The '9-1-1' Season Finale and the Post-Bobby Nash Aftermath

We got one last episode of 9-1-1 in its eighth season this week. The ninth season will not include Peter Krause’s Bobby Nash, who was killed off several weeks ago—though he (and the rest of the cast) deserved better. The episodes since have mostly dealt with the fallout of Bobby’s exit, focusing on his funeral and the tension between his wife, Athena, and the man for whom Bobby sacrificed his life, Chimney.

This week’s episode only featured one major accident, but it included a moment that harkened back to earlier seasons: an air bubble forming on the forehead of a woman trapped under a collapsed apartment building. And I need you to understand that the bubble was pulsing!

The rest of the episode mostly involved the 118 coming together to rescue people from the collapsed building. Before the building went down, Buck had decided to transfer to another station because the 118 just isn’t the same without Bobby (“now it’s just a number”), while Eddie Diaz was getting ready to hop on a flight back to Texas, where his son Christopher has been living with his grandparents.

After the big rescue — with Diaz returning to the 118 to help out — and after Chim saved the life of a guy with rebar lodged in his stomach, Athena gave Chim a heartfelt speech about how much Bobby thought of him and what a great “leader” he is. That was crucial because after everyone returned to the station, Chim gave a rousing speech about how Buck was not allowed to transfer and Diaz wasn’t allowed to move to Texas because the 118 is a family, dammit, and breaking that up would disrespect Bobby’s legacy. He looked like he was in a Michael Bay movie, goddamnit.

They nodded their heads in agreement, and Hen even said, “Yes, Cap,” before correcting herself: “Yes, Chim.” But if there’s anyone on this team who deserves to be Captain, it’s Kenneth Choi’s Chim, and that speech proved it. I’m sure next season will put him through the wringer before he earns the promotion, but he’s easily the best-suited among the existing cast.

Then came the montage set to a song called “Tragedy Is Not the End,” by what is clearly some middling white dude (Joel Ansett). After Christopher moved in with his grandparents and Diaz spent the entire season agonizing over whether to stay with the 118 in Los Angeles or move to Texas, I guess Chim’s speech magically resolved everything because now Christopher is staying in L.A. That was … inexplicable. Meanwhile, Buck moved into a new place, Hen and Karen’s adoption was finalized, Athena sold the home she rebuilt with Bobby, and finally, everyone gathered in a hospital room to meet Chim and Maddie’s new baby, Robert Nash Han — named after Bobby.

It was a sweet moment. But not nearly sweet enough to justify murdering off Bobby Nash like the monsters these people are. Ahem. So, no cliffhangers, no more departing characters, and no tragic deaths in the season finale. The end.