9-1-1 Has Been Setting Up Bobby's Heroic Death Since Last Year

The first main character death in 9-1-1 was heartbreaking, but the reason Bobby died was hidden in plain sight since the beginning of the season. Peter Krause has been a fixture of the 9-1-1 cast since the first-responder procedural premiered in 2018, but fire captain Bobby Nash shockingly died at the end of “Lab Rats” (9-1-1 season 8, episode 15). Previously, he and three members of LAFD station 118— Henrietta “Hen” Wilson (Aisha Hinds), Ravi Panikkar (Anirudh Pisharody), and Howard “Chimney” Han (Kenneth Choi)— were trapped in a lab containing the most dangerous strain of CCHF (Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever).

Chimney almost immediately begins showing symptoms in 9-1-1 season 8, episode 14, but Bobby waits until the lone antidote has been administered to reveal that he, too, was infected by CCHF. While 9-1-1 could’ve easily saved Bobby, the drama instead opted to kill off the patriarch of station 118. Many are holding out hope that Bobby Nash isn’t really dead in 9-1-1, but there are only so many false-deaths one character can go through. Despite the emotional whiplash, Bobby’s death wasn’t out of nowhere— in hindsight, 9-1-1 season 8 began setting up the twist ending months in advance.

Bobby Died Saving Chimney In 9-1-1 Season Episode 15

The Beloved Fire Captain Died A Hero

The only comfort in Bobby’s death was that it wasn’t in vain— Bobby purposely hid his symptoms to save the team from the dilemma of deciding who gets the single CCHF antiviral. There may have been alternative strategies, like administering half doses to both of them or asking 9-1-1’s evil scientist Moira Blake (Bridget Regan) to synthesize another antidote, but Bobby wanted to save Chimney at all costs. For Captain Nash, it was simple: with Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) still recovering from a traumatic attack and a second baby on the way, Chimney had to make it out alive.

Bobby’s death in 9-1-1 was always going to be a selfless act, but the first-responder drama practically turned the fire captain into its sacrificial lamb. Truthfully, 9-1-1’s characterization left no room for debate: if Chimney died, Bobby would have been consumed by guilt for the rest of his life. While other characters, like Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) and Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark), desperately wanted to help, Bobby accepted his fate without a fight. Although Bobby would have sacrificed himself for anyone in the 118, it’s no coincidence that 9-1-1 season 8 gave Chimney in particular so much to lose.

How Maddie's Second Pregnancy & Near-Death Experience Set Up Bobby's Death

Chimney's Death Had Higher Stakes

Maddie and Chimney have been major characters in 9-1-1 season 8, which served to lay the foundation for Bobby’s heroic sacrifice. News broke of Chimney and Maddie’s second baby in 9-1-1 season 8, episode 6, but the celebration was cut short. Quickly thereafter, the pregnant dispatcher had one of the most gruesome experiences in the series’ history, when Abigail Spencer’s 9-1-1 antagonist, Detective Amber Braeburn, slit Maddie’s throat and left her for dead. At the time, the unborn baby seemed to act like plot armor, but the pregnancy storyline saving Maddie is a cruel inverse of how it killed Bobby.

Neither Maddie nor Chimney are strangers to 9-1-1’s intense near-death experiences, but having a baby on the way changes everything. There was no world where 9-1-1 killed Chimney during the Contagion saga, as it would’ve left his and Maddie’s second child fatherless. Bobby didn’t need any extra convincing to save his life, but it was fuel to the fire, knowing that Chimney was urgently needed as a father. In a way, 9-1-1 season 8’s shocking death was a full-circle moment, as it tragically reunited Bobby with his own deceased children just as it sent Chimney home to his family.