‘Fire Country’ Boss Reveals Who Almost Died in Season 4 Premiere, Plus What’s Next

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Fire Country Season 4 premiere “Goodbye for Now.”]

There’s a new boss at Station 42 on Fire Country Season 4, following its battalion chief, Vince Leone (Billy Burke), dying in a fire, and he’s planning to make some changes. To say Vince’s widow, Sharon (Diane Farr), isn’t happy is an understatement.

The premiere also says goodbye to Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila), who leaves Edgewater to recruit young firefighters for Cal Fire. That leaves Bode (Max Thieriot) without a major support system after his ex-girlfriend was really there for him following his father’s death. Below, executive producer Tia Napolitano reveals if any other deaths or exits for Gabriela were considered, how Bode and Sharon are doing going forward, what’s next for Jake (Jordan Calloway), Eve (Jules Latimer), and others, and much more. (Plus, read what Max Thieriot had to say about the premiere and what’s ahead for Bode here.)

Did you consider killing off anyone else in the fire in addition to Vince?

Tia Napolitano: We considered every possibility of how to shake things up in Season 4. I think for a long time, it might’ve been Walter [Jeff Fahey], and it felt like that was the expected outcome, and we really wanted the most surprising version.

But you never considered two people dying?

Maybe? Yes, we did.

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When you were looking at who would take over as battalion chief, did you immediately want someone like Brett, someone coming in as an antagonist Sharon is very against, someone there to reinvent 42?

It was a long road for a long time. We thought about Jake getting it and the emotional ramifications of how he would feel guilty that this was the way that he got it and then it seemed like bringing in an antagonist felt like it gave us so much more story. We were lucky enough to get Shawn Hatosy. It really shook things up and made things feel different and fresh this season.

Can you say how much Shawn Hatosy is in the season?

You’ll see him a lot. He will recur. We will learn a lot about him. We’ll go on a little journey where we figure out what makes him a human because we all are inside, but he gives our characters hell, and you never know when he might walk back in the door.

How is 42 going to react to not only someone new coming in, but someone new coming in who wants to change part of what’s left of Vince and his legacy of how he ran 42?

Not well. Obviously, Vince made 42 a family and we loved him. Nobody really took issue with the way that he was a battalion chief, and I think Richards looks around and says, well, the way that this place has run a firefighter lost his life. Is that the best way to run things? If that’s the outcome, it’s a question. It’s not a thesis statement, but he’s going to examine all the angles.

What does 42 look like going forward? How is it changing?

Brett Richards will really hold a mirror up to 42 and ask, are these the best practices? Is the way that this is run, where everybody kind of knows each other, is in bed with each other, has a familiar relationship, is that the safest way to run a station? I think some of our people might tend to agree over time, and other people really cling to the way that things were. I mean, even their coffee is called Leone mud. Vince is in every molecule of that building. So any change feels really monumental and is really resisted by some of our people and eventually embraced by some others, and we have to grow with him.

How much will Sharon and Bode especially clash with him?

Sharon and Bode will clash with him. He really challenges the Leone way, for lack of a better term. He really challenges the culture of the place, and Sharon and Bode won’t always see eye to eye when it comes to Richards as well. Because Richard is here, there’s conflict among our people. It quickly evolves out of being just him against us, and people start to see his way to varying degrees.

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It feels like there would’ve been this tension between Bode and Jake about the battalion chief, and it could have led to the argument we see in the premiere, no matter what the circumstances that led to the open spot. But now with Brett as battalion chief, can they find common ground in dealing with him? How is their relationship going forward?

They’re going to have to decide: do they want to be battling each other or battling Richards together? And I think we’ll try a little bit of both, but the conflict between Bode and Jake and the conflict between them and Richards does not die down quickly.

How is Jake doing? Because he’s also dealing with his grief as well for Vince, because we know what Vince meant to him, and he wants to be battalion chief, we have this other guy coming in. There’s what’s going on with Bode.

