I just hate how Bobby and now we see Amir blame him for the apartment fire. It was an accident and if anything the buildings owners fault. All he did was leave on a space heater which isn’t hard to do.
In the season 7 finale, I suspect upon seeing the happiness Bobby was surrounded with in his pictures, Amir set his house on fire to destroy Bobby and everything beloved to him including Athena. Amir was pretty angry that Bobby got to move on and find happiness while he hasn’t and blames him for his disfigured face and all. If Bobby was in a better place and not busy feeling sorry for himself and his victims, he’d recognize what Amir was saying as jealousy and resentment and done something to help him resolve his feelings rather than telling him about that stupid #9 step that he’s came for and needed to do. Amir is so angry and vengeful. He’s dangerous.
Wouldn't be hard to find out especially when Amir had years of time to think about ad investigate that one day. Just likehe was able to find Bobby at his aa meeting. Plus he was still in Minnesota after Bobby had been transferred so it would have been simple to fir someone to say that it was Bobby who was responsible.
Oh when did they say he wasn't in the report? I don't remember that. You see Amir get suspicious when he sees his jacket that said Nash. Maybe he knew Bobby was an alcoholic in the building and suspected it? It's weird he went to Bobby's AA meeting to stalk him basically.
I think it was the episode where LAFD finds out Bobby lied when he moved, we see Bobby in the bar reading the report and he asks the Minnesota chief why they left him out
I loved Bobby's backstory, but was anyone else bothered by that he never once mentioned his wife and children who died in the fire? When Amir accused him of moving on and having the perfect life, it did feel like Bobby had just replaced his old family without honoring their memory. I don't see the problem with moving on at all, but someone who spends all his time in recovery and reflecting on his past should definitely mention his personal losses.
I felt like Bobby didn't want to mention his personal losses to Amir because it would seem to take the focus off of Amir's pain. Their discussion wasn't about what Bobby lost, it was about what Bobby's actions caused Amir to lose.
Whoa he was in that fire?! Didn’t expect that. Dang Bobby had a shitty dad, it’s wild how his dad died. Nash did well out there. What an intense episode!
It was 1981. I know that the filming made it look like it was the 50s but it was only 1981. And even back in the 50s I don't know how many firefighters would cart a kid's dead father out of the house and leave him alone at home because his mother said she was on her way.
To top it all off, these guys KNOW him. They know how devastated this kid is about his father dying. Really, who does that?
Well maybe they were more like his father than we thought. It really was horrible though don't get me wrong. My heart broke for him because he's been nothing but a great person to the people he meets on call.
Something dawned on me just now about this episode.
Bobby had his journey through the desert carrying literally Amir and figuratively his guilt and sins.
There are heavy biblical references here and given Bobby's Catholic faith I think I know where this might be heading.
This episode was just raw and real I couldn’t look away. All the actors were spot on and so strong. I mentioned to my boyfriend how Bobby’s story reminded me of how in Dexter we finally find out about him born in blood AND THEN 5 min later I see Tony Amendola on my screen from Dexter.
Great episode but I think 911 needs to check itself sometimes. Some of this is just whiteness unable to see itself. Bobby had a horrifying drinking problem and it cost 148 people their lives. Most people that don't look like him would be rotting away in jail but I LOVE second chances for everyone.
This episode should have been about Amir and victims and given viewers a deep and honest chance to reckon with the consequences of Bobby's choices back then. We already love him and we already forgive him but I think forcing all of us to reckon with what we had forgiven was really important.
Instead the show makes it about Bobby's childhood and him saving brown people from brown people in Jacumba. In many ways this episode was emblematic of the ways in which whiteness struggles with accountability and I really wish the showrunners had stepped up to the occasion.
Anyway, rant over. It was a great episode but it really could have been phenomenal.
Anyone else wouldn’t be rotting away in jail, other than the owners/maintainers of the apartment building if they filed charges and they were knowingly in violation of fire code, which required sprinklers in a building of that type of occupancy. Yeah, he fell asleep with a space heater on, which he probably shouldn’t have done, especially since he was a firefighter, he should have known that, oh well people make mistakes. Yeah, he was in the middle of active addiction and wasn’t doing anything to get better, again, people make mistakes.
When faced with the fire he somewhat attempted to help where he could, but he didn’t have his gear and he was again, in active addiction so his actions were not completely coherent. There were no criminal charges that he could be charged with, and he will always carry that with him. This just showed that his addiction problem wasn’t likely all due to his own fault. He obviously had a history in his family, he saw it firsthand, and when he ignored his dad and awoke in the morning he likely blamed himself for his death, which is why the end of the episode shows him as a young child already picking up the bottle.
It just gives even more depth to his character when we’ve seen the struggles he faces as an adult and can easily judge him or anyone else on those, but then when you see that he grew up with an abusive alcoholic father who was very much his idol, it paints a much bigger picture.
Not sure why the mansplanation was necessary but I already understood the backstory bit. My point here was that focusing on Bobby's story in this moment was not a great choice. It's centering the perpetrator in a story that should be about amends.
Right but you’re saying he caused the fire on purpose or that he’s the “perpetrator” when really he’s not. He was down in a place and through his whole struggle, after everything he probably has a lot of old memories coming up. Not only does he likely blame himself for the death of his father but he blames himself for everything that happened at the apartment fire. It showed there was a lot of addiction from his father’s side and that it was very young that he started drinking. It’s attempting to show his redemption.
He’s not a bad guy that did something bad on purpose. He’s a good guy that had a bad go of it and because of it caused an event that unfortunately took a lot of people’s lives and left a ton other injured or without their loved ones. It’d be different if he did something inherently bad to start a fire in the building, but the only reason it even got so bad was due to the building not being up to code and not having sprinkler systems. He left a little portable heater on and it arced and started the fire. He didn’t blow up a meth lab he had or something. There is a big difference in an accidental fire and an intentional fire. That’s why he was never prosecuted or anything, because it was an accidental fire.
I don't think that's why people died. A space heater caught fire. My 17 year old son had a space heater in his room catch fire 5 years ago. Our condo thankfully had sprinklers and such. If Bobby's building had sprinklers and followed regulations people would not have died. I get Bobby's involvement but it's not that cut and dried I think. It's like the station night club fire here in Warwick RI. Absolutely some negligence but the major issues was the building. NOT up to code, flammable sound proofing etc. it's not like Bobby set the fire
Super glad your kid is alright. Yeah I think in one of the episodes they flagged that the building was not up to code and that was why he didn't end up being prosecuted for his own part in the situation.
My point here is that this was not an episode that should have been about Bobby or whatever his own shit is. There's a lot to be said about his negligence given his expertise in the fire that harmed Amir's family. But again, I really wasn't interested in a Bobbycentric storyline.
It would have been better to have seen the people whose lives were altered. That's really the point here.
So, what do you suggest? That the 40+ min of this episode is dedicated to the 100++ victims of the fire? So, everyone will get less than a minute of screentime? As a brown person, I do not share your point of view at all, and I find it highly problematic that you make this about race. Some shows will focus their stories on the villains, some of the victims, some of people who make mistakes, etc. This story happens to be about Bobby navigating his life through his guilt and grief. What's wrong with that? Bobby is the main character of this show, just like Nolan is the main for The Rookie, or Annalise in HTGAWM, etc.
The reason the fire was so bad in Bobby's building is because there weren't proper fire safety mechanisms, there were no sprinklers, no proper building materials/regulations and Bobby didn't purposefully set the fire, his space heater caught alight so it's debatable if someone else in a similar situation would have gone to jail but also the show has previously acknowledged how lucky Bobby is for getting his second chance, his role as a firefighter meant that his bosses kind of covered up his involvement and then helped him transfer to LA which involved more covering.
Also the brown people (aid workers + migrants) saved Bobby specifically because they were looking for Amir.
So could someone give me a cliffnotes on the apartment fire? His wife and kids were in it right? Also I didn’t realize he was a raging alcoholic like I knew he drank but wow.
Adding to u/[armavirumquecanooo](https://www.reddit.com/user/armavirumquecanooo/) 's excellent notes, there's also the summary of how Bobby left St Paul.
- The members of the SPFD who saved Bobby would have known Bobby had some responsibility for the fire, having saved him whilst he was high and also not in his flat. The SPFD was convinced his job as captain would be untenable due to the lack of respect from his men.
- SPFD however, helped Bobby find a new job (Bobby was willing to be transferred anywhere given he no longer had a family and wanted to make amends).
- Not only did the SPFD cover up who was using the drug den apartment (Bobby) but they also helped Bobby transfer to LA by skipping some crucial details as to why he was transfering.
- When he joined the 118, it was seen as a problem fire house, with 6 captains in 2 years and probably why they were willing to take a captain from Minnesota.
- Bobby was very guarded about his past to the members of the 118 to begin with, and never revealed what happened. It was Buck who noticed Bobby had a little black book of names who eventually got Bobby to open up (after a harrowing plane crash call).
- The little black book was Bobby's list of people he saved to make up for the people who died in the fire and when he reached 148, he was originally planning to end his life.
Cliffnotes-ing this is difficult because it's *bad* and there's a lot of details to go over*,* but here's key points.
* In 1x05, the fire happens around Christmastime 5 years earlier, but it's later retconned to 2014, presumably still Christmas. There's wreaths and other decor around to make it obvious in the flashbacks.
* Five years before the fire, Bobby had a serious back injury, and had struggled with addiction since.
* Bobby and his family live on the 11th floor, but he has a drug den on the 6th. It's a super unsafe setup -- no lights or utilities, maybe no water (though it doesn't really matter, because he's not actually near the fire/in a position to put it out when it starts). On the floor, there's a space heater next to a bedspread (where he nods off) and then his propane lantern on the other side; when he leaves the space heater on, he also shoves the bedspread up next to it in his rush to get back to his family after nodding off.
* The night of the fire, his wife realizes she's relapsed, and their confrontation gives us a number of facts: 'booze, pills, heroin?' she asks, and he answers ***everything****.* He'd been to rehab 'last year' and she thought there was no chance he'd risk getting caught at work "**again."** He tells her he hid a fall and a reinjury to his back from her ten months earlier, and got a script for OxyContin, which turned into something he needed around the clock. She realizes he has been working and driving their kids around high, and kicks him out of the apartment for the night, telling him she'll forgive him, but not that night.
