"You've Got to Knock Down a Few Walls": Bobby Nash's '9-1-1' Death Addressed by 'Lone Star's Rob Lowe

Captain Robert Wade Nash's (Peter Krause) death in 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 15, "Sick Day," is still being felt over a week later, and there have been varying reactions. Rob Lowe played Captain Owen Strand in the spinoff series 9-1-1: Lone Star, and in an interview with Variety, he shared his perspective on the development. "I watched it and thought it was beautifully written, beautifully acted. Peter is a spectacular actor,” Lowe said. “At a certain point in a show like that, and Tim [Minear] has said this publicly, every once in a while, you’ve got to knock down a few walls if you want to keep the house structure sound," he added. The actor theorized on the potential repercussions of this decision, saying:

"Ironically, it might rejuvenate the show into a whole new area, but it will never be the same without Peter who was, from the beginning, just such an amazing actor. And the way he played that death scene was emblematic of his nuance and subtlety. I’ve just always been a fan of what he and Angela and the rest of the cast do on that show, definitely.”

Captain Strand Was Meant to Die In '9-1-1: Lone Star'

9-1-1: Lone Star ended after five seasons earlier this year and like it's mothership series, its characters had seen their fair share of danger that could have killed them. Captain Strand had gone through everything, from cancer to viruses and bursting gang activity. In the show's final episode, he is thought to have died, but was later revealed to have survived the asteroid and moved to New York. Showrunner Rashad Raisani said that he had considered killing off the character. "One alternate ending was I definitely considered killing Owen and letting his death just be the death. But as I said, it just felt like it was too sad on top of the fact that it was sad already," Raisani said. “See, 9-1-1, they get to keep their show. Peter goes but the show remains It would have been too much if Owen Strand died and the show did," Lowe told the outlet.

Minear also explained why he decided to kill off the captain. "The only choice that I thought made sense was Bobby. It makes sense for his character to have a tragic sacrifice as a conclusion of his entire journey in the show. And also, if there’s a character whose death is going to affect the most characters, who would that be? So, go big or go home," he said. When 9-1-1 returns on May 1, everyone will be dealing with the aftermath of that loss.

Tune in to ABC on Thursday next week to watch "The Last Alarm" and see how everything plays out.