#post 8x15

So, let’s start with the first – the storytelling. 

First of all, something that a lot of people noticed almost immediately. When Chimney got the vaccine, we saw the liquid flowing through that little tube. The moment it reached him, there was a bright white flash before we got to the next scene.   This is unusual and we saw that already in another episode – Buck's coma dream. Everything after that felt a bit off and rushed and going down the drain. So... it is possible that everything that happened after that is not real. And either a hallucination, a dream or a coma maybe.  

Second, the song choice. We know that most things that are done are intentional. For example, back in 8x11 we had the song “Alone” from the band “The Cry” playing in the background when Buck unpacked his stuff in Eddie’s house. The chorus says “Is it enough now to be alone? Is it enough now to be on your own?” This fits the story because just before that scene Buck had a conversation with Maddie where she told him that he might need to learn to be on his one. Alone.   The song in the “death scene” was “Work Song” by “Hozier”. The chorus says: 

 When my time comes around  Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth  No grave can hold my body down  I'll crawl home to her 

This could indicate that “no grave can hold my body down” means that Bobby is not dead and will make it back to Athena and his family. 

The third thing happened a bit earlier in this season and could be seen as them using foreshadowing as a narrative device.   In 8x08 when Brad was with the 118 there was a scene on the bridge. Brad’s character on the show was in a coma and he was not sure if he would come back since Brad was going through some kind of crisis. That’s why he was with the 118.   But back to the bridge scene. There was this person who wanted to jump off the bridge but then recognized Brad. He didn’t want Brad’s character to die because he was his “comfort captain”. In the end, the guy could be saved and didn’t jump. And Brad made the decision that his character should wake up again and live.  Talking about a “comfort captain that the fans don’t want to see dying”? Well... 

Plus, about the whole foreshadowing thing. We just had an episode called “Holy Mother of God” with Bobby’s mother, Mary. Like “Mother Mary”. I don’t want to dive too deep into the theory that is going around about Easter and Bobby being Jesus because he got killed before Easter and then he will be resurrected like Jesus and his mother is called Mary and... yeah... This theory sure is something. But on the other hand? The show is known for whimsical, ridiculous and silly stories. Right now, I wouldn’t really scrape off that theory completely. It doesn’t seem that far-fetched, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. 

And let’s not forget about Chimney who, when they got rescued from the lab, had that little cage on his chest with the lab rat in it. The rat that the vaccine was tested on first by Moira. The rat that has the antigens in it for a cure. That Chimney has in his body as well even though the rat is a bit more obvious, since the episode is called “Lab Rats”. 

All of that was shown on screen and can be interpreted as hints/foreshadowing that something is wrong with Bobby's death. 

Let’s move on to the second part – the facts. 

Around three weeks ago there was this huge leak about a funeral being filmed in Downtown LA. There were a lot of firetrucks. And in the end, there was a guy live-streaming the whole thing with Athena, May, Harry and Chief Simpson walking in the first line with the 118 plus Gerrard and Tommy walking behind. There were even pictures with the name Nash on the turnout coat. People were very skeptical from the beginning that this is real.   Tim might have said it in his interview that he has never expected this to get leaked or to get any attention but let’s be serious. This was huge, in the middle of the street and on a Sunday afternoon in broad daylight. Sure thing that this would make people look... and film... and take pictures.   If they really wanted to do the shock effect as was stated in the interview as well they would have kept the funeral under wraps. It would have been a bigger surprise and shocker in the last episode if nobody would have had an idea about a funeral happening. Since nobody has ever died on the show this would have been a plot twist that nobody would have expected.  How to keep it a secret? They could have filmed it on a lot. There are enough in LA that are big and closed off enough to not get it spoiled. Or they could have gotten more security to make sure nothing gets out (or at least not that much like someone live-streaming the whole thing). Or they could have asked for a bigger perimeter so that nobody would get close enough to watch it. There are different options how to keep something that big under wraps. But to “allow” people to get close, to take pics, to see it with their own eyes that there was the name Nash on the casket / turnout coat? That seems fishy and too much on the nose.  

