Fire Country Boss Teases What's Next After Bode and Gabriela's Emotional Confrontation in Season 3 Premiere

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the Fire Country Season 3 premiere, "What the Bride Said." Read at your own risk!]

No one expected Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) and Diego's (Rafael de la Fuente) wedding to go without a hitch on Fire Country, but it's unlikely that anyone had a helicopter crash on their bingo card for why things would go wrong. Just as Gabriela was working up the nerve to say, "I don't," a helicopter ripped through the church and crashed at Smokey's nearby. Grateful for the distraction, Gabi and the rest of the first responder guests jumped into action. She bailed on Diego to go investigate the crash site and put her paramedic training to good use. 

Of course, Bode (Max Thieriot) was also one of the first people on the scene. He was outside the church when the copter came down and ran over with his uncle to see how he could help. Since Bode isn't an official firefighter anymore, he was put on spot fire duty with Gabriela, giving them a chance to talk... and fight. At one point, Gabi admitted that since the time they broke up, she hadn't felt alive like when Bode kissed her last season. Before Bode could figure out exactly what that meant, Diego arrived ready to hash it out as well. Gabi essentially broke his heart right in front of Bode, just in time for the crashed helicopter to explode and start a whole new set of fires for the team to jump on. 

"[Bode]'s kind of spun out," Thieriot told TV Guide in a recent interview. "He doesn't know what to think. We're thrown into this episode where, incident-wise, there's so much going on and so much to digest and take in. It's just a huge whirlwind, physically. Simultaneously, emotionally, all of this news that he's catching up on and the fact that she didn't get married, the things that she says right in front of him, the things that Diego says... it's a lot. There's a lot for him to process. I think he's like 'Oh man, I just need to step out for a minute and figure out where I am, because I thought I was here and now you're telling me you're here.' He's got a lot to think about and chew on." 

Meanwhile, Jake (Jordan Calloway) was having his own crisis over at Smokey's. The helicopter brought down the roof and trapped Gen (Alix West Lefler) by the jukebox with her likely biological father, Rick (Adam Aalderks). Jake and Eve (Jules Latimer) were under the gun to get them out before the entire roof collapsed, but Jake was also having a panic attack that Rick would tell Gen exactly who he is to her. Rick continued to prove that he's not the same bad guy from high school that everyone accused him of being by not telling Gen the truth, even though he quickly figured out exactly who she was. However, he did tell Jake that he would be pursuing custody because he's not going just to walk away from her. 

So it's safe to say the drama is just heating up in this new season of Fire Country. TV Guide spoke to showrunner Tia Napolitano about the premiere, that big Bode and Gabriela confrontation, and what Season 3 will bring for the rest of our crew. 

Last season, Gabriella was the one who was adamant there was no hope for her and Bode, and in the season premiere she told him she hasn't felt alive like when he kissed her. Where is she emotionally when it comes to Bode now?
Tia Napitalono: It's the classic separation of mind and heart, where she wishes that Diego was it for the rest of her life and that she had no feelings for Bode. She wishes that when she kissed Bode, she felt nothing and it was a mistake. Unfortunately, the heart wants what it wants. That's a moral dilemma and a logistical dilemma and it's against all of these very smart decisions she made to build this life for herself. She's got this connection to Bode that is just undeniable.

Is Bode in the same place?
Napolitano: There are steps to get to them getting to that crossroads of "Are we a couple now?" They have a bit more to explore before getting there. She's not fully broken off from Diego and Bode is just starting out. What's next for both of them? They're both so young, early in their careers. Bode is trying to be a firefighter. They have a lot of balls in the air, so I don't think it's a clear path to the romance question, or at least the committed romance question for Bode and Gabriella.

One of those steps has to go through Diego. He seems very done with Gabriella in this episode, but is he really or is he just hurt after finding out the truth?
Napolitano: It's all very raw. It's whiplash. He thought they were going to spend the rest of their lives together and the wedding was interrupted. Now he has terrible news and she doesn't seem particularly remorseful about it, other than hurting his feelings. There's a lot of competing emotions to hold, which makes it so interesting to watch Rafael act Diego in these really tough moments.

They have this very emotional confrontation in the middle of a fire, which just got a lot worse. How is this going to affect them mentally on the job in the second half of the premiere?
Napolitano: They have to focus on the fire. You see Diego do it in this episode. He suspects things and he has to help a firefighter who is injured and get into the firefighting of it. I think first responders and our characters, once that alarm goes, or once that fire happens, they put the personal aside and just make that shift. It's a really tough part of the job.

