Ryan Guzman, Peter Krause, Oliver Stark, and Aisha Hinds on ‘9-1-1’. Photo:
Mike Taing/Disney
Warning: This story contains spoilers for the April 17 episode of 9-1-1.
It’s the end of the road for Peter Krause‘s Bobby Nash on 9-1-1, but that doesn’t mean that the beloved fire captain is never to be seen again.
Co-creator and showrunner Tim Minear was tight-lipped about how Bobby will continue to be a presence in the show’s eighth season, but he did hint that fans will see him again.
“What I would say is that episode 15 is not Peter Krause’s last appearance this season,” Minear, 61, told The Hollywood Reporter.
It wouldn’t be the first time that a killed-off character made a return in ghostly form — or, in flashbacks — and the news will likely come as a relief to fans who are gutted to say goodbye to the beloved character.
Angela Bassett and Peter Krause in ‘9-1-1’. Disney/Christopher Willard
Bobby’s death came after he sacrificed himself and gave the last antidote to Chimney (Kenneth Choi) to save him from the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever they’d been infected by, and Krause said in a statement to THR that the death was “more than a bold creative choice on a bold show.”
“Bobby Nash was written in sacrifice and he was built for this. First responders risk their lives on the job so that others can see another day. His story arc honors them.”
The decision to kill Bobby was collective in a way, but also came down to be Minear’s own, he told the outlet. “I felt like creatively, if the show became too inert, it would just die of inertia, right? So I felt like it just needed to happen. Otherwise, the next time I turn over a cruise ship, or land a plane on the freeway, or take a city out with a tsunami, you’re just going to be like, ‘Oh, everyone’s going to be fine.’ So it was time for there to be some real tragic fallout from a story.”
Once he decided he needed a major death, Minear said that the “only choice that I thought made sense was Bobby.”
“It makes sense for his character to have a tragic sacrifice as a conclusion of his entire journey in the show. And also, if there’s a character whose death is going to affect the most characters, who would that be? So, go big or go home.”
Kenneth Choi, Angela Bassett, Oliver Stark, Peter Krause and Anirudh Pisharody in “9-1-1”. Disney/Christopher Willard
Minear said that “Bobby’s death gives new life to every single character’s story. It changes everything.”
“It’s not a shock moment. It’s not a superficial thing. It is a potentially game-changing thing,” he said, emphasizing that he knows it was the “right creative move” for the show.
“It’s not because Peter wanted to leave. I don’t think he wanted to leave. We’re great friends. He’s fantastic on the show. He’s so good that it made [this] a terrifying choice on my part, which is why I felt like, ‘OK, well, maybe that’s the right choice. Do the scary thing.'”
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New episodes of 9-1-1 premiere Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