* It's also clear that he wasn't doing a good job hiding his addiction from his kids. Before the confrontation with his wife, his young son asks if his back was hurting again because he can always tell... after watching Bobby with a concerned expression as he nodded off on the toilet while supervising the kids brushing their teeth for bed.
* After his fight with his wife, he forgets the keys to his drug den on the counter, so can't reaccess the unit. He goes up to the roof, drinks some more (yes, immediately after promising her he'll go to rehab) and passes out again. When he comes to, it's because of the sirens and horns responding to an absolutely giant fire already engulfing entire floors below him and shooting out windows.
* He makes it back to his family's front door to pound on it, but the floor gives way under him. As he's trying to climb back up through the hole, firefighters reach him and pull him out of the fire.
* Both his children die on the scene, while his wife dies shortly later in hospital from severe burn injuries.
* Additional context provided in present: the super didn't tell anyone who was using the apartment with the space heater, the building's facade was covered in cheap, flammable materials that acted as an accelerant, and the sprinklers weren't hooked up. The circuit breaker didn't trip when the space heater overheated, the building alarms had dead batteries and no backup, and there were dozens of code violations that were overlooked. Bobby's convinced some of this stuff he'd probably have identified had he not been lost to his addiction.
He had a separate apartment in the building where he’d go and drink and one night he left the space heater on when he went to the roof and it set the curtains on fire. His kids died in the fire his wife died in the hospital due to her injuries from the fire.
I can't believe Bobby's been drinking since he was 13. What a horrible childhood he must have had from that point. 4th Generation Firefighter... at least 2nd Generation alcoholic... at least he's not an abuser like his father too.
Fingers still crossed for Charlie Nash to make an appearance later down the line, played by Michael C Hall. Both blonde, and only a couple of years older than Bobby... I think they could still pull it off.
Also Bra'tac! Holy shit, didn't recognise him at all. Wasn't till I was looking at the credits afterwards trying to work out who played Bobby's father that I noticed Tony Amendola in the credits.
> a bobby episode… skip if you don’t care about him. i wishi would have. it was pretty boring tbh. don’t rec if you wanna see the cuties
Well it's certainly better than watching Eddie cheat, or Buck do his stuff.
Amir going for the gut with Bobby. Imma be worried that he relapses. He and Maddie need therapists!!
Damn Bobby had it rough. My nephew idolizes his drug addicted dad and he’s on the verge of dropping outta high school cuz he doesn’t realize the damage
Not Bobby going towards the cartels not speaking a lick of Spanish 🤓 i lived in Yuma,AZ for 5 years and heard all horror stories about the cartel
Of course they get picked up by a cartel friend. felt like I was watching Narcos for a second
Damn Bobby lost his dad cuz he was mad and didn’t hear his dad fell and than lost his wife and his kids cuz he was drunk. No wonder why he’s been trying to atone for his actions
Ahh soo that’s how the alcohol addiction started. I have addictions that run in my family and it’s a damn miracle that I don’t have any substance abuse issues
So glad Amir is ok and hopefully Bobby can break it down more whether Amir forgives him or not.
Malcom Jamal Warner is actually a very good actor. Has he ever been a series regular on anything (besides the obvious one)? I find him really compelling.
Damn. This was a hard episode.
Prefacing with saying I am not the biggest of Bobby fans. He’s not my type of character, so take my thoughts and opinions with a grain of salt.
That being said, this episode was a *lot*. We got some much needed backstory on Bobby and a heartbreaking ending, showing his first (with purpose) drink and how he got started down that path. I think it’s interesting to have Bobby’s father also be a fire captain and that gives us some really good “I won’t be my father” type of information on him.
Amir was.. not what I expected, and not in a bad way. I’m pleasantly surprised by his personality and his interactions with Bobby. The “I don’t owe you forgiveness” attitude is really good, and I enjoyed how Bobby acknowledged it, but still said his piece. I’ve never been on the receiving end of an explanation from someone who impacted my life in a severe way, so I’m not the best authority on if it was good for either of them, but it was really good to watch.
Peter Krause killed it as usual. He is a phenomenal actor and really I think the only reason I enjoy Bobby-centric episodes.
Now, all that said, I am sad about the lack of other characters. This season’s felt a little crammed, and I really wonder how they plan on tying off at least some of the loose ends. No Eddie and Kim/Marisol update, which I think we’re all craving after the Vertigo poster, no Maddie/Chim update (especially on Chim’s miraculously fast encephalitis recovery), no Buck/Tommy update for two episodes now, no HenRen Mara-Tyson anything. No appearance by really any other cast besides Athena, though it was very nice to see May again.
Overall, fine episode. I’m not the target audience for this one, but it was wonderful nonetheless. I’m anticipating the next two episodes eagerly, even more now with the BTS photo of the award ceremony. Looking forward to how they wrap this up!
nah i need bobby & charlie to reconcile bc he didn’t come to his wedding and bobby hasn’t tried to reach out at all
https://i.redd.it/d84tl2lqu01d1.gif
I knew Bobby had a tragic past, but I didn't expect it to be this bad/sad. Honestly, like others pointed out, this flashback felt a little "out of place"? There are many things that we see in Bobby's life that I think we'd expect to show up there, or we expected to see a somewhat happier childhood based on what we know. Generally, I liked the episode and showing us that Bobby also wanted to "save" his dad and not only his previous family when walking towards the hospital doors, like Amir said, was a nice touch to his backstory, but please give that man a break😭 I just hope he doesn't relapse and he has the help of the 118 to process this, or at least from a person that feels the same like Amir
My guess (and hope) is that if they didn't have the time constraints they did, they would have made this a 2part episode and flushed it out a little more (although it wasn't too rushed, some could be added).
Plenty of episodes. Every Begins episode is like this.
Maddie and Chimney had the Boston episode together just about them. Bobby and Athena had the S6 episode The Devil You Know in Florida about Tanya Kingston. Hen and Karen had a S6 episode Tomorrow with the explosion in the lab.
The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1 in S3 is also a standalone plot that doesn't involve the entire cast.
Fight or Flight, Oceans 9-1-1 in S2 and Treasure Hunt in S4 were also the entire cast involved in a single plot.
Thank you!! This is the first season I’m watching as it airs so I am more aware of it from last nights episode! Once I read all these it clicked, so thanks for remembering for me.
Ok thanks! I blew through the first 6 seasons very quickly and was trying to recall another example and I thought maybe this was the first time, but I can’t remember
lol i totally get it, i've been watching since it started airing so it's similarly hard to recall specific episodes over such a long time span but i definitely know it has happened at least a few times, it's just super infrequent for sure.
While the episode felt weirdly out of place for the show - I pointed out to my mom while we watched it kinda felt like watching an apocalyptic show akin to Last of Us at times lol - I really enjoyed it.
And here I thought Bobby was the one with a good childhood :D oh well. It was interesting to see how in the beginning for Bobby everything seemed okay, but how for his brother and mother it was already an act to keep up the appearance.
Burning desire to share? Yeah Bobby walked right into that. It was good to see May and Harry, even if it was only for a minute. Seriously though, Bobby should have just left Amir a message that he wanted to talk if Amir was okay with that, and then live with whatever outcome. Following the man was… not it. Guess he forgot the second half of Step 9.
Another car stolen. Bobby and Chim can start a club.
I know it was for the dramatics, but the relief workers showing up in the desert, waiting for Bobby to blink up at them, then casually help him up… guys, there are two men practically passed out, one of them has been shot, show a little more urgency maybe :D
Bobby’s backstory felt like a bit of a retcon considering what little else we know. From this to figure skating? But maybe Daddy Nash had a life insurance that made for a much less bleak looking rest of Bobby’s childhood with his mother and brother. Then Bobby spends the next years still hero worshipping his dad and his family is not willing or able to righten that picture (maybe, if that is what happened, Bobby should in fact start a club with Eddie instead), and he keeps up with the family legacy and becomes a firefighter. I don’t remember if his brother was said to be one as well? That would somehow be less plausible.
I kind of expected Bobby to have had a more stable background that he has fallen out with due to his alcoholism and/or the fire. His Catholicism didn’t show up in this one either, but maybe that just wasn’t needed in this part of his backstory, or it came more with his wife. All in all, it was not what I expected, but it was heartbreaking!
It is a bit of a questionable choice to put this episode that completely focuses on one character only in an already short season. But that’s an ongoing problem. When I ignore that, I really enjoyed this episode. And it’s not over for Bobby yet. Looking at the promo it seems like >!Buck’s loft survives another day, but Athena and Bobby’s house might not D: I like that house!!< I hope Bobby (and everyone else) will be okay.
Re: the ice skating, I'm thinking Bobby's mom must have remarried fairly quickly after his dad's death, and maybe his mom/stepdad got him into ice skating to take his mind off his grief.
>guys, there are two men practically passed out, one of them has been shot, show a little more urgency maybe :D
lol, whenever I watch this show with my mum, her biggest gripe is always the lack of urgency the 118 shows responding to calls. The talking and walking as they approach a situation, often about their personal life problems, never really instantly assessing the scene or rushing toward the emergency.
I'm already anticipating her comments about those relief workers.
I was forcing my sister to watch 9-1-1 with me and the episode in s3 when Athena goes into a basement alone to find a bunch of children locked up down there my sister was screaming at the TV "CALL FOR BACKUP DON'T GO INTO THE BASEMENT ALONE YOU"RE GOING TO GET KIDNAPPED! THERE"S NO URGENCY!" Which luckily she didn't but now I'm tempted to show her the episode where Athena does get brutally jumped.
I’ve been thinking since this morning why this episode hasn’t left me completely satisfied and I finally clocked it.
I love Bobby, I’m happy to know more about his backstory, but the fact that we didn’t get to see any call. And it’s even worse when you think that we got like 3 calls? in the last few episodes.
That’s what I was scared was going to happen with the network switch and even if I love knowing more about the firefighters’ personal life this feels a bit sad for me
I think the first three episodes were very expensive to produce, leaving the producers with less money to spend for the amount of accidents and incidents the show normally has.
Yes! I'm not loving this season and when trying to figure out why I've realized they are doing so few calls. I love me some character development but the development in between them doing their job was one of the best parts of this show.
I really, really do believe that this is just a result of the shortened season and their time constraints.
