9-1-1 formally said goodbye to beloved fire captain Bobby Nash with a funeral worthy of his dedication to the job.
The Thursday, May 1, episode, titled “The Last Alarm,” highlighted the lead-up to a funeral for Bobby (Peter Krause), as his fellow members of the 118 struggled to cope with his passing. Bobby’s wife, Athena (Angela Bassett), also struggled to make decisions about organizing the memorial.
By the end, Athena and the firefighters gathered at a church for an emotional service that was completed with a round of salutes. Then, only Athena and her two children — May (Corrine Massiah) and Harry (Elijah M. Cooper) from a previous marriage — said goodbye to Bobby’s fire engine-red casket as it was lowered into the ground next to headstones for his late first wife and two kids. (For a full episode recap, click here.)
The emotionally charged send-off to Bobby, rightfully, left fans reeling.
Us Explains ‘9-1-1’ Offscreen Backlash After Bobby’s Controversial Death
“This broke me. I’m just gonna go crawl into a hole,” one fan wrote via X, specifically referring to the final scene of Athena kissing Bobby’s casket.
Another noted, “I do still believe this story was written with an escape plan for them to retcon Bobby’s death, which is why there were so many clues the show might go that route.”
A third was generally distraught — trust Us, we get it — by the emotional ending of the episode.
“I haven’t cried this hard over a show since [Andrew] DeLuca died on Grey’s Anatomy. But Bobby Nash? That hit different,” the social media user wrote via X. “Then they buried him next to his first wife and kids? Yeah, I’m crushed. I’ll still watch 9-1-1, but it won’t be the same.”
Other viewers, meanwhile, criticized how the episode said goodbye to the iconic character.
“They spent an episode on Bobby’s mother and brother [earlier] episode just to cut their scenes in his funeral episode,” one wrote via X, noting that both Lesley Ann Warren and Sean O’Bryan were featured in Thursday’s credits and briefly seen attending the service.
There was also a subplot where a woman accused of kidnapping — she thought another child was her son, who died in a fire previously put out by the 118ers — sought help from Athena.
Angela Bassett Thought She’d Be Killed Off ‘9-1-1’ Before Peter Krause
“The WHOLE entire episode was focused on a possible fakeout death plot of a grieving mother only for the ending to be ‘NOPE HAHA ur son is dead! and so is bobby! Byeee,’” another social media user wrote. “Instead of spending time with the characters we love?”
Another added, “Honestly, I have never felt more played by a show. That episode was weak. It should’ve been more about the cast, not some random fire that happened 8 years ago. So disrespectful to Bobby.”
While the 9-1-1 creative team has not addressed the backlash, showrunner Tim Minear previously stressed that killing off Krause’s character was solely a creative decision and had nothing to do with the actor. Minear also told Deadline that Krause would return for some remaining episodes of season 8, which he did on Thursday in a dream sequence.
9-1-1 airs Thursdays on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.
