9-1-1 will never be the same. And as Angela Bassett wrote in a message on Instagram on Monday, April 21, four days after the episode that changed the show forever, that is definitely true for her character, Athena.
“For eight seasons, this kind, funny, compassionate, talented actor became not only my trusted colleague, but also a dear friend. #peterkrause as #bobbynash helped to introduce @911onabc to the homes and hearts of fans around the world,” Bassett wrote in the caption of a photo of herself and Krause. “I know this is hard for all of you. It’s hard for us, too. Peter’s Bobby Nash will be missed but his character will never be forgotten. He is forever a part of our family. We should all give Peter a lot of love as he expands beyond “the 118” and into all adventures that await him. Love you, my friend. Athena will never be the same.” Check out the post below.
It was in the Thursday, April 17, episode that Krause’s Bobby Nash was killed off, after he was infected with a super strain of CCHF; there was only one dose of the anti-viral, and even though he knew he was infected, he still gave the dose to Chimney (Kenneth Choi), who, too, was dying.
Bobby and Athena married in Season 2 of 9-1-1. Buck (Oliver Stark) called Athena into the lab once Bobby revealed that he was dying, and it was then the couple had a tear-jerker of a goodbye. “I’m sorry, this isn’t how I wanted to leave you,” Bobby told Athena. “I’m not choosing to leave you. I chose to save my team because it was the right thing to do. It was never because I wanted to go. I don’t want to go. If I could choose, I would stay with you always.” Though he wanted her to leave rather than to see him die, she insisted on staying: “I’m here, for all the parts that we have left.”
Showrunner Tim Minear told TV Insider that Krause did not want to leave and it was purely “a creative decision” to kill off and write out Bobby. “Nobody wanted Peter to leave, most of all me, but I just felt like we’re going into Season 9 and it would’ve been comfortable to keep everything status quo and happy happy,” he said. “But it’s a first responder show, and I put these people in life and death situations, except you could probably look at it and say I just put them in life situations because no one ever dies. So it just felt like it was time.”
Going forward, Athena, like everyone, will not handling her grief well. “You’re going to see Athena try to achieve a miracle that she didn’t get with Bobby,” Minear teased.
9-1-1, Thursdays, 8/7c, ABC
