Angela Bassett Responds to Main Character Death on ‘9-1-1’

SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading if you don’t want to see potential spoilers for “9-1-1” Season 8 Episode 15 – “Lab Rats”

The latest episode of ABC’s hit drama “9-1-1,” which aired on Thursday, April 17, saw four of the series’ firefighters as they were trapped in a laboratory with a deadly virus in the air. While three of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) firefighters, Chimney (Kenneth Choi), Hen (Aisha Hinds), and Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody), had a brush with death, one character said their last goodbyes to the series. 

Bassett Recalls Learning About Major Season 8 Death

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Captain Bobby Nash, played by co-lead and executive producer Peter Krause, became the series first major character death in the episode, titled “Lab Rights.” Co-written by executive producer Kristen Reidel, Molly Green and James Leffler, the episode saw Krause’s character sacrifice his life to save his team as a deadly gas descended on them. 

“9-1-1” co-lead and executive producer Angela Bassett recalled hearing the news of Bobby’s death in an interview with Deadline, calling the moment, “jaw-dropping.”

When asked if she expected a major character death to occur in Season 8, Bassett responded: “Absolutely not. Not an inkling, not a word, not birdies, nothing.”

“This is near the end of the season,” Bassett added. “Sometimes near the end of the season, we’re in this race against time to get our scripts, you’re really getting it in real time. It’s like get it today, and we’re going to start filming it tomorrow.” While “Lab Rats” is the penultimate episode of the currently-airing season, Bassett told Deadline that the series frequently films “out of order.”

Rumors of a major death coming in Season 8 have been making their rounds online since March 2025, when photos and videos leaked online showing the cast filming a funeral procession scene for a member of the LAFD. The scene has now been confirmed to appear in next week’s season finale as the cast mourn the death of their Captain, Bobby Nash. 

“It was a jaw-dropping moment when I read the script and saw that,” said Bassett. “Well, initially it was a different character, the whole bio lab. I mean, it could be anyone, it could be Chimney, it could be [Bobby], it could be Navi.”

Bassett later added that she learned exactly who would be dying from “9-1-1” showrunner, Tim Minear. “I remember Tim called. He said someone’s going to pass away,” Bassett told Deadline. “I said, is it me? Self-preservation, you know. I went through the list, you start with yourself, but I was very surprised it was my husband.”

Bassett Speaks on Filming Final Scenes with Peter Krause

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The NAACP Image Award winning actress portrays the character of Athena Grant, a field sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department. In the Season 4 finale of “9-1-1,” Grant married LAFD Captain Bobby Nash (Peter Krause). Krause and Bassett have co-led the drama series since its debut in 2018. 

Speaking with Deadline, Bassett recalled the first time she saw Krause after hearing the news of his character’s demise, saying, “I knew it was gonna be tough and sad and awkward.”

Bassett continued: “Part of us knows, we’ve been in this industry for a while, these kind of things have happened to our characters from time to time. I saw [Krause], we looked at each other, it’s like, oh well, and gave each other a big hug. We’re just like, didn’t see this coming.”

Thursday’s episode similarly featured a “heart-wrenching” final goodbye scene between Athena and Bobby. Separated by glass as the deadly virus takes hold of Bobby, he tells his wife, “I’m sorry, this isn’t how I wanted to leave you. I’m not choosing to leave you. I chose to save my team because it was the right thing to do. It was never because I wanted to go. I don’t want to go. If I could choose, I would stay with you always.”

Bassett told Deadline that, while the scene was emotionally difficult, she “actually enjoyed” the filming process, saying, “It added even more emotionality for me because I couldn’t get to him, I couldn’t touch him, embrace him, grab him. It’s like there’s this barrier so you’re really trying to break through the glass.”

She added: “But when it came to that scene where I was actually in it with Bobby, you’re separated by the glass, by the partition, by everything that separates people, your metaphor for whatever separates people, the virus, all of it. And seeing them, seeing their eyes, the memory of who they are, who they are to you, it was just there, every moment, every take for the two of us – the history, the bond.”

Bassett’s role as Athena Grant-Nash continues on the finale of “9-1-1” Season 8, which is set to air on ABC on Thursday, May 2, at 8pm EST.

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