9-1-1 Is Right Not To Make Season 9 A “Season Of Perpetual Mourning” For Bobby
Though fans are still livid about the death of Bobby Nash, 9-1-1 season 9 isn’t going to entirely revolve around his loss – and it shouldn’t. Fans were understandably horrified and heartbroken by Bobby’s wholly unexpected death in 9-1-1 season 8. “Shocking” is a word that gets thrown around too often, but Bobby’s death was one of the instances in which that word is completely deserved. No one saw it coming – not the characters, and not the audience.
As such, 9-1-1 season 9 will grapple with the loss of Bobby, but emotions are running high and plenty of fans are making snap judgments about early comments regarding the season. The backlash to Bobby’s death and 9-1-1 season 9 even prompted actor Oliver Stark to speak out, reminding fans that the deep emotion they’re feeling is the point. He’s right: emotional investment can hurt.
That’s exactly why the upcoming season of 9-1-1 can’t stay stuck in the past.
9-1-1’s Showrunner Said Season 9 Can’t Be The Season Of Perpetual Mourning
In early September, the 9-1-1 showrunner gave details about the season 9 premiere, but also revealed how this season would handle the aftermath of Bobby’s death. Showrunner and co-creator Tim Minear explained that while the characters would still be grieving in their own ways, the upcoming season would not obsessively focus on it (via EW):
“It’s not like we come into season 9 and everything’s back on reset. That’s not the case at all. It hasn’t been that long, and people are still grappling with it in their own ways. Really, all of the characters are trying to find their equilibrium.
But we’re not coming back into a wake. It was important for us that this didn’t become ‘9-1-1: The Season of Perpetual Mourning,’ but it is kind of ‘9-1-1: The Season of Perpetual Grappling.’ When one piece as pivotal as Bobby is taken away, everything shifts: partnerships change, roles change, and people have to discover something within themselves that maybe they didn’t know they had. And that really is a major theme of the first part of the season.”
Far from ignoring Bobby, it seems as though the upcoming 9-1-1 season will handle the aftermath of his death in as realistic a way as possible. People grieve differently and handle death differently, and it appears that realistic approach will be reflected in the characters as they try to navigate life without their captain and leader.
Fans Are Still Outraged About Bobby’s Death – But It’s No Longer Reasonable
Angela Bassett as Athena Grant with Peter Krause’s Bobby Nash in 9-1-1
Character deaths, especially those of characters as beloved by fans and integral to the story as Bobby Nash was to 9-1-1, are always hard. They’re genuinely devastating. The sadness lingers, and it’s proof of just how deeply they impacted everyone, both on screen and off. There’s also a different kind of sadness, which is knowing that the show (or a book, or a movie series) will never be the same again.
For both 9-1-1‘s characters and audience alike, there will be before Bobby and after Bobby, similar to how Grey’s Anatomy changed in the wake of Derek Shepherd’s death, or Mark Greene’s death in ER, a death that profoundly shook me as a stressed-out grad student when I watched it unfold in 2008. Some losses are unthinkable, and yet they still happen. That’s the unfair truth of life.
The other unfair truth is that somehow, you have to find a way to move on, and, just like the characters, so must fans. It’s understandable to be upset, even devastated, by Bobby’s death. But this is a show about firefighters; inevitably, these fictional characters will die. That’s never not part of the deal with a network procedural.
Considering that, the vitriol and outrage still held by some fans have now crossed the line into being excessive. Bobby may return in 9-1-1 flashbacks, but he’s not coming back for good, and it’s unreasonable for audiences to demand it. Someone had to go, and it had to be a character who would have a major impact on the show. Peter Krause knew it, which is why he wanted Bobby to die a full year earlier in 9-1-1.
9-1-1 Season 9 Can’t Revolve Around Bobby’s Death If It Wants To Survive
Group salute at Bobby’s funeral in 9-1-1
If Bobby’s heroic sacrifice in 9-1-1 season 8 proves anything, it’s that life isn’t fair. Good guys die, sometimes in a sudden accident, and sometimes while sacrificing themselves to save others. Good characters experience world-shattering loss. It’s heartbreakingly sad that Athena now has to lose another love interest, this one the love of her life – but sometimes, the universe just tees up multiple losses for the same person with no reason why.
Like Athena, 9-1-1 must keep going and move on. That’s not to say the show should ignore Bobby and gloss over the impact of his death; that would be cheap and offensive, and downright poor writing. But, rather than sit in the standard depiction of wailing or catatonic grief, 9-1-1 is right to show how the characters deal with their grief in their own personal, unique ways.
9-1-1’s ratings are still strong, but there have been a few troubling signs in recent seasons that audiences may be getting bored. The show needed to shake things up, and it can’t remain forever tethered to and revolving around Bobby if it wants to survive. Maybe Bobby’s death will kill the show; maybe it will help it. The only thing that’s certain is that the show can’t remain in it forever, or else it will stagnate.
That’s why Tim Menear’s description of the first part of the season is so promising. Yes, the first part of the season will find them wrestling with grief. But it will also show them all being forced to step up in the wake of Bobby’s passing, and, in doing so, discover depths to themselves they would never have had to find if Bobby had lived.
In a way, it’s the most heartfelt tribute of all to Bobby that 9-1-1 season 9 will depict the characters that he mentored and guided continuing to grow even after his death. They can only do that thanks to the firefighting and life skills he taught them; even after his death, he will continue to guide and influence his team. If that’s not a deep sign of respect for the show’s fallen leader, nothing is.
Bradley Buecker, David Grossman, Brenna Malloy, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Jann Turner, Jennifer Lynch, Marita Grabiak, Sarah Boyd, John J. Gray, Barbara Brown, Robert M. Williams Jr., Kristen Reidel, Marcus Stokes, Tasha Smith, Millicent Shelton, Juan Carlos Coto, John Gray, Greg Sirota, Alonso Alvarez, James Wong, Kevin Hooks, Varda Bar-Kar, Shauna Duggins, Sharat Raju
Writers
Tim Minear, Andrew Meyers, Brad Falchuk, David Fury, Ryan Murphy, Christopher Monfette, Nadia Abass-Madden, Nicole Barraza Keim, Erica L. Anderson, Matthew Hodgson, Stacey R. Rose, Taylor Wong, Tonya Kong, Adam Penn
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