‘Fire Country’ Boss & Olivia Thirlby on [Spoiler]’s Fate & CJ’s Past

Shots fired?! The Fire Country Season 5 premiere ends in an act of violence, just like Max Thieriot teased for TV Insider it would. Plus, it introduces the new series regular, Olivia Thirlby‘s CJ, who has some secrets. TV Insider spoke with Thirlby and executive producer Eric Guggenheim about the major moments. Warning: Spoilers for the Fire Country Season 5 premiere ahead!

Bode (Max Thieriot) meets CJ when he finds her camping out and tells her to put out her fire; they don’t get off to the best start and when she goes to get the free cup of coffee he offers her at Smokey’s, she falls into the sinkhole that opens up. And when Bode and Jake (Jordan Calloway) join her down there, it becomes clear she’s a firefighter. Also at the scene of the sinkhole, Manny (Kevin Alejandro) realizes one of Three Rock’s newest members is his nephew (Ethan Jones Romero) … and he warns Eve (Jules Latimer) he’s dangerous and will put the entire crew at risk.

Then, in the episode’s final moments, as 42 pondered restarting the volunteer fire department to help with the overwhelming calls, gunshots are fired into the station — and it looks like Jake is shot?!

Below, in separate interviews, Olivia Thirlby and executive producer Eric Guggenheim break down the premiere and tease what’s next.

The premiere ends with gunfire at 42. Jake is down. First of all, what can you say about Jake’s fate?

Eric Guggenheim: We’ll know Jake’s fate in the opening minutes of 502.

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Why did you want to kick off the season with this act of violence?

Guggenheim: We were looking for a big turn at the end of the premiere, a shocking event to propel us into the next episode but one that also promised a little mystery and emotional fallout.

Who’s behind the shooting? What can you preview about that investigation and, since we know Morena Baccarin and Ian Quinlan from Sheriff Country guest star in 502, how they’re involved? 

Guggenheim: We’ll get answers in 502. Mickey’s going to offer emotional support to Sharon while Hank will actually be on incident with 42, which is pretty exciting. Sharon and Hank make a great team, and Diane and Ian have terrific chemistry.

CJ really proves herself and more than holds her own in the middle of this sinkhole emergency. She thought she was just getting a cup of coffee, ends up at the bottom of the sinkhole. But she keeps stressing that she’s no longer a firefighter. So what can you say about what happened that she’s not ready to talk about yet?

Olivia Thirlby: CJ is still processing some recent events from her life that were extremely traumatic. And her way of dealing with that is by creating a huge wall around herself and by pushing away something that she has a very conflicting relationship with, which is her passion, her career, her service of being a firefighter, a first responder. And there is something in her relationship with that job that has become very complicated for her and a little bit traumatic. And so her response is to run away.

What did you want to do with CJ’s introduction, and what can you say about why she doesn’t want to be a firefighter anymore? 

Guggenheim: I wanted to introduce a firefighter who wasn’t from Edgewater and had no connection to the place, a fish of water. She’s a rockstar urban firefighter but as we know wildland fighting is very different. So she’s very capable but also has a few things to learn. As for her backstory, we’ll get answers in 502. We’re not withholding much this season. This season is very propulsive.

Did the events of the premiere make her miss firefighting or at least some aspects of it in a way that she hadn’t before?

Thirlby: I think in the sinkhole, you definitely see that despite herself, all of CJ’s training just takes over. She just goes into a flow state of just clarity and focus. This is her world, this is her wheelhouse. She knows what she’s doing. She knows how to tend to people. She knows how to assess situations. And I don’t think she even thinks twice about it. Her programming just takes over, but in the best possible way.

It’s even the terminology she uses. That’s the thing too. It’s just instinct for her to fall back on that.

Thirlby: Exactly. It’s like her instinct just takes over and she accidentally blows her cover because she operates so instinctively in those situations.

Sergei Bachlakov/CBS

CJ got a good look at how 42 works together, especially Bode and Jake down in that sinkhole. What does she think of them so far as firefighters?

Thirlby: I think there is something about Bode that CJ is incredibly drawn to. There’s something about him that she can’t put her finger on why, but she trusts him almost instantly, automatically. There’s just a connection there and we’ll get to see that play out more during the season.

I was going to say, there’s an easy rapport between the two characters that’s apparent from the start.

Thirlby: Max is such a pleasure to work with. He’s such a brilliant actor. He just brings so much to this character and to this world really, and I’ve loved working with him. I think also the writing has been amazing. The writers on this show have given us so much fun stuff to play with. And the chemistry and the connection, the friendship between CJ and Bode has just been really organic, really fun to play with.

We know that she ends up staying in Edgewater. At this point, is there anything that’s appealing to her about it just yet or is it kind of just the matter of this is where I am at the moment, it is what it is?

Thirlby: I think that from the first episode, you start to see CJ confronting an inner conflict that she’s having. Part of her is trying to run as far as she can from the sense of community and belonging of a fire station, and part of her is deeply drawn into it. I think right from the jump, she starts to realize that there is a vibe that she really resonates with at 42. And I think that it’s really confusing for her because that’s flying in the face of what all of her survival instincts are telling her, which is to get far away.

Bode wants to restart the volunteer department. What is it about that program that he’s latching on to, and how is that going to go? 

Guggenheim: Edgewater and 42 are in trouble and he wants to do something to help. This season will see Bode taking the leadership reins not just at 42 but in Edgewater. Restarting the VFD is part of that journey.

Manny insists his nephew can’t change, but Eve is willing to give him a chance. What does that mean for what we’ll see from Manny and Angel as well as Manny and Eve and Eve and Angel? 

Guggenheim: I love this triangle. It’s deeply emotional, it has great conflict and echoes the Bode-Vince-Manny dynamic of Season 1; only now Manny is sounding like Vince and Eve is sounding like Manny. I also can’t say enough great things about Ethan Jones Romero, who plays Angel. He’s fantastic.

Fire Country, Fridays, 9/8c, CBS