When 9-1-1 Season 8 began, Bobby Nash found himself away from his team at the 118 and in the entertainment business as a technical advisor on the television series Hotshots.
The show-within-a-show angle has played out comically throughout the first half of the season, and Bobby’s relationship with Hotshots star Brad Torrance has also been a highlight.
Bobby found an admirer in Brad, which plays out even more during 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 7, when Bobby and the 118 are called to the Hollywood set when a stunt goes wrong.
With Vincent Gerrard now taking his place as technical advisor, things are running less smoothly on set, and the relationship between Gerrard and Brad is complicated at best.
When Bobby is tasked with returning to his short-lived place of employment to help Gerrard become more likable and thus foster a better working relationship with Brad, it feels like an impossible task.
Coming out of such a big Bobby hour, we chatted with star Peter Krause about this Hotshots story and the relationship between Bobby and Brad, which sees a bit of friction when Brad causes a scene at a restaurant.
Bobby may have thought that Hotshots was behind him when he returned to his team, but he can’t seem to escape it, which is something that Krause finds comical.
“It’s a funny element that this job that he wound up getting from prematurely leaving the 118 leads to all these other messes and that Brad Torrance won’t leave him alone,” Krause said.
“I, Peter, think it’s very funny from the outside just viewing the show. I think it’s frustrating for Bobby, but I also think that Bobby has a soft spot for Brad, even though they have the fight there in the restaurant over his treatment of the waitress.
“I think Bobby likes Brad. He doesn’t like everything about him. And it was certainly an unwelcome surprise that Brad will now be riding along with him. It adds a dimension of certainly distraction and potential disaster. Who knows how Brad might get in the way in the future?”
Bobby heading back a second time during this hour to the Hotshots set is requested of him by Chief Simpson, and while Bobby’s used to stepping into a bit of a therapist role through his job as captain, this one is a little different in scope.
It’s challenging to change a grown man and make him more likable, but Bobby’s up to the challenge.
However, as Krause explained, Bobby may have another agenda.
“He wants to be liberated from Gerard and liberated from Brad and just go back to the 118 and have things the way they were,” Krause told us when asked how Bobby feels about being asked to facilitate change in Gerrard.
“But he’s a fire captain, he’s a good leader, and he’s there to solve problems when problems come up, so I think it’s Bobby just being typical Bobby, trying to do the right thing, trying to help people.
“But, interestingly, his intentions are actually to be rid of these guys, and they just won’t go away, which is comedy. It’s good.”
Brad’s infatuation with Bobby has played out throughout the season. And the actor hasn’t been shy about lavishing Bobby with praise and trying to mimic his actions in his portrayal of a firefighter.
But is there a deeper reasoning behind Brad’s admiration?
“I think it’s pretty much on its face that he wants to be bought as a legitimate fire captain on television, and so maybe there’s some emptiness that Brad feels that will be filled by really going out there and experiencing what it’s like to be a real firefighter.
“And I think he wants to be authentic or at least thought as being authentic as a fire captain.”
Bobby has often shown great patience with Brad throughout their time together. Still, he hits his limit with him during an uncomfortable dinner, where Brad lambasts a server for not adhering to his specific drink order.
Bobby doesn’t hold back in his dressing down of the famous actor, with other restaurant goers eagerly filming the encounter.
Stepping in is almost second nature for Bobby, as Krause explained, “I think he has certain standards, and he gets fed up when he sees people mistreat others, so I do think that that’s something that really bothers Bobby, seeing Brad treat that person the way that he did.”
While Bobby’s relationship with Brad seemed irretrievably broken after their restaurant standoff, Brad only liked Bobby even more after he stood up to him, and the episode culminates in Brad joining the 118 to shadow the captain himself.
Considering what we’ve seen of Brad already, especially during 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 3, it’s safe to assume he will insert himself right into the thick of the action.
As Krause told us, “Well, unsurprisingly, he will get in the way, and there’s some fallout, but it’s ultimately really fun. Brad learned some things. I would say that Bobby learned some things, too, but ultimately, it’s all for fun.
“There will be disruption, but all in all, it’s kind of fun hijinks, and there are some nice surprises coming up that Brad Torrance, that Hotshots storyline, brings to the 118. So, if the audience has been enjoying it, there’s more coming. It’s been a really nice, relatively lighthearted storyline.
“It is nice to see Bobby stand up to Brad when he mistreats that woman in the restaurant. And I do think that there is something that feels empty inside of Brad, as played by Callum Blue, who’s been fun to work with. Everybody’s really enjoyed that character, and him, on set.
“So, it’s been really fun this season 8 to have something lighthearted like that to run with for a while.”
That dynamic between Krause and Blue has undoubtedly translated well on screen, and the two got a hug in during this hour, which Krause enjoyed.
“It was fun this episode that Tim wrote in these hugs between Bobby and Brad, but then also Bobby and Gerrard. There’s this nice kind of comedic run of men hugging each other throughout this time,” Krause said.
Hugs are always great, and the hugs were plentiful when Bobby finally returned during the back to the 118 during the closing moments of 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 4.
Bobby’s in a much different place now than when he quit during 9-1-1 Season 7, and he’s happy to be back where he belongs.
“Oh, it feels like coming home,” Krause proclaimed when asked how Bobby feels now about being with the team. “That’s his work family. He’s got Athena obviously at home, but the firehouse is his home as well.
“And it’s also really fun for the five of us to get to work with each other. We’re all very fond of each other and work well together, but there’s that aspect. But for me, Peter, I’m really glad that Bobby chose to retire back in season 7. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have Hotshots. We wouldn’t have all this stuff.”
Speaking of Athena and their home, Krause didn’t know much about the plans for Bobby and Athena and the long-gestating house hunt.
But when the series returns after the winter hiatus, “I believe there will be a time leap, so I don’t know if we’ll be continuing to be looking or if we found a place or if we’re building or if we’re already going to be at a place.”
While Krause couldn’t tell us more about what we’ll see from Bathena during 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 8, as “so much revolves around a couple of plot points that I don’t think I’m ready to divulge,” he did leave us with a major tease for the final hour of 2024.
“I can tell you something major happens to one of the main characters, something shocking. The fall season, if you will, ends on a high note even though we go through some tough moments.”
***This interview has been edited for length and clarity.***
You can watch 9-1-1 on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.
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