Season 7 of 911 has put its characters through a lot. Although the first responders are always in a lot of danger, they have faced more than a few emotional roadblocks. But while they almost always bounce back from them, fans find it impossible to recover from beloved characters actually exiting the show – a nightmare that now has Bobby Nash’s (Peter Krause) name attached to it.
From Chimney Han’s (Kenneth Choi) interrupted wedding to Maddie Buckley (Jennifer Love Hewitt) to Hen Wilson’s (Aisha Hinds) desire to adopt a young girl, there has been no shortage of gripping storylines this season. While Abby Clark (Connie Britton) was a notable character exit, losing Nash would be even worse given his history with the other characters. So, is it official that Bobby is leaving 911 when season 7 ends? Do we begin to lose our calm?
Will Bobby Nash leave 911?
Episode 9, season 7 of 911, “Ashes to Ashes,” ended on the type of cliffhanger that we love and hate. While it did its job and now we’re eager to watch the next episode, we also can’t help but be frustrated that we don’t know if Bobby will live. If he passes away as a result of his injuries in the most recent episode, it is indeed goodbye for him after season 7.
Bobby worries Athena because he quit his job as captain of the 118 and she says he appeared to be “getting his affairs in order.” She’s concerned that he would hurt himself given the heartbreaking history of his family dying in an apartment building fire that he accidentally set. After Bobby tries to reassure her, he realizes that their house is on fire. He finds Athena passed out on the floor, carries her outside to safety, and then collapses himself.
The promo for the season 7 finale of 911, “All Fall Down,” sees an emotional Athena as she waits at the hospital to find out what’s going on with Bobby. For now, we can at least find reassurance in the fact that he didn’t die at the end of season 7 episode 9.
But in case Bobby dies, then Peter Krause’s time as a series regular on 911 would be over. It’s possible that he would still appear in the drama in flashbacks or dream sequences. At the very least, Athena would think about him all the time as she would grieve this major loss while trying to move on.
If Bobby doesn’t appear in season 8 of 911, it won’t feel like his arc is complete. His background has been explored in multiple episodes and we’ve learned that he wanted to help 148 people live so he could make up for the lives lost in the apartment fire (although of course, he knows that he can’t really fix what happened in the past).
And if Bobby’s story ends because of his house catching on fire, it won’t feel satisfying. We want to see him realize that he deserves love and acknowledge that while he will never truly move on from his wife and kids dying, he didn’t hurt them on purpose. Losing Bobby this way would feel particularly cruel since a fire is the reason he had to live without the people he loved most in the world.
Bobby Nash’s 911 near-death experiences, explained
Since Bobby comes close to death on 911 many times, it’s no wonder that fans are uncertain about his future on the TV drama. Realistically, Bobby and the rest of his team could die in any episode answering one of the many 911 calls. But there are a few moments when he is the one in extreme danger.
In season 1, episode 4 of 911 called “Worst Day Ever,” Bobby helps people escape from a plane that is on fire (just another day at the office). It seems like there is no way he can get out alive, but through a combination of intelligence and also sheer luck, he manages to escape. It makes sense that he survived since it would have been way too soon for his character to depart the series.
Then, in the first few episodes of season 7, Bobby and Athena almost die when their cruise ship crashes. Unlike the season 1 plane accident episode, it really looked like the popular couple could perish. After all, this storyline was modeled after the 1972 movie The Poseidon Adventure and its every moment was incredibly tense.
In an interview with TV Guide, Peter Krause spoke to the heart of Bobby’s character: He has suffered in the past (and continues to do so), but he leans on the people around him.
“Athena, along with the 118, really saved Bobby. He needed a new family — a family that would accept him and love him.”
This is why it would be so devastating for Bobby to leave 911 — it has been a moving journey to see how his character has evolved and how many people love and accept him.
From what Krause told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019, he likes that Bobby is part of so many significant storylines. We can agree that Bobby is a well-crafted part of the show even if all the flashbacks of him and his family are particularly tough to watch. As Krause described, Bobby’s story would progress with his healing, which is expected to “give the audience hope for people who’ve gone through really difficult things and have difficult losses in their lives.”
We’ll be biting our fingernails until episode 10 of season 7 of 911, hoping that Bobby is okay… and knowing that if he does survive that terrifying house fire, it’ll be a long road to recovery.