Also, what we shouldn’t forget... There are behind the scenes videos with Peter in his 118 uniform right next to the other cast members plus him being seen on set in other videos that are clearly not just him visiting or something. And that are newer ones from a few days ago, not from the beginning of the season or even older. They are filming 16-18 now. So, the chances are high that he is in these episodes. And therefore, not dead. 

Let’s get to the last part then, probably the biggest one – the cast and crew. 

After the episode ended the main cast posted about the episode, posting goodbye messages to Peter/Bobby. But let’s be honest. These messages weren’t that heartfelt and more mediocre at best concerning that this was a character, a friend, a person they have known for seven years now. They are a tight knit group of friends out of the show as well. These messages sounded more like “I’m so sad. Nice working with you. Bye.... anyway...” Other characters like Callum Blue, who played Brad and was “just” a guest actor, got more heartfelt messages by them. I don’t mean that they have to be heartbroken and have to write an essay but... Ryan’s message was unserious, Aisha and Jennifer posted the same, Oliver quoted Star Trek “My dear friend Peter, we miss you at work with us every day. You were, and still will be, our leader always.” (The goodbye message to Spock who then came back in the next movie after being revived... interesting.) To me, this looks more like a “we have to play along with that story” because it would have looked weird and even more suspicious if nobody had posted anything. So, they did the bare minimum. 

Also, how they acted on social media since the episode aired and even before doesn’t add up?  

Oliver, for example, said that he really loved the two-parter and was excited for episode 16 (the funeral). He has never been cruel or disrespectful towards the fans. So, saying he was excited about Bobby dying and not having the father-son-dynamic between Buck and Bobby anymore? I hardly believe that. Plus, he posted a random picture of Callum Blue as Brad (the “comfort captain not dying”) and replied to a question about his favorite episode with “I was just lying for promo”. Oliver is not Taylor Swift level of “Easter egg-ing" but... this could be him giving out clues beforehand about this story. 

They also joked around at the funeral. Yes, they don’t have to stand there and cry all the time. But the video/picture with the casket and them pulling faces and stuff... I highly doubt it that they would be so disrespectful and kinda mean.  

Which leads me to Tim’s interview. First, let’s not forget. These people are professional liars. And I don’t mean that in a bad or condescending way. It is their job to lie to us. To sell us a story. Therefore, Tim’s interview sounded like some kind of made-up word salad where he just tried to put up excuses and explanations to make us believe that this really happened. 

He was not sure who to kill first and thought about it and then decided on Bobby. He needed to convince the network who were not on board at first. Neither was Peter. And so wasn’t the rest of the cast. He had to “convince” them all that this was the right decision. In my opinion, he is partly telling the truth. Yes, he had to convince them that this story should be told. But not that he wanted to kill Bobby for real. More that he would go with a fake death which left everyone hesitant. (And they have been proven right to hesitate concerning the reaction this decision/story has caused.) 

A big bullet point was that Tim wanted to go for realism. Which leads to one big question: Realism on 911? Let me list a few things about this. 

Last season Bobby was dead for 14 minutes but came back and got to work after two weeks.  

Chim had a rebar through his brain and everything went fine. 

Same with Buck who was crashed by a truck without losing his leg and then got struck by lightning later on. And does just fine with both.

Eddie was buried alive in the well and made it out without any problems. 

Maddie got her throat slashed just a few episodes ago and was still able to climb up the stairs to take down the woman who had attacked her. 