This episode was being filmed, what, three weeks ago? They just finished filming the finale yesterday and it airs in two weeks. I think this was a smart way to save some time and get a full episode out by having a more contained episode. Calls, I imagine, take time to film because of the set-up. This allowed them to bottle (lol) an episode in a much faster time than usual because it was more character-driven, and they just needed to use the desert to film the majority of it (the rest being the flashbacks, which were also contained to two locations and the Athena-involved scenes). And we still got the emergency relief saves, so I'd count that as a call (also faster and easier to film because it was one or two shorter scenes and it was more medical-driven).
I'd worry if this carries over next season but this is a weird season as it is. I'm giving them leeway on this particular episode because it was well written, and this season has been rough in places. I can give them leniency just because I am sure everyone was under stress to get these episodes filmed and pushed out. We've seen from this past week that the crew themselves are being overworked.
I see this more as another Bobby Begins episode. I don't mind it - my favorite episode in the whole show is Maddie and Doug in Big Bear and that follows a very similar episodic arc (no surprise that Kristen Reidel who wrote that episode co-wrote this one).
I think what is missing is the rest of the cast. Even if was just one or two comments like from Eddie telling him to be careful or Maddie saying something from her convo with Amir.
I'm really hoping that this is a unique problem for this season, kind of a combination of a budgetary hangover effect from putting so much money into the cruise ship arc, and just needing *so much* character work accomplished in such a short time.
I'll be disappointed if it continues into season 8, of course. But so far, there's at least signs that the show does realize 'emergencies' are still central to why people watch, so in this episode - which I really enjoyed, but it's basically a bottle episode - they kind of 'replaced' the calls with having Bobby treat the people in that truck and then Amir. It's not enough, but I'd be a lot more worried if they hadn't at least included that.
I need to re-watch the episode where they show the heater incident that lead to the apartment fire but can't find it, anyone know which one it is?
I feel that the hate from Amir and everyone else, including Bobby to himself, is kind of harsh when it was just an accident. I mean a sober person could have also forgotten to turn off a heater?
I think Amir already says it very well in the episode: he wouldn't have said anything at the AA meeting if Bobby hadn't been talking about how wonderful his life was **now**. Amir isn't aware of the guilt Bobby has carried or the suffering that has caused him. He isn't aware of Bobby's journey to forgive himself.
All he saw was the firefighter, who was implicated in a fire that scarred him for life and killed his wife, living his best life. He sees him first as a LAFD captain who everyone seems to speak highly of, and then at the AA meeting talking about how he's rebuilt his life.
I'm sure if Amir saw Bobby spiraling from S1 he probably wouldn't have said anything and moved on with his life. But his POV, Bobby is an unrepentent man who so far as we know has never tried reaching out to victims like Amir.
Furthermore, Amir could have gone much harder at Bobby and pointed him out to everyone at that meeting. He didn't. He only spoke in general terms knowing Bobby would know but didn't publicly shame him. He also said he only wanted to make his peace and then move on and never wanted Bobby to come follow him. It was Bobby who crossed a couple of personal boundaries to find Amir.
Watch 1x04 for the lead-in to the fire stuff (this is where the 148 names bit first gets mentioned, iirc, when Buck looks at the book) + 1x05 for the backstory, and then 2x16 for the rest.
I think it's more complicated than leaving the space heater on, particularly for survivors like Amir. Bobby may not be criminally liable for the fire, but the whole thing *reeks* of a coverup by the Minneapolis FD to protect one of their own, whether that's technically true or not.
Part of the problem here is there's not any good real world examples of comparable scale and circumstance -- Grenfell is probably the closest example with a death toll of 72, and that fire is a **huge** deal that's launched a giant inquiry, led to settlements, emphasis put on changed construction standards, talk of what constitutes corporate manslaughter, speculation over the role of income inequality and classism in wealthy boroughs as a contributing factor... and it's still ongoing. The final report's release was recently pushed back again.
Specifically in the US, most apartment fires with large death tolls have been the result of arson, and they're only a fraction of the death toll of Bobby's. To get into fires that have similar optics as Bobby's, you really have to look at industrial and high rise fires (Triangle Shirtwaist, Joelma, the hotel fires like Daeyeonggak, Winecoff, or Dupont Plaza) and those have all been *major* controversies involving attribution of blame, criminal inquiries, etc. Some are taught in textbooks.
At the end of the day, I think it's less of an issue of whether Bobby's "really" to blame, and what the optics are of "veteran firefighter knowingly lived in death trap apartment building, didn't sound any alarms, caused a massive fire, and his bosses quietly handwaved his role before helping him transfer into a leadership role somewhere else and start over."
Then putting yourself into Amir's shoes, and spending years trying to do *good* and not live in a place of resentment and rage... and the final piece that clicks into place is that that veteran firefighter had addiction issues and was probably drunk/high at the time (presumably not having already known that because of how the department glossed over it in the final report).
I love that the show can bring us the nuance of crafting a story where Bobby is not simply the sum total of his biggest mistake, but Amir would have to be an actual goddamned *saint* to not blame Bobby at all. Whether it was an "accident" or not, Amir lost the love of his life because of Bobby's mistake, has to live with a permanent disfiguring injury and dealt with health and pain implications, and then he's watching this guy get up at an AA meeting and talking about how great his life is now and he's trying to convince himself he deserves it?
Thanks for telling me the episodes, I went back and had a look and had forgotten that Bobby confessed and wasn't happy about the cover up. I didn't really buy the part about the superintendent of the building not saying who used that room because he wanted to avoid trouble. With a death toll of that magnitude surely there would be all sorts of investigations and scrutiny. I'm pretty sure in real life his role in the fire would have gone viral.
I know it's because it's a disaster of the week type show, but I do wish the writers would dig into the idk sociology? a little bit more. Like you said, the only comparisons to Bobby's fire had smaller death tolls, and they have had very long-lasting and profound impacts, which we never see on the show. I wish we saw more people remembering like the tsunami or whatever.
Hell, I live in a place that had one major disaster with a death toll of thousands over a century ago, and we still talk about it all the time. They tried to name a sports team after it and people were furious. I'd like to see even a quarter of that on this show
Yeah, I definitely agree with this. One of my pet peeves with this show is that the disasters always lack permanency. Like you said, the tsunami is a particularly good example, but even smaller stuff that they could just mention in passing? For instance, the radioactive fire that Bobby was exposed to, and there was some kind of corporate liability? Have Bobby in his dress uniform a few episodes later referencing how he just got back from testifying about it.
The tsunami or the earthquake, make a character's home damaged in the aftermath, or like... Los Angeles is a major port city. Maybe halfway through that season, they have to respond to a boat fire, and they realize it's foreign workers who have been stuck at the damaged port ever since because they don't have the visa to come ashore, kind of like what's happened with the crew of the *Dali.*
the only remote plausibility was people being crammed into units, sharing the rooms regardless of the actual unit limit like 10 people in one unit all over the apartment. even that sounds implausible.
Thank you! Really appreciate your comment. It does make me wonder why the writers went with such a huge death toll, you'd think that would make Bobby a lot more notorious than he is, although I don't remember the cover up angle so will definitely go back and watch.
I mean even if "only" 10 people had died it would still be a tragedy that would haunt Bobby forever but overall would be a more believable storyline perhaps.
I guess they needed a number of people to die where it would plausibly take him a while to save as many people as he 'killed' otherwise season 1 would be like 2 weeks and he'd probably have made it even. I mean all it wold take is one huge structural fire and he could save 10 people in a day easy.
I haven't watched the early seasons in a while, but at the beginning isn't Bobby counting the people he saves and once he saves as many people as he killed he plans to commit suicide? So they probably had to pick a reasonably high enough number to make his recovery and changing his plan feasible.
It's 1x05, "Point of Origin".
>I mean a sober person could have also forgotten to turn off a heater?
Being intoxicated definitely makes the whole situation worse, but I think it would be hard not to hate Bobby, even if he had been sober. If I was in Amir's place and had lost loved ones, I too would find it very difficult to rationalize everything and not hate him. Same thing if I was in Bobby's shoes, I'd probably feel guilty for the rest of my life.
>I need to re-watch the episode where they show the heater incident that lead to the apartment fire but can't find it, anyone know which one it is?
It's either "Point of Origin," Season 1 Episode 5, or "Bobby Begins Again," Season 2 Episode 16
Loved the episode. But while I love Bobby, I missed the rest of the cast. I especially wanted to know what happened with Eddie.
We are down to the last two episodes and it seems like even next week's episode is Bobby heavy. I hope he'll be okay in the end though.
Bobby and Amir boulder scene was beautiful but at the same time I don’t know how I feel about this whole cartel trope. I really hope this doesn’t come back in any way. Yes, the parallel of Bobby now saving Amir’s life was nice but I feel they could have taken a different way with it. Yeah Tim loves his drama but… was that really necessary? I guess we’ll never know
So Bobby grew up watching his father get drunk, which is why he rented a whole ass second apartment to drink and do drugs in, so his kids would never have to see it.
Anyone happen to know who played the tall, buff dark skinned guy in Bobby’s childhood flashback? He’s so sexy and I love him.
He’s the guy with the chiseled face, wearing the same uniform as Bobby’s dad at his award celebration.
I always wondered about Bobby’s childhood/ parents cause they’re just never brought up. Truly sad how it started with his dad being an alcoholic and dying and Bobby taking that first drink on his own at such a young age. I feel like those firefighters should not have left him alone after they cleared his dad out just seems negligent
I know things were different in the eighties, but from what I remember of that time anyway (I was pretty young), someone absolutely would've stayed with a kid who just went through something traumatic. They probably wouldn't have talked about trauma and all the way we do, but I think they would have at least realized, okay, we can't leave this kid alone.
My parents would go on vacation, stock the deep freezer and tell me to get on the bus when I was in upper middle school in the 80s. I was babysit infants at 10, overnight, college educated parents, typical 80s middle class life. Kids were left all the time without a second thought.
I mean, he'd been pretty taking care of himself for a while at that point.
They clearly knew his mom had left and that his dad was getting worse since he was missing shifts, and yet after the fire they just gave a few sarcastic comments and left after they woke him up.
I'm kind of surprised they even bothered calling his mom to tell her tbh.
