Spoilers for Season 1 of Fire Country ahead. If you are not caught up, you can stream all available episodes of the CBS drama with a Paramount+ subscription.
Fire Country is entering into its final few episodes on the 2023 TV schedule, which means the looming questions surrounding Bode’s parole are about to be answered. Since the series' first episode, the biggest question has been about Max Thieriot’s character's sentence and future. So, with the last few installments in sight, the actor behind Bode is teasing how this important moment will impact his character’s relationships on the CBS drama.
As Bode’s parole hearing gets closer, and he works his way toward being released, Thieriot spoke to TV Insider about his character’s future, and how this event will impact the show, saying:
We’re going to draw that out and see how Bode’s parole date affects everybody and what it means, what it could look like for everyone in the future. We’ll see characters with reservations, wondering how he would do, and then Manny’s always championing. It’s a big thing that [Vince and Sharon] are sort of thinking about — welcoming their son home after he left many years ago and where we brought them back into the relationship at the beginning of the season. There’s a lot of stuff that we’re going to be doing there.
There really is “a lot of stuff ” involved with Bode’s hearing, and the result of it will force a lot of characters to work through their relationship with Thieriot’s character. After the serial arsonist situation and the revelation that it wasn’t Jake happened, Bode is already on better terms with Jordan Calloway’s character. However, those two still have a lot to work through, and if the Three Rock inmate ends up as part of the permanent crew, there could be more tension between the two. As for the rest of the squad, they all seem pretty accepting of Bode, and would likely welcome him into the firehouse.
While Bode's interpersonal relationships are good at the moment, what might get in his way is the fact that he’s “extremely reactive,” as Thieriot explained. The actor said his character is one to “lead with his instinct and his heart,” and sometimes that gets him into trouble. When the budding firefighter gets put on parole he won’t have the organizational hierarchy of Three Rock anymore, and the only other person who really keeps him in check is Gabriela. The co-creator and star spoke about this dynamic between his character and the probie, saying:
For me, I think that’s one of the biggest things, is when Gabriela’s not around and they’re on an incident or whatever, who’s going to be the one to tell him, ‘don’t screw this up, don’t do something stupid, don’t do something dangerous.’ Because as we’ve seen time and time again — being in the back of the car flying off that bridge, running into a fire or building or whatever — he puts himself in precarious situations.
If I were a betting woman, I’d guess Thieriot’s character will make a spur-of-the-moment decision that will put his parole and relationships in jeopardy. However, I’d also assume that his family and friends will be there to support him in the end, even if they resent his spontaneous actions. No matter what, as this first story wraps up and Fire Country prepares for Season 2, one thing that’s for certain is these final episodes are going to be dramatic, and this parole hearing is going to play a massive role in them.
New episodes of Fire Country air on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET, and can be streamed the next day on Paramount +.
