Eve Edwards deserves a romance in Fire Country season 3
After my interview with Jules Latimer ahead of Fire Country season 2’s premiere, I’d pretty much figured that her character Eve wouldn’t have a romance. She’d shared that they were about halfway through the season and there hadn’t been any discussion of Eve finding love in the back half of the season because her arc is very work focused.
When asked by TVLine if viewers can expect more queer characters this season, showrunner Tia Napolitano answered, “It’s always our plan,” but that didn’t include the introduction of a new romance for Eve, confirming that’s not in the cards for her in season 2. However, it needs to be in season 3. Out of all our main players, Eve is the one whose home life we don’t know much about, and she’s often carrying the weight of the job on her own.
None of Eve’s loved ones, outside of her family at Station 42, are on the show. We hear about her parents in passing but they haven’t made an appearance on-screen. Bode has a season spanning romance with Gabriela (even if season 2 pumped the breaks), she’s also been romantically involved with Jake and Diego, Jake did lose Cara but she’s his second romance on the show, and Manny’s relationship with Faye informed the plot last season.
Fire Country only loosely explored Eve’s connection with Aydan before they dropped that relationship. Then she had that brief dalliance with Mel–the woman who pushed Bode to admit to a crime he didn’t commit–but that messy entanglement didn’t get any further exploration this season. The writers need to do more with her character beyond having her navigate trauma or a rough work environment. One way to do that is to give her a life outside of the goings on at Three Rock and Station 42.
A romance would open the door to needed scenes about, and potentially with, her family, how she sees herself as a partner, and give her emotional and personal development that’s not work-related. We know that Eve wants romantic connection, she isn’t a person who is disinterested in pursuing relationships or abstaining from dating because she’s working on herself. She wants love so, in season 3, we should get to see her navigate her love life.
What is Eve like in a relationship? Is she in a place where she can find solace in the love of a good woman the way her best friends, Bode and Jake have? Would she struggle to feel worthy of love? Would she flourish or confront any personal hang-ups that are keeping her back from fully giving herself over to love? These are all questions that could be explored where we could learn more about Eve as a character and make her more rounded. She has yet to be given the space she deserves to do this on the series and as the sole Black woman and queer character in the main cast that’s a glaring oversight.