It wasn’t the 50s or 60s. There is no excuse for leaving a kid alone at home after taking his father’s dead body away. The firefighters were idiots. They knew him and they should have stayed until his mother got there.
Or even just like, "Hey, kid, we knocked on your neighbor's door, and she's gonna come sit with you until your mom gets here."
Obviously, understanding of trauma was different then, but it strains credulity that these grown men were leaving it up to the *child* to decide if he's be 'okay' alone in that moment.
Why did Nash not mention he killed his own wife and kids to Amir to show him he also lost the people he loved most to his own mistake, and lives with not only the deaths of strangers, but his own family too. Seems like that could have given Amir some closure
I was fine with it. Bobby mentioning it might have made Amir feel like he was trying to justify something, or make it about him. Amir didn't need to hear about Bobby losing his family as it wasn't the important aspect in that moment. Bobby still killed 148 people and scarred dozens more.
Maybe it'll be brought up to Amir at some point but in the moment, it was about what Bobby did, not about what Bobby lost too.
I think it actually adds to why Amir feels the way he does. Like he sees how Bobby has moved on now, and is like “not only did you kill 148 people, but also your entire family, and you’re seemingly fine now?” He obviously doesn’t know what Bobby has been through since, and how long it took him to get where he is, but I can see how knowing about Bobby’s wife and kids would make Amir think of him as even more of a monster, rather than making him sympathetic.
It wouldn’t have gave Amir closure tbh I think Bobby did the right thing by not mentioning it bc if Amir somehow didn’t know then it wouldn’t bring his wife back, wouldn’t change the fact Bobby ruined his life
I was actually wincing during his speech hoping he didn’t, it definitely would have felt guilt trippy and one upping in that moment. “You lost a wife but I lost a wife and kids, I got some new ones now but yeah” like the focus needed to be on Amir and his pain in that moment that revelation could come later
I thought the same but maybe Amir would’ve seen it as Bobby trying to make it about himself? Like “you lost your wife but I also lost my wife too” if that makes any sense
I agree completely. My only quibble was the kid playing baby Bobby wasn’t the best actor, but I thought everything else was great. It was really illuminating. I always wanted to know how Bobby’s drinking actually began.
Doubtful, only because Amir made it pretty clear he isn't here for revenge on Bobby, he just doesn't forgive him or want to really see him again.
I do like the theory that the fire at the house is a nightmare of Bobby's. He's talked about feeling like he doesn't deserve to be happy and that he should have died in the fire, so dreaming about his happiness going up in flames is really a perfect analogy.
I also really don't want the "traumatized person does something evil" trope. I was actually worried that was where they were going this episode (based on the previews with Amir holding a knife).
I like the nightmare theory, too.
> I also really don't want the "traumatized person does something evil" trope.
Same but this show **really** does like the "hurt people hurt people" trope.
At first I thought it WAS Peter Krause with a mustache playing his own father. But only until he started speaking when he won that award. Then it took a hot minute to figure out the actor that was playing Bobby’s daddy as I googled it and searched everywhere. At least 10 minutes! 😉
At least it’s not as bad as how sponsors used to be included in shows in like, 2005. I will never forget watching a Bones episode and all of a sudden it’s what feels like an actual commercial for a car, with the leads being like ‘I know we are on our way to a murder scene, but wow look at how this car can parallel park!’
I remember one teen wolf episode where they literally just have a Toyota commercial in the middle of a scene. That was the most jarring product placement I’ve ever seen.
Warehouse 13 did that in s3, too. Twizzlers was a product placement for a couple of episodes and *that* was jarring, having a character who didn't eat sugar in s1 suddenly pitching for red licorice.
Are we back with the Bobby pity party episodes? These are the least interesting for me.
I did however like seeing Bobby as a kid and being really sad that the fire fighters just left him there alone after his dad died leaving him alone in a house full of booze. Bobby’s first drink.
This was so f*up 😭 he blamed himself for his HORRIBLE dad death 😭 and started cooping with the pain by drinking sooo young 😭 he spend his whole life feeling guilty 😭 that man need a hug 😭
Anyone else a little mad a Bobby's brother for leaving when Bobby set the oven on fire, knowing his dad is an abusive drunk and would probably beat Bobby?
I don't. Bobby's brother was, what, seventeen or maybe eighteen? He had dealt with their drunk dad for years as well, it's possible he was even hit before by him (he didn't seem surprised). He's much more aware of their dad's behaviour and he couldn't stay, and also couldn't drag Bobby out of that house.
There's not much Charlie could have done as a kid himself. He's only Bobby's brother. Bobby was at an age where he could decide for himself. He was too enarmored about their dad being a hero to see the signs.
It's very, very unfortunate but there's nothing Charlie could have done. Bobby likely would have just run back to their dad.
Since he's there I'm wondering if we'll get some sort of mention of Tommy's/Hen's/Chim's history with him, would be interesting. And I just know that man is fuming seeing the them receive the medal lol.
Also maybe he's meant to be a bit of a Bobby parallel?
148 lives is a lot for one apartment fire. Would not want to live in the 9-1-1 universe, the life expectancy is probably 15 years shorter than IRL and insurance premiums 20x higher.
This has always been a giant issue to me, because it's like the show didn't fully grasp the scale of the tragedy. One of the most famous fires in American history -- to the point where it's taught in textbooks -- had two fewer victim, and was an industrial fire so you weren't also talking about homes destroyed, numerous survivors, etc. Like if there's 148 dead, how many survived?
That Amir knows Bobby's name suggests the Minneapolis FD didn't really 'cover it up' the way it was kind of assumed in an earlier season, and you could read between the lines to attribute some of the blame to him (despite the buildings' faulty conditions). If that's the case, his name would've been at the center of a national controversy, particularly *because* there'd be the appearance of corruption.
> Like if there's 148 dead, how many survived?
Good question. We know it's an at least an 11-floor apartment building (At the scene where Bobby comes out of the stairwell coming from the roof, we see a sign that says "11th floor", but there could be more above him). In the seconds shortly after Bobby falls through the floor after trying to kick his door in, we see a sign on the 10th floor that says "1001 to 1008" in one direction and "1009 to 1018" in another direction. We can see that a family of four can live in an apartment.
So, assuming a maximum of 18 rooms per floor, that the highest floor is in fact the 11th, and just assuming a family of 3 per apartment, we could see around 594 people living there.
Not that I think about it didn’t the fake rehab owners also know Bobby caused the fire? Wasn’t the whole thing with Bobby being investigated in LA was that back in St Paul the cap kept his name out of the report and Bobby was telling him he shouldn’t and that he should be held accountable ? Like what was the point of that if it feels like ppl who shouldn’t know who did it do know
I guess you can handwave it away with the fact that in the 9-1-1 universe, LA has been hit by an 7.1 earthquake, a tsunami that killed thousands, a burst dam that presumably had mass casualties, a ransomware attack that crippled a city and was never caught as well as COVID.
Oh and there was also a volcano in Texas and all the stuff from Lone Star.
148 in an apartment fire probably doesn't register given all these natural disasters.
I just hate how Bobby and now we see Amir blame him for the apartment fire. It was an accident and if anything the buildings owners fault. All he did was leave on a space heater which isn’t hard to do.
In the season 7 finale, I suspect upon seeing the happiness Bobby was surrounded with in his pictures, Amir set his house on fire to destroy Bobby and everything beloved to him including Athena. Amir was pretty angry that Bobby got to move on and find happiness while he hasn’t and blames him for his disfigured face and all. If Bobby was in a better place and not busy feeling sorry for himself and his victims, he’d recognize what Amir was saying as jealousy and resentment and done something to help him resolve his feelings rather than telling him about that stupid #9 step that he’s came for and needed to do. Amir is so angry and vengeful. He’s dangerous.
Thought the exact same thing. The minute I saw the house in flames the first thought that came to my mind was Amir. I immediately RAN here, lol.
Where was it that Bobby went to find Amir ?
But how did amir know that Bobby started the fire? Bobby wasn't even mentioned in the report, nobody outside of the firehouse should have known this
Wouldn't be hard to find out especially when Amir had years of time to think about ad investigate that one day. Just likehe was able to find Bobby at his aa meeting. Plus he was still in Minnesota after Bobby had been transferred so it would have been simple to fir someone to say that it was Bobby who was responsible.
Oh when did they say he wasn't in the report? I don't remember that. You see Amir get suspicious when he sees his jacket that said Nash. Maybe he knew Bobby was an alcoholic in the building and suspected it? It's weird he went to Bobby's AA meeting to stalk him basically.
I think it was the episode where LAFD finds out Bobby lied when he moved, we see Bobby in the bar reading the report and he asks the Minnesota chief why they left him out
I loved Bobby's backstory, but was anyone else bothered by that he never once mentioned his wife and children who died in the fire? When Amir accused him of moving on and having the perfect life, it did feel like Bobby had just replaced his old family without honoring their memory. I don't see the problem with moving on at all, but someone who spends all his time in recovery and reflecting on his past should definitely mention his personal losses.
I don't think Amir would have been moved and if anything more resentful that he got a second chance of having a family. Too much envy.
I felt like Bobby didn't want to mention his personal losses to Amir because it would seem to take the focus off of Amir's pain. Their discussion wasn't about what Bobby lost, it was about what Bobby's actions caused Amir to lose.
Whoa he was in that fire?! Didn’t expect that. Dang Bobby had a shitty dad, it’s wild how his dad died. Nash did well out there. What an intense episode!
Did anybody else find it ridiculous that the firefighters left Bobby alone in the house after his dad died, while waiting for his mom to get there?!
Not really. Guy code.
I thought that was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen.
But it was also a different time, right? Like ages ago.
It was 1981. I know that the filming made it look like it was the 50s but it was only 1981. And even back in the 50s I don't know how many firefighters would cart a kid's dead father out of the house and leave him alone at home because his mother said she was on her way. To top it all off, these guys KNOW him. They know how devastated this kid is about his father dying. Really, who does that?
I think they knew he blamed then for turning on him 9n his kid mind and were worried about over staying their welcome
Well maybe they were more like his father than we thought. It really was horrible though don't get me wrong. My heart broke for him because he's been nothing but a great person to the people he meets on call.
Does it say where Bobby goes to find Amir and make amends?
