Rescuing a man from a whale’s stomach and a catastrophe in space, all in one episode: That’s right, 9-1-1 is back.
The ABC procedural drama returned for its ninth season Thursday — its first since the death of Captain Bobby Nash (played by Peter Krause).
Much to fans’ disdain, Krause’s character was killed off in season eight after being exposed to a lethal virus. He was the first main character to be killed off on the show.
During the season nine premiere, the 118 crew gathers to pay tribute to Nash as the fire station is named in his honor.
“This is Bobby’s house,” Interim Captain Han (Kenneth Choi) tells the crew while presenting a plaque memorializing Nash.
Elsewhere in the episode, a guest-starring Mark Conseulos (Riverdale) is swallowed whole by a whale before being resuscitated by the 118 crew. He happens to be a tech billionaire and rewards his savior, Hen (Aisha Hinds), with a trip to space in his shuttle.
Han invites Athena (Angela Bassett) to come with her; however, disaster strikes when a geomagnetic storm occurs during their voyage.
On X, fans called out the unrealistic storylines after showrunner Tim Minear said Nash’s death was necessary to show the “actual stakes” of the job.
“There’s phone reception on a whale’s stomach but bobby had to die for realism?” Questioned one viewer.
“The 118 is supposed to save a man from inside the mouth of a humpback whale and save the sky from falling later on this episode… but this show is about realism. rightttt,” added another.
A third wrote: “I’m already mad cause a whale eating someone is an emergency on this show. you killed bobby with this?”
9-1-1 decided to kill off Krause’s character for “entirely creative” decisions, Minear told Variety in April 2025.
“I think it needed to be Bobby for a lot of reasons,” Minear said. “The first reason is that it made sense. It didn’t feel arbitrary, because if you track the tragic arc of his character, of where he started, and how he came to LA looking for atonement, it just makes a kind of tragic sense for his character in a way it wouldn’t for another character. 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.”
Krause has also spoken about his departure from 9-1-1, saying he understood why fans were “upset.”
“It is a loss,” he said in a statement. “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."
He added: “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. Our show is incredibly difficult to make at times with long hours, challenging stunts and elaborate disasters. We couldn’t do it without each other.”
9-1-1 season nine continues next Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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