ABC’s «9-1-1» just killed off a major character, leaving fans stunned. Why did Peter Krause leave, and was it his choice? Here’s the real reason behind Bobby Nash’s fate.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 15, “Lab Rats.»
For eight seasons over nine years, Krause played Nash, the captain of LAFD’s Station 118. But in Season 8, Episode 15, titled “Lab Rats,” his character met a tragic end after heroically giving the only available vial of a life-saving vaccine to his teammate Chimney (Kenneth Choi), sacrificing his own chance at survival.
Rumors have been swirling about Krause’s potential departure from the procedural for the past few weeks after photos leaked on social media of the series shooting a funeral scene in downtown Los Angeles, according to Variety. (Last season, Krause’s character was on the verge of death after collapsing from cardiac arrest while rescuing Athena from their burning home. He ended up on a ventilator and was in a coma, but survived).
Krause’s recent departure marks the first major cast exit since Connie Britton left her role as emergency dispatcher Abby Clark after Season 1. But was the actor’s decision to leave? Here’s what we know about the heartbreaking sendoff and whether the show’s creators were behind it.Why Is Peter Krause Leaving 9-1-1?
Peter Krause’s exit from 9-1-1 wasn’t the actor’s decision, but rather a creative choice made by the show’s team, according to showrunner Tim Minear.
“It was entirely creative,” Minear said in an interview with Variety. “A very difficult creative decision, because there’s practically no one I love on this Earth more than Peter.”
As for why it had to be Bobby and not a smaller character, Minear explained that the decision made more sense in the context of the captain’s overall character arc.
“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,” he explained.
