Oh, Bode is certainly back, and so is the melodrama!
Bringing us back to Three Rock was the best way to get a better feel for what Fire Country Season 2 will be like, even if it took a convoluted and controversial turn to keep Bode chained to the fire camp.
That said, Fire Country Season 2 Episode 2 only proved that some of the concerns about this series will come to fruition if we continue down this route.
Fire Country isn’t even pretending as if it’s not a late-night soap opera at this point.
Might it even be on the cusp of rivaling something akin to Grey’s Anatomy? Possibly!
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with primetime soaps. Hell, the aforementioned medical series is still going strong 20 years later.
The issue is that the writing isn’t always lining up and executed as best as it should. It’s doubtful that most of the audience who tuned into this series during Fire Country Season 1 signed up for the melodrama the series is suddenly delivering.
It’s also evident that despite the polemical response to Fire Country Season 1 Episode 22, the powers that be have ignored anything of value they could’ve gotten from constructive criticism and carried on.
Hell, in some ways, they’ve doubled down on things further.
We started the hour learning that this huge business of Bode fathering a child with Cara may not even be true, and we ended it with a cliffhanger that implies that Sharon Leone may have actually cheated with Jason O’Mara’s “Liam” while away at the campaign fire.
It’s not even head-spinning revelations now; it’s more like head-scratching decisions.
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It was puzzling that we learned that there wasn’t certainty with this Bode and Genevieve business by the second scene.
Cara isn’t even sure if he’s the father of her child, which is enough to make you wonder why he needed to know that potential in the first place.
It’s especially unusual considering that she didn’t want Bode to get to know Genieve just yet anyway since the tween is still adjusting to the fact that Cara is her mother and not her sister.
It’s unfair for Bode to have this life-altering information and then be told he can’t do anything with it.
Oh, Bode, seeing you yesterday was like breathing again.
Sharon
He’s not allowed to react or meet this daughter he thinks is his and get to know her.
And he’s not given any grace in his reaction; he’s only told why he doesn’t have a say in anything for the best interest of Genevieve.
There’s a lot of heavy stuff going on with all of this, but without knowing anything for certain about paternity, it feels like contrived, needless drama just for the sake of it.
It also feels illogical. Does no one understand how DNA works?
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Bode and Cara can test Genevieve without her even knowing about it if all of this is meant to spare her any more confusion. Sure, it’s less than ideal, but it’s always an option.
Even with no confirmation on whether or not Genevive was his child, it didn’t stop Bode Leone from crossing boundaries in the middle of a technicolor fire to approach this girl and get to know her as best as he could because of course; she somehow ended up in the same space as those hoodlums.
Does anyone else miss Freddy? While he didn’t have nearly as much pull as we would’ve hoped when it came to Bode, at least he was a voice of reason when it counted.
Clay is the antagonistic little devil on Bode’s shoulder who talks him into all the wrong things. He stokes all of Bode’s worst instincts, which is the opposite of what you’d want in a halfway-decent friend.
There’s your family portrait, bro. You’re not in it.
Clay [to Bode]
He spent most of the hour trying to figure out the inner workings of this small town and everyone’s connections to each other, aiding and abetting Bode’s delusions and hero complex.
Speaking of hero complexes, they haven’t eased up an ounce on Bode’s.
He hasn’t even spent a whole week at Three Rock, and he’s already behaving as if he knows better than everyone and can do whatever he pleases because his actions are noble.
He and Clay running off because he thought he knew better and still not actually accomplishing what he intended in the first place was irritating.
And he deserved at least some of the lashing that Eve Edwards gave him over it.
But it was all for naught if she still felt compelled to cover for him, and he gets to smile and be charming with her; they hug, and suddenly, all is good in the world because Bode’s intentions are always pure.
At the very least, we can appreciate that Bode wasn’t behind the big saves of the hour.
Jake, Sharon, and Gabriela got their more notable heroic moments because Bode was too wrapped up in personal issues.
In addition to the surprise daughter saga, he came face-to-face with Sharon Leone for the first time since he went back to prison.
It was painful to see the initial awkwardness, especially when she was all business at the scene. But then we eventually got a conversation between the two and a hug.
Bode apologized the way he needed to, and no matter what happened, Sharon always loved her son to pieces.
Explaining why he chose to take the fall and go back to prison didn’t make things any better for her, but she was glad to have him back regardless, and he’s fortunate enough to be at Tree Rock again, too.
Bode: I got your letters.
Gabriela: You did? You know, for a moment, I thought that maybe the prison had lost them. But no. You chose to ignore them.
Bode: I thought that I was doing right by you.
Gabriela: You did. I’m happy now. I’m getting married, Bode.
We don’t have to worry about Sharon’s relationship with Bode nearly as much as her marriage to Vince Leone.
Sure, things could be misleading with that cliffhanger. But everything could be exactly as it looks as well.
This new guy, Liam, seemed intimate with Sharon and shocked to see Vince Leone there, so at the very least, there was likely some flirtation between them while she was away, if not more.
