We knew 911 season 8, episode 16 was going to hurt. However, it was the ending that really hurt the most. Athena’s decision on where to bury Bobby was both perfect and selfless, but it makes me hurt for her even more.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for 911 season 8, episode 16.
Throughout the episode, Athena struggled to deal with her grief. She was in the anger stage, a perfectly normal and understandable stage to be in. There are times that she’ll probably fall back into this stage, but for the most part, dealing with a situation that linked to Bobby eight years earlier helped her heal.
It also reminded her just how much Bobby had dealt with during his life. With that came the only place Bobby could be buried.
Athena sent Bobby ‘home’ in 911 season 8, episode 16
Throughout the episode, Athena needed to work out the best place to bury her husband. Something that one funeral director said would end up foreshadowing the location. As he shared that they dealt with the flower changes, Harry questioned why people wouldn’t come to do it themselves. Well, life as a way of taking people on different paths and little did Athena realize, but this would connect to her.
As she listened to a mom who was still grieving the loss of her baby, she learned about how Bobby helped her. Bobby hadn’t been able to get to her son in time in a fire eight years earlier, but he went to the hospital straight after it to apologize for that. He knew exactly what it was like to lose a child — this came after the loss of both of his children in a fire that he had caused. It was so early on in his grief that he simply lived in purgatory while he did his penance.
Athena realized that the perfect place to bury her husband was with his wife — his first wife. She took him to Minnesota, where his wife and children had been buried, and she was able to lay Bobby to rest next to them.
Athena’s sacrifice makes me hurt for her more
Athena’s selflessness and sacrifice are a beautiful but bittersweet touch to the end of the episode. She made this choice knowing that she wouldn’t be able to visit Bobby’s grave as often as she’d like. It played into the discussion of changing out the flowers — life has a way of taking you on a different path. This isn’t the path Athena wanted, but here she is, knowing that she’ll have to travel thousands of miles to another state just to lay flowers on her husband’s grave.
That’s hard to do, knowing that you can’t just talk to your loved one the way you’d like. Athena will need to find another way to feel like she’s close to Bobby, and she likely thought all about that as she made her decision on his final resting place. In the end, she had to do what was right for Bobby. He lived through the loss of his children in the hope that one day he would see them again, and if Athena could only do one thing for him, that was to make it possible. None of us knows what happens after death, but the idea of being close to where his children are buried is a symbolism of Bobby’s wishes.
In her sacrifice, she listened. Now can the tears stop?
911 airs on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC. Tune in the following day with Hulu.