‘9-1-1’ Moves On Without Bobby — But Fans Are Divided Over His Final Goodbye

Years from now, when 9-1-1 has run its course, we’ll look back on the procedural as two eras: Before Bobby’s Death (BBD) and After (ABD). As of Thursday’s devastating hour, we’re officially in the latter.

When the episode begins, two weeks have passed since Bobby died, which means the characters have had the exact same amount of time to process his loss as the viewers have. In other words, no one is even close to being able to move on from the senseless tragedy.

Athena, understandably, is the person most in denial of what’s happened. Planning a funeral means accepting that Bobby is really gone, so she’s certainly in no rush to finalize any arrangements — which is why she’s furious to discover that Chimney has apparently been pushing for the release of Bobby’s body.

Chimney’s fellow first responders stare in silent shock as Athena loudly berates him in the firehouse for interfering in the process, dressing him down with the same booming resonance she’s used on countless criminals. It’s a side of her they’ve never seen before, and it’s very much a sign that 9-1-1 has entered uncharted territory.

As fate would have it, Athena’s tirade is interrupted by the arrival of a man looking for Bobby. As he explains to Athena, the 118 responded to a fire at his sister’s house eight years ago, during which Bobby was unable to save her baby. His sister, Leah, has since become convinced that her baby somehow survived, and she’s currently in jail after trying to kidnap a little boy she believes is her grown-up son.

He thinks that Athena (in Bobby’s absence) might be able to talk some sense into Leah, so Athena pays her a visit — only to find serious credibility in her story! From a familiar birthmark on the boy’s hand to his “mother” allegedly being someone from Leah’s pre-natal yoga class, Athena begins to believe that Leah’s son could actually still be alive.

When Leah allows Athena to exhume her son’s grave, however, the truth comes out — there’s no body in the casket because there was nothing left to bury after the fire, a fact that Leah’s brother and husband apparently chose to keep from her. Beyond that, a DNA test proves the boy and his mother are indeed related, and that he isn’t Leah’s son.

Learning that the men in Leah’s life chose to keep her in the dark triggers a wave of emotions in Athena regarding Bobby’s “choice” to sacrifice himself. “Who does that?!” she asks Hen in an explosive speech. “If you love someone, you’re honest with them, you respect them, you trust that they can make the hard decisions. You don’t just blindside them and then take off. You don’t leave them to deal with the mess alone! He’s not supposed to be dead, Hen. He stood here in the kitchen that morning, planning our future, and then he left. He left me.”

When Athena breaks the truth to Leah, it’s a difficult pill for her to swallow, but Athena understands what happened. “I think that you were overcome by grief,” she says. “For a moment, you let yourself believe that miracles were possible.” It’s a feeling to which Athena can relate, given that a vision of Bobby served as her partner throughout the investigation.

Then comes one of the episode’s biggest gut punches: “I can see why he loved you,” Leah tells Athena. “And I’m sorry he’s gone. He was a special person.” We’re then treated to a flashback of Bobby visiting Leah in her hospital room on the night of the fire. In the depths of her grief, he’s able to bring her comfort with some words about losing his own children in a fire years earlier.

“How do you keep going?” Leah asks. “I live in the belief that one day I will see them again,” Bobby answers. “And you really believe that?” she replies, to which he says, “With all my heart, I do.” Bobby may be speaking to Leah, but their exchange feels like it’s also meant to be a Band-Aid of sorts for grieving fans. The effectiveness of that Band-Aid will, of course, vary from viewer to viewer.

The perspective Athena gains from this investigation helps to prepare her for Bobby’s funeral, but the truth is, no one is emotionally ready once the day actually arrives — least of all Chimney, who isn’t sure what he’s supposed to do with the life Bobby gave him through his sacrifice. “I think you’re just supposed to live,” Buck tells him.

The rest of the episode is an utter sob fest. “Of all the days, this is the one you choose to leave me to go it alone,” a heartbroken Athena says to her late husband’s portrait before enduring his emotional funeral service. We get a beautiful eulogy from Chief Simpson, followed by a dramatic “last alarm” and solemn procession. In the end, though, it’s just Athena and her two children weeping at Bobby’s casket under grey skies while Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” plays in the background. Devastating.

So, here we are. Bobby Nash is in the ground, and we still have two episodes left this season to watch his nearest and dearest attempt to pick up the pieces of their shattered world. As showrunner Tim Minear recently told TVLine, Bobby’s death makes everyone rethink their lot in life. “I wanted about three episodes to grieve with the characters, which is what you’re going to get,” Minear said. “They’re all going to have to approach it in their own way, and it’s not going to be super easy.”

Given that a grand total of zero 9-1-1 viewers believe that killing off Bobby was a good decision, these next episodes have a lot of heavy lifting to do. With the funeral behind us, the final two hours of the season will serve as a sneak peek into what a post-Bobby 9-1-1 really looks like.

In all my years of covering TV, I’ve never seen this kind of backlash, with countless fans questioning whether they can continue watching after the death of Peter Krause‘s character. So here’s my question: Short of revealing Bobby’s death to be a big hoax (which isn’t happening), what would you need to see from these next two episodes to put your concerns at ease?