9-1-1 episode 8.15 "Lab Rats"

After a lot of thought, I’ve decided: this will be my last episode of 9-1-1. This show is off brand for me, but I’ve actually been along for the ride with the 118 from day one. As a huge fan of Peter Krause (here he’s captain Bobby Nash, but he’s stolen the show in many of my favorite series- Six Feet Under, Sports Night, and Parenthood), I was seated for the pilot when it premiered.

I understood that this was going to be a hokey network procedural, and fully expected Krause to be the only reason I kept watching. Frankly, I thought he was too good for the show, and I maintained that I would stop watching when he inevitably made his exit. Well, eight seasons later, that day finally came, and I’m making good on my promise to bow out along with him- but not for the reasons I thought.

I’ve come to really love 9-1-1 and have defended it on many occasions. It is a hokey network procedural- over these 8 seasons, a tsunami completely destroyed the Santa Monica pier, poor Chimney has lived through a bout of amnesia and a rebar pipe going straight through his skull (two separate incidents- and that’s just the tip of the iceberg with him), and my personal favorite, police sergeant Athena landed a passenger plane on the highway after it crashed into a tornado made of bees. I have been told that I can be pretentious about TV (and this may be true), but for eight years 9-1-1 has had me saying “some things are just for fun, and that’s okay”.

But the way Bobby was written out of the show is much more significant than just the departure of Krause as an actor; it’s a statement that 9-1-1 isn’t just for fun anymore. And maybe, it was never supposed to be.

This aired months ago now, but if you’re invested in the show and haven’t seen it yet, this is the part where I go through what exactly happened.

“Lab Rats” is the second half of a two-parter. In the previous episode, the 118 responded to a fire at a research lab where a new, very severe, airborne virus is released in part of the building. Only Buck made it out before a combination of a lockdown protocol and fire damage trapped the rest of the team inside. In the action, Chimney busted his oxygen mask, exposing him to the virus which- it turns out- has been turned into an even more deadly super virus by a villainous rogue researcher.

“Lab Rats” picks up with this chick on the run with the only existing dose of a cure hidden in her Stanley cup, and the military now on the scene with the stance that the entire 118 should be sacrificed to secure the contagion. So, Buck and Athena are on a vigilante mission to obtain the cure and circumvent the US Military to save a rapidly deteriorating Chimney and rescue the squad.

So far, this is all par for the course for 9-1-1. A couple weeks prior, 9-1-1 operator and Chimney’s wife Maddie was kidnapped by a police officer/serial killer with multiple personalities and was so close to being choked to death that the next episode had to unpack her inability to speak. On Halloween, Hen’s son Denny was pinned by a rogue car, and Hen was barely able to save his life.

I came to love 9-1-1 for being a genuinely diverse and genuinely heartwarming show, but honestly, the past few seasons had begun to veer a little too close to trauma porn for my liking (particularly with Chimney and Maddie- she is always missing and he is always dying). But I stuck around because in the nick of time, everything always turned out okay. The melodrama and ridiculous plot lines skyrocketed, but hey, some things are just for fun.

This was my expectation for “Lab Rats”, and for most of the episode, that seemed to be where things were headed. Buck and Athena secure the cure and dodge the military who wants to preserve and duplicate it (which, of course, would take longer than Chimney has to live). They make it into the lab and get the cure to Chim, who takes it and immediately improves. The lockdown is lifted and the 118 begins to head out.

But then, face to face with Athena through thick glass, Bobby seals himself back in the contamination zone and takes off his mask. He holds up his oxygen line, which has been torn in two. He’s been silently declining just like Chimney all this time, but he let Chimney take the only cure. Tearfully, he tells Athena that he doesn’t want to die, that he wants to stay alive with her. They tell each other they love each other. Then he gets on his knees, bows his head, and prays. And then he dies.

It took me by surprise and was very, very sad. Generally, I love being surprised by TV, and an unexpected character death is often a fresh, bold move that I admire. But this just didn’t feel in the spirit of 9-1-1. I was even more surprised to learn that Peter Krause didn’t want to leave the show- it was a completely creative decision. Here’s what co-creator Tim Minear said to Variety about it:

Variety: So what brought you to that choice? Because for years watching 9-1-1 it’s been pretty safe to assume they’ll always survive and always find a way.

Minear: You just answered your own question… After eight years, it just felt like, if we had any hope of creating stories going forward that have actual stakes, then someone’s got to die.

My thoughts on that are pretty succinct: you can have a bee-nado, and you can have Angela Bassett land a plane on the 101, but you can’t ask me to take it seriously. Some things are just for fun, and that’s okay.