SPOILER ALERT: The story includes details about the two-part Season 3 finale of CBS‘ Fire Country, “A Change In the Wild” and “I’d Do It Again.”
EXCLUSIVE: CBS’ Fire Country just delivered another suspenseful, emotional finale ending in a major cliffhanger. But its impact will go way beyond any previous season closers as Bode Leone (Max Thieriot) and Station 42 will be left reeling from the departures of two main characters next fall.
According to Deadline sources, Fire Country original cast members Stephanie Arcila, who plays firefighter and EMT Gabriela Perez, and Billy Burke, who plays Cal Fire battalion chief and Bode’s dad Vince Leone, will be leaving after three seasons.
In an interview with Deadline, Fire Country co-creators/executive producers Joan Rater and Tony Phelan and executive producer/showrunner Tia Napolitano spoke about Arcila’s exit as a series regular and shared their hope that she would return as a guest star so “the epic love story of Bode and Gabriela” can continue. But they would not confirm Burke’s departure, opting to keep fans guessing whether it would be Sharon, Vince, Walter or Jake — who had given a two-week notice after accepting a new job — leaving the show.
The trio explained in detail the decision to make the first casting changes on the series after three seasons, the way it was reached and handled and the ramifications for the remaining characters, especially Bode who was held back by his captain and friend Jake (Jordan Calloway) from rushing in to help his parents and grandfather.
They addressed the resolution of Gabriela’s stalker storyline, which may create complications for ex-con-turned-firefighter Audrey (Leven Rambin), who shot Finn before Gabriela’s dad Manny (Kevin Alejandro) swooped in to keep him alive and was ready to cover for his daughter if she had pulled the trigger. Separately, Manny decided to go for the 42 captain position that was being vacated by Jake.
Napolitano and husband-and-wife Phelan and Rater — who all previously worked on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy — also discussed the future of Three Rock, whose crew of incarcerated firefighters, led by captain Eve (Jules Latimer) valiantly but unsuccessfully tried to save the camp from the raging wildfire that also caused the building collapse with the Leones in it.
They trio also spoke about the big cliffhanger, the Leone family legacy and working on the firefighter drama during the L.A. wildfires.
DEADLINE: It’s been pretty bad week or so for California fire chiefs, coming off of what happened on ABC’s 9-1-1. Did you have any idea that they were doing something there too?
PHELAN: No, no, no idea at all.
RATER: But when you’re working on shows that have such danger and high stakes, it’s, I guess, to be expected that sh*t’s gonna happen.
PHELAN: Joan and I, having come from Grey’s Anatomy, we’re used to killing people. You always want to, on these shows, make sure that the threat is real, and also make sure that you are telling stories in an honest way, and that you’re finding the most exciting, creative way to tell the story.
Shaking up the cast: Why? And why now?
DEADLINE: I cannot think of another show in recent memory that has had the same series regular cast in the pilot going to series and through three seasons. Same group, no additions, no departures. Why did you keep the cast intact until now and why did you decide to shake this all up after Season 3?
NAPOLITANO: Especially in the beginning, we felt like we had lightning in a bottle. It just was magic, the chemistry with this cast. Season 2 was obviously very short because of the strike, and at this time, Season 3, leaning into the authenticity of the real-life heroes that our characters are playing, people die, they leave.
That’s a reality, there’s danger in this sort of job, so we wanted to honor that and really up the stakes. Again, coming from a show like Grey’s Anatomy for years and years, that’s how it works with character-driven dramas. You want the opportunity for that door to open, for someone to walk out of it, or for someone to walk into it. We’re really leaning into that aspect of the show as well as honoring the authenticity.
DEADLINE: This time of year, especially, we focus a lot on budget cuts; CBS has done it on multiple shows picked up for next season. Was that a consideration at all for the cast change, keeping Fire Country‘s costs in check to remain financially viable in the long run?
RATER: It really just comes down to what’s the best creatively. There’s a lot of stuff going on that we as producers juggle, but honestly, we are writers first and foremost and storytellers. And we struggle with these stories, we wrestle them to the ground, we consider them from six different angles. We don’t do anything lightly, we talk, we talk, we talk. And then we just have to go with our gut about what makes the most compelling story, and we are really trying to write authentic stories that examine what these heroes deal with and go through. So that’s where we’re coming from at all times.
PHELAN: Also, going into Season 4, you don’t want the audience to ever feel complacent, to feel like they know exactly what they’re gonna get, and it’s gonna be the same thing that they’ve gotten. You want to create lean-In moments where the real stakes of what’s involved with what these heroes do is always there. So the audience never knows what’s coming next.
Arcila’s Departure & Burke’s expected exit
DEADLINE: The decision for Stephanie to leave, was it done earlier in the season? And when did you tell her about it?
NAPOLITANO: It wasn’t decided earlier in the season. It was during discussions about finding the end of the season. We spoke to Stephanie while we were shooting the finale.
PHELAN: It was really a decision that came out of the dynamic between Bode and Gabriela; we felt like those two characters needed a reset. We love Stephanie, and we are committed to saying that the Bode-Gabriela story does not end here, it goes on.
We’re hoping that we can bring that character back, because we think that they have such great chemistry, and the audience is really invested in the two of them. But we felt, with everything that’s happening in the finale and moving on into the next season, that it was time for that character to discover what’s next for her.
DEADLINE: What about Billy? When he, Diane and Jeff were filming the finale and that fire scene, was any of them aware that that at least one of them would not continue? And when did you make a decision that it would be Billy?
NAPOLITANO: We are not going to confirm who we’re losing. There will definitely be a devastating loss for everyone that remains in our family. No, shooting the finale, none of the actors knew.
DEADLINE: A few of the Fire Country series regulars, including, I believe, the two in that fire, had been asked to reduce their episodes for next season in a cost-saving measure. I heard they banded together, and ultimately their episodes were not reduced. Is the cast member departure in any way, shape or form, connected to that?
RATER: No, it’s really coming out of us wanting to be exciting storytellers.
Open-ended finale with no goodbyes
DEADLINE: How did you decide to leave the finale open-ended? I mentioned 9-1-1, their character died onscreen. You went for a big cliffhanger with three people in danger. And as for Gabriela, the last time we saw her, she was looking at the fire in horror and no indication she may be leaving.
RATER: Tia had this beautiful image about how she wanted to end the season. Tia, can you talk about it, the lions roaring at each other?
NAPOLITANO: I wanted this ferocity of Bode, just like a lion, primal, knowing three members of his family are inside that fire, knowing that he’s been resisting going in, and Jake, his captain, has been holding him back.
It wasn’t quite blocked that way, but emotionally Jake, the ferocity of him protecting his friend. They were best friends. They’ve gone through some stuff. They’re brothers, and these two young men rising in the ranks in the fire department in the season of legacy with those three lions inside just felt like, gosh. The ferocity of Bode and Jake at the same time, and just going out on that energy felt very satisfying and very, as Tony was saying, you want to lean in. What happens in there? What’s the fallout for Bode? There’s going to be huge emotional ramifications.
In the finale you see him — which we rarely see this side of Bode — fall to his knees, which just took my breath away when I saw the way that it was directed. So that image has always been a mainstay of what the finale was going to be.
RATER: I wanted to leave it like that without leaving a moment to settle. I remember on Grey’s, we would have these finales that we felt, “Oh my god. How are we going to solve this next season? We have written ourselves into a corner.” But that’s where the best creative ideas come from.
