9-1-1 Star Explains Why He Argued Against Season 8’s Major Death

9-1-1 star Kenneth Choi opens up about how he fought co-creator and showrunner Tim Minear on a major death. For most of its run, the first responder drama has steadfastly avoided killing off any major characters. That all changed with 9-1-1 season 8, episode 15, "Lab Rats", which saw Captain Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) sacrifice himself to save Howard Han (Choi) and the rest of his team. Bobby catches a deadly virus, deciding to spend his last minutes helping the 118 for one last time.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Choi was asked about his conversation with Minear when he learned that Bobby would die. Choi admits that he initially believed the showrunner and co-creator was not being serious, due to Minear's sense of humor. But in the quote below, Choi talks about how he continued to fight against the decision right up until the point that they filmed Bobby's funeral scene:

As soon as he said the words, I just waited and waited, because Tim has a very wry sense of humor, and I was just waiting for him to say "I'm just f---ing with you, just kidding," and those words never came. There was this long period of silence and I said, "Are you serious?" And he said, "I'm serious, yeah."

And then I just kind of went into those stages of grief. Denial, mostly: This doesn't make any sense. Why would you do that? You're kind of killing off our father figure.... And he explained creatively why he thought it was the right choice, and I fought him on it. And I continued to fight him on it. I fought him on it up until we kind of did the funeral stuff, because I was thinking, Maybe they'll pull it back. Maybe they'll change their minds. Maybe they’ll reverse course. But… yeah.

What Choi's Comments Mean For 9-1-1

Bobby May Really Be Gone

Fans who have watched 9-1-1 from the very beginning are struggling to come to terms with Bobby's death. There are a few reasons for that. Up until "Sick Day", 9-1-1 has been a show where the main characters have been indestructible. Eddie (Ryan Guzman) has been shot by a sniper. Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) has had her throat slashed. Buck (Oliver Stark) has been struck by lightning. Athena (Angela Bassett), Hen (Aisha Hinds), and Christopher (Gavin McHugh) have also faced their share of life-threatening situations.

But they've also always ended up just fine. This has not been a show that has relished in killing off main characters, which takes some time to adjust to. But there are also still hints that Bobby may not be dead. The montage that plays in his final moments is accompanied by a song about a man who climbs his way out of death to get back to his wife.

In interviews, as well, Minear has referenced that he was inspired by other pop culture staples that conveniently feature a character who was not as dead as initially thought, namely Star Trek's Wrath of Khan. However, Minear also stated that Bobby is dead, saying that the actor will return later in the season, but clarified, "I don’t want to mislead anyone. He’s dead." Choi's remarks also suggest that Bobby's death is not some elaborate twist that's just waiting to unfold.

Our Take On Bobby's Death

I'm Willing To Wait And See

I'm one of the few that doesn't mind Bobby's death. It all depends on how the show chooses to unfold from this point and whether it truly challenges itself to deliver a meaningful aftermath. For a lot of fans, however, they've rightly not viewed the procedural as a grim drama where the protagonists face death every day. It's fundamentally always been an absurd series where, despite everything, the heroes are okay in the end. That will take some adjusting, ahead of 9-1-1 season 9.

9-1-1 season 8 returns Thursday, May 1 at 8 PM ET on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.