“9-1-1” Star Peter Krause Breaks Down That Surprising Season 7 Finale — and Bobby Nash's Fate (Exclusive)

"Being a part of this comic book come to life about first responders has been really fun," says Krause

This article contains spoilers from the season 7 finale of 9-1-1.

Bobby Nash lives!

Fans of 9-1-1 can rejoice that the beloved fire captain, played by Peter Krause, is alive, awake and reporting for duty. Or trying to anyway.

At the end of the penultimate episode of the season, Bobby had given notice to leave his job and was in critical condition after his home went up in flames. He managed to save his wife, Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) and get them both out a bedroom window, but collapsed soon after they reached a safe place. He'd inhaled a lot of smoke, and his life hung in the balance.

Once she was treated, Athena couldn't exactly sit idly by and watch the monitors beside Bobby's hospital bed — and she left to find Amir (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), whom she believed had set the house fire. She found him — with the help of a neighbor's car and a lie to Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) — and quickly learned that her true enemy was the cartel Amir and Bobby had run into in an earlier episode. Members of the cartel arrived at Amir's home soon after and took him to a warehouse to, presumably, kill him. But, of course, Athena followed them, called it in and saved the day. Moments later, she got the call that Bobby was awake.

Related: Angela Bassett and Peter Krause on How Their Chemistry on 9-1-1 Brought Them 'Closer Together as Actors' (Exclusive)

After Bobby was back on his feet, Amir, whose family was killed in the fire Bobby caused 10 years earlier in Minnesota, told him, "What I've come to realize is this life that you have, maybe you've earned it. You know, when you lose everything, including yourself, when you are at your absolute lowest, the easiest thing to do is to stay down. But you didn't. You climbed out, you rebuilt and you did better. Bobby, I don't know if I could ever forgive you for what you did that night, but I can admire you for what you've done since. And for what I hope you continue to do."

Which, of course, was go back to the 118. Only, he may have some competition for the captain's chair in the future...

Related: Peter Krause Jokes He 'Can’t Believe' Taylor Swift Wrote New Song 'Peter' in His Honor

Below, PEOPLE caught up with Krause to break down the finale and look ahead to season 8.

PEOPLE: We are all breathing big sighs of relief right about now, knowing that Bobby lives. What does it mean to you that people online were freaking out a bit that he might not make it and you'd be leaving the show? 

PETER KRAUSE: Being a part of this comic book come to life about first responders, has been really fun. Because we go through things that some people wouldn't necessarily survive, but that's the language of the show. It is about perseverance and redemption and moving forward and having family and supporting each other. All these themes are underneath the splashy entertainment. And I'm a big fan of the splashy entertainment, the wild and wacky emergencies. But I'm also really happy to see us delve into people's personal lives and see them struggle with the same things that audience members struggle with.

And then there's working with the incredible Angela Bassett all the time!

One thing that I really enjoyed this season in the very beginning was getting to see Angela show off her comic chops. I think that people don't necessarily think of her as funny, but she's a very funny person.

And I can't say enough about [showrunner] Tim Minear and what a wonderful job he's done with this series. And I joke with him that he left me for Rob Lowe [when he took a few seasons off from 9-1-1 to launch 9-1-1: Lone Star], and he's come back. Tim coming back for the relaunch on ABC really did make a big difference, and it was his idea to have the two of us go on this cruise and to have Bobby and Athena in this extended emergency together.

The homage to Poseidon Adventure, that was all Tim, and I thought director John Gray did a wonderful job in the first episode with the romantic comedy. It was really fun for me too. That was a good time.

Related: 9-1-1's Peter Krause Admits Ballroom Dancing with Angela Bassett Was 'Much More Difficult' Than 'Stunts' (Exclusive)

At what point did you learn that you were going to go back to that original Bobby origin story with Malcolm-Jamal Warner?

Tim let me know that that was heading my way. And working with Malcolm was just fantastic. He's one of the most generous actors I've ever worked with. And we had a lot of laughs behind the scenes, which you might not expect with what the characters go through, but I would love to do something else with him.

I'd love to do a western with him, an actual western. He's great. I think that was a really, really elegant way to delve back into not just Bobby's past, but also his inner world. And I think that that's something else that we've done really effectively: We've gone into the inner worlds of these characters and their personal growth and their inner growth, which is really important.

Related: Jennifer Love Hewitt Teases 9-1-1's Big Wedding and Why Maddie and Chimney Are 'Magical' Together (Exclusive)

This season ended on an interesting note with Gerrard showing up as the chief. Are you looking forward to that battle for the chief position?

I don't know exactly what is in store, but I'm assuming that Bobby will have to go through some things to regain his captainship. What those things are, I don't know. Could it be a physical? A cardio test? I don't know.

Maybe he'll have to go back to being a probie!

Well, I can tell you that Kenny Choi [who plays Chimney] would certainly enjoy that. I don't think that's going to be the case, but I'd assume that the entire fire team would really enjoy that, if that's the route that it took.

What's something you're looking forward to in the hiatus before you have to get back to it?

Just not acting for a while. Getting to be myself.

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9-1-1 will return for season 8 on ABC.

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