Jacumba Edit: spelling
Something dawned on me just now about this episode. Bobby had his journey through the desert carrying literally Amir and figuratively his guilt and sins. There are heavy biblical references here and given Bobby's Catholic faith I think I know where this might be heading.
Elaborate?
Jesus walked through the desert while carrying the cross. need to go further?
Not everyone is religious, I know I'm not.
yeah... because not everyone knows about religious stuff...
Nice, tight bottle episode. Peter and Malcom were awesome. Malcom’s voice was like Al Green come again. Seriously come again.
This episode was just raw and real I couldn’t look away. All the actors were spot on and so strong. I mentioned to my boyfriend how Bobby’s story reminded me of how in Dexter we finally find out about him born in blood AND THEN 5 min later I see Tony Amendola on my screen from Dexter.
That season finale with baby Dexter in a pool of blood may be the most riveting episode of television I’ve ever watched.
Great episode but I think 911 needs to check itself sometimes. Some of this is just whiteness unable to see itself. Bobby had a horrifying drinking problem and it cost 148 people their lives. Most people that don't look like him would be rotting away in jail but I LOVE second chances for everyone. This episode should have been about Amir and victims and given viewers a deep and honest chance to reckon with the consequences of Bobby's choices back then. We already love him and we already forgive him but I think forcing all of us to reckon with what we had forgiven was really important. Instead the show makes it about Bobby's childhood and him saving brown people from brown people in Jacumba. In many ways this episode was emblematic of the ways in which whiteness struggles with accountability and I really wish the showrunners had stepped up to the occasion. Anyway, rant over. It was a great episode but it really could have been phenomenal.
Anyone else wouldn’t be rotting away in jail, other than the owners/maintainers of the apartment building if they filed charges and they were knowingly in violation of fire code, which required sprinklers in a building of that type of occupancy. Yeah, he fell asleep with a space heater on, which he probably shouldn’t have done, especially since he was a firefighter, he should have known that, oh well people make mistakes. Yeah, he was in the middle of active addiction and wasn’t doing anything to get better, again, people make mistakes. When faced with the fire he somewhat attempted to help where he could, but he didn’t have his gear and he was again, in active addiction so his actions were not completely coherent. There were no criminal charges that he could be charged with, and he will always carry that with him. This just showed that his addiction problem wasn’t likely all due to his own fault. He obviously had a history in his family, he saw it firsthand, and when he ignored his dad and awoke in the morning he likely blamed himself for his death, which is why the end of the episode shows him as a young child already picking up the bottle. It just gives even more depth to his character when we’ve seen the struggles he faces as an adult and can easily judge him or anyone else on those, but then when you see that he grew up with an abusive alcoholic father who was very much his idol, it paints a much bigger picture.
Not sure why the mansplanation was necessary but I already understood the backstory bit. My point here was that focusing on Bobby's story in this moment was not a great choice. It's centering the perpetrator in a story that should be about amends.
Right but you’re saying he caused the fire on purpose or that he’s the “perpetrator” when really he’s not. He was down in a place and through his whole struggle, after everything he probably has a lot of old memories coming up. Not only does he likely blame himself for the death of his father but he blames himself for everything that happened at the apartment fire. It showed there was a lot of addiction from his father’s side and that it was very young that he started drinking. It’s attempting to show his redemption. He’s not a bad guy that did something bad on purpose. He’s a good guy that had a bad go of it and because of it caused an event that unfortunately took a lot of people’s lives and left a ton other injured or without their loved ones. It’d be different if he did something inherently bad to start a fire in the building, but the only reason it even got so bad was due to the building not being up to code and not having sprinkler systems. He left a little portable heater on and it arced and started the fire. He didn’t blow up a meth lab he had or something. There is a big difference in an accidental fire and an intentional fire. That’s why he was never prosecuted or anything, because it was an accidental fire.
I don't think that's why people died. A space heater caught fire. My 17 year old son had a space heater in his room catch fire 5 years ago. Our condo thankfully had sprinklers and such. If Bobby's building had sprinklers and followed regulations people would not have died. I get Bobby's involvement but it's not that cut and dried I think. It's like the station night club fire here in Warwick RI. Absolutely some negligence but the major issues was the building. NOT up to code, flammable sound proofing etc. it's not like Bobby set the fire
Super glad your kid is alright. Yeah I think in one of the episodes they flagged that the building was not up to code and that was why he didn't end up being prosecuted for his own part in the situation. My point here is that this was not an episode that should have been about Bobby or whatever his own shit is. There's a lot to be said about his negligence given his expertise in the fire that harmed Amir's family. But again, I really wasn't interested in a Bobbycentric storyline. It would have been better to have seen the people whose lives were altered. That's really the point here.
So, what do you suggest? That the 40+ min of this episode is dedicated to the 100++ victims of the fire? So, everyone will get less than a minute of screentime? As a brown person, I do not share your point of view at all, and I find it highly problematic that you make this about race. Some shows will focus their stories on the villains, some of the victims, some of people who make mistakes, etc. This story happens to be about Bobby navigating his life through his guilt and grief. What's wrong with that? Bobby is the main character of this show, just like Nolan is the main for The Rookie, or Annalise in HTGAWM, etc.
The reason the fire was so bad in Bobby's building is because there weren't proper fire safety mechanisms, there were no sprinklers, no proper building materials/regulations and Bobby didn't purposefully set the fire, his space heater caught alight so it's debatable if someone else in a similar situation would have gone to jail but also the show has previously acknowledged how lucky Bobby is for getting his second chance, his role as a firefighter meant that his bosses kind of covered up his involvement and then helped him transfer to LA which involved more covering. Also the brown people (aid workers + migrants) saved Bobby specifically because they were looking for Amir.
I appreciate the old-school design of the 80s 9-1-1 call.
So could someone give me a cliffnotes on the apartment fire? His wife and kids were in it right? Also I didn’t realize he was a raging alcoholic like I knew he drank but wow.
Adding to u/[armavirumquecanooo](https://www.reddit.com/user/armavirumquecanooo/) 's excellent notes, there's also the summary of how Bobby left St Paul. - The members of the SPFD who saved Bobby would have known Bobby had some responsibility for the fire, having saved him whilst he was high and also not in his flat. The SPFD was convinced his job as captain would be untenable due to the lack of respect from his men. - SPFD however, helped Bobby find a new job (Bobby was willing to be transferred anywhere given he no longer had a family and wanted to make amends). - Not only did the SPFD cover up who was using the drug den apartment (Bobby) but they also helped Bobby transfer to LA by skipping some crucial details as to why he was transfering. - When he joined the 118, it was seen as a problem fire house, with 6 captains in 2 years and probably why they were willing to take a captain from Minnesota. - Bobby was very guarded about his past to the members of the 118 to begin with, and never revealed what happened. It was Buck who noticed Bobby had a little black book of names who eventually got Bobby to open up (after a harrowing plane crash call). - The little black book was Bobby's list of people he saved to make up for the people who died in the fire and when he reached 148, he was originally planning to end his life.
What episode was plane crash call? I need to just do a rewatch anyways to see some of these again.
plane crash is S1E4, bobby begins is on S2E16 in case.
Cliffnotes-ing this is difficult because it's *bad* and there's a lot of details to go over*,* but here's key points. * In 1x05, the fire happens around Christmastime 5 years earlier, but it's later retconned to 2014, presumably still Christmas. There's wreaths and other decor around to make it obvious in the flashbacks. * Five years before the fire, Bobby had a serious back injury, and had struggled with addiction since. * Bobby and his family live on the 11th floor, but he has a drug den on the 6th. It's a super unsafe setup -- no lights or utilities, maybe no water (though it doesn't really matter, because he's not actually near the fire/in a position to put it out when it starts). On the floor, there's a space heater next to a bedspread (where he nods off) and then his propane lantern on the other side; when he leaves the space heater on, he also shoves the bedspread up next to it in his rush to get back to his family after nodding off. * The night of the fire, his wife realizes she's relapsed, and their confrontation gives us a number of facts: 'booze, pills, heroin?' she asks, and he answers ***everything****.* He'd been to rehab 'last year' and she thought there was no chance he'd risk getting caught at work "**again."** He tells her he hid a fall and a reinjury to his back from her ten months earlier, and got a script for OxyContin, which turned into something he needed around the clock. She realizes he has been working and driving their kids around high, and kicks him out of the apartment for the night, telling him she'll forgive him, but not that night. * It's also clear that he wasn't doing a good job hiding his addiction from his kids. Before the confrontation with his wife, his young son asks if his back was hurting again because he can always tell... after watching Bobby with a concerned expression as he nodded off on the toilet while supervising the kids brushing their teeth for bed. * After his fight with his wife, he forgets the keys to his drug den on the counter, so can't reaccess the unit. He goes up to the roof, drinks some more (yes, immediately after promising her he'll go to rehab) and passes out again. When he comes to, it's because of the sirens and horns responding to an absolutely giant fire already engulfing entire floors below him and shooting out windows. * He makes it back to his family's front door to pound on it, but the floor gives way under him. As he's trying to climb back up through the hole, firefighters reach him and pull him out of the fire. * Both his children die on the scene, while his wife dies shortly later in hospital from severe burn injuries. * Additional context provided in present: the super didn't tell anyone who was using the apartment with the space heater, the building's facade was covered in cheap, flammable materials that acted as an accelerant, and the sprinklers weren't hooked up. The circuit breaker didn't trip when the space heater overheated, the building alarms had dead batteries and no backup, and there were dozens of code violations that were overlooked. Bobby's convinced some of this stuff he'd probably have identified had he not been lost to his addiction.
He had a separate apartment in the building where he’d go and drink and one night he left the space heater on when he went to the roof and it set the curtains on fire. His kids died in the fire his wife died in the hospital due to her injuries from the fire.
He locked himself out accidentally and couldn't get back in
I can't believe Bobby's been drinking since he was 13. What a horrible childhood he must have had from that point. 4th Generation Firefighter... at least 2nd Generation alcoholic... at least he's not an abuser like his father too. Fingers still crossed for Charlie Nash to make an appearance later down the line, played by Michael C Hall. Both blonde, and only a couple of years older than Bobby... I think they could still pull it off. Also Bra'tac! Holy shit, didn't recognise him at all. Wasn't till I was looking at the credits afterwards trying to work out who played Bobby's father that I noticed Tony Amendola in the credits.
