‘9-1-1’s Peter Krause Hopes For Smooth Sailing After Season 7’s Catastrophic Cruise: “I Think That Bobby And Athena Will Make It Through Everything”

“It’s like overloaded nachos for your brain.”

That’s how 9-1-1‘s Peter Krause described the Fox-turned-ABC procedural‘s highly-anticipated Season 7 to Decider via Zoom ahead of the intense March 14 premiere.

“The first three episodes are an action, romantic comedy, disaster movie — throw in some pirates, and some bitcoin, and a love triangle,” Krause, who plays Captain Bobby Nash, explained. “It’s gonna be a fantastic season.”

After a 10-month hiatus, the beloved series from co-creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear returned with an ambitious homage to the “Master of Disaster” Irwin Allento. The show’s latest high-stakes, high-scale catastrophe will give Bobby and Athena’s (Angela Bassett) romantic honeymoon cruise The Poseidon Adventure and Titanic treatment.

The Season 7 premiere ends with armed intruders commandeering the ship, teeing up a perilous fight for survival ahead. Despite the imminent danger, Krause is still hopeful that Bathena “will make it through everything” and safely find their way back to Hen (Aisha Hinds), Chimney (Kenneth Choi), Buck (Oliver Stark), Eddie (Ryan Guzman), Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), and crucially…land!

In celebration of 9-1-1‘s epic return, Krause spoke with Decider about what’s in store for Season 7, where Bobby and Athena’s relationship is headed, the show’s move to ABC, an upcoming crossover episode, and more.

DECIDER: Bobby ended a brutal Season 6 with a hopeful rooftop meditation, and I was very happy to see him attend an AA meeting on the cruise ship. What kind of place would you say his mental health and sobriety are at in Season 7?

PETER KRAUSE: I think Bobby is in a terrific place. I think that his found family at the 118 is very helpful, as well as and his relationship with Athena. He has his work family and home family and I think Bobby’s very stable at this point, and very grateful, and very happy.

Oh we love to hear that. There’s been talk of water tanks and a rotating set bigger than Inception‘s roll room. What was it like filming this massive Poseidon Adventure homage? I’m especially curious about the scene where Bobby and Athena are drowning.

I had a blast filming these three episodes. I’m not saying that it wasn’t difficult work. It was very difficult work. The first three episodes are an action, romantic comedy, disaster movie — throw in some pirates, and some bitcoin, and a love triangle. It’s like overloaded nachos for your brain. I certainly enjoyed getting to do the intimate work with Angela where the water’s rising inside the build room. It wasn’t just action, it was also very heartfelt and very emotional and so much fun for Angela and I to get to do our thing.

I’ve heard you say the Firehouse Five will reunite, so I have no doubt that Bobby survives the cruise. And I don’t think we can kill Athena Grant-Nash off this show…

Well, I think that Bobby and Athena will make it through everything. I’ve likened the show to a comic book about first responders come to life several times. And it’s amazing when you look back on all the different things these characters lived through. The character Buck, for instance, had an entire fire engine land on his leg and he’s walking just fine. So it’s a little bit like a Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon. We walk away from these incredible injuries all the time. I think everybody’s gonna be fine, but you’re gonna watch them go through some very difficult and perilous things for sure.

Something I was a bit shocked by was Athena’s marriage anxiety, or this fear that her connection with Bobby might not be as strong without the constant chaos of their jobs. Why do you think they’re having these communication issues?

They’re so used to dealing with emergencies and disasters that I think her fear is grounded in what happens if it’s just quiet and it’s just the two of them and there’s nothing going on. And of course that’s not what happens on 9-1-1. Our two first responders have plenty of emergencies to deal with on their honeymoon cruise.

At the top of the episode Angela Bassett gave a little dig to the Oscars for her Black Panther loss, which I loved. Are you and the cast familiar with the phrase “Angela Bassett did the thing?”

Uh…I am unfamiliar.

Oh boy. [Laughs]

I probably read it, but…

It refers to Ariana DeBose’s viral BAFTA rap, in which she congratulated Angela for being so amazing in Black Panther. She did the thing.

