‘Fire Country’: Max Thieriot Breaks Down Bode’s Goodbye With Gabriela & Previews Dynamic With New Boss

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

Bode (Max Thieriot) is going through it when Fire Country Season 4 begins. Not only did his dad, Vince (Billy Burke), die in a fire while he was unable to go in to try to save him, but his ex-girlfriend (Stephanie Arcila‘s Gabriela), whom he’s been leaning on since the loss, is leaving and he has a new boss (Shawn Hatosy‘s Brett Richards) who definitely won’t be running 42 in the Leone way.

Furthermore, he’s an addict and certainly tempted by the pills in his locker, and he sent his girlfriend, Audrey (Leven Rambin), away while she’s dealing with her own stuff (like possibly being charged for shooting Gabriela’s stalker in self-defense). Below, Max Thieriot (also a co-creator and executive producer) breaks down the Season 4 premiere, teases what’s ahead for Bode now that he has a new battalion chief, has lost his father, and has said goodbye to Gabriela, and more. (Plus, read our breakdown of the premiere and what’s to come with executive producer Tia Napolitano here.)

Manny (Kevin Alejandro) is the one to tell Bode that Vince is dead. That relationship is so good. And it feels like of all the people who could have told him in that moment who were there, it had to be Manny, right?

Max Thieriot: 100%. Yeah. Manny has always been the guy that has always been there for Bode. I think they’re so similar in the things that they’ve experienced in their lives, and I think when you go through things like that, it’s easy to look at somebody and say, “You don’t understand. You don’t understand. You don’t know me, you haven’t been through these things.” But most of the stuff that Bode has gone through, Manny, to some level, has. There’s so much similarity. And Manny has from the get always believed in Bode and has always been there for him. And so, yeah, I think there’s really nobody else that could have broken him that news in that moment because I think almost anybody else Bode probably would’ve lashed out at in a way. And I think that Manny and Bode have a real kind of respect between them and just sort of this bond and this love that all Manny needs to do is look at him and so much can be said without even saying anything.

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Bode is tempted to take those pills. Vince is dead. Gabriela’s gone. He sends Audrey away. How hard is it going to be for him to not give into temptation?

It’s going to be the hardest thing he’s ever done. Without feeling like he has that support group around him and with him sort of internalizing so many things and pretending like everything is OK, but really in some deep pain that he’s going through inside, he is constantly going to be tempted by the urge to sort of numb that pain and the way that he’s known to numb that pain. And it is really breaking him up inside for sure, it’s tearing him apart, but I think it’s also tearing him apart because Bode, also as selfish as he can be, he’s more selfless than anything, and we’ve seen that throughout the series. And so I think what he wants to do, he’s grown enough to know that some of his decisions ultimately impact those around him so greatly that I think that sort of in a way is the angel on the one side speaking to him, reminding him that while this might make it go away for you, it will destroy everyone around you. And in the past, I think when Bode was isolated and away from everyone, he didn’t have to look those people in the face. And I think seeing his mom and his friends and all these people who care about him deeply, now he’s at a point where that’s why we’ll really feel that push and that pull because so much of him wants to take these pills and make it all go away. But then he looks at these people around him and he now realizes the pain that he can cause other people.

Station 42 has a new battalion chief in Brett, and he says that he’s there to reinvent it, that 42 wasn’t working. We see how Sharon (Diane Farr) feels about Brett being there. How does Bode feel about this guy who plans to change what his father built?

The thing about Brett Richards is I don’t think he’s wrong, but I think that given what the station has gone through and all these people have gone through and losing really sort of the center of their station and this father figure to all of them, emotionally, they’re not at a place where they’re willing to accept any kind of change. I think they still are reeling from picking up the pieces and wanting so badly to turn back time and be back to the way things were that anybody’s going to be the enemy right now. And I think that that person will be viewed as the enemy for different reasons for each character because of what they’re personally experiencing.

I think obviously for Bode, this has been a Leones’ station and this is his father’s house, and to see someone else come in and sit in your dad’s chair at your dad’s seat at the table is like, it’s personal to him. It’s not firefighting. And so he can’t see through the personal side of it. But again, like I said, I don’t think Brett Richards is wrong. I think that he does have the best interest of the station and all these firefighters, but our characters are fairly blinded right now by anything. And so someone coming in and taking that place, that locker at the end of the lockers is accepting the fact that his dad is gone and he is not willing to do that.

Bode also said goodbye to Gabriela, and we saw how much she means to him. She told him that she still loves him and he pointed out that love’s never been their issue. How is he going to be coping without her there? Because even when they weren’t together, she was so important to him.

It’s going to be really hard. I think that they’ve always shown, and Gabriela frankly has given up so much for him throughout the series, and Bode has always said, “You deserve the best. You deserve everything. You deserve better than me. You deserve this, you deserve that.” And she has, and she’s put herself through so many things because of him that now he has to kind of eat his words and as badly, I think, as he wants to tell her to stay, he knows that he’s not at a place where he can really give that to her after losing his dad. And I think she sort of has finally hit a place where after the Finn of it all and everything that she went through, it’s like she really does need to step outside of it and heal and live and just remove herself from all of the things. I think Bode wants so badly to say, “Please stay.” But I think he finally has to let her do that thing so that they can finally grow to be the people that they need to become.