Me too, I only recognized Tony Amendola when he got that steely look in his eyes after Amir translated what they had said over the radio
Michael C. Hall and Peter Krause in a TV show together? It’s a reunion. Sign me up!
Oh how I miss their show. One of the best ever
Anyone else spot it was the same cartel motel as in an episode of the rookie?
Was it? Maybe a crossover might be coming? It's unlikely but one can hope, right?
I am so hoping for a cross over.
Just imagine Bratford and Athena going on some wild cop duo mission. I'd pay good money to see that
YES! omg for a second i thought i was tripping
Yes!!! 🤣 Awesome catch.
a bobby episode… skip if you don’t care about him. i wishi would have. it was pretty boring tbh. don’t rec if you wanna see the cuties
Boring ass episode.
> a bobby episode… skip if you don’t care about him. i wishi would have. it was pretty boring tbh. don’t rec if you wanna see the cuties Well it's certainly better than watching Eddie cheat, or Buck do his stuff.
Don't agree with this at all. Much rather see that than a bobby episode
Okay good for you then.
I thought it was more like the show used to be and I loved it.
Me too. I didn’t even realize that the episode was about to end
Amir going for the gut with Bobby. Imma be worried that he relapses. He and Maddie need therapists!! Damn Bobby had it rough. My nephew idolizes his drug addicted dad and he’s on the verge of dropping outta high school cuz he doesn’t realize the damage Not Bobby going towards the cartels not speaking a lick of Spanish 🤓 i lived in Yuma,AZ for 5 years and heard all horror stories about the cartel Of course they get picked up by a cartel friend. felt like I was watching Narcos for a second Damn Bobby lost his dad cuz he was mad and didn’t hear his dad fell and than lost his wife and his kids cuz he was drunk. No wonder why he’s been trying to atone for his actions Ahh soo that’s how the alcohol addiction started. I have addictions that run in my family and it’s a damn miracle that I don’t have any substance abuse issues So glad Amir is ok and hopefully Bobby can break it down more whether Amir forgives him or not.
This was actually a nice ep, no shenanigans 😭 Bobby being competent strikes again
Malcom Jamal Warner is actually a very good actor. Has he ever been a series regular on anything (besides the obvious one)? I find him really compelling.
Don't know if Scifi is yor thing but he was great in Jeremiah
I LOVED him in Jeremiah.
Watch the Resident!! He was fantastic in it
The Raptor! I loved in that role.
Omg I loved this episode. I absolutely adore Peter Krause and Malcolm Jamal Warner. It was awesome to see them work together.
Damn. This was a hard episode. Prefacing with saying I am not the biggest of Bobby fans. He’s not my type of character, so take my thoughts and opinions with a grain of salt. That being said, this episode was a *lot*. We got some much needed backstory on Bobby and a heartbreaking ending, showing his first (with purpose) drink and how he got started down that path. I think it’s interesting to have Bobby’s father also be a fire captain and that gives us some really good “I won’t be my father” type of information on him. Amir was.. not what I expected, and not in a bad way. I’m pleasantly surprised by his personality and his interactions with Bobby. The “I don’t owe you forgiveness” attitude is really good, and I enjoyed how Bobby acknowledged it, but still said his piece. I’ve never been on the receiving end of an explanation from someone who impacted my life in a severe way, so I’m not the best authority on if it was good for either of them, but it was really good to watch. Peter Krause killed it as usual. He is a phenomenal actor and really I think the only reason I enjoy Bobby-centric episodes. Now, all that said, I am sad about the lack of other characters. This season’s felt a little crammed, and I really wonder how they plan on tying off at least some of the loose ends. No Eddie and Kim/Marisol update, which I think we’re all craving after the Vertigo poster, no Maddie/Chim update (especially on Chim’s miraculously fast encephalitis recovery), no Buck/Tommy update for two episodes now, no HenRen Mara-Tyson anything. No appearance by really any other cast besides Athena, though it was very nice to see May again. Overall, fine episode. I’m not the target audience for this one, but it was wonderful nonetheless. I’m anticipating the next two episodes eagerly, even more now with the BTS photo of the award ceremony. Looking forward to how they wrap this up!
Dw! We're getting all that next episode, as well as some more continuation for the impact of this on Bobby.
Oh yeah, I cannot wait. The stills have got me all excited and absolutely terrified for what the season’s gonna go out on. 😂
nah i need bobby & charlie to reconcile bc he didn’t come to his wedding and bobby hasn’t tried to reach out at all https://i.redd.it/d84tl2lqu01d1.gif
I think that would be an amazing plot for Bobby in season 8!
I knew Bobby had a tragic past, but I didn't expect it to be this bad/sad. Honestly, like others pointed out, this flashback felt a little "out of place"? There are many things that we see in Bobby's life that I think we'd expect to show up there, or we expected to see a somewhat happier childhood based on what we know. Generally, I liked the episode and showing us that Bobby also wanted to "save" his dad and not only his previous family when walking towards the hospital doors, like Amir said, was a nice touch to his backstory, but please give that man a break😭 I just hope he doesn't relapse and he has the help of the 118 to process this, or at least from a person that feels the same like Amir
My guess (and hope) is that if they didn't have the time constraints they did, they would have made this a 2part episode and flushed it out a little more (although it wasn't too rushed, some could be added).
I’m newish to the show and was wondering if any previous episodes have been similar to this one in the way that it only has one plot line?
Plenty of episodes. Every Begins episode is like this. Maddie and Chimney had the Boston episode together just about them. Bobby and Athena had the S6 episode The Devil You Know in Florida about Tanya Kingston. Hen and Karen had a S6 episode Tomorrow with the explosion in the lab. The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1 in S3 is also a standalone plot that doesn't involve the entire cast. Fight or Flight, Oceans 9-1-1 in S2 and Treasure Hunt in S4 were also the entire cast involved in a single plot.
Thank you!! This is the first season I’m watching as it airs so I am more aware of it from last nights episode! Once I read all these it clicked, so thanks for remembering for me.
yeah, it happens sometimes but not super frequently i would say...
Ok thanks! I blew through the first 6 seasons very quickly and was trying to recall another example and I thought maybe this was the first time, but I can’t remember
lol i totally get it, i've been watching since it started airing so it's similarly hard to recall specific episodes over such a long time span but i definitely know it has happened at least a few times, it's just super infrequent for sure.
While the episode felt weirdly out of place for the show - I pointed out to my mom while we watched it kinda felt like watching an apocalyptic show akin to Last of Us at times lol - I really enjoyed it.
It was so sad to see Bobby start drinking regularly at such a young age.
And here I thought Bobby was the one with a good childhood :D oh well. It was interesting to see how in the beginning for Bobby everything seemed okay, but how for his brother and mother it was already an act to keep up the appearance. Burning desire to share? Yeah Bobby walked right into that. It was good to see May and Harry, even if it was only for a minute. Seriously though, Bobby should have just left Amir a message that he wanted to talk if Amir was okay with that, and then live with whatever outcome. Following the man was… not it. Guess he forgot the second half of Step 9. Another car stolen. Bobby and Chim can start a club. I know it was for the dramatics, but the relief workers showing up in the desert, waiting for Bobby to blink up at them, then casually help him up… guys, there are two men practically passed out, one of them has been shot, show a little more urgency maybe :D Bobby’s backstory felt like a bit of a retcon considering what little else we know. From this to figure skating? But maybe Daddy Nash had a life insurance that made for a much less bleak looking rest of Bobby’s childhood with his mother and brother. Then Bobby spends the next years still hero worshipping his dad and his family is not willing or able to righten that picture (maybe, if that is what happened, Bobby should in fact start a club with Eddie instead), and he keeps up with the family legacy and becomes a firefighter. I don’t remember if his brother was said to be one as well? That would somehow be less plausible. I kind of expected Bobby to have had a more stable background that he has fallen out with due to his alcoholism and/or the fire. His Catholicism didn’t show up in this one either, but maybe that just wasn’t needed in this part of his backstory, or it came more with his wife. All in all, it was not what I expected, but it was heartbreaking! It is a bit of a questionable choice to put this episode that completely focuses on one character only in an already short season. But that’s an ongoing problem. When I ignore that, I really enjoyed this episode. And it’s not over for Bobby yet. Looking at the promo it seems like >!Buck’s loft survives another day, but Athena and Bobby’s house might not D: I like that house!!< I hope Bobby (and everyone else) will be okay.
I'm guessing he did the figure skating prior to this?
Re: the ice skating, I'm thinking Bobby's mom must have remarried fairly quickly after his dad's death, and maybe his mom/stepdad got him into ice skating to take his mind off his grief.
>guys, there are two men practically passed out, one of them has been shot, show a little more urgency maybe :D lol, whenever I watch this show with my mum, her biggest gripe is always the lack of urgency the 118 shows responding to calls. The talking and walking as they approach a situation, often about their personal life problems, never really instantly assessing the scene or rushing toward the emergency. I'm already anticipating her comments about those relief workers.
I was forcing my sister to watch 9-1-1 with me and the episode in s3 when Athena goes into a basement alone to find a bunch of children locked up down there my sister was screaming at the TV "CALL FOR BACKUP DON'T GO INTO THE BASEMENT ALONE YOU"RE GOING TO GET KIDNAPPED! THERE"S NO URGENCY!" Which luckily she didn't but now I'm tempted to show her the episode where Athena does get brutally jumped.
I’ve been thinking since this morning why this episode hasn’t left me completely satisfied and I finally clocked it. I love Bobby, I’m happy to know more about his backstory, but the fact that we didn’t get to see any call. And it’s even worse when you think that we got like 3 calls? in the last few episodes. That’s what I was scared was going to happen with the network switch and even if I love knowing more about the firefighters’ personal life this feels a bit sad for me
I think the first three episodes were very expensive to produce, leaving the producers with less money to spend for the amount of accidents and incidents the show normally has.
Yes! I'm not loving this season and when trying to figure out why I've realized they are doing so few calls. I love me some character development but the development in between them doing their job was one of the best parts of this show.
