Peter Krause and Bobby Nash Deserved Better

Spoilers for ‘9-1-1’

It’s been a couple of weeks since 9-1-1 unceremoniously killed off its captain, Bobby Nash (played by Peter Krause), a decision that neither Krause nor anyone in the cast supported. And no, it wasn’t about money. According to showrunner Tim Minear, it was a “creative decision.”

And that’s what really pisses me off. Killing off a character isn’t “creative.” It’s lazy. It’s the shortcut writers take when they’ve run out of ideas but still want to jolt the audience. Yes, after eight seasons, the show desperately needed a creative shake-up, and sure, killing Bobby gave 9-1-1 its best ratings in five months. Congrats, I guess. But now it has to sustain those numbers without one of its best, most grounding characters.

This week’s episode gave us Bobby’s funeral. His widow, Athena, spent the hour drowning in grief and putting off the funeral, because acknowledging it would mean admitting he was really gone. Chim literally ran from his emotions because Bobby died saving him. The rest of the cast moped around until the inevitable funeral scene finally arrived.

There was also a flashback. Eight years ago, Bobby failed to save a baby in a house fire. The grieving mother reappeared in the present day, convinced a completely unrelated child was hers and that the original fire had been cover for a kidnapping. Athena put off Bobby’s funeral arrangements to deal with that nonsense (no, the baby wasn’t hers; grief just scrambled her brain).

So there you go, Tim Minear. One. Single. Episode. You squeezed one serviceable episode out of Bobby’s death. Maybe you’ll get a few more out of the “Who Will Be the Next Captain?” storyline. And then what? The show keeps lurching forward without Peter Krause.

Years ago, Fear the Walking Dead did the same thing. They killed off a lead character played by Kim Dickens for “creative reasons.” Dickens didn’t want to go. The cast didn’t want it. But new showrunners thought it would inject some fresh energy. And you know what? It worked. Briefly. I still think those eight episodes leading up to her death were the best the show ever did. But everything after that? Warm piss. Three straight seasons of dreck, until the show finally contrived an insane excuse to bring Dickens back. But it wasn’t the same. It never is.

9-1-1 may enjoy a similar short-term bump from Bobby’s death. But it’s going to regret it. I wouldn’t be surprised if this move shortens the show’s overall run, not that a creaky procedural this far past its prime needs to continue indefinitely. Still, Krause’s character gave the series its soul. He brought depth, compassion, and emotional gravity to an otherwise ridiculous show. He and Angela Bassett made 9-1-1 work, such as it still did. Now he’s gone, and she’s going to be stuck in grief mode for the rest of the season, if not longer.

This show used to be about wild, over-the-top emergencies. That’s what made it fun. It was ridiculous, but it knew it was ridiculous, and Peter Krause was the guy who held the whole circus together. There’s a reason he has three Emmy nominations and has starred in four wildly successful TV series (Sports Night, Six Feet Under, Parenthood, and now 9-1-1). And Tim Minear just tossed that legacy out the window because he couldn’t come up with anything better.