Watch Bobby and Athena get held hostage in ‘9-1-1’ premiere

Bobby and Athena are most definitely past their honeymoon period.

At the end of last week’s 9-1-1 season 7 premiere, the first responders were on their belated wedding celebration cruise when criminals in search of a dongle packed with Bitcoin overtook the ship. In a preview clip exclusive to EW, the ABC drama picks up right where things left off, with Angela Bassett‘s Athena and Peter Krause‘s Bobby assessing the situation. In an instant, the police sergeant and fire captain find themselves held hostage at gunpoint next to Norman (Daniel Roebuck), whom the gunman is convinced possesses the dongle.

And that’s just the first 45 seconds of the episode. While we can’t spoil what happens next, 9-1-1 co-creator and showrunner Tim Minear promises “things just get worse from there” as things transition into a “Titanic” vibe: “It’s an epic love story between these two people who are meant to be together, who are facing possible death.”

“I’ve been so deep in the water and the revolving internal ship barrel,” Krause tells Entertainment Weekly.

“I’m appreciative that the water was a nice, warm 93 degrees,” adds Bassett. “But the weather wasn’t. You wanted to stay in the tank and the hours are long. So just imagine a nice 14-hour bath.”

Bassett and Krause are joined in that bath by a group of guest actors who have spent the past few months filming with the 9-1-1 stars. And while Krause misses being a part of what he calls the “Firehouse Five” back at the 118 fire station, he’s reveled in working so closely with Bassett and the guest stars.

“We were all just sitting in a circle last night, this ‘Poseidon Adventure‘ cast. We’ve been filming since the very beginning of January, so I’ve gotten to know these people,” says the actor. “It’s been really fun. It’s not just coming in for a guest spot and working for four or five days, these people are working 20, 30 days on the show, and it’s been wonderful getting to know each other and form an ensemble of sorts. I will certainly miss some of these actors when these episodes are over.”

But not all the actors were working with Krause and Bassett for the first time. Roebuck’s Norman was first seen in a season 2 episode when his wife, Lola (Romy Rosemont), stood topless above a freeway sign to get the attention of her distant husband.

9-1-1 has occasionally brought back guest stars, but Roebuck and Rosemont’s return was not the plan when Minear and team first started crafting the cruise ship disaster.

“Initially, it was going to be a new couple that I had created, and then I realized this couple bears a certain resemblance in tone and flavor to Norman and Lola,” says Minear. “We’ve been working on expanding our universe since really season 2, so you’re going to see a lot of the people that you know and love,” continues the co-creator, who has previously teased to EW the returns of former 118ers Tommy Kinard (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) and Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody), as well as Buck and Maddie’s parents (Gregory Harrison and Dee Wallace).

But will Norman survive the cruise?

9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m ET/PT on ABC.

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• Why 9-1-1 boss ‘wasn’t really interested’ in Buck dating death doula Natalia — and what’s to come in season 7
• 9-1-1‘s Oliver Stark and Ryan Guzman on Buck and Eddie’s ‘open, sensitive, and vulnerable’ season 7 dynamic
• Inside the epic 9-1-1 season 7 premiere: The shipwreck, the romances, the drama
• 9-1-1: Lone Star deleted scene: Carlos and TK cut their wedding cake — and do exactly what you expect

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