Fire Country Season 3: What We Know About Max Thieriot’s CBS Drama
We’re heading back to Edgewater!
When we return to Edgewater this year for Fire Country Season 3, things are going to be very different, because Bode is finally out of prison. This sets up a completely new storyline for the show, as Max Thieriot’s character transitions into real life and adjusts to his new normal. So, with all this exciting change coming down the line, let’s chat about what we know about the new season of the CBS fire drama.
What Is The Fire Country Season 3 Premiere Date?
Season 3 of Fire Country will premiere on the 2024 TV schedule on Friday, October 18, sandwiched between its longtime Friday companions, S.W.A.T. and Blue Bloods.
Season 2 met delays due to the writers and actors strike, however after those ended, Fire Country was able to premiere in February 2024. Meanwhile, Season 1 of the procedural premiered in October of 2022.
As expected, this year, fall TV will follow its normal premiere schedule, and Fire Country will be back in mid-October.
The Main Cast Is Returning For Season 3 With Some Special Guests
Fire Country’s cast of regulars has been the same for its first two seasons, and it will stay that way for Season 3. Max Thieriot will be back as the lead, Bode Donovan, and he also still serves as a co-creator, executive producer and occasional director. Along with him, Kevin Alejandro’s firefighter Manny, his on-screen daughter and Bode’s on-again-off-again love interest Gabriela (played by Stephanie Arcila), plus Three Rock’s captain, Jules Latimer’s Eve, and Station 42’s captain, Jordan Calloway’s Jake, will all be back.
Obviously, Bode’s parents Vince and Sharon Leone, played by Billy Burke and Diane Farr, respectively, will also be reprising their roles.
Other returning characters will include Gabriela’s fiancé Diego, played by Rafael de la Fuente and Vince’s brother Luke, who Michael Trucco portrays. Also, while she’s expected to get her own spinoff (more on that later), Morena Baccarin’s Sheriff Mickey could also pop into Season 3.
Newer familiar faces in Edgewater, like Cara’s daughter Genevive, who Alix West Lefler portrays, and Tye White’s Cole, Bode’s friend from Three Rock, could also return.
On top of all that, we have some exciting new additions too. Supernatural star Jared Padalecki is joining Fire Country in a guest-starring role that has the potential to expand (more on that later too). He’ll be playing Camden, a firefighter from Southern California who sees potential in Bode. Along with him, Leven Rambin is also joining the crew as a recurring guest star named Audrey, who, like Bode, was an inmate in a fire camp for a while.
Overall, Fire Country’s cast is staying the same for Season 3 while also adding some very exciting guests.
Where Fire Country’s Season 3 Story Might Be Going
In the final episodes of Fire Country’s second season, Bode finally got his freedom and was able to leave Three Rock. Then, the finale saw his first few days as a free man, and he really went through the ups and downs that came with it as he tried to find a job and dealt with the fact that Gabriela was about to get married.
Going into Season 3, we’ll likely be dealing with the big decisions Bode made in the finale. This includes his choice not to break up Gabriela’s wedding and the request he had for his Uncle Luke.
For context, the final words of Season 2 were:
I do need your help, but it’s not ruining Gabriela’s wedding. I need to fight fire, fast out here as a free man…Pull some strings, pull a rope, I don’t care, man. Firefighting is my first healthy addiction I’ve had in my life. I’m ready to claim my legacy as a Leone, as a firefighter.
Fire Country’s showrunner, Tia Napolitano, told CinemaBlend that Bode’s final words in the episode will deeply impact Season 3 as he works to become a legacy firefighter. She explained that next season they’ll really “dig into what” being a Leone means, and we’ll see how the family dynamic between Bode, Vince, Sharon and Luke changes now that Max Thieriot’s character is free.
The showrunner also revealed that Bode and Gabriela will have “a new level of attraction and complication” this season as it picks up right where it left off at Gabriela and Diego’s wedding.
When it comes to the show’s signature settings, Edgewater and Three Rock, we know the camp will still play a big role in Fire Country. Napolitano told CinemaBlend:
Yeah, it’s still gonna always be part of the DNA of the show. We will see inmates on fires. Eve is still a captain there. Cole is still there. We’ll still get to know the inmates. You know Bode might have a little bout of homesickness or investment. You know, ‘How’s it going over there?’ So we will still for sure [see] Three Rock and get to know inmates. We’re not saying goodbye.
Overall, Season 3 of Fire Country is being set up to focus on Bode’s life outside of the Three Rock and the impact he and his friends and family have on Edgewater.
How To Watch Fire Country
Fire Country will be keeping its place in the CBS Friday night lineup, meaning it will drop new episodes on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.
Along with the network confirming this news in a TikTok, the press release announcing Season 3 noted that “the series is a time period winner and a key part of CBS’ dominant Friday night lineup.” Fire Country has been in the same time slot since Season 1 premiered, and we don’t expect that to change anytime soon.
Along with being able to watch the show live on CBS, you will also be able to stream new episodes the day after they air with a Paramount+ subscription. Plus, if you need to get caught up, every episode of the Max Thieriot-led drama is available on that streamer.
Fire Country Could Have Multiple Spinoffs
Like many procedurals that came before it – I’m looking at you Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS and One Chicago – Fire Country is turning into a franchise. After months and months of chatter, it has been confirmed that Morena Baccarin’s Sheriff Mickey will lead a spinoff within the world of Three Rock and Edgewater called Sheriff Country, and now there are whispers that Jared Padalecki could lead a spinoff too
Back in June of 2023, CBS Chief George Cheeks told Deadline that the network is “focused on mass-appeal franchises.” He then went on to say that Fire Country “completely lends itself to building out a whole new universe.”
Sheriff Country is scheduled to premiere on the 2025-2026 TV schedule. And while we wait for it, showrunner Tia Napolitano told CinemaBlend that we can expect to see Mikey in Fire Country’s third season.
Now, when it comes to seeing Padalecki’s Camden leading his own show, that’s still up in the air. It will all depend on how his arc during Season 3 goes. However, considering Fire Country’s track record of success and the Supernatural actor’s star power, it seems highly likely that this spinoff will happen.
Is Fire Country Renewed For Season 4?
The short answer to this is no, not yet. However, based on how quickly Fire Country was renewed for Seasons 2 and 3, we expect a fourth installment to happen.
If we flashback to the start of 2023, Fire Country was picked up for Season 2 right at the halfway point of Season 1. Then Season 3 got picked up even faster. While the second season is shorter due to the strikes, CBS didn’t waste any time picking the drama up for a junior installment, because the news dropped after only three episodes had aired.
According to CBS, Fire Country averages 9.21 million viewers in seven-day multi-platform viewing. That’s 7% higher than last year. Plus, with the knowledge that spinoffs are very possible, it seems highly likely that Season 4 will happen.
As we learn more about Fire Country’s third season, we’ll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, you can stream Seasons 1 and 2 on Paramount+ and catch new episodes of the sophomore season on CBS every Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
