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‘Fire Country’s Max Thieriot Breaks Down the Season 2 Finale and Season 3

May 18, 2024

The Big Picture

The Season 2 finale of the CBS series ‘Fire Country’ saw Bode trying to figure out his future as a free man and aspiring firefighter while also grappling with his feelings for Gabriela.
Season 3 will focus on Bode, played by co-creator Max Thieriot, developing relationships, proving himself as a firefighter, and finding his place in the community.
Bode’s inner struggles are highlighted as he wrestles with his worthiness and finding himself after prison.

[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Episode 210, “I Do,” the Season 2 finale of Fire Country.]In the Season 2 finale of the CBS series Fire Country, Bode (Max Thieriot) was faced with the decision of either telling Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) how he really feels about her or watching her marry another man. At the same time, he’s coming to terms with the reality that being a free man means that he’ll no longer be going out to fight fires with the inmate fire camp. All of that means that Season 3 will be about Bode figuring out what’s next, how he can be a firefighter for real and claim his legacy as a Leone, and whether he’ll ever believe that he’s worthy of someone else’s love. Bode has come a long way since Season 1, but the good news for this TV series is that he still has a long journey to go.

During this one-on-one interview with Collider, show star Thieriot, who is also a co-creator, executive producer and director of Fire Country, talked about the ongoing conversations they’ve had about when Bode would get out of prison, the desire to really get to explore the relationships in Bode’s life outside of fire camp, how Freddy (W. Tré Davis) and Cole (Tye White) both impacted him, figuring out how he can become a firefighter for real, that Bode needs to do more work on himself even though his heart is with Gabriela, what he’s most looking forward to with Season 3, wanting to see more people from Bode’s past, and the possibility of crossovers with the Sheriff Country spinoff that’s been picked up with Morena Baccarin in the lead role.

Fire Country 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 Creator Tony Phelan, Joan Rater, Max Thieriot Main Genre Drama Seasons 2

Why Was Now the Right Time for Bode To Get Out of Prison in ‘Fire Country’?
Image via CBS

Collider: A lot happened in this finale. A lot has happened in every episode this season. Was it always the plan to have Bode out of prison by the end of this season? When did that conversation start to happen?

MAX THIERIOT: The conversation has been ongoing since the beginning. When does this take place and what does that look like? Given the stuff that we’ve shown thus far and the stories we’ve told of him being in and being at fire camp, I think everybody felt like we had told a lot of the story of what that looks like. It also presents its own set of challenges to include more and more scenes of him interacting with his family and Gabriela and all these people. So, a big part of it was the realization, on everybody’s part, that for us to be able to really fully explore the relationships between Bode and all these people that we want to see him interact with, you have to get him out eventually to be able to really do that. The inmate fire camp is a huge piece of the show and something that we won’t just walk away from telling. It obviously makes a big difference and is something that really makes it feel like its own unique story, so that story of redemption will always be ongoing. But now, it’s just about different ways to creatively tell those stories without Bode being in fire camp. I think it’ll be fun because we’ll be able to tell those stories in ways that the audience doesn’t expect.

Related ‘Fire Country’ Is Burning Up With Season 3 Renewal at CBS Season 2 of the hit series is currently airing.

Freddy and Cole have both been really important in helping Bode get through his time. Was it important to have that moment of Cole cheering him on when he goes, but also having Freddy there to greet him? What was it like to have Freddy and his smiling face back for the finale?

THIERIOT: It was amazing. It was huge. It was big for the show, and it was big for Bode. It was big to see him surrounded by the people who helped him get to where he is and who really helped him overcome so many massive obstacles in his life and his time from prison to fire camp. It was also another way for us to get to see the different phases and the progression of all of these men, as they’re trying to turn their lives around and all their stories of redemption. In that scene, you get to see three guys who are at three different places in their lives. We get to see Freddy whose dreams have come true. He’s opened his food truck, he’s out, he really is making the best of his life, and he’s living, And then, Cole gets to see his friend get out, which gives him a lot of hope. The big thing about Cole and Bode is that both of them had an impact on each other in different ways that they maybe didn’t even realize they were going to. Bode thought that maybe it was just Cole helping him, but Bode helped Cole a lot, as well. It’s cool. It’s fun being able to see the different sides and different stages of what that evolution looks like.

