This story contains major spoilers from the April 17 episode of 9-1-1 season 8.
In the biggest 9-1-1 shocker of all, the leader of the 118 has officially left the building.
Over the last few weeks, fans of the ABC drama were waiting to see if season 8 would drop another bombshell after it seemed like Ryan Guzman would be leaving the show. And viewers’ worst fears were confirmed when station leader Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) was killed off on the April 17 episode — while making a heroic sacrifice for his team.
As a good chunk of the 118 found themselves trapped in a hazardous bio lab with a deadly virus permeating the air, folks watched as Bobby (who had oddly quarantined himself away from this team) revealed to Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark) that his breathing apparatus had a hole in it. Meaning: Bobby was exposed to the virus, and he decided the only way he could save his team (particularly Chimney) was by not letting the others know of his fate.
As he said his goodbyes to his loved ones, it was the heartfelt confession he shared with wife Athena Grant Nash (Angela Bassett) that had everyone in a puddle of tears. “I’m sorry,” he told her in a clip posted on YouTube. “This isn’t how I wanted to leave you. 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.”
The aftermath of Bobby’s death will likely affect the rest of 9-1-1 season 8. So, why did Peter Krause leave 9-1-1? There are a few explanations for the shocking maneuver — and Peter even addressed why he left the show.
When Peter spoke to Good Morning America about what his time on 9-1-1 has meant to him, he disclosed how much being on the show has shaped who he’s become over the last decade. He also shared how given Bobby’s nature of being the hero, it shouldn’t come as a shock that his character would’ve done something as monumental as this.
“It would come as no surprise to the viewing audience that Bobby chooses to save Chimney and stoically contains himself in a lab,” he told the ABC morning series in an interview airing on April 18. “He was willing to sacrifice himself so that others can see another day. I will miss everybody dearly. This was my workplace home for eight years, eight seasons and I am really gonna miss everybody.”
But that’s not all. Peter also talked about the bond Bobby and Athena had on 9-1-1 — and his hopes to portray a romance as significant as theirs again on television sometime in the future.
“I wanna have a relationship like that again on TV,” he added. “It’s been a fantastic eight years. I’m gonna miss her a lot.”
Christopher Willard//ABC
So, is this going to be the last time viewers get to see Bobby — and subsequently, Peter — on 9-1-1? Not necessarily, according to show co-creator Tim Minear. When talking to Variety about the aftermath, he teased that Bobby’s presence will continue to be felt as the final episodes of season 8 air on ABC.
“After eight years, it just felt like, if we have any hope of creating stories going forward that have actual stakes, then someone’s got to die,” he told the outlet. “I think it needed to be Bobby for a lot of reasons … If you track the tragic arc of his character, of where he started, and how he came to L.A. looking for atonement, it just makes a kind of tragic sense for his character in a way it wouldn’t for another character … [but] I will say that episode 15 is not Peter Krause’s final appearance this season.”
Given how the promo for the May 1 episode(titled “The Last Alarm”) foreshadows how the 118 begins processing Bobby’s death, we can only hope to see Peter return to the show in some shape or form.
Associate Editor
As the entertainment and news associate editor for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey’s Anatomy, though when she’s not watching the latest show on Netflix, she’s taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.
