The following contains spoilers from the Season 3 finale of CBS‘ Fire Country.
Though the Fire Country Season 3 finale on Friday night left viewers with a number of cliffhangers, the fate of Stephanie Arcila‘s Gabriela did not figure into any of them. The first hour did hint that Gabby had shot almost-beau turned stalker Finn, which at the very least could have raised questions of “self-defense,” but soon enough it was revealed that ex-con Audrey (Leven Rambin) had instead pulled the trigger, to protect her friend.
And yet… and yet, Arcila, an original cast member, was one of two cast exits reported late Friday as the finale came to a close. She will not be back as a series regular for Season 4, which was ordered back in late February — on the same day that Arcila learned of her fate with the CBS drama.
Days after the news broke, TVLine hopped on Zoom with Arcila to ask a few lingering questions…
TVLINE | How are you feeling right now, a few days after the news broke, after surely fielding many well wishes from fans and having had a chance to do a cleansing, retrospective Instagram photo dump?
[Laughs] “A cleansing Instagram photo dump.” I’m trying to get better at being on social media. I have a friend who’s just like, “Steph, you need to boast more, you need to this.” So I haven’t done that yet, but I’m good. I’m happy. I’m grateful for the opportunity I was given, which was the gift of Gabriela. It completely changed my life, in all the ways. I don’t know if a lot of people know, but I was bartending right before Fire Country. I was between jobs and this was the job that that ended that journey for me. It’s opened more doors up for me, and it’s made it easier to be seen and have other jobs. I’m just eternally grateful and honored to be a part of — unfortunately and fortunately, right — the 3% that Latinas represent in Hollywood. We gotta get those numbers up, but I wear it with so much honor to be able to represent.
TVLINE | Your TV dad, Kevin Alejandro, has been around the block in this business. Has he offered any sage advice?
Oh my goodness, what an incredible well of wisdom that man is. You know, as silly as he is and as much of a clown as he is sometimes, he’s got my back, man, and he’s so willing to teach me. When I shadowed [him directing], he asked for my ideas, he allowed me to think on the spot, he would pull me to the side and say, “Hey, this is how this works.” I’ve grown so much professionally and personally through our relationship.
TVLINE | Was there any point during or heading into the two-hour finale that you believed Gabriela had indeed shot Finn in self-defense?
I did, I did. Yes, I completely thought it was going to be her. I’m like, “Oh, here we go. Gabriela’s gonna do this herself,” and no, it wasn’t her. I was in shock, because I definitely thought it was going to be her.
TVLINE | I speculated for a hot second that if it was a bad shooting, she ends up at Three Rock in Season 4. Because you always have to have someone at Three Rock!
I mean, I don’t know if I would have wanted her at Three Rock. At the end of the day it was self-defense, and it was inside of a property, it wasn’t outside… I don’t know if she would have ended up at Three Rock, and I don’t think I would have wanted her to! That would have been devastating and it would have been a cycle of this family going through that.
TVLINE | Have you been given any sense of why Gabriela isn’t around when Season 4 opens? Because now that Audrey has copped to shooting Finn, literally no exit story was set up.
I think that’s a question for [showrunner] Tia [Napolitano] and the executive producers. They’ve said that it’s a creative decision on their end, so I don’t know, but this is the business that we’re in.
TVLINE | Right, but do you think, like, Season 4 will open and someone’s gonna say, “Yeah, I hear Gabriela is doing great at the fire department in Kalamazoo. She just needed some time away.”
[Laughs] Maybe! I’ve said it before, the writers always surprise me, and I’m looking forward to what they’ll write and and how they’ll justify this journey. Every show needs some type of of shocking aspect, and I guess this is it, right
TVLINE | I’m just kicking myself because I’d been been mulling an op-ed about how Gabriela can never catch a break, that even the “nice guy” love interest is revealed to be a stalker. Were you hoping that the Finn thing would at least be a “reset” for her after spiraling so hard earlier this season?
No, no, I think that’s what she did with Diego, when Rafael de la Fuente played her fiancé. She was doing the thing where she was like, “Oh, this seems like a nice guy, so this is what I’m supposed to do.” She does see the good in a lot of people, but I think he was a big wake-up call to that pattern of hers. This broke that pattern and she’s now walking into things differently and and seeing the signs and seeing the red flags and taking her time. Just because someone is a good human doesn’t mean you have to be with them. It doesn’t mean that they’re meant for you. So whoever needs to hear that out there…!