‘Fire Country’s Bode Wants To Get Back To Being a Firefighter as Quickly as Possible

How hard is it going to be for Bode to figure out what his future will be now? Finishing his time and being a free man is obviously better than being in prison, but he now doesn’t really have anything that defines him.

THIERIOT: Yeah, that’s the biggest thing. That’s why, at the end, we see him go to his uncle and say, “I need to fight fire. This is what I need to do.” He’s been told what to do for a long time and his purpose has been driven by somebody else who’s calling the shots, and now that he has to make these decisions for himself and he is free, he’s changed. He’s had a lot of growth over the seasons, as a character, with the decisions that he makes, how he looks at himself now, and at his own life. A big thing for him is that he knows he can’t just sit around and wait for something because sitting in silence with his own thoughts is the scariest place for him. He has to be proactive about staying active and finding something to do, and he’s realized that he can put that into firefighting. That gives him a purpose. I think the adrenaline is something, too. That’s the addiction for him. It becomes your identity. It’s such a high adrenaline job that requires so much out of you that it’s an empty feeling to not have that at all. It’s something that’s really difficult for people to walk away from. What do you replace that with? What fills that hole?

First of all, it’s nice to know that Gabriela is thinking about Bode enough to send him a donut, but it’s really not cool that she doesn’t deliver it to him herself. Is it harder for him to deal with not being able to fight fires, or is it harder for him to see her marrying somebody else?

THIERIOT: Oh, it’s definitely harder for him to see her marrying somebody else. That’s why he knows he needs a distraction. He knows he needs that thing that will keep him busy and keep him preoccupied, so he can tunnel vision in on that and shut out the rest of the world. That’s really a big drive for him. That’s why he needs it. He’s like, “I can’t sit here and do this. I can’t sit here and watch what’s happening around me. I need to be busy. I need to be focused on this job that gives me purpose and fulfills my addiction.”

Why Did Bode Choose Not To Stop Gabriela’s ‘Fire Country’ Wedding?
Image via CBS

From the moment he gets to this wedding, he’s had Freddy encouraging him to tell Gabriela how he really feels, but he’s got his father and her father saying things to keep him from doing that. Instead, he makes the decision to get up and leave instead of really doing any of those things. Was there a lot of discussion about how to handle that whole wedding? We don’t really even know if Gabriela and Diego finished their vows.

THIERIOT: That was (writer) Tia [Napolitano]’s vision and she had put a lot of time and thought into how she wanted to tell the story. Honestly, it’s a tricky scene and a tricky finish, but I was really excited and happy with how she decided to go about it. Him saying, “I object,” and running up there would have been the thing that we’ve seen a million times. I’m sure, in part, the audience is dying for that to happen. But I think at the same time, it shows that Bode has had a lot of growth as a character, and when he hears Manny say, “She’s really happy,” you see him actually hear that. Even though he’s dying inside, the one thing that he has said over and over again that he wants is her happiness.

Have you had those conversations about what comes next, from that moment? Have you had conversations about Season 3? Do you know where things go from there?

THIERIOT: I’m gonna find out tomorrow (this interview took play on May 16, 2024).

It feels like something that has to be addressed fairly soon in Season 3.

THIERIOT: Yeah, I’d assume so. I don’t imagine it will be another six-month leap forward. But we’ll see. I’m anxiously awaiting.

Related Bode’s Freedom in ‘Fire Country’ Doesn’t End His Problems Season 2’s finale airs tonight.

Do you feel like it’s a situation where he also needs to feel worthy of her before he were to do something like that, and he’s just not at that point yet?

THIERIOT: For sure, yeah. His heart is there, but he knows he has a lot of work to do on himself. He’s only just gotten out. This whole Genevieve thing is still very much a big question. He knows even though his heart is there, he can’t look at her and Diego and say, “He’s not a good fit for you. I’m a better fit.” He knows he’d be lying. He knows that he loves her, but the reality is that he’s not in a better place than [Diego]. He believes that Diego is a great partner. I think that you’re totally right, that’s what he wants, but he knows that’s maybe not the best thing.

How dare that other guy be such a good guy?

