It’s been nearly a year since 9-1-1 aired its Season 7 finale, which means it’s time once again to fear for Bobby Nash’s life.
After Peter Krause’s character survived a capsized cruise ship, a desert cartel attack, overwhelming levels of emotional trauma, and a devastating house fire in Season 7 of the hit ABC drama, showrunner Tim Minear graciously let Bobby recover a bit and get his Hotshots on for the first half of Season 8. But on 9-1-1, how long can a character truly go without a potentially life-threatening event?
After tying up loose ends and reuniting the 118 in 8A, Minear told Decider that his goal for 8B was “to blow it all the hell apart.” Now, following a day full of deeply concerning BTS photos and video footage from the 9-1-1 set, fans are worried that Bobby Nash could be a casualty in Minear’s literal or figurative explosion. So is Peter Krause/Bobby Nash leaving 9-1-1? Why do fans think this is the end for the 118’s dad? And while we wait to learn what chaos 9-1-1 has in store, can fans find any comfort in past quotes from Minear and cast members about major character deaths? On Sunday, March 30, 2025, social media was (forgive me) ablaze with speculation of Bobby Nash’s death. Why?! Because timelines were full of behind-the-scenes production photos and videos from a 9-1-1 episode that seemingly showed Bobby’s funeral procession. NOOOO!!!!!!!!
Shooting was so public that fans and bystanders stopped to watch and share what they saw with the masses. But what exactly did they see? They had eyes on a classic firefighter funeral procession, complete with two firetruck ladders holding up an American flag. A 118 firetruck was carrying a 118 marked casket alongside Bobby’s helmet, boots, and turnout coat. Bobby’s family — Athena (Angela Bassett), May (Corinne Massiah), and Harry (Elijah M. Cooper) — were dressed in all black walking behind the truck. Captain Gerrard (Brian Thompson), Eddie (Ryan Guzman), Hen (Aisha Hinds), Buck (Oliver Stark), Chimney (Kenneth Choi), Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody), and Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) followed. And behind them, more uniformed first responders marched in mourning. I’m not going to lie. Based on the BTS clues, it’s not looking good for Bobby, the 118, or 9-1-1 fans. We have weeks left until this episode airs, but already, the people are NOT okay! When chatting with Decider earlier this month, Minear teased another exciting movie-inspired two-parter set to take place over 8×14 and 8×15. “I’m very excited about [it],” the 9-1-1 showrunner explained. “It’s ambitious in the way that the beginning of the season was ambitious. You would think it would be more of a season finale than the middle of the season, which I love.”
It’s also worth noting that in Decider’s recent interview with Ryan Guzman — whose character recently relocated to Texas — he said the only thing that could bring him back to the 118 at this point in his story is “a crazy event,” which would explain why he’s in the BTS shots. (Whether he returns for 8×14 and 8×15, however, remains unknown.) During an Instagram Q+A session on Friday, March 28, Stark confirmed that team had “already started work on Episodes 16-18,” which suggests the funeral BTS captured on March 30 would be from one of those episodes. The actor then followed up by saying he’s most excited for Episode 16, and since that’s likely the episode directly after the big two-parter, there’s a good chance that could contain the funeral procession. So did Bobby get injured in the two-parter? And does the 118’s beloved captain really die?
Does Bobby Nash Die In 9-1-1 Season 8?
Back in Season 7, Tim Minear confirmed that 9-1-1‘s main characters aren’t unkillable and admitted, “I just don’t want to kill any of them.” The comment seemed incredibly hopeful, but the showrunner also told TheWrap, “One day when it does happen, it’s going to be a sad day for me,” implying that a major death could, in fact, happen one day. So is that day on the horizon in Season 8? Fearing for characters’ safety and watching them emerge from dangerous, life-threatening emergencies in tact against all odds is the sheer nature of the show. As we know from the steady string of near-death experiences these characters have survived — most recently Maddie getting her throat slashed by a serial killer — after the show takes viewers on emotional roller coasters, things usually turn out OK! When teasing Bobby and Athena’s cruise ship catastrophe fate in Season 7, Krause star told Decider, “I think that Bobby and Athena will make it through everything. I’ve likened the show to a comic book about first responders come to life several times. And it’s amazing when you look back on all the different things these characters lived through. The character Buck, for instance, had an entire fire engine land on his leg and he’s walking just fine. So it’s a little bit like a Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon. We walk away from these incredible injuries all the time. I think everybody’s gonna be fine, but you’re gonna watch them go through some very difficult and perilous things for sure.” So we hope that’s the case again this time!
9-1-1 fans have seen a fair share of fatality fake-outs over eight seasons, so there’s always a chance that this funeral procession is part of a coma dream sequence, an It’s a Wonderful Life-style look at life without Bobby, something related to Hotshots (because why did Oliver Stark reportedly post and delete a photo of Bobby hugging Brad to IG stories?!), or uh….witness protection death faking something something?! What I’m trying to say is that on a wacky Ryan Murphy show, we can’t count any scenario out.
