9-1-1's IMDb ratings after Bobby's death shows some concerning signs
9-1-1 season 8 episode 16 aired on Thursday, May 2, 2025, on ABC. The episode is titled The Last Alarm, and it serves as the official confirmation of Captain Bobby Nash’s death. Viewers had already seen Bobby collapse in the previous episode (Lab Rats), but The Last Alarm closes the door on his fate with a funeral and a look at how some characters are beginning to process the loss.
Instead of focusing entirely on the 118 or giving each core character a moment to grieve, the episode splits its time between Athena’s refusal to let go and a side plot involving a grieving mother who believes her baby didn’t actually die in a fire eight years ago.
Bobby appears briefly in a flashback during that fire call, but his presence in the current timeline is gone.
The funeral, expected to be the heart of the episode, is rushed into a quick montage.
Characters like Eddie and Maddie barely speak. Hen offers support to Athena, while Chimney struggles to figure out what to do with his guilt.
Fans tuned in expecting an emotional team-based farewell. Instead, they got a sidestep into a mostly unrelated case, which left many frustrated. The reaction online was immediate, and it hit the ratings hard.
9-1-1 faces viewer backlash as Bobby’s exit tanks ratings
The reaction to Bobby Nash’s death on 9-1-1 hasn’t just played out on social media, it’s now showing clearly in the numbers. On IMDb, user ratings for the show saw a sharp drop the moment Bobby’s fate was sealed.
Episode 14, Sick Day, was holding steady with an 8.2.
But the very next episode, Lab Rats (Episode 15), which ended with Bobby collapsing and presumed dead, crashed to a 4.0.
Then came Episode 16, The Last Alarm, which confirmed Bobby’s death with a funeral and officially marked Peter Krause’s exit. That episode plummeted to an all-time low: 2.3. It’s the worst-rated episode in the history of the series.
To understand how out of place that drop is, you only have to look at previous seasons. Even Ghost Stories from season 5, which had its fair share of criticism, never dropped below a 6.8.
Most episodes across Seasons 6 and 7 averaged comfortably in the 7.5 to 8.5 range. Even episodes this season like Sob Stories and Holy Mother of God scored in the high 8s.
But after Bobby’s death, the ratings collapsed. And it’s not just IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes’ user score for the season has also fallen, dropping to 58% after Episode 16 aired.
Most reviews since Episode 15 are half-star ratings, many of them specifically calling out the handling of Bobby’s exit and the lack of emotional depth in his funeral episode.
Fans haven’t been quiet about it either. Petitions to bring Bobby back have started circulating.
There are threads across Reddit and X where long-time viewers are saying this might be the breaking point for them. Some feel betrayed by the show’s decision to kill off a character so central to the 118 and to the heart of the series.
Others are more upset at how little focus the rest of the team received in Episode 16. Eddie got only one line. Buck and Maddie barely reacted.
Hen was supporting Athena but didn’t speak much about Bobby herself. It didn’t feel like the aftermath of losing a captain who had been with them since day one.
The numbers back up that disappointment. Going from an 8.7 for Sob Stories to a 2.3 for The Last Alarm in the span of a few episodes is a sign of serious viewer backlash.
Unless the final two episodes of the season find a way to rebound, 9-1-1 could be ending season 8 with a ratings stain it can’t shake off easily.
Watch 9-1-1 season 8 episode 16 on ABC.
