9-1-1 Says Goodbye to Bobby: First Look At His Emotional Funeral

The day that 9-1-1 fans hoped would never come is almost here: the funeral of fallen hero Bobby Nash. (It’s not too late to reveal that this has all been a fever dream, by the way! … No? OK, then.)

TVLine has a pair of exclusive photos from Thursday’s episode (ABC, 8/7c), in which the 118 says goodbye to its captain, following his death from Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in the show’s two-part “Contagion” event.

Our photos offer a bittersweet first look at Athena as she grieves yet another lost love, and several members of the 118 serving as pallbearers for their captain, carrying him to his final resting place just as he carried them all for eight seasons.

“This was entirely a creative decision on my part, really,” showrunner Tim Minear told TVLine of Bobby’s untimely demise. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. … Look, am I crawling out on a skinny branch? Maybe. On the other hand, if the stakes are never real, if there’s really no chance that any of this peril in which these characters find themselves amounts to anything, I think the show could die.”

Now, there is some good news in all of this: Minear confirmed to TVLine that Krause will still appear in new scenes — presumably to flashbacks of moments we never saw — over the final three episodes of the season, so at least we’ll get to spend some more time with our beloved Bobby.