We don’t even have to look that far though. This episode wasn’t very realistic as well. The whole emergency made no sense if you want to talk realism. Chimney got infected after the explosion and his condition got worse every minute that he even lost consciousness, bleeding. He could be saved with the vaccine and was on his feet a few moments after the application. That is not how vaccination in that case works... Also, CCHF is not airborne so the whole transmitting it thing made no sense. Chimney not being able to do surgery on Hen because he was infected while Bobby did (who was infected as well) and Hen getting out of it without being infected even though the virus was airborne, at least concerning the show? Make it make sense. Also, if Bobby was really infected, he could not have hidden it for that long. This is a deadly virus variant that causes quick organ failure and takes effect in 90 minutes. We just learnt that through Moira and her lab partners before. And then we found out about the infection because of a nosebleed and two minutes later he was dead. So... talking about realism again? 

Tim also said that he had no clue that the funeral would get leaked which is a blatant lie. You have to be blind not to think about that since 911 is a big show and is well-known with millions of viewers. He knew that someone would see and film/photograph it to spread it on the internet. Like he knew when the goodbye hug scene between Eddie and Buck was leaked for 8x10.  

Also, killing off a fan favorite, especially for the group of casual viewers? The show would know that this would cause a viewership drop. Happened to other shows. So, from a network/business viewpoint? It would be a very bad decision financially. Especially with a ninth season on the way plus a whole new spin off in fall. That abc agreed to that? I doubt it. 

So, for me there is not much in that interview that is believable. It really gives me the vibe of “I need to come up with stupid explanations so that they will believe me that I really went through with it this time so that they will be surprised when next episode Bobby comes out like a jack-in-the-box and is still alive. Because I am a genius at screenwriting and I can still shock and surprise the viewers.” 

Another point is that Peter was not on board with it at first. And I understand that. Because killing Bobby means that Tim kinda fired Peter. And since Peter is also an executive producer on the show Tim can’t actually do that this easily. This is a weird thing to happen. Therefore, I think my theory about the fake death plan is more likely.  

And let’s not forget Angela Bassett who just said in an interview not a month ago:    Envisioning a world where 9-1-1 coupling Athena Grant-Nash and Bobby Nash doesn't exist is tough, especially for star Angela Bassett.  "Yeah, absolutely not. It would be so different," Bassett, who has played Athena since the show's 2018 premiere, tells PEOPLE. "I don't even know what the show would be like without them together. It's hard to imagine."  The honorary Academy Award winner, 66, notes that the twosome are "your metaphorical, weekly mom and dad" as she adds, "We'll keep you safe." 

Bobby and Athena are mom and dad and it’s hard to imagine the show without them. She’s also an executive producer and yes, she might not leave the show at first because watching Athena grief (if it is real somehow) would be a storyline for her for these next episodes. But other than that? Athena has barely any bonds to the 118. The friendship with Hen has been lacking in visibility lately and she just partnered up with Buck for the lab incident. Lately her character was more or less on her own, barely connected to the 118. So, this would fizzle out somehow.   It is hard to get on board that Tim would “fire” Peter and therefore would have a huge influence on Angela’s job as well after she just said that they are the mom and dad of the team and somehow a package deal.  

Some people might say that still... there are all these interviews and even a Deadline article which is a huge and very neutral media outlet concerning Hollywood. But there is one thing that is important here. It already happened on another show that they pretended a character to be dead – Deadline article, goodbye letter and messages, the whole she-bang – and then it was just a stunt and that character was back. He had amnesia but still... he was not dead. (Happened on “Jane the Virgin”) 

And last but not least... even though this is mostly my own opinion now.  Let’s assume Bobby is really dead. Then this would be the worst possible death they could have given him. This whole two parter he has been out of character – rushing into the lab without proper PPE, snatching that key card from that lab director, talking to nobody about the decision and so on. That is not Bobby Nash who is level-headed, not reckless. Since that character was here from the beginning he would have deserved a more heroic ending. Like them needing one person to close off the lab from the inside for whatever reason and he sacrifices himself. Something heroic like that. But not him dying because of an equipment failure in not even two minutes after just having a short conversation with Athena. This would be very dishonorable to his character and to Peter who has been a pillar of support for the show throughout these years.