‘Fire Country’: Max Thieriot Talks Bode and Gabriela Drama, Camden and Jake Tension

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Fire Country Season 3 Episode 5 “Edgewater’s About to Get Real Cozy.”]

We may not like it, but it doesn’t seem like now’s the right time for Bode (Max Thieriot) and Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) to get back together on Fire Country. Sure, they’re hooking up (in his parents’ Airstream, which is where she’s currently living), but they’re not back together—and she’d rather keep doing that than face everything else going on in her life.

But for Bode, things are going well. He’s in Phase 3 of firefighter training, with a new instructor Camden (Jared Padalecki), who sees his talent and wants to use it, having him do things in emergencies that others might not at his level. Not everyone (Diane Farr‘s Sharon and Jordan Calloway‘s Jake especially) is happy about that.

Below, Thieriot discusses Bode and Gabriela’s complicated relationship, the tension resulting from Camden’s approach to teaching, and more. Plus, watch an extended version of Billy Burke and Leven Rambin‘s performance of Miranda Lambert’s “Vice” from the end of the episode.

It feels like Bode and Gabriela are in two different places as they’re both dealing with where their lives are now. He’s finding his place in Edgewater and with the people there and she’s pulling away from everyone. It almost feels like this isn’t the best time for either of them to be in a relationship but for different reasons. What’s your take?

Max Thieriot: I completely agree. I think that we’ve wondered so long what their relationship will be like when they’re both able to physically be together and don’t actually have this barrier between them. And now that she’s called off her wedding, it doesn’t really exist and Bode is free. I think that we’re sort of learning that maybe it’s not that easy. Gabriela is certainly struggling with all of her own personal things in her life and is so uncertain about so many things. For the first time now, we’ve seen it kind of flipped for Bode. Bode is a Bode who is so certain and confident and feeling like he’s finally getting to live the life that he wanted to live, but she’s in a totally different place than he is now. And so I think there’s sort of this conflicting uncertainty between the two of them.

I think that Bode always wants what’s best for everybody and he’s willing and is trying to be there to support her and to be the shoulder for her. She seems certainly at least committed on doing everything alone and is kind shutting down and shutting everybody out. And I think it’s hard for the two of them, but it’s definitely creating a lot of good soap and drama and a big part of the story this season will be sort of figuring out and defining what their relationship is and what they are.

A promo shows him telling her he has to choose between being the best firefighter and her, but it also seems like she’s not really in the place for him to make such a big decision and rely on her to make it.

Certainly. Yeah, it’s some good drama coming up.

I love how much Bode is really looking to the future. He’s getting that job at Smokey’s. Love the Leones taking over, but how is that going to go with the family working there together?

I think it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be fun to see our people at this staple of Edgewater. It is a really exciting way for us to sort of build out the town and this family and just sort of this small-town feeling that you get when you’re there and this sense of community that Smokey’s helps provide. It’s a familiar place. We’re going to get to see a lot of really fun interactions with that coming up.

There’s clearly tension between Camden and Jake when it comes to Bode. But it feels like Bode is going to be getting kind of stuck in the middle. And the thing is though Camden is temporary, Jake is his best friend. How is Bode handling that?

Bode knows that Camden is his instructor and he has to earn his respect and his trust and follow his orders in these moments. And I think that it’s a hard thing because Jake knows Bode as a person and as a friend and as his best friend has known him forever. Camden only knows him as a firefighter, and so he only sees his instinct and his skills as a firefighter, but he doesn’t know Bode on a personal level. And I think that’s where the conflict really lies, is that while Camden’s rationality will work for the average firefighter or cadet that he’s training, he doesn’t know Bode like Jake does. And so I think Jake has, rightfully so, a lot of concern for Bode and even if this is how he thinks that he should operate, is it the best thing for Bode personally?

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Max Thieriot on Working With Jared Padalecki, Bode and Gabriela's Relationship on 'Fire Country'

It feels like Bode and Jake are in the best place that we’ve seen them, too.

For sure. Yeah, for sure. Over the course of the season, we get to—which I’ve been really looking forward to—really kind of explore their friendship more and more and more and get to see a lot of that, which I think is something the audience is going to love getting to experience. It’s always been sort of at a distance and now we get to see the two of them together a lot, which is fun.

It is clear that Sharon is not a fan of Camden’s at all from this episode and a preview showing her calling him a sociopath. She and Vince aren’t exactly on the same page about that and over-parenting Bode. So what does that mean for Sharon’s relationships with Bode and Vince going forward?

Sharon is mama bear, especially after everything that they’ve gone through as a family and Riley and Bode getting back and now Bode finally actually really out. I think she just has so much fear and anxiety over anything happening to him. And she’s very, very protective and Vince, on the other hand, is, but he’s also sort of always playing devil’s advocate of, he’s a grown man. We have to let him be grown up and make decisions and do things. And I think that scares Sharon a lot. It’s her baby. And so I think seeing somebody new come in that’s not part of the family and take over the responsibility of teaching him and training him scares her. Yeah, Camden does things differently than the new students. As a mom, that’s not her favorite. So it’s going to be fun to see the dynamic between the four of them and I think it ultimately has a really sort of fulfilling but exciting arc for all of them that we’re going to explore in the next few episodes. So we get to lean heavy into that coming up.

The doctor says that Sharon is fine, but she says she knows she’s not. And of course, I trust her. What’s coming up there?

We will get to see, possibly in the next episode, some realization of what’s going on. So that will all start getting unpacked.

Fire Country, Fridays, 9/8c, CBS