‘Fire Country’s Kevin Alejandro Previews Shawn Hatosy’s Return: ‘You’ve Got 2 Alphas in the Same Room’

When Shawn Hatosy‘s Battalion Chief Brett Richards next encounters the firefighters of Station 42, he’ll be able to see how the one he left in charge, Manny Perez (Kevin Alejandro) has been doing. And, as TV Insider exclusively reported, that’s in the March 13 episode of Fire Country, the 12th of the season titled “Life of a Firefighter.”

CBS teases, “As station 42 battles through a relentless shift, the unexpected return of Battalion Chief Brett Richards throws the crew off balance and forces Manny to confront his growing self-doubt.” So, what will we see as a result?

“You’ve got two alphas in the same room, so, it is just a matter of understanding who’s the ultimate alpha and who has that decision in the moment. And so there’s always going to be that back and forth, which I freaking love, that I have experience on you, but I’m the current, and this is my world, but I’ve been invited into this world to take charge,” Alejandro tells TV Insider while also discussing Episode 11. “We’ve set ourselves up for a really good back and forth between the struggle of power, struggle for power, but ultimately all the decisions are based on the good of the community.”

Having him back is “pretty amazing … the fact that it’s Shawn f**king Hatosy,” Alejandro raves. “Shawn and I go way back. We did Southland together where we first met, we became friends, and then there’s this whole John Wells and Chris Chulack world, which Max [Thieriot] is also involved with. So, having Shawn Hatosy on our set, and all of a sudden there’s this triangle of three dudes who kind of came up in the same sort of school of filmmaking slash acting world, it makes it an incredible experience, like these forces coming together and this familiarity where it makes it so easy for all the three of us to be like, let’s do this and this and this and this. And there’s no questions asked because we got each other’s back. So, it’s been great to have Shawny Hats as part of our world, and I hope there’s more of him to come in the future.”

When we spoke with Hatosy about his role on The Pitt, we also had to ask him what he’s enjoying about recurring as Richards on Fire Country.

“I think he’s funny. I think his intentions are pretty good, and I think he has a way of communicating with Sharon [Diane Farr] that he speaks in riddles, and then it drives her crazy, which I love. I also think he seems like a dick in the first episode when we meet him, but he really does care because he knows that Vince [Billy Burke], his presence is important to this place, and he understands that family is kind of the key to this firehouse staying together,” he said. “And ultimately, he’s a family guy, and it’s just taking him a minute to be accepted in, and hopefully, this next time we see him, they’re going to let him in.”

What are you hoping to see from Shawn Hatosy’s next Fire Country episode as Brett Richards? Let us know in the comments section below.

Fire Country, Fridays, 9/8c, CBS