Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for the Fire Country Season 3 premiere.The idea that Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) and Diego (Raphael de la Fuente) would get married on Fire Country without a disaster occurring was a pipe dream. There were so many things that could go wrong, like Manny (Kevin Alejandro) getting arrested or Bode (Max Thieriot) breathing too closely while they said their vows. In the end, it was a crashing helicopter ripping through the church that interrupted the party, and in hindsight, we shouldn’t have expected anything less. This is a Jerry Bruckheimer production, after all.

Let’s be clear, though. It was obvious that Gabi wasn’t going to say “I do,” even before the helicopter parts started hitting the guests. The imminent disaster just gave her an excuse to pull the Runaway Bride routine she was already considering, but it wasn’t long before Gabi had to come clean with both Diego and Bode. And that was just the beginning of the mess that unfurled in the first half of this action-packed premiere.

‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Kicks Off With a Disaster Scene Confession
Image via CBS

Gabi leaves Diego to attend to injured guests while she rushes to the actual scene of the helicopter crash – Smokey’s parking lot. There, she finds Bode putting out spotfires and grabs a shovel so that she can help. She has some questions for her ex, like why he walked out at her wedding. It seems that Gabi needed Bode to spell out that he is still in love with her, but to our boy’s credit, he tried to push her towards a safe and stable life with Diego she spent the majority of Season 2 swearing that she wanted. That’s what we call growth, fam!

The temptation gods are not on Bode’s side, though, because the pair is soon tasked with trying to extricate the helicopter pilot from the fallen vehicle. In his delirium, the pilot assumes that Gabi and Bode are the happy couple and profusely apologizes for ruining their big day. They decide to play along to keep the guy calm and start spinning yarns about their upcoming honeymoon while they work on cutting him loose from his chair. They’re talking about some really exciting fake plans in Hawaii when Diego arrives to help (because, you know, he’s the paramedic, not Bode), and things immediately get awkward.

They are able to help the pilot, but not before Gabi tells Bode that she feels alive for the first time in a year when they kissed at the campaign fire a week prior. Luckily, Diego doesn’t hear that part, but he does show up in time to confront Gabi about ditching their wedding, pretending to be married to Bode, and just not seeming super into spending the rest of her life with him in general. (He also noticed that she was hesitating long before the helicopter came through the church roof.) He’s tried to be so patient and understanding about her past with Bode, but what the hell? So, Gabi finally comes clean and admits that she kissed Bode at the campaign fire, and the looks on both of their faces confirm Diego’s worst fears.

If you think that any of these people are going to go see the therapist required to untangle a complicated, emotional mess, you are mistaken. Right after this big emotional explosion, the helicopter remains literally explode, setting the woods immediately around the scene on fire. Did I mention this is a Jerry Bruckheimer show? The fallout from the explosion will have to wait for Episode 2, which is the second half of the premiere airing next week. We have other mess to address in the episode.

Related Is ‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Streaming? Where To Watch the Return of One of TV’s Hottest Shows Sparks fly in ‘Fire Country’s third outing.

Two Dads Could Be Kind of Fun on ‘Fire Country’ Season 3
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Jake (Jordan Calloway) has been trying to catch a break ever since his former best friend Bode came back into town in the Fire Country pilot and rocked his world. Since then, he’s been dumped, accused of arson, found a new love, and then had to listen to that love die over the radio as Bode and Diego failed to save her after an ambulance crash. Now, Jake is the primary custodian of that love’s 12-year-old daughter, Gen (Alix West Lefler), and he just wanted to share a milkshake with his adopted kid when an errant helicopter collapsed the roof of the restaurant and trapped her by the jukebox!

To make matters worse (why would we want to make things worse for this man?!), Gen is trapped with Jake’s high school nemesis Rick (Adam Aalderks), who he discovered moments prior to the crash is probably Gen’s biological dad. The world is really small in this northern California town. Luckily, Jake has his priorities straight. The first task is to get Gen (and Rick) out safely before any more damage is done to the building. He is able to create a space for them to crawl through thanks to Eve (Jules Latimer) and everyone lives to see another day.

Jake may have regretted that everyone made it out because, as soon as he is in the ambulance with Rick, Gen’s bio dad reveals that he’s pieced together exactly who Gen is while they were waiting to be rescued. He doesn’t want to screw up what Jake and Gen have, but he’s also not going to walk away from his daughter either. It turns out that Rick has grown a lot since high school, and he reckons that he is a pretty good dad. Why shouldn’t he be a good dad to Gen as well? So, everyone should prepare for a messy custody battle. Let’s grab hands and do a prayer circle that no more trauma befalls this pre-teen who discovered her alleged older sister was actually her mom and then had that mom die tragically and suddenly months after. This kid needs good things and good things only.

There’s No Sentence Reduction for Good Behavior in the ‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Premiere
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Do you know who else isn’t doing too well in this episode? Manny. Last season, he accepted the consequences of punching Luke (Michael Trucco) at the firefighter banquet and turned himself over to the police after walking Gabi down the aisle. He’s en route to being processed when the helicopter comes down, causing the squad car he was being escorted in to also crash. The two officers at the front of the car are unconscious and Manny convinces Sharon (Diane Farr) to let him out of his cuffs so that he can help control the fire while she and Vince (Billy Burke) work on the officers. Sharon complies, and Manny keeps his word to stay close. However, when new cops arrive on the scene, they’re not pleased to find two of their own needing medical attention, and Manny is out free. Sharon convinces them to let him help with the fire, but you can tell that the cops are not stoked about the situation. Manny is going to get the book thrown at him when he’s eventually processed, but there’s still some unfinished business before he goes.

Before Manny is taken away again, he sees Gabi and Bode fighting in the woods and begs Sharon and Vince to keep them away from each other. He says he has nothing against Bode, but he can see that the relationship isn’t good for Gabi or Bode. They have a habit of hurting each other and causing so much destruction, and honestly, I can’t disagree with him! At least for now, it probably is better for everyone if Gabi and Bode really focus on themselves and the next phase of their career. All of that logic will have to wait, though! There’s still a big fire to put out, and we’ll see how the team works together amidst all this emotional chaos in the next episode.

Fire Country continues Fridays at 9 PM ET on CBS. Episodes are available the next day on Paramount+.

The emotional disasters were even messier than the actual incident in the Fire Country Season 3 premiere.The emotional disasters were even messier than the actual incident in the Season 3 premiere.ProsGabi finally comes clean with Diego.Diego doesn’t play dumb when it comes to the Gabi and Bode tension.Jake is father of the year. ConsGabi and Bode should learn how to separate feelings and work.Where were the Three Rock guys?

A young convict joins a firefighting program looking for redemption and a shortened prison sentence. He and other inmates work alongside elite firefighters to extinguish massive blazes across the region.Release Date October 7, 2022 Seasons 3 Network CBS Streaming Service(s) Paramount+ Expand

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