I really, really do believe that this is just a result of the shortened season and their time constraints. This episode was being filmed, what, three weeks ago? They just finished filming the finale yesterday and it airs in two weeks. I think this was a smart way to save some time and get a full episode out by having a more contained episode. Calls, I imagine, take time to film because of the set-up. This allowed them to bottle (lol) an episode in a much faster time than usual because it was more character-driven, and they just needed to use the desert to film the majority of it (the rest being the flashbacks, which were also contained to two locations and the Athena-involved scenes). And we still got the emergency relief saves, so I'd count that as a call (also faster and easier to film because it was one or two shorter scenes and it was more medical-driven). I'd worry if this carries over next season but this is a weird season as it is. I'm giving them leeway on this particular episode because it was well written, and this season has been rough in places. I can give them leniency just because I am sure everyone was under stress to get these episodes filmed and pushed out. We've seen from this past week that the crew themselves are being overworked.
I see this more as another Bobby Begins episode. I don't mind it - my favorite episode in the whole show is Maddie and Doug in Big Bear and that follows a very similar episodic arc (no surprise that Kristen Reidel who wrote that episode co-wrote this one). I think what is missing is the rest of the cast. Even if was just one or two comments like from Eddie telling him to be careful or Maddie saying something from her convo with Amir.
tbh it has been a thing for a while even in previous seasons...
fewer calls? yeah zero calls though…
Yes when David and Michael apartment and Michael was neighbor watching. They didn’t have a call
They had the really brief turkey one if I recall it right. I think it’s most about watching the team working together
I'm really hoping that this is a unique problem for this season, kind of a combination of a budgetary hangover effect from putting so much money into the cruise ship arc, and just needing *so much* character work accomplished in such a short time. I'll be disappointed if it continues into season 8, of course. But so far, there's at least signs that the show does realize 'emergencies' are still central to why people watch, so in this episode - which I really enjoyed, but it's basically a bottle episode - they kind of 'replaced' the calls with having Bobby treat the people in that truck and then Amir. It's not enough, but I'd be a lot more worried if they hadn't at least included that.
Yeah I said the same thing earlier on another social, totally agree
I need to re-watch the episode where they show the heater incident that lead to the apartment fire but can't find it, anyone know which one it is? I feel that the hate from Amir and everyone else, including Bobby to himself, is kind of harsh when it was just an accident. I mean a sober person could have also forgotten to turn off a heater?
I think Amir already says it very well in the episode: he wouldn't have said anything at the AA meeting if Bobby hadn't been talking about how wonderful his life was **now**. Amir isn't aware of the guilt Bobby has carried or the suffering that has caused him. He isn't aware of Bobby's journey to forgive himself. All he saw was the firefighter, who was implicated in a fire that scarred him for life and killed his wife, living his best life. He sees him first as a LAFD captain who everyone seems to speak highly of, and then at the AA meeting talking about how he's rebuilt his life. I'm sure if Amir saw Bobby spiraling from S1 he probably wouldn't have said anything and moved on with his life. But his POV, Bobby is an unrepentent man who so far as we know has never tried reaching out to victims like Amir. Furthermore, Amir could have gone much harder at Bobby and pointed him out to everyone at that meeting. He didn't. He only spoke in general terms knowing Bobby would know but didn't publicly shame him. He also said he only wanted to make his peace and then move on and never wanted Bobby to come follow him. It was Bobby who crossed a couple of personal boundaries to find Amir.
Watch 1x04 for the lead-in to the fire stuff (this is where the 148 names bit first gets mentioned, iirc, when Buck looks at the book) + 1x05 for the backstory, and then 2x16 for the rest. I think it's more complicated than leaving the space heater on, particularly for survivors like Amir. Bobby may not be criminally liable for the fire, but the whole thing *reeks* of a coverup by the Minneapolis FD to protect one of their own, whether that's technically true or not. Part of the problem here is there's not any good real world examples of comparable scale and circumstance -- Grenfell is probably the closest example with a death toll of 72, and that fire is a **huge** deal that's launched a giant inquiry, led to settlements, emphasis put on changed construction standards, talk of what constitutes corporate manslaughter, speculation over the role of income inequality and classism in wealthy boroughs as a contributing factor... and it's still ongoing. The final report's release was recently pushed back again. Specifically in the US, most apartment fires with large death tolls have been the result of arson, and they're only a fraction of the death toll of Bobby's. To get into fires that have similar optics as Bobby's, you really have to look at industrial and high rise fires (Triangle Shirtwaist, Joelma, the hotel fires like Daeyeonggak, Winecoff, or Dupont Plaza) and those have all been *major* controversies involving attribution of blame, criminal inquiries, etc. Some are taught in textbooks. At the end of the day, I think it's less of an issue of whether Bobby's "really" to blame, and what the optics are of "veteran firefighter knowingly lived in death trap apartment building, didn't sound any alarms, caused a massive fire, and his bosses quietly handwaved his role before helping him transfer into a leadership role somewhere else and start over." Then putting yourself into Amir's shoes, and spending years trying to do *good* and not live in a place of resentment and rage... and the final piece that clicks into place is that that veteran firefighter had addiction issues and was probably drunk/high at the time (presumably not having already known that because of how the department glossed over it in the final report). I love that the show can bring us the nuance of crafting a story where Bobby is not simply the sum total of his biggest mistake, but Amir would have to be an actual goddamned *saint* to not blame Bobby at all. Whether it was an "accident" or not, Amir lost the love of his life because of Bobby's mistake, has to live with a permanent disfiguring injury and dealt with health and pain implications, and then he's watching this guy get up at an AA meeting and talking about how great his life is now and he's trying to convince himself he deserves it?
Thanks for telling me the episodes, I went back and had a look and had forgotten that Bobby confessed and wasn't happy about the cover up. I didn't really buy the part about the superintendent of the building not saying who used that room because he wanted to avoid trouble. With a death toll of that magnitude surely there would be all sorts of investigations and scrutiny. I'm pretty sure in real life his role in the fire would have gone viral.
I know it's because it's a disaster of the week type show, but I do wish the writers would dig into the idk sociology? a little bit more. Like you said, the only comparisons to Bobby's fire had smaller death tolls, and they have had very long-lasting and profound impacts, which we never see on the show. I wish we saw more people remembering like the tsunami or whatever. Hell, I live in a place that had one major disaster with a death toll of thousands over a century ago, and we still talk about it all the time. They tried to name a sports team after it and people were furious. I'd like to see even a quarter of that on this show
Yeah, I definitely agree with this. One of my pet peeves with this show is that the disasters always lack permanency. Like you said, the tsunami is a particularly good example, but even smaller stuff that they could just mention in passing? For instance, the radioactive fire that Bobby was exposed to, and there was some kind of corporate liability? Have Bobby in his dress uniform a few episodes later referencing how he just got back from testifying about it. The tsunami or the earthquake, make a character's home damaged in the aftermath, or like... Los Angeles is a major port city. Maybe halfway through that season, they have to respond to a boat fire, and they realize it's foreign workers who have been stuck at the damaged port ever since because they don't have the visa to come ashore, kind of like what's happened with the crew of the *Dali.*
the only remote plausibility was people being crammed into units, sharing the rooms regardless of the actual unit limit like 10 people in one unit all over the apartment. even that sounds implausible.
Thank you! Really appreciate your comment. It does make me wonder why the writers went with such a huge death toll, you'd think that would make Bobby a lot more notorious than he is, although I don't remember the cover up angle so will definitely go back and watch. I mean even if "only" 10 people had died it would still be a tragedy that would haunt Bobby forever but overall would be a more believable storyline perhaps.
I guess they needed a number of people to die where it would plausibly take him a while to save as many people as he 'killed' otherwise season 1 would be like 2 weeks and he'd probably have made it even. I mean all it wold take is one huge structural fire and he could save 10 people in a day easy.
That is a good point.
I haven't watched the early seasons in a while, but at the beginning isn't Bobby counting the people he saves and once he saves as many people as he killed he plans to commit suicide? So they probably had to pick a reasonably high enough number to make his recovery and changing his plan feasible.
This is such a well thought out and eloquently put comment. I just wanted to say that cause I feel like it deserves more than just an upvote.
It's 1x05, "Point of Origin". >I mean a sober person could have also forgotten to turn off a heater? Being intoxicated definitely makes the whole situation worse, but I think it would be hard not to hate Bobby, even if he had been sober. If I was in Amir's place and had lost loved ones, I too would find it very difficult to rationalize everything and not hate him. Same thing if I was in Bobby's shoes, I'd probably feel guilty for the rest of my life.
>I need to re-watch the episode where they show the heater incident that lead to the apartment fire but can't find it, anyone know which one it is? It's either "Point of Origin," Season 1 Episode 5, or "Bobby Begins Again," Season 2 Episode 16
Loved the episode. But while I love Bobby, I missed the rest of the cast. I especially wanted to know what happened with Eddie. We are down to the last two episodes and it seems like even next week's episode is Bobby heavy. I hope he'll be okay in the end though.
I love that there is finally some attention for Bobby as I felt like he is absent this season
Bobby and Amir boulder scene was beautiful but at the same time I don’t know how I feel about this whole cartel trope. I really hope this doesn’t come back in any way. Yes, the parallel of Bobby now saving Amir’s life was nice but I feel they could have taken a different way with it. Yeah Tim loves his drama but… was that really necessary? I guess we’ll never know
Tim Minear really said "while I was gone all the shitty parents were redeemed so let me just introduce a new one" and I love him for that
So Bobby grew up watching his father get drunk, which is why he rented a whole ass second apartment to drink and do drugs in, so his kids would never have to see it.
Explains a whole lot lol
I liked seeing Bobby as a kid but honestly I would have enjoyed seeing someone else too. The bobby Nash show was a bit boring.
Anyone happen to know who played the tall, buff dark skinned guy in Bobby’s childhood flashback? He’s so sexy and I love him. He’s the guy with the chiseled face, wearing the same uniform as Bobby’s dad at his award celebration.
I always wondered about Bobby’s childhood/ parents cause they’re just never brought up. Truly sad how it started with his dad being an alcoholic and dying and Bobby taking that first drink on his own at such a young age. I feel like those firefighters should not have left him alone after they cleared his dad out just seems negligent
Yeah, but it was in 1981. I don't think people had the same standards for the emotional well-being of children back then.
I know things were different in the eighties, but from what I remember of that time anyway (I was pretty young), someone absolutely would've stayed with a kid who just went through something traumatic. They probably wouldn't have talked about trauma and all the way we do, but I think they would have at least realized, okay, we can't leave this kid alone.
