Fire Country Made A Huge Mistake With Gabriela's Season 3 Story - And Stephanie Arcila Has Something To Say About It

Gabriela’s story in Fire Country season 3 was characterized by major upheavals, and Stephanie Arcila’s exit in Fire Country season 4 highlights even more how much her season 3 story betrayed Gabriela. Facing off with Finn in Fire Country season 3’s finale put Gabriela in a very difficult situation, but even that hurdle didn’t clarify what would prompt Gabriela’s departure.

The announcement that Stephanie Arcila wouldn’t be returning as Gabriela in Fire Country season 4 coming from Fire Country’s showrunner Tia Napolitano in an interview ensured that Gabriela’s exit had yet to be explained narratively. However, Gabriela’s departure from Edgewater after her storyline in season 3 makes one huge mistake with how Fire Country season 3 treated Gabriela more evident.

Gabriela's Fire Country Season 3 Story Leaves Her At Her Lowest Point

Gabriela Got Only Marginally Better After Reaching Rock Bottom In Fire Country Season 3

If previous Fire Country seasons saw Gabriela face challenges and overcome them, Fire Country season 3 was the first to show Gabriela definitely struggling. Choosing to leave Diego in Fire Country season 3’s premiere at the wedding materially impacted Gabriela, as it left her with debts to pay, and the associated stress also affected Gabriela’s mental health negatively.

Manny risking time in prison and eventually getting a better deal by being sentenced to one year at Three Rock weighed heavily on Gabriela, pushing her to isolate herself from her father too, after the wedding fiasco had already stopped her from wanting to spend time with her friends. Not connecting with her loved ones left Gabriela feeling completely alone.

Using alcohol to numb her feelings and risky dives to feel something influenced Gabriela’s decision to punish an irresponsible citizen by siphoning their gas to gift it to an unhoused family so that they could evacuate in Fire Country season 3, episode 8. Jake’s subsequent reprimand led Gabriela to reach a breaking point, culminating in her escape from the scene.

Hitting rock bottom placed Gabriela in danger, but the calamity at least forced Manny and Gabriela to finally speak again in Fire Country season 3’s winter premiere. Gabriela got better by reuniting with her father and following Manny’s lead, but the ordeal highlighted how Gabriela didn’t save herself; instead, Manny got her out of the hole she had dug herself.

This theme presented itself again with Finn, where not only those in Station 42 protected Gabriela after he was revealed to be her stalker, but it was also Audrey who neutralized Finn’s threats by shooting at him. Fire Country season 3 depicted Gabriela’s worst period, and yet it didn’t let her save herself, as others in the end protected Gabriela.

This peculiarity was also noticed by Gabriela’s Stephanie Arcila (via Deadline), who explained in an interview how her hope for Gabriela’s future was that she would “rise up as the incredibly resilient, smart woman that she is and save herself." Gabriela never saved herself in Fire Country, but in season 3 in particular, multiple characters had to save her.

With Arcila exiting in Fire Country season 4, season 3 ending with Gabriela at her lowest point after multiple problems from which she couldn’t pull herself out without others saving her forces her story not to end well on Fire Country. This is made even worse by Fire Country not being able to show Gabriela getting better before leaving.

Fixing Gabriela's Story Would Need Her To Have A Bigger Role (But That's Unlikely)

Arcila's Exit In Fire Country Season 4 Means Gabriela Can't Have A Bigger Role

Given the downward spiral that Gabriela went through in Fire Country season 3, a proper send-off for her character would have to explain how the ordeal with Finn left Gabriela, instead of having what drew her to leave remain unexplained. Even if Manny were to tell others why Gabriela left in Fire Country season 4, her perspective couldn’t be shown.

The absence of Gabriela’s perspective regarding her departure is particularly important because even during her problems, Fire Country season 3 showed her acting unlike herself, but it never went deep enough to investigate why or what feelings were driving Gabriela.

Were Gabriela to wrap up her storyline by reappearing for a short arc in Fire Country season 4, it wouldn’t be enough to truly show how everything that had happened left her. In addition to her always being saved by others, the absence of her perspective thus risks removing Gabriela’s agency entirely from the conversation.

Gabriela returning in season 4 also looks unlikely based on the words of Fire Country’s EPs during an interview with Deadline. There, they admitted their wish to bring Gabriela back to continue telling Bode and Gabriela’s story, but they also underlined how the two need a reset, hinting at time needing to pass before Gabriela can reappear on Fire Country.

Gabriela's Exit Proves Fire Country Never Saw Her As More Than Bode's Love Interest

The Reasoning For Her Exit Shows Gabriela Isn't Seen As A Character In Her Own Right

Such an approach highlights how little interest there is in exploring what drives Gabriela, instead being only interested in what she brings to her relationship with Bode. This was already noticeable in how the deep dives into Gabriela’s past served to justify her actions, like her hesitancy to move in with Jake due to homelessness in her and Manny’s past.

Even Gabriela’s mother’s return in Fire Country season 2 served the purpose of propping up Bode and Gabriela’s relationship, just like Gabriela’s side when Bode shut her out in Fire Country season 1’s ending was never shown, except for Gabriela giving Bode the cold shoulder after he returned in season 2’s beginning.

Although the comments of Fire Country’s producers mentioned Gabriela needing to “discover what’s next for her,” the reason they expressed when wishing for her return was to continue telling her and Bode’s story. This makes Gabriela being the story’s focus in her own right unlikely, as she had that chance in Fire Country season 3 and it wasn’t taken.

Can Fire Country Still Make Amends For The Way It Treated Gabriela?

Gabriela's Story If She Returns To Fire Country Would Have To Focus On Her Agency

While the chance to do right by Gabriela with her crisis in Fire Country season 3 has passed, her return in Fire Country’s future could help make amends. Indeed, were Fire Country to put Gabriela’s agency at her story’s center during a potential return, it would at least prove that Fire Country can give Gabriela the right kind of attention.

Another way to make up for the lack of a spotlight on Gabriela and her perspective would be to have Gabriela join Jared Padalecki’s Fire Country spinoff whenever that happens. Its link to Fire Country would be strong enough to avenge how Gabriela’s story was told, and it could help Fire Country: Surfside via Gabriela’s prominence in the parent series.

Fire Country doing right by Gabriela completely depends on how her exit is set up in season 4. How Gabriela was depicted in Fire Country cannot be changed retroactively. However, if in a possible return Gabriela’s perspective is shown, Fire Country can still make it right by her and portray her as more than Bode’s love interest.