ABC’s 9-1-1 is about to present Station 118 with their biggest challenge yet — meteors getting ready to hit Los Angeles.
In the first look at season 9, Maddie Han (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman), Howie Han (Kenneth Choi) and Evan Buckley (Oliver Stark) star in shock as meteors come hurling toward the city. The first responders have to prepare to help save the city, which they may or may not be equipped for.
The next catastrophe will be Station 118’s newest recovery mission after losing a member of their team. Before season 8 came to an end earlier this year, the ABC series shook things up by killing off Peter Krause‘s fan favorite character Bobby.
After the show faced backlash for killing off Bobby, Krause, 60, released a statement about his shocking departure.
9-1-1 fans are still reeling from that shocking death — but are any other main cast members not returning for season 9? The hit ABC series, which premiered in 2018, follows the professional and personal lives of Los Angeles first responders. Since 9-1-1 debuted, Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds and Kenneth Choi […]
“I’ve heard that many fans are upset by this loss and they have a right to be. It is a loss. That said, it was more than a bold creative choice on a bold show. Bobby Nash was written in sacrifice and he was built for this,” Krause wrote in a statement. “First responders risk their lives on the job so that others can see another day. His story arc honors them. We at 9-1-1 salute all the incredible men and women who do these dangerous jobs and strive to keep us safe.”
According to showrunner Tim Minear, 9-1-1 isn’t in a rush to bring in a replacement for Bobby.
“I’m not solving that problem right away for the rest of this season,” he told TV Insider in April. “There is an interim captain there who is not going to be the captain going forward, but the last three episodes are not about who’s in Bobby’s chair. The last three episodes are about that chair is empty.”
While speaking with Variety, Minear said that Krause could still find ways to appear on screen.
“I still think people grip their seats and are excited when Athena lands a plane on the freeway or a ship capsizes — but after eight years, it just felt like, if we have any hope of creating stories going forward that have actual stakes, then someone’s got to die,” he explained about why it “made sense” Bobby to be killed off. “If you track the tragic arc of his character, of where he started, and how he came to L.A. looking for atonement, it just makes a kind of tragic sense for his character in a way it wouldn’t for another character.”
Minear concluded: “But also, I just didn’t want to go small. Not that any of the characters are small, but Bobby’s death affects every single character’s story in a way that really no other character death would.”
Bobby’s death on 9-1-1 came out of nowhere — but why was the decision to kill off Peter Krause‘s character so controversial? 9-1-1, which premiered in 2018, introduced Us to the professional and personal lives of Los Angeles first responders. Krause was one of the major players in the role of Bobby, a.k.a. the LAFD […]
Krause’s former onscreen wife Angela Bassett also recently weighed in on each character’s future after Bobby’s death.
“I don’t think it’s going to be, you know, that real sad, sad grieving process that we’re used to seeing,” Bassett, 67, teased exclusively to Us Weekly in August about what is to come. “[She’ll be] throwing herself back into work. You can’t catch her. She won’t land somewhere. She keeps moving. Keeps distracting herself.”
Bassett noted that even when people try to “hold her still,” Athena will break free. “It’s like, ‘Put me out there, [Captain]. Put me on the field,’” she shared.
Season 9 of 9-1-1 premieres on ABC Thursday, October 9, at 8 p.m. ET.