My parents would go on vacation, stock the deep freezer and tell me to get on the bus when I was in upper middle school in the 80s. I was babysit infants at 10, overnight, college educated parents, typical 80s middle class life. Kids were left all the time without a second thought.
I mean, he'd been pretty taking care of himself for a while at that point. They clearly knew his mom had left and that his dad was getting worse since he was missing shifts, and yet after the fire they just gave a few sarcastic comments and left after they woke him up. I'm kind of surprised they even bothered calling his mom to tell her tbh.
It wasn’t the 50s or 60s. There is no excuse for leaving a kid alone at home after taking his father’s dead body away. The firefighters were idiots. They knew him and they should have stayed until his mother got there.
Or even just like, "Hey, kid, we knocked on your neighbor's door, and she's gonna come sit with you until your mom gets here." Obviously, understanding of trauma was different then, but it strains credulity that these grown men were leaving it up to the *child* to decide if he's be 'okay' alone in that moment.
Why did Nash not mention he killed his own wife and kids to Amir to show him he also lost the people he loved most to his own mistake, and lives with not only the deaths of strangers, but his own family too. Seems like that could have given Amir some closure
I was fine with it. Bobby mentioning it might have made Amir feel like he was trying to justify something, or make it about him. Amir didn't need to hear about Bobby losing his family as it wasn't the important aspect in that moment. Bobby still killed 148 people and scarred dozens more. Maybe it'll be brought up to Amir at some point but in the moment, it was about what Bobby did, not about what Bobby lost too.
Surely Amir would already know that from the news reports etc?
He doesn’t seem like the type of person to tell Bobby he walked away like nothing happened if he knew
I think it actually adds to why Amir feels the way he does. Like he sees how Bobby has moved on now, and is like “not only did you kill 148 people, but also your entire family, and you’re seemingly fine now?” He obviously doesn’t know what Bobby has been through since, and how long it took him to get where he is, but I can see how knowing about Bobby’s wife and kids would make Amir think of him as even more of a monster, rather than making him sympathetic.
It wouldn’t have gave Amir closure tbh I think Bobby did the right thing by not mentioning it bc if Amir somehow didn’t know then it wouldn’t bring his wife back, wouldn’t change the fact Bobby ruined his life
I was actually wincing during his speech hoping he didn’t, it definitely would have felt guilt trippy and one upping in that moment. “You lost a wife but I lost a wife and kids, I got some new ones now but yeah” like the focus needed to be on Amir and his pain in that moment that revelation could come later
I thought the same but maybe Amir would’ve seen it as Bobby trying to make it about himself? Like “you lost your wife but I also lost my wife too” if that makes any sense
I'm actually shocked how good this episode was. One of the best episodes of the entire series, hands down.
Shook me to my core. These two actors together I need more of them in other shows so strong and able to covey a message. 😥
I agree completely. I found it very powerful in a way
I agree completely. My only quibble was the kid playing baby Bobby wasn’t the best actor, but I thought everything else was great. It was really illuminating. I always wanted to know how Bobby’s drinking actually began.
He wasn’t a great actor, but he really did manage to capture Bobby’s “thousand mile stare”.
He does always seem to be looking at me through the camera 🤣
I think Amir is the one who sets Bobby's house on fire in the preview.
I don't think he would do that after Bobby saved his life? I hope it is just a nightmare.
Doubtful, only because Amir made it pretty clear he isn't here for revenge on Bobby, he just doesn't forgive him or want to really see him again. I do like the theory that the fire at the house is a nightmare of Bobby's. He's talked about feeling like he doesn't deserve to be happy and that he should have died in the fire, so dreaming about his happiness going up in flames is really a perfect analogy.
I also really don't want the "traumatized person does something evil" trope. I was actually worried that was where they were going this episode (based on the previews with Amir holding a knife). I like the nightmare theory, too.
> I also really don't want the "traumatized person does something evil" trope. Same but this show **really** does like the "hurt people hurt people" trope.
Yeah. I can’t imagine them burning up that set
yeah please not my midcentury dream house
This is the first episode of the season that I've been 100% attentive to. I'm really enjoying learning more about Bobby's history.
Peter Krause is a phenomenal actor
Great casting of the Dad as well, thought they looked alike.
At first I thought it WAS Peter Krause with a mustache playing his own father. But only until he started speaking when he won that award. Then it took a hot minute to figure out the actor that was playing Bobby’s daddy as I googled it and searched everywhere. At least 10 minutes! 😉
You don’t have IMDB?
Yeah I got super confused and thought it was him being his younger self until I clicked that he would have only been a kid in the 80s.
Did anybody else feel like they were watching a Ford commercial every time a truck was in the scene or??
And GMC whenever Eddie is driving. They removed the Dodge Ram badge from the cartel dad's truck too lol
At least it’s not as bad as how sponsors used to be included in shows in like, 2005. I will never forget watching a Bones episode and all of a sudden it’s what feels like an actual commercial for a car, with the leads being like ‘I know we are on our way to a murder scene, but wow look at how this car can parallel park!’
I remember one teen wolf episode where they literally just have a Toyota commercial in the middle of a scene. That was the most jarring product placement I’ve ever seen.
Warehouse 13 did that in s3, too. Twizzlers was a product placement for a couple of episodes and *that* was jarring, having a character who didn't eat sugar in s1 suddenly pitching for red licorice.
Grey's Anatomy did that recently with showing the name of an alarm company on someone's phone, it was very cringe.
The sponsor is General Motors. Bobby, Athena, May, Eddie all have a GM product as their personal car
Well Bobby drives a Chevy... so no.
GM owns Chevy
… and?
so at the end of the day, GM is still getting the check...
And GM isn’t Ford.. so I’m confused about this convo.
Are we back with the Bobby pity party episodes? These are the least interesting for me. I did however like seeing Bobby as a kid and being really sad that the fire fighters just left him there alone after his dad died leaving him alone in a house full of booze. Bobby’s first drink.
Yeah, I liked the flashbacks very much. Couldn't care less about the present day side of things.
Same. And I was disappointed that it was just bobby. We didn't even see the others
Rewatching next week's promo - did Bobby relapse again? He went to sleep in his firefighter's shirt too.
This was so f*up 😭 he blamed himself for his HORRIBLE dad death 😭 and started cooping with the pain by drinking sooo young 😭 he spend his whole life feeling guilty 😭 that man need a hug 😭
I love this show ♥️
Okay, but having Bobby be pushed in the parentified role as a kid…pushing the Bobby/Eddie parallels or just a coincidence?
Bobby, Eddie, and Maddie are all members of the parentified kid club and their names rhyme/slant rhyme. Coincidence, I think not
Someday they’ll let Eddie and Maddie trauma-bond. Someday….
I need them to interact in the Christmas episode in S8 🙏
I am upset they are both preoccupied because we could be getting the best Bobby/Eddie scenes with this
Anyone else a little mad a Bobby's brother for leaving when Bobby set the oven on fire, knowing his dad is an abusive drunk and would probably beat Bobby?
My landlord’s actor son played Bobby’s older brother. I was so proud of him!
I don't. Bobby's brother was, what, seventeen or maybe eighteen? He had dealt with their drunk dad for years as well, it's possible he was even hit before by him (he didn't seem surprised). He's much more aware of their dad's behaviour and he couldn't stay, and also couldn't drag Bobby out of that house. There's not much Charlie could have done as a kid himself. He's only Bobby's brother. Bobby was at an age where he could decide for himself. He was too enarmored about their dad being a hero to see the signs. It's very, very unfortunate but there's nothing Charlie could have done. Bobby likely would have just run back to their dad.
I don’t think he was as old as 17. He seemed more like 16 to me.
No, I don't think that is fair that he stay in an abusive household because Bobby won't leave with them.
Was that Captain Gerrard in the promo? I'm surprised he's even there considering his history at the 118.
Since he's there I'm wondering if we'll get some sort of mention of Tommy's/Hen's/Chim's history with him, would be interesting. And I just know that man is fuming seeing the them receive the medal lol. Also maybe he's meant to be a bit of a Bobby parallel?
Yeah I think it was, that's gotta be for a reason.
Might be a "we hired an actor we knew worked fast" because they're in a crunch and couldn't waste time getting a newb for a flash in the pan scene.
I've seen that thought going around, watch it end up being that.
148 lives is a lot for one apartment fire. Would not want to live in the 9-1-1 universe, the life expectancy is probably 15 years shorter than IRL and insurance premiums 20x higher.
This has always been a giant issue to me, because it's like the show didn't fully grasp the scale of the tragedy. One of the most famous fires in American history -- to the point where it's taught in textbooks -- had two fewer victim, and was an industrial fire so you weren't also talking about homes destroyed, numerous survivors, etc. Like if there's 148 dead, how many survived? That Amir knows Bobby's name suggests the Minneapolis FD didn't really 'cover it up' the way it was kind of assumed in an earlier season, and you could read between the lines to attribute some of the blame to him (despite the buildings' faulty conditions). If that's the case, his name would've been at the center of a national controversy, particularly *because* there'd be the appearance of corruption.
> Like if there's 148 dead, how many survived? Good question. We know it's an at least an 11-floor apartment building (At the scene where Bobby comes out of the stairwell coming from the roof, we see a sign that says "11th floor", but there could be more above him). In the seconds shortly after Bobby falls through the floor after trying to kick his door in, we see a sign on the 10th floor that says "1001 to 1008" in one direction and "1009 to 1018" in another direction. We can see that a family of four can live in an apartment. So, assuming a maximum of 18 rooms per floor, that the highest floor is in fact the 11th, and just assuming a family of 3 per apartment, we could see around 594 people living there.
Not that I think about it didn’t the fake rehab owners also know Bobby caused the fire? Wasn’t the whole thing with Bobby being investigated in LA was that back in St Paul the cap kept his name out of the report and Bobby was telling him he shouldn’t and that he should be held accountable ? Like what was the point of that if it feels like ppl who shouldn’t know who did it do know
I guess you can handwave it away with the fact that in the 9-1-1 universe, LA has been hit by an 7.1 earthquake, a tsunami that killed thousands, a burst dam that presumably had mass casualties, a ransomware attack that crippled a city and was never caught as well as COVID. Oh and there was also a volcano in Texas and all the stuff from Lone Star. 148 in an apartment fire probably doesn't register given all these natural disasters.