If there is one moment from 911 season 8 that we still collectively hate the most, it’s the decision to kill off Bobby Nash. It’s a death that will take a long time to get over, as Bobby meant so much to the entire 118 and to Athena. While we mourn the loss of the character, Oliver Stark shares that it felt like a real death while he was filming it.
Stark talked with The Hollywood Reporter at the Disney Upfronts presentation, where he covered what it was like filming the death scene. Stark had it a little easier than the rest of the actors who were part of the 118. He got to film the scene in which he said goodbye to Bobby on the same day that Buck’s reaction to the death was filmed. After all, Buck was right there with Bobby as it was all revealed that he had contracted the virus as in .
Some of the others had to wait a day or so to film the reaction. The death scene had more time to sit with them.
As Stark shared that the death scene felt like a real death, he also shared how there is a line in the scene that was personal. It’s one that still makes him choke up when he watches the scene back, and it’s when Bobby says, “I love you, kid.”
It turns out that this is something Krause has said to Stark outside of filming. This family became a family throughout the filming of the series, and it’s clear that Stark has come into his own in acting thanks to the mentorship of someone as brilliant as Krause.
“His goodbye really stuck with me. There’s so much love and family ties built up between us over the years, that it did feel like a real death…If I watch it now, there’s a moment in the scene where he says ‘I love you, kid,’ and it gets me every single time. It’s a line that we’ve shared personally between us as well.”
Krause’s presence is missed on the set, which isn’t that surprising. It’s missed on the screen. At least when Bobby was working as the consultant on the TV series Hotshots in the show, he was still around and the 118 could turn to him for some advice here and there. Now we don’t get to see him. He’s been back via flashbacks and as a ghost, but moving into 911 season 9, the show is sure to use that less and less.
Stark also shared that he was surprised with the way that the heaviness of the scene in 911 season 8, episode 15 stuck with him. This wasn’t something he expected, probably because as an actor, many characters die. The problem is that this is 911, and no main character had died up to this point.
Buck has certainly been through it over the course of the last three episodes of 911 season 8. He initially pushed his own grief aside as he tried to help everyone else around him. Then, when he needed everyone the most, they turned their backs on him. Everyone grieves in their own way, and all Buck needed was someone to lean on for support, because he was dealing with a confusing moment due to that last scene.
There’s hope for the future, though. Buck seems to have found his footing, especially now that Chimney is ready to take over at the firehouse. He really does need to become captain to bring the family dinners back that Buck missed so much.
911 will return in the fall on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.