Bobby Begins Again

**"Bobby Begins Again"** is the sixteenth episode of the second season of *9-1-1*, and the twenty-sixth episode overall. It aired on April 29, 2019.

## Synopsis

After his devastating family tragedy in Minnesota, Bobby Nash moves to Los Angeles to start over, where he becomes Captain of the 118, and meets Athena Grant for the first time.

## Full Synopsis

As Bobby begins to cooperate with the authorities, he mentions his full name, Robert Wade Nash, and his history begins to unravel.

In 2014, St. Pauls, Minnesota, Marcy dials for the emergency services in panic after the fire reaches her place and assures Brook that Bobby will come to their rescue. However, Bobby, who was already driven out of the apartment by her, resorted to sleeping on the roof of the complex. When he is alerted of the fire by responding units, he rushes down to break the door open, but the floor collapses beneath him, and firefighters drag him away.

Outside, Bobby insists returning to rescue his family, despite a firefighter's oppositions and his own claims of his experience. The unit discovers Bobby having burned his hands on his way out. He sees Marcy being carted out and loses his composure before chasing the stretcher. Fire Chief Phil Evans, one of the many units present, informs Bobby Marcy is alive and allows him to enter the ambulance as well. They have a brief argument when Bobby mentions his children are still inside until he breaks down crying upon seeing their corpses. At this point, Phil reiterates his claims and Bobby ultimately leaves on the ambulance. At the hospital, Bobby claims to Marcy the children are alive and well, so as to avoid causing tension. Feeling relieved, Marcy flatlines and dies, much to Bobby's horror as hospital staff surrounds her.

A few hours ago, Brook and Robert Nash Jr. were playing around while Bobby cooks, with Marcy discussing what would the have for dinner. After praising Bobby's culinary skills, Marcy kisses him, to Brook's disgust. The memory becomes distorted as he then recalls being revived by some EMTs after passing out at a bar. He angrily confronts Phil for saving him as he didn't wanted to live with the guilt. Phil orders for Bobby to be removed from the scene and radio silence on his name. With the men outside, Phil turns over and finds the Lakeview Apartment Fire's incident report nearby, aware that Bobby went over it.

Phil visits Bobby at the hospital ward, who is curious as to if he's fired or not. Phil claims it is more of the fire rather than alcoholism for the victims that were killed. Bobby was cleared of responsibility, but still confessed to authorities for his role in the fire, which Phil also acknowledges. He brings up several factors - Bobby was intoxicated and left a space heater on, and when its circut breaker failed, it began to combust. Sprinklers were not fueled by any water. The fire alarms were completely unpowered. Many others went unmentioned, and Bobby regrets his inability to detect the despite living there. Eventually, the conversation ends with Phil telling Bobby that his punishment is his survival, and he now has to make his life worth for what he has caused before Phil leaves.

Bobby gives a speech at church regarding the power of nature over men, his life with the church, his thankfulness and alcoholism. He is praised by the audience. Bobby tells Oscar that he's still doing paperwork and never in the field, the latter of which he desires. Oscar gives Bobby a handbook, which Bobby reads as "We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all." Grateful at Bobby's enlightenment, Oscar assures him that he and whoever he killed will be thankful of what Bobby does next. The two men embrace and part ways.

After six months, Bobby demands to return and make amends for his arson. Phil is convinced that Bobby is ready, but the local crew aren't. In response, Bobby wants Phil to transfer him anywhere possible, such as he could attend emergencies once again, and Phil agrees.

At station 118, Hen collects funds from various firefighters, who all bet on if the new captain, Bobby, would outlast any of the fire captains they had, as the leadership shifted six times within two years. Their miscallaneous chatter was interrupted when Bobby unexpectedly makes his entrance from a truck after activating the sirens. He informs the crew the vehicle is missing half of its supplies, bets on him outlasting everyone else and leaves, telling them to meet for briefing at 5PM. As Hen remains confused, Chimney throws 20$ into her box.

Bobby and the 118 proceed to take on several calls.