Oh I see.

Something fans are very curious about is if we’ll ever meet any of Bobby’s family or see him in his younger years or returning home to Minnesota. Do you have any updates on that front?

Not that I know of. The only thing that Tim has mentioned was doing something from Bobby’s childhood…

There’s also talk of an upcoming crossover with an ABC show this season. I believe we heard it’s not with 9-1-1: Lone Star or another Ryan Murphy series, and Oliver Stark said “It’s not a direct crossover, but there’s a feel of it.” My hope is a Bachelor show.

Emergencies can happen anywhere!

I would love to see you burst into the Bachelor mansion and save Jesse Palmer or something. That’s my new fanfiction.

There might be something along those lines in your future as a viewer, we’ll see.

Do you have a dream 9-1-1 crossover with any show on TV right now, whether it makes sense for the universe or not? It doesn’t have to be LA-based. Maybe you’re all in Chicago somehow and there’s a kitchen emergency in The Bear you have to tend to.

[Laughs] Oh that’s a good one. I was going to say LOST but that’s now off the air.

Oh, we can definitely bring back LOST for this. They needed a lot of help from the 118.

We’ll go on another vacation and slip into another dimension into that world.

[Laughs] Oh yeah, I love that. (Note: LOST, which aired its finale in 2010, also appears to be a fan of 9-1-1.) The show has established strong character relationships over six seasons, but is there someone who you or Bobby haven’t interacted with as much that you’d love to share more scenes with in the future?

I’d love to work with Jennifer Love Hewitt. We have very little to do with each other because she’s in the call center. Anirudh Pisharody, who plays Ravi on the show, another newcomer. He’s a wonderful young actor, so I wouldn’t mind having some more scenes with him. But I pretty much get to work with everybody.

Yeah! You’re the dad of the show.

Exactly.

You’ve spent seven seasons and now more than 100 episodes with Bobby. Do you see yourself in him at all?

Well as a Parenthood fan I will say that I think there’s a lot of Adam Braverman on the inside of Bobby Nash. I think he finds great meaning being the best husband he can be, the best fire captain he can be. And again, I think Bobby’s in a very good place, and I think we’ve explored the addiction space to my satisfaction, but we’ll see what happens.

I think Adam Braverman would spring into first responder mode in a heartbeat.

Adam Braverman would make a great first responder. Absolutely. He did become Captain Bobby Nash.

Related to that, 9-1-1 spans so many genres, but whether an episode is funny or dramatic, it’s always making me cry happy or sad tears. On a scale of one to Parenthood, how much do you think I’ll be crying in Season 7?

Oh you definitely will. I’ll give you a 7.8. It’s up there.

Oh boy. With the switch to ABC, this feeling of 9-1-1 reinvigoration is very prevalent within the fandom already. Is that the vibe amongst cast members as well?

The people at ABC have been very excited and I think the writing was on the wall at Fox once Disney purchased the Fox library — that Disney wouldn’t be taking 9-1-1. I think it was sort of a foregone conclusion.

Since everyone is treating 9-1-1 like a first season show, does that mean you’d be open to seven more seasons?

Wow seven MORE seasons. I don’t know if my body could take that.

After your amazing premiere party I heard Courtney B. Vance said he and Angela Bassett may go on a cruise when they become empty nesters. Then when he was reminded about the premiere he said, “Maybe we’ll go on a walk!” [Laughs] Do you think you’re ever taking a cruise after this episode?

I wouldn’t be against it, although primarily when I go out on the ocean I enjoy fishing. I’ve never been on a cruise. I do think it would be difficult for Courtney to convince Angela to go on a cruise after these episodes.

Before we wrap, any final words for fans about Season 7?

It’s gonna be a fantastic season. I’m happiest when we’re dealing with emergencies and when Angela and I get to play the heart-to-heart stuff — the Tin Man solving mysteries and teaming up with first responders. And that’s what we get to do in the first three episodes. I had a blast.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

New episodes of 9-1-1 premiere Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.