‘Fire Country’ Premiere Photos: How Will 42 Do on a Call Without Vince After His Death?
Fire Country is about to say goodbye to two of its own, based on exits reported after the Season 3 finale. And the trailer ahead of the October 17 premiere reveals that Billy Burke‘s Vince dies. How Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) will be written out has yet to be seen, but we know she’s in that first episode, and new photos show her alongside Bode (Max Thieriot), Manny (Kevin Alejandro), Jake (Jordan Calloway), and Eve (Jules Latimer) during a rescue. Is this her last call?
In the premiere, titled “Goodbye for Now” — which we assume is related to Gabriela’s storyline — “in the aftermath of the Zabel Ridge fire, Station 42 faces internal turmoil but must rally together for a high-stakes rescue that tests their strength, loyalty and the future of the firehouse.” The episode will be airing at 8/7c, an hour earlier than usual, with the new spinoff Sheriff Country premiering in its usual time slot, 9/8c. The two shows will swap back for the October 24 episodes.
The Season 3 finale ended with Bode (Max Thieriot) only able to watch as the Zabel Ridge fire consumed the care facility where his grandfather, Walter (Jeff Fahey), had been living and where he was still inside, along with Bode’s parents, Vince and Sharon (Diane Farr). The building was collapsing on them when we last saw them.
The trailer has since revealed that Vince does, in fact, die, while Sharon and Walter both survive. TV Insider spoke with executive producers Tony Phelan and Joan Rater about that decision.
“We felt like coming into Season 4, we have a show about wildland firefighters and we have the same cast that we had from the beginning. And to be truthful to the work that these people do, which is always our desire, we felt like it was time for the show and the characters to have a loss,” Phelan explained. “And last season was about legacy. Vince dealing with the legacy of his father and using that as a lens to look at what his relationship with Bode was. And as we were talking about the end of the season, we felt like the thing that was really going to shake up the show and shake up our characters in the best way possible and force them to really reassess where they were and what they were doing was this kind of loss.”
He added, “At the same time, we want to be very respectful of the character of Vince, of how important he is to the show, and how important Billy was as a presence on the show. So, the loss of Vince is going to echo through the entire season, and we are going to see our younger firefighters really have to begin to grapple with growing up and what is the next step for them.”
Rater told us that Vince’s death is revealed in the trailer because “we care about our fans, and to play Vince’s death as a gimmick or a [gasp moment] didn’t feel right. It felt awful actually. So it’s like, prepare the fans and really get into Vince’s dead early on and how is this going to impact us?”
What do you think will happen in the Season 4 premiere, especially after these first details, for the Leones? Scroll down to check out all the photos from the episode, then let us know your predictions in the comments section below.
Fire Country, Season 4 Premiere, Friday, October 17, 8/7c, CBS
Bode (Max Thieriot), before a call without his father
Eve (Jules Latimer)
Eve, Bode, Jake (Jordan Calloway), Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila), and Manny (Kevin Alejandro) assess a scene
Bode gloves up
It’s easy to see what’s going to be challenging the firefighters
It looks like Eve and Bode have run into a problem
Manny looks to Jake for orders
Manny and Bode working side-by-side — they’ve both come so far
Father and daughter working a scene
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G
I sure hope Vince & Gabriella come back at some point. I will miss them if they are gone from the show for good.
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C
I agree maybe put him in. Coma and have him return in end of season to return full time next season. You can’t get rid of him and bring Gabriella back for Bode for next season as well please
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G
Vince must come back at some point this season. He’s number one on the series!
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C
Please let vince come back. Hes the number 1 character of the show. Please let him come back
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G
I can't believe they're not coming back you just mess up everything
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O
I dont see the show being successful without Vince and if jake becomes captain I certainly won't watch the show every again I hate him I was hoping that he was leaving. IF they were smart they would work Manny into that role. I heard Vince leaving was over money the show is hugely popular I do not see how that would be an issue. Now that the networks are getting rid of the late night shows that no one watches that are hemorrhaging money maybe they can put the money into stuff people want to watch. I think it is a huge mistake to get rid of Vince If they had to get rid of a main character I won't miss Gabs much but if the hard choice needed to be made they would be better off getting rid of the mom. A lot of people don't like her anyways. I think if they kill Vince off the show is done if they come up with a reason for him to be gone a season the season will suffer but may come back if they bring him back. We will see.
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R
Hope not he and his family makes that show Gabrielle does also
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O
CBS and the other networks too, dump all this money into “Reality TV” - that, personally, I don’t care to watch !!!
I have enough “reality “ in my life, why the hell would I want to watch this crap on my tv !!!! That’s where all the money is going— to all these exotic places that they’re filming at !!! I was hoping they wouldn’t kill him off like his father, that, I can see but not Vince. His story isn’t finished yet. I was thinking that they would retire him from the dept because of his heart sand then he could run the bar. I didn’t understand why they would have Gabby written out the way they did because anyone that’s being stalked wouldn't leave and go somewhere else where they didn’t have at least their family and friends to protect them. Whoever wrote this one sure didn’t do alot of research about stalking and definitely didn’t pay attention to the ratings !!!!!
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C
Lazy writing.
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P
I have lost interest in the show without Bodiela.
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O
Billy Burke (Vince) wanted to leave the show for other adventures. He was done with it. That's why he was written out.
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C
Bring back Gabriela!!’ I won’t watch beyond episode 1 until she returns
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