the end of Season 7, a couple of things happen. Bobby meets Amir Casey (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), a man whose wife died in the Minnesota fire that killed Bobby’s family, in Season 7, Episode 8, “Step Nine.” The experience he has talking with Amir and trying to make amends sends Bobby into a downward spiral, and in Season 7, Episode 9, “Ashes, Ashes,” Bobby quits his job without telling anyone. It scares Athena, who accuses him of putting his affairs in order. He promises her that he isn’t, but she isn’t sure she believes him. She’s seen him standing on the ledge of a building before — in Season 2, Episode 6, “Dosed,” Bobby accidentally got high on LSD, hallucinated his daughter, and talked about joining her while standing on the firehouse roof — but Bobby insists that whatever is going on with him isn’t the same thing. In an attempt to reassure her, Bobby tells her about his black notebook, what his plan had been, and that he threw the notebook away on the night of their first date because he didn’t want any of it to touch her. She tells him, in no uncertain terms, that it’s way too late for that.

Season 7 Helps Bobby Understand His Worth

Though Bobby Nash has a lot about him that seems perfect, one of his most distinct flaws is that he doesn’t always seem to think all the way through how his actions might impact people. It’s not that he never does, but he misses big red flags that are staring him right in the face. He did not consider that he might still be harboring feelings about ending his life that could impact Athena and his friends — he threw out the book, so it was over, right? Bobby will put also himself in harms way to protect others, but doesn’t consider how it might harm him or the people who love him. All of this is because, no matter what he might say in an AA meeting or to the people in his life, he has never believed he was worthy of the time and attention of others, which began in his childhood. But that has changed.

In the final minutes of “Ashes, Ashes,” Bobby seems to hallucinate his father, Tim Nash (John Brotherton), in the kitchen. Bobby was unable to save his father from an early alcohol-related death as a young teen — seen in flashbacks in Season 7, Episode 8, “Step Nine” — and he has held onto that moment for most of his life. When he talks to his father that night, his father finally tells him the thing that Bobby needed to hear most — that Tim should have been the one to save Bobby. He also alerts him to the fire that has consumed Bobby and Athena’s home, and Bobby wakes up just in time to get himself and Athena out, though he does later suffer a heart attack.

The fire at their home is an interesting reset for Bobby. May and Harry weren’t there, and he was able to save his wife, so it’s a completely different experience from the Minnesota fire. And then, while surveying the damage, Bobby has one final conversation with Amir. Their conversation is short, but it shows Bobby that holding on to what he thinks he does or does not deserve no longer serves him. Amir tells Bobby, “What I’ve come to realize is this life that you have? Maybe you earned it. You know, when you lose everything, including yourself, when you are at your absolute lowest, the easiest thing to do is to stay down. But you didn’t. You climbed out, you rebuilt, and you did better. Bobby, I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for what you did that night, but I can admire you for what you’ve done since. And what I hope you’ll continue to do.”

What’s Next for Bobby Nash?

When Season 8 returned on September 26th, Bobby had not been able to get back his job at the 118 and was consulting on the set of a television show about firefighters called Hotshots. Viewers began to see the changes in Bobby even while he was doing a job he didn’t necessarily love. He didn’t correct Brad Torrence (Callum Blue), the lead actor on the show, when he called Bobby a hero in Season 8, Episode 1, “Buzzkill,” which was a surprise. And while Bobby standing by Athena and supporting her while she was trying to land a plane in Season 8, Episode 3, “Final Approach,” wasn’t surprising, he did seem different. Lighter, despite the circumstances, which allowed him to focus on what Athena needed to get through the event.

The biggest difference so far came in Season 8, Episode 4, “No Place Like Home.” His demeanor on 9-1-1 continued to seem as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, but more than that, Bobby communicated something with Athena that showed an exponential amount of growth. Athena hadn’t liked any of the homes they’d seen, so she tells Bobby that what she wants is to rebuild the land they already have. But when she presents the idea to Bobby, it comes with the plan to rebuild the same home — the one her first husband, Michael, designed for her.

Even just a season ago, Bobby might have said yes to Athena and either never thought about it again or held onto the sadness and frustration that came with that suggestion. Instead, Bobby tells Athena that he doesn’t want to rebuild the same house. That house was Michael’s. He wants something for their relationship. It’s a huge step for Bobby –first, he is communicating what he feels and wants to Athena, which is big by itself for the man, but second, and maybe most important, is that Bobby believes that he deserves to be happy in both the present and the future. He would have been happy in the house they were living in forever, just because Athena was there if it had never burned down, but now, after being presented with the opportunity to build something with Athena, he wants to put his own stamp on it. He’s allowing himself to think about what he wants and embracing the idea that he actually gets to be part of the life he’s living. His perspective has shifted dramatically, and it’s going to be a really powerful thing to watch.

Though viewers don’t know much about what else the season holds for Bobby Nash, it’s safe to say that he’ll be supporting his team both in and out of work now that he’s back at the 118 and that the audience will get to see bits and pieces of Bobby and Athena building a house together. Though there are likely to be more emotional moments coming — it is 9-1-1, after all — fans of Bobby’s will get to see a version of the captain who is enjoying life more than he has in the past. Peter Krause can handle anything put in front of him, but it will be fun for viewers to see him spend more time with comedy and with a character that has a little bit of a lighter step. It’s what fans have wanted for Bobby all along.