He’s going through it. Never forget that Vince was like a father to Jake and to Eve. He was someone to everybody. So, Bode and Sharon, this is a significant loss for them, but it’s a significant loss for everyone else, too, and I think Jake really handles it with grace while sticking up for himself. He’s not a doormat. And that helps the conflict to kind of keep going into the beginning of the season.

Did you consider any other exits for Gabriela, and if so, what can you share?

As the episode is called, it’s goodbye for now, not goodbye forever. And we always wanted to do the character justice to say that she’s going on to great things, and she’s going on to great things because of the firefighter she made herself into. It’s really a success story, and we wanted to send her off with success and a bright future for now.

So you never thought about maybe killing her off, too? That would’ve been a lot for Bode to deal with.

No! No.

What did you want to do with their goodbye? Because that was such a good scene.

We really wanted to honor who they are to each other, and it’s what Bode says, love has never been their issue. There’s been a lot of longing and a lot of obstacles and a lot of pining between them, and it’s not for lack of connection that they aren’t together right now. And so we just really wanted to honor that and remind the audience of it and kind of have us lean in wanting her back one day to get more Bodiela on screen. We really thought of the pilot and all the places that they’ve been and just craved romance, even if it’s forbidden or not happening right then in that scene. You just see how much they care about each other

Gabriela says she still loves him. We have what Bode says that you just brought up. How is that goodbye going to affect Bode going forward and his relationship with Audrey (Leven Rambin)?

I think it’s always been true that Bode and Gabriela love each other and yes, she’s bringing it up out loud now because life is short because they just saw Vince get taken from them. It just feels like it’s never a bad day when someone tells you that they love you. But I think it’s a truth that both of them have been carrying in their hearts. So I also think Bode loves Audrey. It isn’t Bodiela’s season right now for him, and so we’ll see him pursue and be with Audrey with an open heart.

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You previously told me that Bode’s going to be wondering how he’s going to be without her after the support she gave him in the premiere. So, how is Bode going to be doing now that Gabriela is gone, especially after the goodbye? Who is he leaning on?

You see him grab those pills at the end, and we will struggle with those pills in the first few episodes, and when Audrey does come back, it feels like a breath of fresh air because she’s really in his corner and she has his number. She knows addiction; they share incarceration in their past. We’ll see her really be an angel on his shoulder and fight for him and be there for him.

Eventually, Bode and Sharon will be able to lean on each other again, but I think in the beginning, neither of them want to burden the other, but we’ll see them come back together in a beautiful way. And everyone sort of looks out for Bode, especially in the beginning of the season, so he leans on everybody, but I would say especially in the beginning, primarily Audrey, as we get into the season, Manny [Kevin Alejandro] really steps up and attaches himself to Bode and says, this guy’s with me and this guy’s a great firefighter.

You brought up Bode with the pills. He is tempted at the end, and then it feels like there’s going to be so many stresses in his life right now: Brett’s battalion chief, he’s grieving, Gabriela’s gone, he and Jake are on shaky ground, Audrey’s not there. How much are we going to see Bode continue to be tempted, and is there a real possibility of him giving in?

He will be tempted. Bode’s an addict. That’s been true for as long as we’ve known him, and recovery is a process, and we’ll see that process become difficult because of the death of his father, because of Gabriela’s departure. He’s really at war with himself and wondering if he’s going to get in his own way when it comes to getting everything we’ve seen him work for since we met him, which is, he’s on his way to becoming a full firefighter and really climbing the Cal Fire ladder and that danger is very real and will wrestle with it for a few episodes.

And it’s also his knee injury and whether or not he might push himself because of a new battalion chief, which then could lead to needing the pills, right?

Yep, that’s exactly right.

Related

Max Thieriot Previews Bode's Grief After Vince's Death on 'Fire Country'

It feels like Luke’s (Michael Trucco) the one trying to hold the family together in the premiere and trying to get Sharon to talk to Walter. How much is Luke going to be around? What are we going to see of his grief because he lost his brother?

