‘Fire Country’ Needs To Fix Things Between Eve and Francine in Season 4
Fire Country has officially concluded its third season with an intense and explosive finale. The Season 3 finale sees Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) and Audrey (Leven Rambin) wind up in a dangerous situation when Finn (Blake Lee) stalks Gabriela all the way to the Leones' house. This ends with Audrey shooting Finn and getting arrested, which will likely have major ramifications going into Season 4. Additionally, Walter's (Jeff Fahey) care facility catches fire, and as of the end of Season 3, Walter, Vince (Billy Burke), and Sharon (Diane Farr) are all stuck inside. This cliffhanger will remain unresolved until Season 4, but it will likely end in tragedy after the rumored upcoming exit of Billy Burke.
Among these more suspenseful and life-and-death storylines is a new obstacle in Eve's (Jules Latimer) relationship with Francine (Katie Findlay). Francine was first introduced earlier in Season 3 as Eve's ex-girlfriend, whom Eve had pushed away when she didn't think that Francine believed in her as a firefighter. They reunited in Francine's second episode at the Renaissance Faire, and it seemed like Francine would be sticking around as Eve's love interest. Now, though, in just her third episode, Eve and Francine have hit a crossroads, and it looks like Fire Country is going to break them up. This would be a mistake, though, and Fire Country should instead fix things for this couple in Season 4.
In 'Fire Country's Season 3 Finale, Eve and Francine Disagree About Having Kids
The Season 3 finale of Fire Country opens with Eve and Francine babysitting Eve's nephew together. It's nice to hear that Eve is still on good terms with her family, as they haven't been mentioned since her reconciliation with them in the midseason premiere. Eve and Francine are clearly in-sync with each other, and their relationship seems to be going very well, until Francine says that she wants to have kids. From the moment Eve hesitates, it is clear where this storyline is going. This is a common trope in TV shows, from Friends to How I Met Your Mother, when it comes time to permanently break up a couple while having neither one look like the bad guy. Here, though, it just feels out of place for a number of reasons.
Eve and Francine have presumably been back together for at least a few months now, but Francine hasn't been seen on-screen since she and Eve first reconciled. It feels very sudden to have her first appearance since then be about discussing having kids, when for viewers, it feels like Eve and Francine have only just gotten back together. Additionally, a disagreement about having kids is very final. If Fire Country wanted to temporarily separate this pairing for drama, which it has been known to do, it could just pit Eve between Francine and the Leones again. It would make a lot of sense for the two to recreate their first breakup, if they still had unresolved tension related to it. A disagreement about whether to have kids is the sort of thing that would break them up for good, which would be a waste of a great love interest for Eve.
'Fire Country' Needs to Keep Eve and Francine Together
After some brief and messy romantic storylines in Season 1, Eve's love life was completely dropped in Fire Country's second season. The show's introduction of Francine was surprisingly seamless, both due to Latimer and Findlay's chemistry, and the complex backstory between the characters. Francine went to high school with Eve, Bode (Max Thieriot), Jake (Jordan Calloway), and Riley (Jade Pettyjohn). She and Eve were serious and were happy together, but as Eve became more involved in the world of firefighting and the Leones, she and Francine grew apart. They work really well as a second-chance romance, and Francine is a fitting love interest for Eve, with a job in an adjacent line of work as a park ranger.
Eve and Francine have so much more potential as a pairing, and it would be a shame if Fire Country broke them up now. Fire Country is already very likely losing its two most popular romantic pairings, with the confirmed exit of Stephanie Arcila and the rumored exit of Billy Burke. Without Bode and Gabriela or Vince and Sharon, Eve and Francine are the only remaining couple that seem like they could actually go the distance. It is also a great change of pace to see Eve have a stable romantic relationship that takes her outside of Three Rock and the other firefighters. Fire Country has fallen into a trap with Eve in the past of only focusing on her through the lens of her job, and her relationship with Francine has been a nice break from that.
One of Eve's strongest storylines this season was when the other firefighters caught her attending the Renaissance Faire with Francine, and she was embarrassed to share that side of herself with them. Francine's presence allows Fire Country to explore Eve's interests and hobbies, especially through a character who has known her for so long. Even as Eve tells Francine later on in the season finale that she doesn't want kids right now, she adds that there is a slight possibility that she will change her mind. Hopefully, they can table this conversation for a little while until Eve changes her mind, and the two can stick together. Ultimately, it's difficult to imagine Fire Country finding a better love interest for Eve than Francine at this point, especially after seeing Francine jump in to help her during the Three Rock fire in the second half of the Season 3 finale.
