Season 8 finale of “9-1-1” addresses the show’s significant changes

In the middle of Season 8 of 9-1-1, Tim Minear, the showrunner, shared with Decider that his objective for the latter part of the season was to “blow it all the hell apart.” With Eddie (Ryan Guzman) moving to Texas, a pregnant Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) being kidnapped and left permanently scarred by a serial killer, and most of the 118 team getting trapped in a biological laboratory reminiscent of the movie Contagion, he could have easily achieved his goal with three episodes still remaining. Nevertheless, Minear decided to take a different route by partially reinventing the thrilling – albeit somewhat predictable – series that fans have grown fond of, trusted, and enjoyed over the past eight years by delving into unexplored territory and eliminating a key character.

On screen, the beloved character Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) made a sacrificial move to save Chimney’s (Kenneth Choi) life. Off screen, Minear provided several reasons for this “100% creative” choice, emphasizing the potential for the loss to generate “plenty of new stories for the show.” Despite Minear’s conviction in the shocking twist, devoted fans who viewed the 118 captain as the patriarch, backbone, and emotional core of the show began to question whether 9-1-1 could bounce back from this game-changing narrative. Some fans immediately stopped watching, while others remained hopeful that Minear would swiftly resurrect Bobby. Although a segment of the fanbase pledged to continue supporting the first responder drama despite the loss, many viewers opted to wait until the season concluded to decide on their future dedication.

In a typical 9-1-1 season finale fashion, the season concluded with another significant crisis – a collapse of a high-rise apartment building. While not the most perilous rescue mission the team has tackled, after the traumatic events of the season, the stakes for 9-1-1 have never been higher. Following the emotional rollercoaster that fans endured, Episode 18 of Season 8, “Seismic Shifts,” faced the daunting challenge of rebuilding trust and fixing major flaws in the show’s narrative foundation. So, did it manage to accomplish that task?

9-1-1‘s Season 8 finale takes us back before the high-rise collapse to show a mother (Constance Marie) reluctantly moving her daughter (Arianna Rivas) into the building. As they admire the view of downtown LA, cart cop/laundry police Graham (Sam Roach) ditches Athena to return to the laundry room in hopes of helping Donnie (Adam Hagenbuch) find his girlfriend’s lost intimates. Those five people, along with a man trapped on the ninth floor, are who the 118 sets out to rescue post-explosion. But before they get the call, they throw Eddie and Christopher (Gavin McHugh) a firehouse goodbye party.

Eddie accepted the job offer to join a new firehouse in El Paso, but he’s not the only one leaving. Captain Gerrard (Brian Thompson) is returning to Hotshots, which got picked up for another season. And Buck (Oliver Stark) shocks everyone by revealing he put in for a transfer out of the 118, because “it’s just a number now.” I touch on this in a prior piece, but since Buck’s hallway collapse immediately following Bobby’s death, the way he processes his grief seems a bit out of character, considering Bobby was like a father to him. He’s undoubtedly gotten stronger and shown so much growth throughout the seasons, but I admittedly hoped for more of an on-screen reaction or a more vocal examining of emotions ahead of Season 9. In a recent interview, Stark himself said, “The way I’ve always interpreted it is, [Buck’s] tried to step into the Bobby role. Not by any means captain, but in the sense of, they’re going to need somebody to say, ‘We’ve got to get through this.’” So for Buck’s response to this devastating loss to be coldly abandoning his family rather than letting his facade fall in a unifying show of vulnerability feels a bit disappointing. And the lack of reaction from the team? Why isn’t anyone communicating?

Before the 118 arrives on scene, Athena finds Donnie and Graham pinned by concrete in the laundry room and sends Donnie’s girlfriend for help as Graham applies pressure to his wounds to keep him from bleeding out. After Hen and Chimney save the mother/daughter duo, Donnie’s girlfriend requests backup for Athena, and Chim eagerly volunteers in hopes of getting some much-needed Athena face time. Shortly after he arrives to the laundry room, another explosion cuts off their exit. Meanwhile, Buck and Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody) get trapped with a resident on the ninth floor as the structure grows increasingly unstable. (Still, we know no one’s going to die, because, well, 9-1-1 just did that!)

As Eddie packs for the airport, Chris calls his attention to the TV, where the news reports the collapse and notes first responders are stretched thin. Instead of catching his flight, Eddie puts on the turnout gear the 118 gifted him before his big move and heads to the scene to lend a hand. When he arrives, Buck and Ravi seem doomed since the ladder can’t reach them, but after thinking “What Would Bobby Do?” Eddie comes up with a Plan B. “If Bobby taught me anything, it’s that we always have a choice!” Eddie heads to a nearby building’s rooftop with a line gun, shoots a rescue line over to his pals, and they slide to safety, with Buck barely making it out of the wreckage. The scene is one of the episode’s most moving, with Eddie not only risking his life and prioritizing his 118 family over his new job, but keeping Bobby’s spirit and lessons alive in the process. When Buck arrives safely, he stares in awe of Eddie and his quick thinking. After Eddie explains, “I thought if Bobby was here, what kid of crazy stunt would he be yelling at Buck for pulling?” a grateful Buck earnestly replies, “Nah. This one was all you.” As mentioned in my Season 8 finale wishlist, I was praying for another major Buck/Eddie scene, and though this one tugged at the heartstrings, I was still left wanting a much deeper interaction between the two.

