‘Fire Country’ Scoop! Details on Jared Padalecki’s First Episode — Will He Return?

Meredith Jacobs October 17, 2024, 1:10 pm

Jared Padalecki; Max Thieriot as Bode Leone — 'Fire Country' Season 3 Episode 1 — Brian Bowen Smith/The CW; Eric Milner/CBS

There’s so much to look forward to when it comes to Jared Padalecki joining Fire Country for a three-episode storyline as a SoCal firefighter. There’s what introducing Camden will mean for Bode (Max Thieriot) but also how the former inmate can possibly help the other man.

Padalecki will debut in the fifth episode of Season 3. “I’m so excited for everyone to see this. Camden jumps onto the screen in this really dynamic way,” executive producer Tia Napolitano tells TV Insider. “In real life, Jared and Max are friends and you can feel that chemistry. You could feel it on set, you could feel it once the director calls action, they just shine on screen.”

She describes Camden as “a solo operator. He’s really adventurous. He’s an envelope pusher, and he and Bode are both going to be the first one to jump into a fire when they shouldn’t. And it’s almost a race of which one of them is more heroic and willing to go rogue and willing to do anything to get the save. They’re just brothers in that way. And I think in that way there’s conflict as much as there is similarities and it’s really exciting to watch.”

That does make it sound like they could be a bit detrimental to each other, if they’re both eager to rush into danger, and Napolitano agrees. “Some of our people will say, ‘Huh, we thought this guy was a good thing for Bode. Is he?'”

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Yes, it does sound like not everyone will be a fan of this new character. “Camden’s going to rub a few people the wrong way and not always, but he has very unconventional tactics when it comes to firefighting, when it comes to Bode, when it comes to what rules are meant to be broken,” the EP reveals. “And I think it’ll be fun. He’s not a villain by any means, but it’ll be fun to see our people have this new real alpha guy in their midst.”

Maybe Bode can help Camden; that’s something he’s in a better position to do after two seasons of growth and now that he’s out.

“Bode is definitely going to help Camden. I think by the time we say goodbye to Camden this season, at least, all of our people and all of Edgewater will have really left an impression that Camden’s going to bring forward with him when he leaves us for now,” says Napolitano.

The “this season, at least” and “for now” has us thinking about what the future could hold for Camden: Season 4? A spinoff, as has been rumored since his casting? “Nothing’s set in stone yet” beyond what’s already been said, the EP stresses. “But when we say goodbye to Jared this season, it’s definitely not goodbye forever. You get the feeling that it’s a revolving door and he’ll be back again.”

What are you most looking forward to with Padalecki’s arc as Camden and for Bode? Let us know in the comments section below.

Fire Country, Season 3 Premiere, Friday, October 18, 9/8c, CBS