Gabriela is in great danger in ‘Fire Country’ Season 3. Is this a way to remove Gabriela from the plot?
It’s almost impossible to say who’s in the most danger at the end of the Fire Country midseason finale. Well, maybe not. After all, one person has no gear and is surrounded by fire!
Station 42 and Three Rock work together to try to prevent a massive fire from spreading. To do so means appealing to Eve’s (Jules Latimer) father, Elroy (Phil Morris), a backburn on the land of his ranch is the way to go. That’s easier said than done, and even once they’re left with no choice, that takes a turn, leading to another blaze starting at the barn. Also in danger due to the fire? Bode (Max Thieriot) and Audrey (Leven Rambin), on their first day, trying to protect themselves by staying underwater in a pool, and Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila), having walked off without her gear after arguing with Jake (Jordan Calloway) and now surrounded. Her father, Manny (Kevin Alejandro), is on his way to her.
Below, showrunner Tia Napolitano breaks down the midseason finale and teases what’s ahead.
You’re crafting this cliffhanger, you’re putting Bode and Audrey, then Gabriela right in the middle of the danger, then you’re throwing Manny into the mix, going to look for his daughter. When did you know you wanted to end the first part of the season with all of that?
Tia Napolitano: Early when we were breaking the season, I wanted to put two people in a pool for sure. And I didn’t know who, probably Bode and somebody, but at one point it was like a bunch of people, and we knew we wanted to put a lot of people in danger early. That’s always the goal. It’s like what’s the danger going to look like? And then Gabriela’s story led us to a place where we felt like she could walk off the job. And then of course, what does that mean for Manny kind of story organically led to how and where we put people in peril.
Eric Milner / CBS
What can you preview about what’s coming next for those characters?
Oh, I’m so excited. I’m really excited about the premiere. It’s a shame everyone has to wait all winter break for it. It’s mostly a direct pickup. I mean, it isn’t an episode where you can really skip time. You want to be in that pool, you want to be in that fire, you want to be with Manny. We have a lot of questions of how we will ever pull everyone out of this situation. And it’s a freight train, man. The premiere is just a freight train.
Is there any time jump at all in that episode or in the one after it or is it just directly picking up and going from there?
No, it’s pretty straightforward.
Who would you say is in the most danger? Because I feel like it has to be Gabriela—she has no equipment with her whatsoever.
Yeah. She’s just out there where people should not be and she has no equipment and they have no eyes on her and she’s alone. If there’s two people together, they can work together. And I think she’s not sure if anyone even realizes the dangers she’s in. So she’s in a really scary situation.
But then there’s the fire starting at the barn. And even before then it was hard to see how Eve and her father would ever see eye to eye. What did you want to show with that relationship leading up to that cliffhanger? Because they’re that really lovely moment with the horse.
I know, and I think that lovely moment with the horse is kind of undeniable. I think even if this barn fire makes it worse for them, this is a conversation they needed to have regardless of how it ended. They’ve just been apart for so long. Feelings have been festering and now they’re literally exploding, and even as pissed as her dad and hurt as he looks towards the end of the episode, you can only hurt someone like that if they really love you. He must really love her, he’s really deeply hurt in a way that gives me hope. If you’re that upset at someone, there’s potential for a future if it’s a father-daughter relationship.
