Fire Country‘s third season premiered last night, and fans have been eagerly awaiting to find out what happens after the season 2 finale.
We got the chance to talk to the showrunner and executive producer of Fire Country, Tia Napolitano, all about the premiere, what to look forward to in the rest of the season, as well as the addition of Jared Padalecki.
Fire Country is now streaming on Paramount+, so make sure to catch up if you haven’t watched yet!
Editor’s note: this interview contains spoilers for the season 3 premiere. The interview has also been edited for length and clarity.
Nerds and Beyond: Bode is a free man this season. How are the dynamics going to change going into the season now that he’s not tethered to Three Rock?
Tia Napolitano: It changes everything. Season 3 really is wish fulfillment. We’ve wanted this for him since the pilot. We meet him in a parole hearing, hoping to walk free, and he doesn’t, for many, many episodes of television. He gets to step back into his childhood home that he had left before all of this trouble, and it feels fresh and exciting and light and happy, and really, there’s a lot of fan candy. Pure wish fulfillment and joy and a lot of drama and action too, but happiness.
Nerds and Beyond: Bode has had a pretty rocky relationship with his parents, especially with Vince. Are we going to explore more what that means for them with him free as well?
Tia: We’ll explore more of what that means and more of what Bode says in the season 2 finale. He’s ready to claim his legacy, and we’ve got multi-generational firefighters in the Leone family and some generational dynamics that could probably use some improvements. So I think getting Bode’s goals comes with facing what’s hard about his relationship with his family and his father and his legacy as well.
Nerds and Beyond: This episode also dives right into what happens with the wedding. We see Gabriela admit that she felt more with Bode than she did at her wedding with Diego. What can fans of Bode and Gabriela look forward to this season?
Tia: Good news is Bode and Gabriela have always been a non-couple couple, meaning they’ve been apart. They’ve never made it official. He’s always been incarcerated [during] the times when they have been together, especially physically, [and] often they’ve been breaking rules. So that’s a little bit of how we’ve always had them. So I think that will feel familiar and now, they can maybe live out loud a little bit, and share a burger at the same table in a restaurant. It is going to feel really new. So even I think baby steps will feel huge. And if they are kept apart a little bit, we will still have that longing.
Nerds and Beyond: I know a lot of people want to know what’s going to happen next with Manny, who has had a pretty tough time. Is there anything you can share about what his journey will look like this season?
Tia: We’re not going to skip any steps with Manny. We’re not going to jump time. We’re going to be with him every step of the way. Obviously, there are consequences for him having punched Luke, we’ve seen him be arrested for that. Our stomach’s going to hurt right along with Manny, wondering, how’s this going to go? What’s next for me? What were the consequences going to be? Will this thing go away?
Nerds and Beyond: Was there anything you took away from your previous work, like on Station 19, that you brought to Fire Country?
Tia: Everything. On Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19… I think all of that. Grey’s Anatomy taught me so much about soap that I was able to bring here. Station 19 taught me a lot of things, also. But, producing an action show, a fire show, is very different than producing a hospital show, balancing the soap with the action and finding that dial. I think Fire Country is a lot more action than Station 19, but Station 19 prepared me to be up for that action challenge.
Nerds and Beyond: It was announced that Jared Padalecki would be joining the show for a three-episode arc. Can you talk a little bit more about him joining, and anything about his character (Camden Casey)?
Tia: I think we released he’s a maverick, and he’s a captain, so he’s got a little bit of status in Cal Fire. He’s a lot like Bode, and I think Bode currently, prior to Casey joining the show, was surrounded by people telling him to play it safe, color within lines, stop going rogue. Casey is going to encourage Bode to lean into those instincts. He’s the first one to say, “Maybe it’s not a bad thing that you’re the first guy to run into a fire. Maybe that’s your superpower,” in a way that’ll be really exciting. The role was designed for Jared. We were so hoping that he would come join us. He and Max are friends in real life, which was secondary to us being so excited about him, and their chemistry is great. He’s the kindest, most professional, talented person. And he said yes, luckily. We wrote this part for him, and he was happy to come play with us. So it was a lot of fun with that.
Nerds and Beyond: Are there any inspirations that you draw from, like, regarding any of the fires of the storyline specifically? Do you have consultants that say, “Don’t do this,” or “You can do this?”
Tia: Writing on Grey’s Anatomy, I learned how to write for a profession that I did not do. I was never a surgeon. I learned how to talk to doctors, read articles, get into the research. And that experience really applied to Station 19 and to this show where I was like, “Okay, I’m not a firefighter, but I know how to talk to them… and keep the authenticity. Authenticity is super important to us, especially to Max.
We have many consultants. They are all wonderful. Two of them, many of them, help us with scripts and the ideas. Two of them are on the ground making sure our firefighters know how to hold tools, how to approach someone. We literally have meetings just about fire medical rescue to let our actors feel confident. They look like badasses. They look like firefighters. So the more authenticity, the better. And yeah, they have to tell us no all the time. It breaks your heart.
Nerds and Beyond: From the past few seasons, what has been one of your favorite storylines?
Tia: I would say the evolution of Jake, like watching this Playboy become a dad. Prior to that, fall in love with a woman when he was so the guy who couldn’t commit when we met him. A lot of the Gabriella/Manny… learning about that relationship that I think is so fun and it’s a really interesting two-person family that I love to watch and check in with and see evolve over the episodes as well.
Nerds and Beyond: Without spoiling too much, is there an episode or moment that you’re most excited for fans to see this season?
Tia: Excited for them to see Jared on screen, our mid-season finale and premiere. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It’s got a lot of nature, and we’re going to get into deep backstory for one of our characters in a completely new way. I think it’s going to be visually beautiful. It’s got so much heart. So I’m really excited about that.
Fire Country airs Friday nights on CBS. You can also stream it on Paramount+. Read our review of the premiere episode, here.
