Gabriela has officially moved on from Bode in Season 2 of Fire Country, and the latest cast addition might have sealed the fan-favorite couple’s fate. Paola Núñez is set to join the firefighter drama toward the end of Season 2 as Roberta, Gabriela’s estranged mother. Who is Roberta on Fire Country and could she be coming to town for Gabriela’s upcoming nuptials to newcomer Diego? Keep reading for everything there is to know about the newest Fire Country character and the actress who plays her.
Fire Country is CBS’ drama series centered on firefighters and inmates at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (also known as Cal Fire). It stars Max Thieriot as Bode Donovan, a young convict with a troubled past who joins the inmate firefighter program to redeem himself and shorten his prison sentence. Bode is assigned to his hometown in Northern California, where he must work alongside his former friends and other inmates as they fight wild fires that plague the region. Thieriot co-created the show based off of his own experience of growing up in fire country.
The series first premiered in 2022 and is currently on its second season. Rounding out the original cast is Kevin Alejandro as Manny Perez; Stephanie Arcila as Gabriela Perez; Jordan Calloway as Jake Crawford; Jules Latimer as Eve Edwards; Diane Farr as Sharon Leone and Billy Burke as Vince Leone. Several new cast members have come on board in Season 2, including Diego (Rafael de la Fuenta), a paramedic and Gabriela’s now-fiancé. Another person in Gabriela’s life will soon be introduced as well: her estranged mom Roberta.
Read on to learn more about Roberta, including what her return to Edgewater might mean for Gabriela’s love life.
Who is Roberta on Fire Country?
Who is Roberta on Fire Country? Roberta is Gabriela Perez’s estranged mother and Manny Perez’s ex-wife. She left her husband and daughter years ago, but in Season 2 Episode 2, Manny encourages Gabriela to invite her estranged mom to her upcoming wedding. “Your mom didn’t abandon us,” the fire captain told her. “She left me. Me, not you. You made her out to be the bad guy and I just let you.” He continued: “She gave me chance after chance to show up for her before she filed for divorce … The truth is, I was never there for her and I don’t want you to look back at your wedding and not have your mom there because I let you believe some false narrative.” Manny added: “You should call her, hear her side of the story.”
Gabriela most likely took her dad’s advice because Roberta will be introduced on May 3, just before the shortened Season 2 ends. She is described as dazzling, bright, bold and beautiful. Effusive, persistent, strong-willed and not one to keep quiet – but also with a certain elegant charm – she is eager to reconnect with the daughter she barely knows, per TVLine.
While fans were still holding out hope for Gabriela and Bode to reconcile following their breakup in the Season 1 finale, Roberta returning to Edgewater, most likely for her daughter’s wedding, might be the nail in the coffin on that fan-favorite couple.
Roberta will be played by actress Paola Núñez, who has plenty of credits to her name. Most recently, she starred Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher. She’s also appeared in Resident Evil, Magnum P.I., The Son and the 2020 film Bad Boys for Life.
She celebrated her new Fire Country role on Instagram, sharing a photo of a press release, captioned: “Happy to work with such an amazing group of people.”
Fire Country Season 2 airs on CBS on Fridays at 9 p.m. EST. New episodes are available to stream on Paramount+ the next day.