With Athena and Chimney still trapped, the 118 heads to the laundry room to successfully rescue them. The team gets Donnie to safety first, assuming Graham’s situation is far less dire. After freeing him from the rubble, however, they learn he had a piece of rebar through his body the entire time he helped save Donnie. Athena takes the reveal and it undeniable parallels to the bio lab tragedy incredibly hard. “I knew I was dead, but Donnie needed help more than me,” Graham explains, putting Bobby’s thought process into perspective and prompting Athena to snap, “So you just sacrificed yourself?!” As the team looks around at each other, viewing Bobby’s sacrifice through a whole new lens, Graham says, “it was the right thing to do” and loses consciousness. Knowing Athena needs a win — and he does too — Chimney orders the team to cut Graham free and do everything in their power to save his life. While they couldn’t save Bobby, and the possibility of Graham’s rescue seems too far gone, the group needs hope. And they find it, thanks to Chim.

After bringing Graham back from the brink of death, Athena and Chimney get their long-awaited makeup scene, with Athena turning to Bobby for help breaking the ice. After Chim says the rescue is a team effort, she replies, “That used to make him crazy. Bobby. He always said you never gave yourself enough credit, but he knew that you were a smart, talented, capable paramedic, and a great leader. He’d be so proud of you.” It’s been a rough Season 8 road, and though I still don’t agree with Bobby’s death and am confident there were far less drastic, damaging ways to create more story for the series and its characters, Athena’s speech and using this finale emergency as a vehicle for better understanding the 118’s loss did bring a few tears to my eyes. Bassett and Choi impressed, as usual, I only wish they got more time to chat.

When Gerrard finally leaves the 118, Chimney sees the team prepare to part and resume their personal grief journeys, so he stops them in their tracks. “This is our firehouse. This is the 118. And it’s not just a number. It’s us! Things are never gonna be the same again, cause Cap is gone. But leaving won’t change that. It won’t make you feel any less sad. It just means that you’ll be sad all alone.” It’s taken Chimney time to realize, but he knows Bobby would have sacrificed himself for any of his teammates, because that was the job. “This team, we are his legacy. So we can miss him, and we can mourn him, and we can even curse his name, but we are not going to disrespect him by throwing away what he built right here.” Chim tells everyone — Buck and Eddie included — he’ll see them on their next shift, and just in case his speech doesn’t cement him as Bobby’s best successor, Hen replies, “Copy that, Cap. I mean, Chim!” In a perfect 9-1-1 world, Bobby would still be around, but if someone’s going to step in to attempt to fill his shoes, the OG 118er who he believed in immensely seems like the best bet. Choi has given superb performances this season, with this scene being one of his most memorable, so in that respect, we can’t wait to see how this new role challenges him.

Up until now, the Season 8 finale delivers some solid storytelling, and the potential for more progress seems promising — until you realize how little time is left in the episode. In a normal season, accelerated loose end-tying in a finale works fine. But 9-1-1 Season 8 was unlike any other, so in my mind, it deserved a departure from the typical structure. The emergency essentially takes us to the episode’s end, leaving barely enough room for a time jump and a rushed montage meant to offer closure, hope, and fill enough of the cracks inflicted by Minear’s brutal Season 8 blow to convince viewers to return for Season 9.

Reversing course, Athena puts her and Bobby’s dream home on the market as a way to help her move forward. Eddie and Chris move back home and Buck embarks on the search for a new apartment. Hen and Karen finally adopt Mara. And everyone gathers at the hospital to welcome Maddie and Chimney’s baby boy. These are all things fans want to happen, but barely getting to witness them and soak in the joy after such distress cheapens the wins a little. End of season shortfalls like missing out on how exactly these characters reach their destinations are the result of limited time. But I hope Season 9 finds a way to make viewers feel less like outsiders by making room for more intimate, highly-anticipated moments to play out on-screen.

In its final moments, 9-1-1 Season 8 follows Athena as she walks down the hospital hallway to meet her loved ones. The choice to center the close on her — the person most impacted by Bobby’s loss — is appreciated, as is bringing these characters together after an especially isolating, heartbreaking stretch. The new baby is introduced as Robert Nash Han and the season officially ends with Athena cradling him, saying, “Hello, Bobby.” It’s another heartwarming gesture meant to carry on Bobby’s legacy and assure viewers he won’t be forgotten, but when the end credits roll, people will feel his absence and remain unconvinced that killing him off was the right choice.

To paraphrase Chimney, 9-1-1 is Bobby Nash’s legacy, now. Fans can miss him, fans can mourn him, and fans can curse the writers for killing him off. The question that remains, is if they’re going to throw away what he built. Will Season 9 be able to introduce quality storylines and character development that couldn’t have happened without Peter Krause’s departure? Will viewers keep watching? Or in killing Bobby, did Minear “blow it all the hell apart” for good? Only time will tell, but no matter what 9-1-1‘s future holds, Bobby and Krause will never be forgotten by fans.

9-1-1 Season 8 is now streaming on Hulu.