At the scene of a tree trimmer stuck on a palm tree, Chimney stops Bobby from being hit by a saw. Sal decides to have Tommy reach the man via a ladder, while he and Hen prepare for medical assistace. Chimney tells Bobby these incidents recurr every now and then, sometimes with deaths. Bobby dodges some falling foliage and surveys the rescue with a tablet, which briefly runs into a complication, but is ultimately successful, attracting the applause of the crowd, as well as Bobby's surprise.

In a beauty salon, Julie gets her head stuck by a machine encircling her skull. As she complains and refutes Amy's claim that it would not cause any negative reactions, Hen checks her vitals, whist Bobby looks on nearby. Bobby orders Chimney to use cutting devices, reminding Chimney he doesn't want any accidents the first day he's at the station. Chimney succewsfully cuts Julie free, and as she leaves the scene, Hen comments to Bobby whatever role Julie is auditioning for probably all for naught as the firefighters leave.

Bobby's confusion on the highway occasionally amuses Chimney and Tommy, as he's new to Los Angeles and needs some clarification on the maps. He eventually suggests getting on the freeway, only to be confronted by a congestion 2PM in the afternoon. The crew arrive at the scene of a reported stabbing, but only discover shallow wounds by razor blades. From Ted, Bobby learns the perpetrator, Maurice, was apparently going haywire. They decide to cart him off and inform him the police units are on their way, much to Ted's disapproval. Just then, Maurice is revealed to be an aggressive rooster and begins attacking. Ted panicks at their discovery of the illegal chicken fighting ring, and Chimney responds with a joke. The firefighters' reactions amuse Bobby as they are unable to corner Maurice. While Ted is escorted out by Chimney and Hen, Tommy and Sal continue in vain until Bobby acts, taking a nearby towel and easily subdues Maurice from behind. He disarms Maurice just as Athena arrives and hands the rooster to her before they leave the scene, much to her dismay. Later that night, Oscar checks on Bobby in a phone call, and Bobby later enters a bar.

In a church, Father Jameson, the priest, arrives after a lengthy delay and apologizes to Bobby, citing the last person was busy for a whole month. Bobby doesn't mind him and they take their seats. Bobby hands over the sobriety chip to Jameson and admits he was drunk again to drown his pain. He laments from his escape and goes on about saving people, but Jameson reminds him that only Jesus Christ is good at multitasking, before returning the chip to Bobby.

Victor, owner of Guillermo's Eatery, was concerned at his diminishing revenue. His wife Ellie assures they'll make through, though Victor asks her to get Feddie home first as he closes the place. He proceeds to drive away a man occupying a seat for no particular reason and angrily rants. Soon, Ellie panicks and reports a fire at the place, with Freddie going inside to salvage his PC and Victor chasing Freddie. The 118 arrive after police units, and as Bobby takes Athena's report, he assures Ellie units will rescue those trapped inside while Athena tries to pull her away. Bobby then orders the crew to take hoses and Tommy to enter from above while the rest contain the fire from outside, with Hen and Chimney setting up rescue and vent equipment. He also discovers Sal disobeying his orders. Knowing Sal's life may also be at stake, Bobby enters personally, though he can't find Sal anywhere as sighting was heavily obstructed. The raging inferno, reminicent of the Minnesota fire, rocks Bobby's nightmares, but he decides to brush it off and continue on. Bobby manages to find Victor, but a flashover makes it unsafe to proceed back out. With assistance from Chimney and Tommy, Bobby locates and smashes a hole in a skylight, allowing flames to vent outside. Subsequently, he calls for medical assistance while dragging Victor to his crew. Hen stops him from rescuing Freddie, as Sal has done so successfully. Bobby assures the casualties they will be attended to, and as Sal describes Freddie hiding in a toilet, Bobby scolds him briefly before leaving, while the remaining units work to eliminate the fire.

The next morning, Bobby and Sal confront each other at the station. Sal believed Bobby was incompetent like the past captains, but Bobby accuses him of personal heroism, running excessive risks that could endanger more crew members. Sal dismisses Bobby's claim of luck as skill of leadership, causing Bobby to mention Sal's agitation making him unfit for such role. Chimney stops Sal from attacking Bobby and advises him to apologize, even if Bobby took his chance of being a captain. Bobby pushes Chimney aside and warns Sal not to fight orders, or he will be removed from duty. When Sal continues his defiance, Bobby decides to fire him before walking away.

