9-1-1's latest episode may have been its most disappointing in a long time, here's why
9-1-1 season 8 episode 16 aired on Thursday, May 2, 2025, on ABC. Titled The Last Alarm, it was supposed to be a powerful tribute to Captain Bobby Nash following his death in the previous episode. Instead, it left many fans underwhelmed. The episode opens with a flashback of Bobby responding to a deadly fire eight years earlier—a baby dies in the incident, and the trauma stays with him.
That fire somehow becomes the focal point of the present-day plot, as Athena investigates a claim from the baby’s mother, who now believes her child may still be alive. Meanwhile, Bobby’s body hasn’t been released due to a virus, and Athena resists making funeral plans, not ready to say goodbye.
This episode was expected to center on the fallout of Bobby’s death and how it shakes the entire 118. But outside of a handful of emotional moments, mainly between Athena and Hen, the show shifts focus to a guest character’s arc and barely explores the grief of the core team.
Important characters like Eddie barely appear. Even Maddie, who was on the call with Bobby when he died, is given almost nothing to say. It all feels rushed, disconnected, and surprisingly empty.
The Last Alarm falls flat as 9-1-1 misses the mark after Bobby’s death
9-1-1's latest episode, The Last Alarm (season 8, episode 16), may go down as one of the most disappointing hours in the show’s history, and not because of what it tried to do, but because of how badly it fumbled what should have been a major emotional turning point.
Coming off the shocking death of Captain Bobby Nash, fans expected a full team-centered episode filled with raw fallout, real reactions, and a deeper look at the man the 118 called their leader. Instead, the episode took a sharp left and decided to split its focus with a completely unrelated case that distracted from the core grief.
The biggest issue is how little the 118 actually factors into the episode. Buck, Eddie, Hen, and even Maddie barely speak about Bobby. Eddie appears with just ten minutes left and delivers one line.
Hen supports Athena but otherwise fades into the background. Buck mostly serves as someone for Chimney to talk to. Maddie, who was on the call when Bobby died, doesn’t get a single meaningful scene. The people who knew Bobby best were given scraps, and it’s hard to understand why.
Worse, the episode devotes a large chunk of screen time to a guest character—a grieving mother who believes her baby didn’t die in a fire years ago. While Athena’s investigation has emotional parallels to her own loss, it overshadows the actual funeral planning and cuts away from the characters the audience cares about.
This guest storyline leads nowhere impactful. The boy isn’t her son. There’s no twist. No reveal. Just a drawn-out subplot that could have easily belonged in another episode.
Even Chimney’s arc, which gets more attention than anyone else’s, feels hollow. His guilt over surviving while Bobby didn’t is understandable, but it’s handled with generic dialogue and a moment that feels completely off.
In one scene, he tells Buck he doesn’t know what Bobby wanted him to do with his life—a strange line for someone who’s married, expecting a second child, and already has a clear career. It doesn’t sound like Chimney. It sounds like the writers were trying to insert grief into the wrong character.
The funeral montage is rushed and oddly cold. The show skips over what should have been powerful speeches or private goodbyes. Instead, viewers get a quick ceremony and are sent on their way. For a 9-1-1 episode meant to honor Bobby Nash, it did the exact opposite: it sidelined his team, sped through his funeral, and wasted its biggest emotional moment.
Watch 9-1-1 season 8 episode 16 on ABC.
