Spoiler Alert: This story includes details about Episode 815 of ABC’s 9-1-1, “Lab Rats.”
Along with many 9-1-1 fans, star Kenneth Choi is not mincing words regarding the shocking death of veteran Peter Krause’s Captain Bobby Nash, who led the first responder drama for eight seasons.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor — who plays Chimney — discussed the loss, saying he “fought” with showrunner Tim Minear about the creative decision and went through “stages of grief” both as a performer and colleague.
“It was uncontrollable sobbing,” he said of his reaction to the episode’s material. “I was laughing at myself saying, ‘I don’t know what is happening! I know this isn’t real! Why am I acting like this?’ But it was devastating to me.”
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Initially, when Minear first broke the news to Choi, the actor thought he was pulling his leg.
“Then I just kind of went into those stages of grief,” he recalled. “Denial, mostly: This doesn’t make any sense. Why would you do that? You’re kind of killing off our father figure … And he explained creatively why he thought it was the right choice, and I fought him on it. And I continued to fight him on it. I fought him on it up until we kind of did the funeral stuff, because I was thinking: Maybe they’ll pull it back. Maybe they’ll change their minds. Maybe they’ll reverse course.”
But that did not happen. The episode — the latter half of the two-parter lab leak catastrophe the 118 crew is sent in to deal with — sees Bobby save Chim, giving him the last of the viral antidote while disguising the fact that he’s been succumbing to the illness himself. The devastating moment isn’t revealed until Bobby heroically seals off the doors to the lab, trapping himself inside to deter further spread of the dangerous virus.
“I don’t think Peter imagined this ending right now. But I think, as it was presented to him, he understood creatively what it could do for everyone else,” Choi said, echoing what Minear told Deadline recently. “But it also followed his storyline: He’s captain of a very close-knit firefighter family. He’s the father figure, and the job of each firefighter is to save lives and sacrifice — and he gave the ultimate sacrifice.”
Teasing what’s coming up ahead, Choi added: “The 118 is now fractured. It’s splintered. You’re cutting the head off the snake, and the rest of us don’t know what to do. We’re going to go to our jobs and do them dutifully, but we’re obviously going to have this weight on us every time we go out on a call, every time we enter the firehouse. Basically, every moment it will still be with us, and the loss will be with us.”
Choi’s words come amid cast tributes to Krause, including from co-star Aisha Hinds.
9-1-1 returns May 1 on ABC. Per the promo for “The Last Alarm,” viewers can expect a mournful funeral procession as now-widow Athena (Angela Bassett) and the rest of the crew process their still-raw grief.
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