Hear Me Out: This Wacky '9-1-1' Theory About Bobby's Death Connecting to 'Doctor Odyssey' Kind of Holds Up

It's never easy when a beloved character gets killed off. I'm still reeling from those upsetting deaths in The Sopranos, Dexter, and Breaking Bad, and let's just say that Game of Thrones felt excruciating to watch for me. While tuning into ABC's 9-1-1, I was lulled into the belief that none of my favorite characters would ever actually bite the bullet.

They've all survived countless disasters and injuries, and they all came out okay. Evan "Buck" Buckley (Oliver Stark) was struck by lightning, and Maddie Han (Jennifer Love Hewitt) had her throat slit this season, and they both made full recoveries. So, imagine my surprise (and utter heartbreak) when the leader of the 118 Firehouse, Captain Bobby Nash (Peter Krause), didn't turn out to have the same magical healing powers. I'm not fully able to accept that Bobby's gone, but I recently heard about a theory that just might work to resurrect this character.

I'm Still Not Over Bobby Dying on '9-1-1'

In Episode 15, the crew responds to an emergency where they are exposed to a deadly contagion in a lab. At first, it seems like Howie "Chimney" Han (Kenneth Choi) is going to be the character that doesn't make it after he starts exhibiting symptoms of the disease. But the dose of antivirus is rushed to the lab, and Chimney is saved. I did breathe a sigh of relief, until the 9-1-1 writers threw a curveball. Bobby has actually also been exposed, but the one vial has already been used for Chimney (and, of course, Bobby selflessly didn't ask for it for himself).

Bobby gets to say goodbye to Buck and the love of his life, Athena Grant (Angela Bassett), and then he succumbs to the disease. I sobbed through this entire sequence, and the whole time Bobby was dying, I tried to convince myself that, by some miracle, Bobby would actually be saved. Even with the latest episode showing Bobby's funeral, I still ridiculously held out hope that the writers were somehow tricking us, and that Bobby would still be walking among the living. That burial scene confirms that there might not be a future for Bobby on 9-1-1, but a new suggestion could bring Bobby back from the dead... just on another show.

Fans Have Come Up With an Intriguing 'Doctor Odyssey' Theory

Producer Ryan Murphy has another show airing on television right now called Doctor Odyssey (which also airs on ABC). There's a possibility that Bobby could appear on this show now that he's been killed off. TVLine writer Claire Franken has come up with a theory that perhaps Bobby could surface on The Odyssey. But how would this come to pass? Turns out, since it debuted last fall, fans have become convinced that the series actually takes place in a magical world of purgatory. Instead of the setting of a dreamy cruise ship, all of the action is taking place in the mind of Dr. Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson). In the series, Max explains that he was once deathly ill from COVID-19. At the beginning of the pandemic, he got sick while treating patients, and almost didn't make it. But fans have pointed out that it's highly possible that Max didn't actually recover to go off gallivanting on a cruise ship; rather, he's still stuck in a coma, and everything that happens on The Odyssey is just a figment of his imagination.

Throughout the show's run, the purgatory theory has really taken off with fans. From the first trailer, Doctor Odyssey has featured the tagline: "Heaven Is a Place on Earth," and the entire series focuses on a too-good-to-be-true atmosphere. The name of the ship reminds viewers of Greek mythology, referring to Max being on a long journey himself (as he fights to stay alive potentially). Even the cinematography makes the ship feel like a mystical place. When deaths have occurred on The Odyssey, they have included pre-death rituals and music that places the viewer in a different frame of mind than the other scenes in the series.

There is also the twin storyline, where Max has a twin brother on the mainland, which points to Max's subconscious trying to make sense of his life's choices. There's also an alternate theory out there that suggests that every character on the series is actually in some kind of purgatory state — the guests that leave the boat have moved on (whether that means to a full recovery or to heaven, we don't know). There has been no surefire confirmation of these fan theories, but if we're going with the assumption that they're true in some capacity, it would actually be perfect for Bobby to board The Odyssey now.

Bobby Could Easily End Up on 'Doctor Odyssey'

Many 9-1-1 fans are insisting that it was a massive mistake to kill Bobby off. But what if the writers had a hidden agenda this whole time? Perhaps they always knew that they would cross over Bobby's character to Doctor Odyssey. If we're going with TVLine's theory, Bobby's soul could be going through some kind of purgatory state as well. This makes so much sense to me, because, of course, Bobby wouldn't be ready to move into the afterlife so easily. In his last scene, he admits he isn't ready to die, and how would he go on without feeling the need to look after his crew and Athena? This could trap him in a purgatory state, instead of moving him right along to the afterlife. As a fan, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Bobby, so I'd be more than happy with extending his existence on another show. The only thing that doesn't fit this prediction is that Athena did show up in an episode of Doctor Odyssey already, but I'm sure the writers could figure out some sort of loophole to make this all work.

I'm not sure exactly what Bobby's purpose would be on The Odyssey (does a ship need a permanent fire captain as part of the crew?), but this would be the perfect way to make it so that fans don't have to say goodbye to his character without a little more closure. Logistically speaking, Doctor Odyssey hasn't been doing so hot in the ratings. The inclusion of Bobby's character would be a great way to entice viewers to tune in. By tying these two shows together, and by confirming those fan theories, Doctor Odyssey could breathe a little bit of freshness into its storytelling. The series has always felt like a fever dream, complete with fantastical plots and hedonistic exploits, so adding a character that has already died would align perfectly. I think TVLine has come up with an ideal way to keep Bobby on our screens, so I'm hoping those Doctor Odyssey writers are taking note.

New episodes of Doctor Odyssey air Thursday nights on ABC, with episodes available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.