‘9-1-1’ Creator Breaks Down Show’s First Big Death and Choosing ‘the Scariest Character to Kill’

Note: This story contains spoilers from “9-1-1” Season 8, Episode 15.

“9-1-1” may have resolved its latest catastrophic emergency. But for the first time across eight seasons, the firefighters of the 118 returned home having lost one of their own.

Episode 15, titled “Lab Rats” followed the aftermath of most of the firefighters getting stuck in a lab containing a dangerous virus that had infected Chimney (Kenneth Choi). Athena (Angela Bassett) and Buck (Oliver Stark) led the charge from the outside to secure an antiviral dose that would help heal their friend, even if it meant going against both the FBI and the U.S. Military. Like most “9-1-1” adventures, the team succeeds in saving Chimney with the sole dose of the virus and freeing the team from the lab, until Capt. Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) locks himself back in and reveals he too was infected, but chose to sacrificed himself so Chimney would live. After sharing a heart-shattering goodbye with his wife Athena, Bobby succumbed to his illness and his body was taken out of the laboratory hours later in a body bag.

Bobby’s death marks the first major character to be killed off the Fox-turned-ABC first responder drama — one that will send shockwaves across both the series and its fandom. Creator Tim Minear told TheWrap a death felt necessary for the show to continue moving forward, having Bobby as the victim was about choosing “the scariest character to kill.”

“Bobby is the most impactful character to kill … it made sense on every level,” Minear said. “[The show] needed a major character death for the audience to feel that there were real stakes in any of these cases … Next season, when our characters are in a precarious situation, you might be gripping the arms of your chair a little bit tighter.”

Minear emphasized that the twist did not come from Krause wishing to leave the series either. Minear said he chose the character to put himself in a corner creatively, as he’s done many times before, to explore how the show and its characters will evolve from the loss of their fearless leader.

With three episodes left in Season 8, Minear also said “9-1-1” will dedicate significant time to the aftermath of Bobby’s death, so fans can “grieve” with the characters before moving forward to the next big emergency in the finale and Season 9 after that.

Below, Minear explains why it had to be Bobby and where the show goes next.

TheWrap: “9-1-1” killed off Bobby! It had to happen eventually but we finally lost a member of the 118 to a heroic ending. What led you to saying goodbye to the 118’s leader now?

Minear: It was a combination of things. Like you said, it had to happen eventually. I needed a major character death if I wanted, going forward, for the audience to feel any kind of suspense or that there were real stakes involved in any of the cases … If you feel like everyone’s going to be fine, I think that the show just dies of inertia at that point. So I felt like it was important.

Then when I was breaking this two-part lab leak episode, I saw an opportunity for an epic death. And what’s perfect about it is not only the scenario, but not making it the season finale. If I do this at this juncture in the season, I’ll have three episodes to process the loss. I didn’t want to end the season on that. It’s too dark and cheap for the audience … you want to be with the characters in the direct aftermath of that and grieve with them. So it just felt like if not now, when?

It’s such a hero’s ending for Bobby. Was Peter Krause ready to leave or did this come organically from the show? Why did it have to be Bobby?

This was entirely a creative decision. It’s not like Peter came to me and was like, “I’m ready to go.” That’s not at all what happened. Things could not have been better between us, the show, the cast, everyone was just happy as little clams. It would have been a lot easier to not do it and stay status quo. But you understand why, creatively, I needed to do something moving into Season 9.

The reason it was Bobby is because then I had to ask myself, “Who should it be?” I needed to pick the character that had the most impact on all the other characters. And there’s just no contest. Bobby is the scariest character to kill, the most impactful character to kill. And usually when I have written myself into a place where I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen next, it forces something to come from that. So I just went with my instinct.

And not only does his death impact the other characters the most, it makes the most sense for Bobby. It is the conclusion of his complete arc of him coming to L.A. — a guy with a death wish — looking for redemption, finding love, finding his place in the world again, doing good works, really getting in touch with the decent man that he is. And then when he’s put in a position where he’s got to sacrifice himself to save those around him, he does it without hesitation. But it’s not because he has a death wish. It’s because now life means everything to him, and it is a real sacrifice and actual atonement for what his origin story was. It makes sense in every way.

We will get the chance to watch the characters react to this in real time, but this also sets the show up for big changes ahead. Where do we go from here?

The rest of the season is going to be lovingly reacting to that big moment. I don’t want to give away the end of the season, but as soon as I committed to this, it felt like the world of the show just felt much more real to me.

I have never killed off a character before where it’s been like this. I was known as the Tim Reaper when I was on “Angel.” But on this show that takes place in a heightened version of the real world — where I could always land the plane or right the ship, or get them out of the tsunami — on this particular show, I think to everybody, the crew and the cast, this death just hit differently.

It felt like for the month leading up to the actual event we were about to lose somebody that we loved, and I know Peter felt that way. I mean, look, he is bonded with all the cast and crew and me over the last eight years.

Bobby is the heart and leader of this team. What does leadership of the 118 look like from here? Can we expect a promotion from within or a brand new face?

We are not quite there yet. I don’t want to short circuit the potential for story that this entire thing has opened up. That question is one of the stories.

We will be reeling from this one for a while, but it would not be “9-1-1” without a bonkers finale ahead. What can you tease about what’s coming?

I’m really excited about the next three episodes. It allows me to deal with what happened, and then Episode 17 will end on a cliffhanger and we’ll have a big emergency in the finale. That has not changed. But everything for the last three episodes is in some way, shape or form about the fact that Bobby is not there anymore.

Will we see Bobby again?

Episode 15 is not Peter’s last appearance this season.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

“9-1-1” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.

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