*Warning — Major spoilers for ‘9-1-1’ season eight ahead*
Angela Bassett bid a sad farewell to her co-star Peter Krause after his 9-1-1 character, Captain Bobby Nash, was killed off after eight seasons.
On April 17, fans of the series watched as Nash sacrificed himself to save the life of Chimney (played by Kenneth Choi), a firefighter paramedic who works with Nash at Station 118 in Los Angeles, by giving him the last antidote for the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever.
Bassett, 66, who plays Nash’s wife (Sgt. Athena Grant-Nash), paid tribute to her on-screen partner in a heartwarming post on Instagram.
“For eight seasons, this kind, funny, compassionate, talented actor became not only my trusted colleague, but also a dear friend,” she wrote alongside a photo of them hugging. “#peterkrause as #bobbynash helped to introduce @911onabc to the homes and hearts of fans around the world. I know this is hard for all of you. It’s hard for us, too.”
The image shared by Bassett showed the two co-stars in costume, smiling and hugging on set.
“Peter’s Bobby Nash will be missed but his character will never be forgotten,” she continued. “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.”
Krause’s show exit comes after nine years of filming. He is the first main character to be killed off on the show. Nash and Grant’s romantic storyline was prominent from the beginning, and they tied the knot at the end of season two.
In March, Bassett spoke to People about her character’s relationship with Krause’s, admitting she couldn’t picture the two of them not together.
“Yeah, absolutely not. It would be so different. I don’t even know what the show would be like without them together. It’s hard to imagine,” she told the outlet.
Of their relationship behind the camera, the Black Panther star said: “He’s just so strong, and stable, and secure. He’s just calm. He’s just a calming influence. He’ll joke a little bit, but he don’t mind being the butt of the joke.”
Bassett and Krause’s ‘9-1-1’ characters got married in the show at the end of season two (Getty)
Broken-hearted fans will be happy to know Nash won’t be completely absent from their screens after his tragic death scene.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter on April 17, 9-1-1 showrunner Tim Minear revealed Krause’s character will pop up again at some point later on in the season. He did not give any details on when or how often this may happen.
“What I would say is that episode 15 is not Peter Krause’s last appearance this season,” he said.
Speaking on Good Morning America about his character’s fate, Krause said it would “come as no surprise to the viewing audience that Bobby chooses to save Chimney and stoically contains himself in the lab.”
“He was willing to sacrifice himself so that others could see another day. And I will miss everybody dearly,” Krause continued. “This was my workplace, for eight years, eight seasons. And I am really going to miss everybody: Angela and the fire team and the crew.”
Minear also opened up about Krause’s departure and his character’s written fate, clarifying that it wasn’t the actor’s decision to leave.
“I would say it was our [collective] decision, but it was my decision because 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,” he explained. “So it was time for there to be some real tragic fallout from a story.
“Once I started thinking that somebody had to die, then the choice was, who? And 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,” Minear continued. “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.”
New episodes of 9-1-1 are out every Thursday on ABC at 8 p.m. EST.