I know. Michael Trucco breaks your heart in that funeral scene Luke’s grief for his brother, while he tries to be strong and hand Sharon that flag, is one of my favorite scenes while she tries to hold it together, it’s just beautiful. We will see Luke come back to Fire Country for sure and sort of wonder, what’s his place in this family now that his brother is gone? He’s always been fun uncle. Does he need to step up in a more serious capacity when it comes to Bode? He will really kick into high gear some professional aspirations of Bode as we get deeper into the season and really remind us that he is a role model. We have a lot of fun with Luke. We love to hate him, but we also love to love him, and he’ll really show us the good man inside and the firefighter that he is while also having a lot of fun as we get into the season.

Speaking of, even with what we see of Luke and Sharon in the premiere — he’s there for her, but then there’s also him telling her about Brett taking over. What’s Sharon and Luke’s dynamic like going forward?

Oh, it’s fun. They are playful with one another, and you’ll see him show up much more loudly in the Bode story than in the Sharon stories, but they continue to love each other, and she hates him a little bit.

How is Sharon going to be doing as she continues to grieve? Who is she leaning on?

Sharon in the beginning will resist leaning on anyone and really kind of decide that she can just take care of herself and our people will pull her in and make her realize that she has a village and she should use them. You’ll see her lean on Manny in a really significant way that isn’t romantic. It’s based in friendship and familial love, and a professional capacity. Bode will be able to be there for his mom, and eventually, we get Sharon into a place where she’s able to really stand on her own. She’s been coupled for so long, even in the professional sense. She’s always worked with Vince right there under her, and she’ll really find her way, her strength to stand on her own.

Does the situation at 42 provide a distraction for her? She can aim like anger or whatever at Brett versus really dealing…

Yeah, it is easy. Everybody loves a bad guy, and he is an easy sort of punching bag for a while until we kind of get under the hood and realize who he is and what he’s after.

Who is he going to endear himself to first?

It will surprise you, is all I’ll say. People start to turn, and I think where we end up will be very surprising.

It feels like Manny is very much settled back at 42. He’s doing well, even with Gabriela leaving. Is that what we’re going to continue to see that he’s found his place again and he’s excelling in doing so?

Yeah, Manny is going to rise this season. We love that Manny is able to, when something terrible happens, pull himself out of it. We’ve seen him go back to prison and go back to fire camp. We really want good things for Manny and to see him really excel.

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Three Rock has a way to go, but Eve certainly seems to be feeling hopeful at the end of the premiere. What are the next steps for her?

Eve is going to have an uphill battle when it comes to getting fire camp back, but she’s going to fight it. We’ll see her pursue it relentlessly. Manny is certainly in her corner about that, and eventually, fire camp is part of the DNA of our show, so we will be bringing it back. We’re bringing it back in a really fresh way that’s going to be what we call Three Rock 2.0, and the road together there is very windy but Eve will never give up.

Are we going to see the same inmates back at Three Rock when that time comes?

We see some new faces.

How much will we be seeing Walter this season?

We will see Walter. We have some fun stories coming up. It’ll be interesting to see how Bode steps up, how Luke steps up when it comes to Walter’s care, and even visiting him. Walter and Sharon have some heartbreaking scenes to come. We love Papa Leone.

How is Bode’s relationship with Walter? Is there any anger or blame towards him like Sharon has?

No.

There’s the two-part crossover with Sheriff Country coming up, which sounds so exciting. What can you preview, and which characters are you most excited for fans to see interacting?

It’s so exciting. It’s going to be a wonderful two hours of television. I don’t think you’ll quite anticipate who we send back and forth, and we also have smaller crossovers, just little fan candy that we’ll see one person from Sheriff come over here for an episode, really making it feel like it’s one big universe, and Edgewater is expanding, and we’re seeing new corners of it.

Fire Country, Regular Time Period Premiere, Friday, October 24, 9/8c, CBS