Later on, while on his handbook, Bobby is interrupted by Hen's arrival. He unexpectedly praises Hen for her work on the fire engine. When she mentions the handbook, Bobby gets sensitive, causing her to shift the center of conversation onto Sal's incident. Bobby reiterates Sal's attempt potentially harming the crew, though Hen argues it did not occur. Then, Bobby tells her it is exactly why he would not have fired Sal, only doing so after noticing Sal's reaction to his offer. Instead, he dialed fire chief Alonzo to suspend Sal and transfer him to 122, knowing it might turn out better. Hen remarks on the merciful offer, and Bobby ends the conversation with how he considers it fair, adding they will learn more of him over time. Hen invites Bobby repeatedly for a hangout.

Hen, Tommy and Chimney discuss on how Bobby's decision was unfair. Chimney and Tommy both believed Sal wasn't a terrible firefighter for the sanction and Bobby did so to uphold domination. They are surprised when Hen reveals Bobby's actual decision, adding the captain was to merely chastise Sal for compliance issues, with Chimney agreeing that Sal's backtalking cost his position at the 118. When Chimney's still confused at what a "mook" is, Bobby suddenly joins and clarifies, citing he literally googled it, then orders a soda as well as refills for everyone else. He informs them he will pay for the drinks tonight and they start their chatter. Tommy brings up the fact that being single is advantageous just because women are impressed by wounds, but also terrified when they witness its occurrence. Hen shows them a burn on her right ankle during a house fire a year prior. Tommy pulls up his shirt, revealing a penetration wound just below his chest when he was caught by a shrapnel during a factory explosion. Chimney has none, and he wishes not to be injured anyway. When it turns to Bobby, he displays an electrocution on his left shoulder where he was zapped by live currents from the fire source. Suddenly, Bobby realized something was wrong and promptly leaves, but assures they'll still have their drinks as promised, much to the dismay of Chimney.

Bobby arrives at the scorched remains of Guillermo's Eatery and begins searching for a possible cause of fire, including the power box, but was startled by Athena's own investigation, to which he makes a joke on the rooster he caught earlier. In the ensuing conversation, they both discover their suspicions about the fire and foul play. Athena mentions intel from Ellie suggesting the sprinkler was inspected a month ago and the water supply was mysteriously cut. Bobby reports a different anomaly - The burn patterns and untouched electrical switches prelude circuit issues, instead starting where Victor was found, drawing Athena's attention as running into the fire is clearly an unusual act. Bobby then picks up what remains of a 9-volt battery connected to some cables, which they both assume an improvised incendiary device. The two speculate it as an arson - Victor set the fire, but Freddie returned to retrieve a PC and prompts Victor to ineffectually eliminate the fire. If it weren't for their subsequent efforts, the fraud would have slipped unnoticed.

Bobby admits to Jameson that he was a hypocrite, though Jameson doesn't see the issue as despite being with the clergy, he sins, and yet still highlights those of others. Then Bobby cites himself, a person who had his own family killed by accident in a fire, has to ironically hold Victor accountable for arson, even though he doesn't have the authority on himself. St. Paul authorities had to conceal Bobby's involvement in the 2014 fire, otherwise he's adamant the LAFD would never employ him. Jameson compares that with Saint Paul's story, and while Bobby isn't convinced of the authorities' actions, the priest assures Bobby it is an act of god.

Bobby and Athena confront Victor for their suspicion on the arson. Against Athena's suggestions, Victor admits his crime and submits to the authorities, his motive stemming from an insurance claim that could resolve their financial crisis. Subsequently, the authorities arrest Victor for the crime. Bobby tries to comfort Ellie and Freddie that Victor was only doing it for them, only to agitate Freddie, who accuses Bobby of decieving him, despite the emergency forces being unaware of the initial cause when they responded initially. He angrily storms off with Ellie, admanant the responders were conspiring against his family instead of saving them as purported and swears revenge, much to Bobby's confusion.