And I think there’s a part of him that knows that could be dangerous for him, but he’s put her through enough danger that he’s unwilling to put himself before her. And so I think the place that we leave them off is frankly kind of like the ideal place. I think we get to see that they have come back together. She’s helped him through some of the most difficult times he’s ever gone through in his life and has been there for him like no one else and knows him, and we get that even in their conversations. She just knows what he needs in those moments. And I think leaving them at this place where they’re finally kind of back to a good place and they leave off with this admission sort of between the two of them, it leaves us with so many possibilities down the road, if/when/where that could be really gratifying and really wonderful.

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It feels like Luke’s (Michael Trucco) the one trying to hold the family together in the premiere, trying to get Sharon to talk to Walter (Jeff Fahey). How much is he going to be around and what are we going to see of the Bode and Luke dynamic now that they’ve lost Vince?

He is going to be around and he’s kind of coming and going in the beginning. And then I believe our plan is to be seeing more Luke in the back two-thirds of the season or something and have him hopefully become more of a real figure in Bode’s life and at this station.

Frankly, I feel like he’s kind of a great person to bring in this moment because we’ve constantly heard that Luke is the fun uncle and we know that Bode and Luke have a real sort of bond between them and a different kind of friendship. But I think what we get to explore is, is this uncle stepping in and stepping up for his brother. And we know that Luke has done things that have pissed Vince off and done things to wrong the family, but he’s also done incredible things for this family. He’s given his kidney and we know that Luke has real good in him. He’s just always kind of been more of a rogue sort of lone wolf. There’s definitely a lot of that in Bode as well. And so I think it’s kind of a fun thing that we might get to explore of seeing these two lone wolves try and finally become a pack.

Bode’s been a probie under a Leone firehouse. Now he’s a probie in a firehouse run by someone who’s not part of the family, with Brett. So what is that dynamic like?

Well, certainly that favoritism and that leniency goes away when you have somebody in here that doesn’t care that your last name is Leone. It changes things. Bode has been let off the hook many, many times for things that he probably shouldn’t have. It’s really because the people around him know who he is at his core and know what he’s capable of. And so it’s like having that athlete who you know is athletic and you know he is got it in him, but he’s really green and he needs to be broken in. He needs the right mentor, he needs the right training, he just needs time. And when you bring in somebody who is purely there to judge what works and what doesn’t work and see the flaws in people, he’s going to make those things pretty evident and he’s going to be a lot less willing to wait for that growth for someone like this.

Bode tells Audrey to go spend time with her mom while she waits to find out if she’s going to be charged. How much was that about what he thought she needed and how much was it about him pushing her away?

I think a lot of that was really — those two understand each other, and there’s so much similarity between them and their experiences there’s a lot of lust between them and a lot of coping between them and knowing what each other needs in those moments. I think that ultimately a lot of that is the two of them mutually understanding that Bode is going through real trauma, and so is Audrey. But I think that the two of them together, when you have two people who are both addicts, the worst thing for those people is for them to be together because if one relapses, it seems like the other one always does, right? It’s easy to fall into that same place you were in when you’re with someone who’s doing these things that you’re trying not to do.

And I think they both have gotten to the point where they know that this other temptation that is there and the grief and the things that they’re going through, they know that that is their natural coping mechanism. I think that they understand that they each have to fight through it alone, or if one of them starts to go down, they’re both going down. More than anything, it’s about that. It’s about, we’re both really not in a good place and we’re both really close to making bad decisions and neither one of us is good enough right now to be able to say, “I can lift you up and we can both get through this,” because they’re both too fragile. Audrey even kind of says, “We have to fight through this alone.” And I think that’s really what a lot of it is. Neither one of them wants to accept that, neither one of them wants to go, he doesn’t want her to go. But I think it’s just coming to terms with that.

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Bode and Sharon so far are grieving separately. How much are we going to see them leaning on each other and what’s that relationship without Vince part of the equation?

It’s complicated. And I think only to add to that complexity is there are things that each one is keeping from the other. And the thing that Bode is keeping from Sharon, he is worried will push her over the edge and vice versa. And so there’s this distance between them that’s purely created out of the fact that they’re both concerned about the wellbeing of the other one when the reality is that honesty and love in this moment is probably the best thing and what they both need. But having lost Vince, they’re just both too concerned with something happening to the either one that they’re not coming together. Instead they’re dealing with this separately and frankly, they’re kind of making all the wrong decisions. It’s like they need to be together, they need to be honest, they need to be open and they need to fight through this and heal and experience this grief together. But instead they’re trying to look out for the other person and see that they’re OK.

It obviously creates some drama between them, some tension, until ultimately they can start to work through those things. Once these kind of secrets that they’re keeping from each other come to light and they both realize what these things are, then we can start to see them sort of rebuild and heal together. But obviously, but there’s also going to be a lot of other things introduced throughout the season that will sort of put that healing in jeopardy and create complication along the way for them.

I know there’s a two-part crossover event coming up, which also, congratulations on Sheriff Country. It’s so good. Is there anything you can tease about that two-part event?

Nothing really. I mean it’s really good. It’s ambitious. It’s some of the biggest stuff I think we’ve ever tried to pull off, which is exciting and a little daunting. But I think it’ll be really fun to just — we get little bits and pieces here and there throughout the season until this point of these kind of characters coming into each other’s worlds in organic ways and ways that sort of really anchor Edgewater and allow us to feel like, hey, we’re in this small town and we’re getting just to see different people’s jobs and different people’s lives. But I think it’ll be fun to see a real sort of block, I guess I’ll call it, where these people are really kind of working together. So it’s exciting, it’s big, ambitious, but really great.

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