In an interview with Deadline, executive producers Joan Rater, Tony Phelan, and Tia Napolitano teased how the suspenseful ending will impact Bode in Fire Country season 4. Because Bode had to be stopped from going after his family, Napolitano explained that there was a “ferocity of Bode and Jake at the same time,” and finishing the episode on a cliffhanger was intentional. The showrunner also noted “huge emotional ramifications,” and that Bode’s reaction in that sequence was a highlight.
Rater, who served as an EP on Grey’s Anatomy, revealed that the medical drama would end seasons similarly. Phelan then explained that Fire Country could have wrapped things up in a different manner, but added that an ambiguous finale could get audiences to consider what happens next for the characters. Read their comments below:
RATER: Tia had this beautiful image about how she wanted to end the season. Tia, can you talk about it, the lions roaring at each other?
NAPOLITANO: I wanted this ferocity of Bode, just like a lion, primal, knowing three members of his family are inside that fire, knowing that he’s been resisting going in, and Jake, his captain, has been holding him back.
It wasn’t quite blocked that way, but emotionally Jake, the ferocity of him protecting his friend. They were best friends. They’ve gone through some stuff. They’re brothers, and these two young men rising in the ranks in the fire department in the season of legacy with those three lions inside just felt like, gosh. The ferocity of Bode and Jake at the same time, and just going out on that energy felt very satisfying and very, as Tony was saying, you want to lean in. What happens in there? What’s the fallout for Bode? There’s going to be huge emotional ramifications.
In the finale you see him — which we rarely see this side of Bode — fall to his knees, which just took my breath away when I saw the way that it was directed. So that image has always been a mainstay of what the finale was going to be.
RATER: I wanted to leave it like that without leaving a moment to settle. I remember on Grey’s, we would have these finales that we felt, “Oh my god. How are we going to solve this next season? We have written ourselves into a corner.” But that’s where the best creative ideas come from.
PHELAN: There are different ways you can do it. You can have that kind of resolution, like they had on 9-1-1, or you can go off on the question and have the audience holding onto the question throughout the hiatus. And I think, depending on how you’ve chosen to wrap things up, both are really valid choices. As Tia said, the theme of last season was legacy, and so this felt like the best way to have the audience really grappling with what that means for all the characters on the show.
What This Means For Fire Country
Season 4 May Have An Emotional Start
The Fire Country season 3 ending, and the recent comments by the executive producers, signal an emotional stretch of episodes to come. Sharon (Diane Farr) and Vince (Billy Burke) urged Bode to leave a nearly destroyed Buena Vista and sought to recover his grandfather, Walter (Jeff Fahey), but as mentioned, they became trapped in the burning building. Considering that Burke has departed Fire Country, season 4 may potentially reveal that Vince did not survive the episode, which could wreck Bode and other Cal Fire personnel.
The beginning of Fire Country season 4 may also explore the simultaneous burning at Three Rock, which became too widespread and challenging to stop. It is hard to imagine the series progressing without the camp, a place Bode and other characters have spent a significant amount of time in, but it looked discouraging for Three Rock in season 3, episode 20. Elsewhere, Audrey (Leven Rambin) shot Gabriela’s stalker, so whether self-defense is proven remains up in the air as well.
Our Take On The Fire Country Season 3 Ending
It Creates Some Concern For Season 4
Heading into season 4, there are many questions the show has to answer surrounding the recent cliffhanger finale. There will likely be concerns about Vince and his fate, but Fire Country also revealed that Arcila is leaving, making Gabriela’s storyline a mystery and ending any potential relationship with Bode. It will be interesting to see how these absences play out and impact Bode, and how much more emotional that Buena Vista sequence becomes when the series returns.
