‘Fire Country’: Max Thieriot Teases Violent End to Season 5 Premiere

Uh-oh. All the joy from last spring’s finale wedding, where Max Thieriot‘s firefighter Bode stood by his longtime pal, Jake (Jordan Calloway), and his bride Violet (Nesta Cooper), won’t last long when the fiery drama returns for Season 5, picking up a couple weeks later.

When Fire Country returns on October 9, it’s time for the town of Edgewater to celebrate its annual Founders’ Day Festival, but then a catastrophic sinkhole opens beneath Main Street, trapping residents underground. Station 42 leaps into action. Plus, Olivia Thirlby‘s new firefighter, CJ, will be introduced.

Thieriot spills about the incoming heat.

Bode was in such a good place when Season 4 ended, so then it means he’s still in that good place when Season 5 picks up?

Max Thieriot: Yeah, we’re not going to find him sitting in prison or something.

So what’s going on with him? How are we going to see him being in that good place challenged?

This is a big season for Bode, one, finding his own identity as a firefighter and in this town, and I think pushing himself to be the firefighter and the man that he’s destined to be. Part of that is in a way picking up where [his late father] Vince [Billy Burke] left off, but also forging his own path. I think very much how Vince was a staple of this community in some way that people could rely on, Bode aspires to be that person in the community, but obviously he has some hurdles to overcome that Vince didn’t, and a lot of that is obviously making amends with a lot of people. He wronged a lot of people there, and I’m sure there’s a lot of people that don’t trust him given his past and history and the stuff that he’s been through, but he’s going to have some challenges ahead of him.

But I think the big journey for him is, how can he be the person that the community can rely on? How can he help people after such a big, tragic event and so much devastation that the flood causes and the end of last season? We’ll see that they’re spread thin and they’re trying to help these other communities and deal with all this stuff, and it’s about Bode rising to the occasion and figuring out how to take some leadership and responsibility.

What can you preview about the sinkhole and rescue, and how worried should we be about anyone from 42 doing it?

I think we can definitely worry. It’s right there in town and there’s a town event that’s taking place. And so a lot of the community is involved and firefighters are involved and a lot of the staples of the town and community that we’ve come to know and have met throughout the seasons. We’ll meet some new faces in the first episode as well, which is really fun, people who will end up maybe being a part of this show a little longer. There’s a couple really exciting pieces that we’re going to see outside of the incident itself.

Speaking of these new faces, one of them is this new firefighter, CJ. Bode believes she has something to offer. Why, and how is she going to be fitting in at 42?

I don’t know. I think she’s different. She’s a different firefighter than we’re used to. She’s a little bit of a fish out of water, which is kind of fun. But I think more than anything, why she is a key piece to the station is the approach that she brings to firefighting, the attitude that she brings. And sometimes you need somebody who’s looking from the outside in because all these people are clearly looking from the inside out and they’ve been there, and so it’s hard. Perspective is just so different. She offers a different perspective, but also comes with a lot of skill and a lot of confidence and just real ability. She’s a little bit of a square peg in a round hole, but I think at the same time, that’s maybe what the station is needing.

But as Edgewater recovers from one disaster, an unexpected act of violence changes everything. What can you tease?

New people sometimes brings new problems. We’re going to end the episode in a fun, exciting, dynamic way that — I think one thing that certainly works really well in Sheriff Country, but also has kind of played well in previous seasons of Fire Country is everybody loves, I don’t want to say mystery, but having [something] emotional slash some suspense that’s outside of the incident itself and is its own story. And so we’re going to have something like that thrown into the mix, which is I think going to be really exciting for people to be tuning in week to week to figure out how it unfolds and what’s going on. It’s a storyline that we’re going to thread throughout at least part of the season, and it certainly brings some danger.

I know we had the whole Three Rock Sleeper drug stuff going on in a previous season. And I don’t want to say it’s like that, but more in line with something like that than some of the other traditional character storylines that we run. More dangerous.

Is this setting up crossovers with Sheriff Country then, weaving the two shows together more?

At times, yes. And we’ll see characters from both shows appearing in the other show a little more frequently at the top of the season, certainly, and then honestly kind of throughout, but we’ll get to interweave those storylines a little bit and feel how some of the stuff that they’re going through is requiring the other’s skillsets.

Bode and Chloe (Alona Tal) were still going strong in the finale. They said, “I love you.” How are they doing this season? Are we going to see them taking any other next steps in their relationship?

We’ll see about next steps. I mean, I guess technically, yes. It was so fresh and new and exciting. And I think obviously given what they’ve been through, given everything with Tyler [Conor Sherry], there’s inevitably stuff that they still need to figure out, things that they’ve not breezed past, but maybe have avoided in ways. But I think a lot of good stuff as far as character building and relationship building moments for them where we get to see them go through that stuff and have real conversations and face real challenges. And yeah, I think it’s really exciting because we get a chance to really invest in the relationship and see different parts of it than we’ve seen so far.