ALSO READ: Everything to Know About Fire Country Season 3

What is Bode's path to becoming a firefighter? He's helping with the helicopter fire because he was at the wedding, but does he just hang around waiting to volunteer for disasters until he can officially join a station?
Napolitano: Until his Cal Fire status gets resolved, Bode is just going to have to figure out how to fight for what he wants. We want to see him fight fire. We'll see him fight fire. It's really part of the DNA of the show, but how he gets there is not going to be easy. It's a hill that he's going to have to climb, and he's finally in a position as a free man to advocate for himself, to fight for himself, to win his own battles in a way that'll be really refreshing this year.

Luke points out that Bode calls firefighting a healthy addiction and that might not be true. Is everyone on board with Bode becoming a firefighter considering how addicted to it he is?
Napolitano: People have a lot of questions and feelings for what is and isn't good for Bode, who's had an adrenaline addiction and other addictions. He's the first guy to go rogue, even when he's at fire camp. Does he have the mental and emotional fortitude to be a firefighter? We really get into it. A lot of people have opinions, and then Jared Padalecki, who plays Casey, comes onto the scene and he has the most unique opinion of all, which is that everything that makes Bode rogue is everything that's great about him. He sort of encourages Bode to lean into the danger, which is just a match in the chaos of everyone's opinions about Bode as a firefighter.

One of those people with a lot of opinions about Bode is Manny, who is in his own pickle in this premiere. There's a lot of animosity coming at him from the police, even though he was just trying to help at a disaster scene. Where is that attitude coming from?
Napolitano: Two of their own are down in terms of the cops. Manny's handcuffs just magically flew off. There are a lot of badges to the badge, and firefighter-to-cop culture between them that can be competitive. I think they suspect what really happened and that Sharon took the handcuffs off of him. They went around the police. The police suspect it, and they don't like it.

Does that complicate Manny's legal upcoming legal proceedings?
Napolitano: We're going to get into the court case. We'll get into the charges. We really live with Manny every step of the way. In Manny's mind, and in the audience's mind, you're thinking, "He's a first responder. He does help people. How bad was the offense? Is it worth whatever punishment may or may not lay ahead of him?" I think it's very hard. It's an interesting concept that we'll really explore step by step with Manny.

He was ready to accept the consequences of his actions at the end of last season, but has this latest fire changed that? Are we going to see some resistance from Manny now?
Napolitano: I think Manny has hope and Manny wants to fight. We've been thinking of him as a superhero who may or may not get his cape clipped off. He really doesn't want to and I think that'd be very hard for him.

Someone else who can't catch a break on this show is Jake, who has his own drama in this episode. What is his worse fear when it comes to Gen?
Napolitano: It's loss all over again. The presence of Rick and that backstory threatens the safety of Jake's newly formed family of two. Both of them are still mourning and clinging to each other. To threaten that when it's such a freshly formed family is really painful for Jake. Parenting is really hard in all kinds of unique ways, and we'll see him struggle with that and maintain the progress that character has had from the pilot until now.

He was really adamant in this episode that Gen is his kid. He kept saying it every chance he got. What has created that bond that he went so quickly from mom's boyfriend to "This is my kid"?
Napolitano: I think last season when Cara died, there was a question of what was Jake's role? What was Sharon and Vince's role? What was Bode's role? Being separated from Gen organically, it seemed to really rise that she wanted to be with him, and he wanted to be with her. I think once he heard that little girl say that, he was going to step up no matter what, and I think that means a lot. It's very important to her. This little girl has lost so much already. She's never going to lose Jake. He's really protective of their little family and defensive of her.

What are you most excited for fans to see in this season?
Napolitano: We meet two new characters. We meet Audrey James, who will add another layer to our cast and to the show. We meet Captain Casey, who comes around and who will be really fun to play with. These people complicate the relationships that exist on the show. They cause conflict, but they also bring a lot of fun. We're going to cross over with [the spin-off] Sheriff Country coming up. All of this just adds layers and layers to our world because we have this beautiful foundation of the first two seasons to build on. 

Fire Country Season 3 continues Fridays at 9/8c on CBS. Episodes are available to stream the next day on Paramount+.