THIERIOT: I know. If only he were Bradley Cooper in Wedding Crashers. It’d be a lot easier.

‘Fire Country’s Max Thieriot is Looking Forward To Seeing Bode Earn Respect in Season 3
Image via CBS

What are you most looking forward to with Season 3? Now that Bode is in this position where he’s a free man, what are you most interested in seeing or exploring with him that you couldn’t have done before now?

THIERIOT: Just the scenes and relationships with a lot of these characters that we were only able to get little glimpses of. I’m looking forward to having real moments with a lot of these other actors that I love and have been around for a couple of years. And then, also just the challenges of him trying to become a firefighter and what that looks like, and how he’s looked at by other firefighters who haven’t been to prison. He has to earn the respect of the community and the people who do this job and prove himself in legitimate ways. I’m also just looking forward to seeing his readjustment into society and into the community. There’s a lot of fun stuff to play.

Now that the Sheriff Country spinoff has been greenlit, do you hope to at least make an appearance on that show? Would the ideal be to have characters, including Bode, pop up there on occasion, and to have them pop up in Fire Country?

THIERIOT: I think so. That’s definitely the hope. Given that Edgewater is a small town and small community, and everybody knows everybody, the hope is to continue to tell those stories with this sense of community and have people popping in and out of people’s lives. Whether it’s incident or just purely character-driven, you want to bury it in the idea of this community and this town and these people. I think it’s important to continue to make it feel like a small town.

Related ‘Fire Country’ Reveals Morena Baccarin’s Connection to the Leones Meet Mickey Fox in Friday’s all-new episode.

The introduction of that world and of Morena Baccarin’s character felt so seamlessly blended into this world, this season.

THIERIOT: Yeah, I was really happy with the outcome. My hat’s off to Morena. She took that character and really made it feel lived in and made her feel natural and really a part of this world and a part of this community. You’re right, that’s exactly the hope. The goal is to have the sheriff’s office feel like they are the law enforcement in this community, and they’ve always been there. It’s just that the day-to-day job of what they do looks different and who they interact with is a little different. We’re still seeing this town, we’re just getting to see some different parts of it that we normally get to explore as firefighters.

In the finale, Bode gets into a bit of a situation on a construction job where a fire breaks out and he jumps in. Did it feel different to do a scene like that, where you didn’t have all the gear and all the other actors there, and he’s on his own in that moment?

THIERIOT: It definitely felt different. It was fun because it felt like a guy who was trying to handle this a little differently than he would have before, but also knowing the urgency of the situation and the reality that while help was on its way, he needed to step up because he is a trained firefighter and does have that experience. It wouldn’t be Bode if he just sat there on his hands. He needed to do something.

Related I Take It Back; Jake Might Actually Be the Better Dad on ‘Fire Country’ This firefighter is straight-up dad material.

It definitely feels a little bit reckless, but at the same time, it’s understandable for someone who embedded as a firefighter.

THIERIOT: Totally. If you’re on an airplane and somebody has a heart attack or a medical condition and there’s not a doctor, a firefighter is trained as a first responder and will get up and help in that situation, even though they’re not wearing turnouts. If you’re driving on the freeway and there’s a car accident, and you’re a firefighter and you watched this accident happen, somebody is calling 911, somebody’s calling the fire department, so that there’s all the proper gear and everything, but those guys still get out of their car and run over there to make sure that everybody’s okay. They’re always doing the job. It doesn’t matter if they’re wearing turnouts or not, they’re just always prepared to do this job. That just shows that.

Are you hoping to bring in more people from Bode’s past? We see Rick back in town in the finale, and after the bomb he drops, will we see more of that storyline?

THIERIOT: Certainly. My hope is to include more people from his past. The reality is that Bode left, and he got arrested and thrown in jail when he was down in Los Angeles. Most of the people that he was involved with on the criminal side are not in his community. We’ve shown that a little bit, but the reality is that they’re 400 miles away. So, I think it will be fun to show some of the other people who were a part of Bode’s life, whether it’s teachers and coaches or just other kids that he grew up with, to have more of a sense of that community and that town and the people he was surrounded by.

Fire Country is available to stream on Paramount+. Check out the promo for the Season 2 finale:

Watch on Paramount+

Disclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by filmibee.
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