Beginning this journey to Fire Country Season 3 from the very start has been a roller coaster of one volatile emotion after another — and those are just my own as an audience member.
Suffice it to say the writers have made some confounding, but not bad, choices when crafting the story and characters.
Was the goal to create such polarizing characters that you only love or hate?
Shows like Fire Country are the reason soap operas aren’t really a thing anymore, but that’s okay because it has only forced broadcast television to up its game.
Thankfully, one thing I can tell from Fire Country Season 3 is that it is trying to course-correct the presentation and development of some of the characters.
It Would Be Great If they Would Stop Killing Off the Women in Fire Country
Can someone tell me what the hell is going on with Jake? When we first met the character in Fire Country Season 1, he was a Superman firefighter with an Olympic-diving girlfriend.
Now, he’s the captain of the fire station and is doing everything he can to raise the daughter of the woman he dated for about six months. Why? Because she was the love of his life.
Listen, I know these people are firefighters, but they treat every situation like they will die tomorrow. Although, in a town like Edgewater, that’s very likely to happen, especially if you’re a female character.
I hate to say it, but Fire Country is definitely guilty of “fridging” the women on the show. That’s when a female character is put in disproportionate harm, such as death, maiming, or assault, to serve as plot devices to motivate male characters.
First, Rebecca’s death was the catalyst for Bode’s self-destructive behavior — nothing new there. Now, Cara’s death fully steers Jake’s entire arc.
Don’t even get me started on the slow burn that has been Sharon’s ongoing illness. The series brought us back to square one in Fire Country Season 3 Episode 4, with her possible kidney rejection.
Basically, anything that can go wrong in that town will happen in the most dramatic way.
Seriously, is there going to be a subplot about Edgewater being cursed? Way too much bad stuff happens there for such a small population. I mean, helicopters can’t even seem to stay up in the air.
“You’re Not the Secret Ingredient to a Successful Outcome”
For all its questionable choices, Fire Country Season 3 is keeping itself accountable for previous stories and plots.
For one, I can’t believe it took three seasons to address Eve’s backstory finally. How has the show not even touched on her family till now? Hell, we already met Diego’s mom — more on him in a bit.
I guess it’s better late than never, but one of the best choices Fire Country Season 2 made was making Eve captain of 3 Rock. She has fully embraced her new role with all the swagger of a woman going places.
Another good choice the show makes is addressing Bode’s constant need to be the big hero. Jake said it best with, “You’re not the secret ingredient to a successful outcome.”
The series is taking a meta-approach to how Bode has been built up throughout the past couple of seasons. At least he’s becoming self-aware to acknowledge it. That is some character growth I can get on board with.
Maybe he can finally stop trying to find motivation anywhere but from himself.
At first, it seemed like Jake was riding Bode pretty hard during the training, but the trapped elevator episode made it clear that, contrary to Vince’s thoughts, Bode does, in fact, need to be broken.
That shouldn’t be too much of an issue as long as Bode doesn’t get caught in Gabriela’s web yet again.
Gabriela Perez Is a One-Woman Wrecking Ball Plowing Through Any Male Character Unlucky Enough to Catch Her Eye
If you’ve kept up with my journey of catching up to Season 3 from Fire Country Season 1, you know I have taken great issue with Gabriela Perez.
However, I need to point out that it has nothing to do with actor Stephanie Arcila, who is doing an amazing job bringing the material she is given to life.
No, this one falls on the writers’ heads. What are they trying to do with the character? Slow burn a villain origin story? Because destruction seems to follow this chick wherever she goes.
First, she played the run-around game with Jake before eventually breaking his heart. Then she latched on to some fleeting attraction she had to the very damaged Bode.
Now, she has straight up imploded Diego’s life by more or less leaving him at the altar. All the helicopter did was allow her to run.
Good for Manny for calling her out about how he wished she had come to her senses before she agreed to marry Diego. Again, though, that proposal came after less than a year of being together.
So, what happens to Diego now? Is his character just going to stop appearing? Or will the writers transfer the character to another city or town, away from his family, just because he can’t be around Gabriela?
Fire Country Season 3 is taking some big swings, and despite a few infuriating characters, the series remains captivating with catastrophic cases that leave me at the edge of my seat.
Whether you love it, hate it, or love to hate it, this CBS series knows how to keep things interesting with its whiplash-worthy twists and turns. But it would still be great if a therapist character was introduced to help everyone not make such manic and impulsive decisions.
I guess that’s just firefighting for you.
What did you think about the story choices in the first four episodes of Fire Country Season 3?
Are you excited for the series to return with the second half of the season?
Drop a comment below to let me know your thoughts, and join me again as I catch up to Fire Country Season 3!
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