Did Bobby Survive ‘9-1-1’ Finale? Peter Krause Talks His Fate & That Cliffhanger

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the 9-1-1 Season 7 finale “All Fall Down.”]

There’s good news and there’s unfortunate news when it comes to Bobby (Peter Krause) in the 9-1-1 Season 7 finale: He’s alive, but there’s a major twist for the 118.

A fire may have completely burned down Bobby and Athena’s (Angela Bassett) house—the enemies he and Amir (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) made a couple episodes ago track them down for revenge—but at least everyone survives. And, after that and a conversation with Amir, Bobby’s realized that his decision to quit the LAFD isn’t the right one. The only problem? Bobby returns to work to find that Gerrard (Brian Thompson)—yes, that awful captain who made the workplace so uncomfortable for Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) before Nash came along—is now the 118’s captain. According to Gerrard, there are some concerns downtown of a leadership deficit in the house, so he agreed to come back and put things in order.

Below, Krause discusses Bobby’s Season 7 journey, that cliffhanger, and more.

I’m very happy that Bobby is alive, but he has been through it this season and only in 10 episodes—the cruise, Amir, everything with his father coming back with those flashbacks then that dream, the fire, then almost dying. So after all that, now making the decision to not quit, who do you think Bobby is going forward?

Peter Krause: I think that for Bobby, there’s a continuing process of letting go of the past, but he has an incredible family around him, an incredible supportive family at the firehouse and also at home with Athena. And I really love what Tim Minear did with the relationship between Bobby and Athena from the beginning of the season with the romantic comedy aboard the ship, turning into this extended emergency adventure that they went through together. And their relationship has certainly deepened during this season, as much as it has in, I think, the collection of the six seasons that have gone before; this is a very important season for the relationship between Bobby and Athena. I think Tim did a great job.

So I think that Bobby, moving forward in terms of how I have experienced it playing him, will be more successful at moving forward and continuing to lead his team and to be of help perhaps in the AA world and beyond, continuing his life of service. I also think that Bobby and Athena as a team is a really fun thing for the show, and that’s something I think that Tim recognized. “Oh, we haven’t really done that, so let’s send them on this cruise and have this extended emergency adventure together.” And I think it was really effective and fun. And by the way, I think Angela did such a great job with the comedy in the beginning of the season. I think a lot of times people don’t think of her as being great at comedy, but she certainly showed that she is.

Speaking of moving forward, then you have the end of the episode with Gerrard coming in and saying he’s captain now because Bobby technically quit. So how is Bobby feeling at the end there, especially because everyone found out about his decision to quit in that moment?

Well, it’s sort of like he stepped in some dog doo, and that’s how it felt to me. Like, oh crap, quit out of an emotional wash from the past. And then going through what he went through with Amir [Malcolm-Jamal Warner], that entire journey I think brings him to a new place about it. And again, I think that Tim did a really effective job with that arc for Bobby and Amir. That was a really, really wonderful part of the season, I think.

Oh, I agree. And all the scenes with you and Malcolm Jamal Warner together were so good.

I loved working with him, one of the most generous actors I’ve worked with in my entire career. He’s fantastic. I’d love to do more with him.

Do you have any idea what’s next for Bobby professionally as he’s making his way back to leading the 118?

I’m not really sure. I’m assuming he has to go through some physical tests or something. It was a little strange for me playing that at the end. I thought, oh, I guess he just assumes that he can go back. Did he suffer a little minor amnesia like Chimney and not realize that he’d turned in his resignation? So that was sort of a leap, I think that he just had to think that he would show up at the firehouse and then he could go right back to work.

So have you heard anything about plans for Bobby and Athena’s house? Are they rebuilding, moving? Because it was kind of eerie to see the remains of the house

Very eerie. Yeah, it was strange. I don’t think that the house is going to obviously be rebuilt as it was. And Tim and I discussed a little bit about, are they staying in a hotel? Are they in a small apartment? Is that difficult for Bobby and Athena? So I think there might be some of that in the beginning of the season. They might be in tight quarters, I’m not sure, and then maybe they’ll figure out what they’re going to do next and design a home together. I have no idea.

Going back a bit, talk about reading those flashbacks with young Bobby and his dad, then working with John Brotherton in that dream as a son because it’s something we haven’t seen from Bobby. 

I think that’s a really interesting thing because obviously we all have our childhoods and we hadn’t really taken a glimpse into Bobby’s past in that way. We went back as far as Bobby being a fire captain in Minnesota and what went on with his family, but we didn’t know about his extended family. In this show, a lot of times we deal with the characters inner worlds. And the fact that Bobby has been carrying this that nobody knew really about what happened, I think was revelatory for the audience. And I think it’s important, too, so that you understand the person and the demons that they’re working through and path that they carry with them. So again, I can’t say enough about Tim. Tim did some really, really effective work this year for all 10 episodes, and I thought he did a really good job with that.

And John Brotherton, what a fantastic actor. Really good job. I thought he did a really nice job in that role because the father’s not a villain. The father’s got problems, and he’s also very charming, and he loves his son, and people make mistakes. And so I think it was really effectively written and really beautifully played.

And now I just want to see more with Bobby’s family though, because we also saw his brother and mother in those flashbacks…

Yeah. I don’t know if there’s plans there. I don’t know if his brother is still out there. I’m not sure.

Episode 9 also brought up the events of “Dosed” from Season 2 in the conversation with Athena, which I hadn’t expected to come up again. Had you thought that that might be revisited?

I had a feeling as we were going down this road that that might be revisited because as the audience sees all the emergencies and things like that, we don’t necessarily think about the through line with the characters and their relationship and what they’re concerned about with each other. But obviously Athena loves Bobby very much and she’s still afraid of perhaps losing him. And she made it very clear this season that she wants to know, she wants to know everything, she wants the information, doesn’t want to be left in the dark about anything. She doesn’t want to be protected. She wants to know Bobby and love Bobby and be there for Bobby. And also she wants Bobby to be there for her. That thought was really nicely done. Also, Tim did such a great job.

I think that’s one of my favorite Bobby and Athena scenes, that conversation in Episode 9, because it’s so rough but so necessary.

Absolutely. And then it sets up what you saw in Episode 10.

Exactly. What are you hoping to explore with Bobby in Season 8?

I’d like to see Bobby help people in the AA arena, and I certainly enjoy all the action and all the comedy with the 118. And I think that that’s a mainstay for the audience as well—in the midst of all the wild and wacky emergencies we go on, that their camaraderie and humor is something I enjoy as a viewer when I watch the show. I particularly like the banter inside the fire engine, when they’re heading an emergency or when they’re heading back to the station afterwards. It’s a fun bunch. It’s such a great cast. I really believe you could take this cast and do another show with this cast. One of the best casts I’ve worked with, fantastic bunch of people.

So we got The Bachelor crossover this season, which was fun. Is there a dream crossover you’d like to maybe see in the future for 9-1-1?

Gosh, I don’t know. I mean, the show is set in Los Angeles, so there could be any sort of celebrity crossover you’d like. How about you? What would you like to see?

Everyone’s saying 9-1-1/The Rookie.

I’d rather go off campus and see something happen at a sports event or a concert. Oh, that reminds me, did you hear the thing about Adele? Adele’s a 9-1-1 fan!

9-1-1, Season 8, Fall 2024, ABC