Jameson muses on the fact that Bobby did deceive others on purpose, namely his allies working alongside him. Bobby admits they are indeed unaware of his past. As much as he is there whenever they needed and has all their trust, they could not hold the same for him. Jameson suggests Bobby does not necessarily have to reveal this, adding whatever god has for him could deviate significantly from what he has in mind. Bobby takes his advice and continues his life per normal, attending church and emergency incidents, as well as preparing to demonstrate his culinary skills for his team. Eventually, he summons the off-duty station crew upstairs, and Chimney suspects Bobby might be firing someone else. Instead, the staff find Bobby having prepared a giant banquet for them, much to Chimney's surprise. Bobby admits he may have lost some of his touch, but Hen praises it. Bobby then adds they'll be having new tradition comparable to a family dinner on every shift, and they begin eating. He also organize Tommy's farewell party in discreet with the crew when Tommy was pending transfer to 217. Buck, then a recruit, arrives as the replacement and demands Bobby to show himself, only to be briefly confused by Bobby, who jokes on his own presumed absence. Immediately after, Bobby invites Buck to their meal, and Chimney mentions as long as Bobby is in charge, this will never change, much to Buck and Bobby's amusement.

Back to the present, at station 118, Bobby announces to a surprised crew that he was suspended until further notice when they discover the derelict cooking utensils and Bobby without his uniform. They all believe it was unfair, as everyone here knew what happened in Minnesota more or less and too much time has passed for it to matter. He mentions if the LAFD authorities got everything in mind before the transfer, they would never hire him. The crew protests, and Bobby tells them he was always escaping from the truth, except time failed to dilate it.

The investigators inform Bobby whatever they're doing right now will not charge him, instead it only determines if he gets to keep his job or not. He acknowledges this, and clarifies he was only speaking the truth.

## Cast

* Peter Krause as Bobby Nash
* Jennifer Love Hewitt as Maddie Buckley *(credit only)*
* Oliver Stark as Evan Buckley
* Aisha Hinds as Henrietta Wilson
* Kenneth Choi as Howard Han
* Ryan Guzman as Edmundo Diaz
* Rockmond Dunbar as Michael Grant *(credit only)*
* Corinne Massiah as May Grant *(credit only)*
* Marcanthonee Jon Reis as Harry Grant *(credit only)*
* Nick Searcy as Father Jameson
* Eddie McClintock as Victor Costas
* Lauren Stamile as Ellie Costas
* Andy Umberger as Deputy Chief Phil Evans
* Lou Ferrigno Jr. as Tommy Kinard
* Gino Anthony Pesi as Sal Deluca
* Anthony Turpel as Freddie Costas

Co-Starring* Cassandra Nuss as Amy
* David Carrera as Attendee
* Noelle Parker as Brook Nash
* Sean Nateghi as Minnesota EMT
* Chasty Ballesteros as Julie
* Shaw Jones as Minnesota Priest
* Daniel Edward Mora as Oscar
* London Cheshire as Robert Nash Jr.
* Joshua Dov as Ted
* Zac Badasci as Twenty Something
* Chandra Thomas as Waitress
* Brian Molina as Young EMT

## Trivia

* Only 6 out of the 10 main characters appear in this episode.
* This episode is Robert "Bobby" Nash centric.
* The episode shows Evan Buckley's first day at Station 118. This would later be shown again in Buck Begins.

## References

1. ↑ "9-1-1 - Episode 2.16 - Bobby Begins Again - Press Release" - SpoilerTV

 **Season 6** | "Let the Games Begin" • "Crash & Learn" • "The Devil You Know" • "Animal Instincts" • "Home Invasion" • "Tomorrow" • "Cursed" • "What's Your Fantasy?" • "Red Flag" • "In a Flash" • "In Another Life" • "Recovery" • "Mixed Feelings" • "Performance Anxiety" • "Death and Taxes" • "Lost & Found" • "Love Is in the Air" • "Pay It Forward"

 **Season 4** | "The New Hotness" • "The New Hot Mess" • "Cry Wolf" • "Abandoned" • "Human Resources" • "This Is Not A Drill" • "Tommy Dearest" • "Control Freaks" • "Road Kill" • "Sellouts" • "Double Trouble" • "Swipe Left" • "Open" • "Tongues Out" • "Donors" • "A House Divided" • "Best Of Men" • "In Sickness and In Health"