Last we saw Sharon (Diane Farr), she was planning that trip with Alexi (Brett Tucker). How did that go? And what does that mean for her journey in Season 5 as she is figuring out about moving forward after Vince’s death?

Yeah, she planned this trip with Alexi. I don’t think Bode still knows about it yet, so I’m curious to see how that shakes out when he finds out. I think he knows she’s going on some motorcycle trip, but not sure if anybody wanted to tell him exactly the details of this trip. I think it’s more about her finding herself and her identity without her husband and who she is without that key missing piece of her life. And so it’s not so much about her relationship with him specifically as it is her walking this journey now alone and what does that look like? It’s a little more character-driven for her personally, less about her love life.

I like that. But speaking of love lives, because it seemed like Manny’s (Kevin Alejandro) was working out at the end of last season. I mean, if your new girlfriend can handle everything going on with your ex-wife the way that Camille (Natalie Zea) did, that’s a good sign.

Oh, yeah.

So is that relationship continuing and is that going to be more the day-to-day that we see with them? Because I feel like we didn’t really get to see that. It was more so dealing with the big stuff at the end of last season for Manny and Camille.

Yeah, that relationship is continuing. We love Natalie, and I think she’s terrific. And I think the two of them are really awesome together. They have great chemistry. And I think people are rooting for them as a couple. They’re totally different and fun. They’re both such leaders and so driven, and they’re both powerhouses. And I think it’s really fun to see that dynamic where it’s fun at times to get to see those two people sort of, not at odds, but have different opinions and deal with situations differently incident-wise. And personally, for me, I think that’s a really fun relationship. We’re working on trying to figure out different ways to explore that in fun and dynamic ways, and we want to keep it going.

But then I heard that there’s this new inmate with a secret connection to Manny at Three Rock [revealed to be his nephew in the trailer]. What’s going on there?

We’re shaking it up a little bit for sure. That is a storyline that I’m super excited about this season and brings its own set of madness to the show. Viewers are going to be super excited to tune in every week and get to see and unpack and figure out who’s who, what it means, what they’re doing here. There’s a lot that’s going to shake out with that.

In the finale, Jake and Violet got married. Does that happiness carry over into Season 5 for Jake both personally and professionally?

It definitely does. We get to see them face some adversity and just the reality of marriage after the honeymoon phase is over, which I think is something that can make or break couples. But I think it provides a lot of great character stuff and a lot of great story. And I think people will just love to see what they’re going through and what they are up against as a couple and what they’re facing and how that dynamic is one way at home and a different way at work and how you juggle those things.

Eve (Jules Latimer) found her footing with her new Three Rock guys last season. Her personal life wasn’t as settled, and then we also saw everything with her family. What’s next for her?

A new phase of Three Rock. She’s got these guys that she has come to really form a relationship with and have a great shorthand in the work environment and has come to know them personally really intimately and well and understand how they tick. But then at the same time, people will be coming into Three Rock. And so with new people come new problems, new issues, new hurdles, and getting people acclimated and figuring out how they fit into the puzzle, and did they get along with these other guys who are there?

We haven’t dove back in too deep to the family stuff yet, but that’s something that I know we’re all excited about doing because we love getting to see Eve’s family and the ranch and her dad. Those are such important characters to the show, but also to Eve, and they just add such a different element, I think, to the really grounded authentic piece.

Eve’s got a lot going on. She’s got a lot of pans on the stove, I guess, so to speak. And so she’s really interacting with all the characters in different ways, with Bode, with Jake, and with Manny and Sharon. She’s kind of the glue at the station right now, threading between all of these different stories and making an impact on all of them in a unique way.

Is there going to be any setup for the potential medical spinoff?

On this show, not yet.

Are there any leadership shakeups coming at 42 or is it kind of settled as it is now for the season?

There will be some shakeups, not right out the gate, but there will be some shakeups as we get into the season a little bit. I’d say mid-season-ish. But at the beginning, leadership positions will be where we left off.

So could we possibly see a promotion for Bode?

Maybe. I think he’s still got some stuff to work on. I think he’s got to figure out his — I guess captain’s probably his first hurdle. I think he’s got a minute before he thinks about being the chief.

And we going to continue to see REMS?

A little bit. Not in a full capacity. Bode has another focus right now that we’ll see.

Anything else you can say about that?

It’s work. It’s a work focus, and it’s not REMS.

Something that Fire Country has done so well since Season 1 is that midseason cliffhanger. And this is a shorter season, but are you still going to be having that?

Yes. I think this season, it’ll be more, which I like, character-focused cliffhanger versus incident cliffhanger. … I know we’ve done a lot of these big incidents where people are in peril, and I don’t know. Obviously the incidents are always great and fun, but I think there’s also something that hits you hard when it’s something that you know isn’t just putting somebody’s life in danger, but is a big either reveal or bomb drop that leaves you tracking these character storylines and really wanting to know what the thing is that’s coming after that, not are they going to live after this.

Fire Country, Season 5 Premiere, Friday, October 9, 9/8c, CBS