‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Needs To Do Better With Gabriela
It’s not easy being a firefighter, but the way that Fire Country presents these first responders — the hardest part isn’t the work itself. Stephanie Arcila’s Gabriela Perez has been through quite a whirlwind over the past few years. Going from a professional diver who nearly placed in the Olympics to becoming a firefighter and later a paramedic in a sleepy Northern California town, there’s certainly a lot of potential for her future. The problem is that Gabriela continues to get in her own way, and each time she does, it feels as if Fire Country is taking her in a direction we’re not so interested in following. It doesn’t help that the show never gives her enough material to work with, and it needs to do better.
‘Fire Country’ Needs To Give Gabriela Better Material
If this season of Fire Country has proven anything about Gabriela, it’s that the show just doesn’t quite know what to do with her. It seems like every season (sometimes every half a season), the writers push Gabriela to blow up her life only to pursue the next, new thing. First it was becoming a firefighter, then a paramedic. She’s broken plenty of hearts along the way, and even called off her wedding to Diego (Rafael de la Fuente) first after impulsively deciding to marry him. And that’s not to mention all the rules broken to be with Bode (Max Thieriot). In all of these things, Fire Country has shown that Gabriela’s character arc is not much of a priority. Or, at the very least, that the writers aren’t willing to take the time to better flesh her out.
While characters like Bode, Manny (Kevin Alejandro), Vince (Billy Burke), Sharon (Diane Farr), Eve (Jules Latimer), and Jake (Jordan Calloway) have all gotten genuinely interesting arcs throughout the show, Gabriela has always been left behind. The main thing we’ve seen with her is that every big decision, every character motivation, seems to stem from (or be tied to) her relationship with Bode. Now that she and Bode are seemingly done, it feels as if the show would rather hold the potential of a relationship over our head rather than commit to anything interesting between them. But perhaps the biggest problem is that we only ever see any of this from Bode’s point of view, with Fire Country either sidelining or ignoring Gabriela’s perspective. Given that Bode has been granted a detailed redemption arc over the past few years, it’s about time that we see the same with Gabriela — and the latest episode, “Not Without My Birds,” proves just that.
Gabriela Needs a Bode-Style Redemption Arc — Without Bode Involved
As a result of so many of her plotlines directly tying to Bode’s (or the other men in her life, such as her father or Diego), Fire Country has now begun to isolate Gabriela. Though that may not be healthy in some respects (especially if it gets her involved with Jared Padalecki’s wildcard Camden Casey), it might, in other ways, work to the show’s advantage. Now that the series is expanding its focus beyond just Bode’s story, it’s the perfect time for Fire Country to pivot Gabriela to work on bettering herself. With her skills and her know-how, she could be an excellent firefighter or paramedic. Her kindness, determination, and passion for saving lives could easily turn Gabriela Perez into the type of hero she aimed to be back in Season 1. She just needs to work through some stuff to get there.
If Fire Country wants us to get behind Gabriela as a character (and we would certainly like to), then the show ought to throw us, and her, a bone. No longer being shackled to Bode or Manny will certainly help — and throwing her into another situationship with Camden would only make things worse. This will allow the writers some time to work out Gabriela’s character flaws and help us to better understand her apart from those she surrounds herself with. Hopefully, this will push her to rise above her circumstances and reveal her true potential. This is what Bode has been given the chance to do in the past, and now it’s Station 42’s resident paramedic’s turn. As it stands now, Fire Country has made Gabriela the personification of poor choices, but she doesn’t have to be. The CBS drama just needs to figure her story out before it’s too late.