Sharon has this new lease on life now that she has this kidney. And she’s behaving recklessly in more ways than one because of it.
As badass as she was on the motorcycle, it’s also concerning that drag racing has become a routine thing for her, and it’s unreasonable that she spends late nights out, leaving Vince up waiting for her.
The tension between them is difficult to watch because they have been the bedrock and foundation of this series.
But even the foundation can crumble.
We already had a love triangle between Sharon and the Leone brothers, so the possibility of them introducing another one isn’t the most exciting thing to consider.
Vince: Liam, is that it?
Liam: And you are?
I’m thrilled that Sharon has her kidney and that she’s okay, but it’s evident that there’s a lot she needs to unpack after nearly dying.
There are many unresolved issues, and I would like to know if she’s seen a therapist or consulted with anyone. Getting a second chance at life is only great when you don’t opt to ruin it by constantly risking it or causing issues with those close to you.
Interestingly enough, we often joke about men having midlife crises that lead to the same type of behaviors that Sharon is exuding.
So, exploring something akin to that from a woman’s perspective is different.
She expressed wanting to get to know Vince again, date, and take full advantage of them being in the stage of their lives where they don’t have children to look after and can live it up.
It seems like a substantial behavioral change that has Vince wary, even if he’s willing to indulge her to a degree.
But now that we have this Liam situation, the Leones feel rockier than ever.
Another romance on this show that is bound to be doomed is Gabriela and Diego’s.
I was vibing with the big Latinx families coming together, and the food looked divine.
Sharon: I do know that I needed my husband and you weren’t there.
Vince: You don’t think I wanted to run. I missed you every minute of every day.
Sharon: Then show me.
Vince: What do you mean?
Sharon: I don’t know. Date me. Show me who we were before we were firefighters.
Everything about that seems fun, but now that we’re learning more about Gabriela Perez’s background, it feels like, in addition to rebounding with Diego, she may be more drawn to his family life than anything else.
For some reason, I was under the impression that Gabriela’s mother died, not that she left Manny Perez because of his many demons and issues.
And one has to wonder why, as her wedding approaches, Manny is just now choosing to delve into the truth behind what happened between him and Gabriela’s mother.
He wanted to emphasize that she never abandoned Gabriela Perez. She couldn’t be with him anymore, but that didn’t extend to Gabriela in the least, and he owned up to how he screwed up and what he put her through, prompting her to leave.
Gabriela: You being able to own your own issues and work through them, Dad, that’s what I admire most about you.
Manny: Well, that’s good because here’s a big one. Your mom didn’t abandon us.
Gabriela: Dad, that’s not–
Manny: She left me. Not you.
It’s confusing and a lot to unpack there, and it sounds like we may get to meet Gabriela’s mother this season based on that conversation.
I’m trying to understand how Manny withheld the truth about how his ex’s relationship dissolved and how if she didn’t abandon Gabriela, why she hasn’t been part of her life in all these years?
Gabriela has a lot to deal with these days. No matter what she told Bode, the fact that his actions still hurt her and she feels passionately about him suggests her feelings for him aren’t gone.
They made far too much eye contact while on the scene together. And we know Bode is lying about being over her.
A lot has changed while I was gone.
Bode
We can’t forget how he was climbing out of his skin, wanting to help her when she did that risky deep dive in the cavern and went silent for a while.
They’re not over, no matter what they say to one another.
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Gabriela had every right to tell Bode about himself, though.
Again, his nobility and martyr complex were irritating. He had no right to cut her off and profess to know what was best for her, and he has to understand how that’s not romantic; it’s frustrating and invalidates her as a grown woman who knows what she wants and can handle.
Eve knows what she wants, too, and her stint as captain is well-earned.
But she’s been challenging to watch in the position.
Understandably, as a WOC in that position when dealing with a bunch of men, she feels like she has a lot to prove, and she can’t let anyone push her around.
But even while understanding exactly where she’s coming from with that, she’s overbearing with the drill sergeant shtick.
Part of the issue is that it doesn’t feel true to the Eve we know and love. We got Eve as captain, but at what cost?
And what good is Eve doing all of this to demand respect and not show signs of weakness if Bode gets to waltz through those doors and disrupt everything without ever once thinking of how the ramifications of his actions affect everyone around him?
Bode: Eve, I didn’t realize how much of what I do affects you. Eve, I’m sorry.
Eve: Oh, you’ve been such a pain in my ass I didn’t get to say –‘
Bode: Say what?
Eve: It’s good to be fighting fires with you again.
It’s great that he apologized, but it’s Bode. We all know he’s going to do it again. He can’t help himself.
Over to you, Fire Country Fanatics. How are you feeling about this season? Do you think Bode is Genevive’s father? Did Sharon cheat on Vince? Sound off below.
Fire Country airs Fridays at 9/8c on CBS. You can stream the following day on Paramount+.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You’ll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
