The case Athena is working on is tied to a house fire that Bobby assisted with eight years ago. The house fire is thought to be a cover for the kidnapping of a child. Athena is so consumed by the case that she is ignoring all calls. Henrietta (Aisha Hinds) visits her, and Athena breaks down, overwhelmed by the hurt she feels inside. “If you love someone, you’re honest with them. You respect them. You trust that they can make the hard decisions,” Athena says. “You don’t just blindside them and then take off. You don’t leave them to deal with the mess — alone. He’s supposed to be dead Hen. He stood here in this kitchen that morning, planning our future. And he just left. He left me.”
There are TV moments you never forget. For fans of ‘9-1-1’, Bobby Nash’s exit was one of them. Peter Krause has been the beating heart of the show for years. And when he left, it wasn’t just Athena (played brilliantly by Angela Bassett) who had to say goodbye — we all did.
Henrietta says, “He didn’t want to.” “And he did anyway,” Athena adds. Athena visits the woman in jail, who she is helping, and tells her that the child she thinks is hers is not her child. “I think that you are overcome by grief. For a moment, you let yourself believe that miracles were possible,” Athena tells the woman. Eight years before, Bobby consoled the woman who lost her baby in the house fire and told her that he had lost two children. The woman asks him how he dealt with the loss, and he says, “I live in the belief that one day I will see them again.”
The scene with Bobby gives viewers at home one last glimpse of Peter Krause and, in a way, also serves as a comfort to fans dealing with the loss of his character. When the funeral day arrives, Chimney (Kenneth Choi) is having a difficult time understanding the choice Bobby made to save his life, to which Buck (Oliver Stark) tells him, “I think you’re just supposed to live.” Athena arrives at the funeral and in front of Bobby’s portrait says, “Of all the days, this is the one you choose to leave me to go it alone.” Chief Simpson delivers a eulogy to the memory of Captain Bobby, ending with a “last alarm” and procession. Athena and her two children cry at Bobby’s casket while Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” plays to close out the episode.
Bobby and Athena were more than a TV couple. They were a beacon of stability in a world of chaos. With Peter Krause’s exit, ‘9-1-1’ faced the daunting task of carrying on without one of its strongest characters. But with Angela Bassett leading the emotional charge, the farewell felt authentic, respectful, and unforgettable. While Bobby’s gone, the impact he made — on the show and on fans — is here to stay.
