Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for 9-1-1 season 8, episode 15.The ending of 9-1-1 season 8, episode 15 will live in infamy as the first main character death in the procedural’s history, but the heartbreak runs deeper for Athena. Angela Bassett has led the 9-1-1 cast since the flagship season as police sergeant Athena Grant alongside Peter Krause’s Bobby Nash, fire captain of LAFD station 118. As Bobby and his tight-knit team of firefighters respond to 9-1-1‘s most intense disasters, Athena often plays a supporting role as a police officer and, later on, as Bobby’s wife.

Athena and Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark) have a much more active role in the Contagion saga, tracking down a full-fledged evil scientist — 9-1-1‘s Moira Blake (Bridget Regan) — to locate an antiviral for CCHF (Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever). After they administer the dose to Howard “Chimney” Han (Kenneth Choi) and ensure it is just another near-death experience for the 9-1-1 paramedic, things take a turn. One by one, members of the 118 evacuate from quarantine until Buck and Bobby remain. Instead of leaving, Bobby walks back into the lab, seals himself in, and reveals he had been infected the entire time.

Bobby’s Death In 9-1-1 Season 8 Mirrors The Death Of Athena’s First Love

Both Died Before Their Time

Reality comes crashing down in the final scene of 9-1-1 season 8, episode 15 as Athena rushes to the glass divider, insisting there’s a way to find another cure— only for Bobby, who has accepted certain death, to calmly dismiss the notion. Instead of scrambling for a miracle, Bobby delivers a heartbreaking speech about how he wants to stay alive for Athena but knows he can’t, telling her he loves her one last time. In what may be the most harrowing image in all of 9-1-1, Bobby kneels to pray as the life slowly leaves his body.

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What makes the scene worse is knowing this isn’t the first time Athena has lost her love. In “Athena Begins” (9-1-1 season 3, episode 7), flashbacks from Athena’s young adulthood introduce Emmett Washington (Jeff Pierre), a police officer who encourages Athena to join the force. The two fall in love and are eventually engaged to be married, only for Emmett to be murdered when he tries to intervene during an armed robbery. Emmett’s death haunted Athena for decades until she found his killer. Now, there’s nobody Athena can hunt that will make up for Bobby’s horrific, pathogenic death.

Why Bobby’s Death Is More Tragic For Athena

Bobby Should Have Been Her Last Love

Despite the mystery surrounding Emmett’s murder, Bobby’s death in 9-1-1 is much more visceral for Athena. On the most basic level, Athena chooses to stay and watch Bobby die, a traumatic experience that eclipses finding out second-hand that Emmett had been killed. Furthermore, it’s especially cruel for her character, who spent years breaking down her walls to love Bobby unconditionally after Emmett died, and her first husband divorced her. Just as Athena allowed herself to be vulnerable and settle into her happily ever after, 9-1-1 pulled the rug out from under her and killed Bobby.

Since the 9-1-1 season 1 finale, Bobby and Athena have been the core pairing of the first-responder procedural. Without question, they are one of the best couples in the 9-1-1 franchise at large. By season 8, they are building their dream house together, blissfully in love and focused on their future — singular, because that’s what it was for Bobby and Athena: one life, one love, one future. Bobby’s 9-1-1 fate would have been tragic even if he had never met Athena, but their shared optimism about the rest of their life together makes his death so much more painful.

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9-1-1

8/10

Release Date

January 3, 2018

Showrunner

Tim Minear

Directors

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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  Angela Bassett

  Athena Grant

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  Peter Krause

  Robert ‘Bobby’ Nash