‘Fire Country’: Jules Latimer Talks Developments in Bode & Manny’s Romances

“I got to blow some stuff up!” says Jules Latimer, who stars as Eve Edwards, captain of Three Rock, a fire camp for inmates. For the Friday, April 17, episode of Fire Country, she takes on the role of directing an action-packed episode of the drama, in which an oil well fire requires multiple crews (hence that explosion!). It’s an emergency so serious that it requires Division Chief Sharon Leone (Diane Farr) to be on the scene rather than back at the station.

Meanwhile, Bode’s (Max Thieriot) also busy on the Rapid Extraction Module Support (REMS) team, the firefighters who rescue firefighters. Plus, there’s romance in the air, not only for him with Chloe (Alona Tal) but also for Battalion Chief Manny Perez (Kevin Alejandro) with his new love interest, Camille (Natalie Zea).

Below, Jules Latimer previews the hour.

What excited you from a directing standpoint about this script?

Jules Latimer: Well, I got to blow some stuff up. [Laughs] And I got to do some romantic scenes that I was really excited about. I was like, how do I talk to my castmates about how to approach that? I got to build a set, which was really interesting. And yeah, [it was about] immediately getting the script and trying to cater it to our production needs and make my days and things like that. I just wanted to show everybody that I was a good and efficient director and how well I knew the show.

So you say you blow stuff up. And we know that it’s Bode’s first mission with REMS. So is that part of that? 

He gets to save some people with REMS. The big explosion happens towards the end of the episode.

Sergei Bachlakov/CBS

So looking at the mission with REMS, what can you preview about that and what leads to REMS being pulled in?

REMS is such a fantastic addition to the show because you get to see other firefighters saving firefighters. It’s a quick sort of flash of the REMS team and you get to see that Bode has the potential to lead the team because he’s just really showing up. This episode feels like he’s walking into a new responsibility and sort of following in the footsteps of Vince [Billy Burke] a little bit.

How’s that for Eve to see? Because she’s watched him come a long way just from the series premiere.

I know. Eve is dealing with a lot of other things in this episode. It’s not necessarily a conversation that the two of us have. I’m dealing with some family drama and trying to help my dad out on the farm. And then I actually have this project with the Three Rockers that everyone sees in this particular episode. And I got to build a set and I’m actually really excited for people to see this new place that we go in the story.

You brought up Eve’s family, and that’s so complicated. I feel like that family just need a weekend to sit down and talk through everything to be honest. So can you talk a bit more about what we’ll see from that in this episode?

You get to see Eve step up into a role where she’s trying to take care of her father and she’s trying to not only take care of her father, but take care of the boys at Three Rock. And so I think she’s a bit stretched thin and you get to see Eve ask for help in a way that I don’t think we normally get to see. I really have to lean on my guys to help me — Manny, Bode, Jake. There’s a big part of my story in this episode is me asking for help and leaning on that, with a lot of fun jokey bits. Sometimes when you ask for help, some people can feel a bit ashamed of that. That’s in line with my character. But the thing I really loved about the writing was I was so happy. I was so happy to have people there helping.

You said you built a set. What’s going on with Three Rock?

We’ve been growing all these vegetables, and now it’s time to prove the efficiency of Three Rock and whether or not it can be a self-sustaining camp. We put that to the test and try to sell some vegetables and we try to bring it to the people. It’s a little intimidating because it’s the first time I’ve really taken the boys out of camp and we’re with civilians and they get to sort of taste that freedom or taste being around the people where they save all these people’s lives and now they’re hoping that these people will contribute to them saving their camp. So it’s cool to sort of see that shift and see whether or not all goes well, which we all know, it doesn’t go well. Or it’s sort of back and forth. You wonder while you’re watching whether or not this was a good idea.

I have to say, I’ve loved seeing Eve adjusting to having a new group of guys at Three Rock and what we’ve seen there. And I like that she’s finding her footing with them. We’re seeing that, but she still misses her old crew, right?

I do. I do. Me, Jules, and Eve misses my old crew for sure. But God, you gotta love the guys’ energy. They have such a young, fresh, fun energy about them. And even just working with them as people, I love, love working with my new Three Rock guys. They’re kind of amazing.

Sergei Bachlakov/CBS

There’s also a dangerous oil well fire. What can you preview about that? Any conflicts between any of the firefighters?

This is the first time that we see Sharon’s character on an incident in a long time and her trying to figure out and maneuver something that she has expertise in and Jake and Bode don’t and them trying to navigate something where the two of them don’t really trust her leadership because she hasn’t been out in the field. And so there’s that tension that’s at play. It’s them waiting for the specialists to come in and service the well because they technically as firefighters can’t do anything. And then they come across something that could fix the problem, but it’s a little unconventional.

Are we going to see any of the main characters in significant danger?

Absolutely.

Anything you can tease about that?

Well, I did talk about how I got to blow some stuff up.

You brought up romantic scenes earlier. What can you say about those?

I mean, Bode and Chloe are going through their relationship and trying to navigate the situation with Tyler [Conor Sherry], and they come to a breaking point and they have to navigate that. And in navigating that, there’s something positive that comes out of it and we get to see them take their relationship to a new level. Also, Manny’s been courting Camille, and we get to see whether or not he can close the deal. It was very fun to sort of navigate will they, won’t they, energy with the two of them.

Talk about directing your castmates.

It was funny. [Laughs] It’s funny seeing what all my fellow castmates need as a director. I think the main thing was me finding my voice. And I knew that preparation was key for me because we have some very inquisitive and fantastic actors on the show. Everybody was super patient and gracious with me the first couple days because I definitely fumbled and bumbled. But then I really got my legs underneath me and I feel like we collaborated and came up with some really great things.

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Several of your castmates have directed before and directed on Fire Country. Did you get any advice from any of them?

I did. I leaned on them a lot, especially in asking questions on how far I could go with episodes and trying to do things and who I could push and who I couldn’t push. But for the most part, I did all of that in pre-production, but while we were shooting, I was in the driver’s seat and I felt pretty confident.

What else can you preview about this episode?

There’s a moment with Manny where he hasn’t told Camille that he’s been incarcerated. And I know the subject matter of our television show and being incarcerated and that comes with its own thing, but can you love people past their issues, their problems? I really love seeing Manny come to love not only where he is now, but love his past as well. I thought that was a really beautiful, sort of gentle reminder that it’s important for us to love past people’s issues and problems because we all have them.

Fire Country, Fridays, 9/8c, CBS