Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
4.5
You can tell Fire Country is revving up for the Season 3 Finale with the way it’s stacking the cards. However, so much has changed with the story. Are we even watching the same show anymore?
There has been a lot of debate over the quality of the current season. Some fans think it’s the worst, and others believe it’s the best. And critics? We’re just about split down the middle.
One of Fire Country‘s unexpected attributes is that it is a very polarizing show. Viewers take a black-and-white approach to the characters, the story, and the show in general.
However, the series is returning to the complex storylines and character arcs that made the first season so addictive.
We’re having our expectations upended, and it has been amazing. Long gone are the days when we could accurately predict a Fire Country episode from the one-minute mark.
Now, the twists come only minutes after we realize something is up. Namely, the Oxalta case did not progress as I expected.
The Scene with Oxalta’s Attorney Proves That Fire Country Is Actively Trying to Anticipate Viewer Expectations
It’s crazy that just a few short episodes ago on Fire Country Season 3 Episode 14, we raised our eyebrows as Eve spoke with Birch’s sister about not wanting to investigate his death.
Here we are four episodes later, and a little fire station in Northern California had a billion-dollar corporation running scared.
What’s crazy is that the circumstances didn’t feel overly forced or inorganic. The writers used our own expectations against us.
How many viewers, me included, excepted Bode, Renee, and Manny to fold with Oxalta and regroup down the road for Season 4? It made sense, right? Wrong.
Rather than fleshing out a storyline that has reached its natural conclusion, the show opted to wrap it up.
“Eyes and Ears Everywhere” delivered the most “The little guys win, but the bad guys still get away with it” plot, and it worked.
It was simple, believable, and even left a little something for the future since Oxalta is still up and running.
The only thing I would ding Fire Country for is J. August Richards’s (Angel) Bruce Meriwether.
After covering Matlock Season 1 this broadcast season, I can tell you that lawyers always assume they are being recorded.
In a more realistic portrayal, Bruce Meriweather would have peppered his phrasing with “allegedly” and all the other lawyer-speak that covers their tracks.
It would never have been so simple as to catch him slipping by admitting he coerced and intimidated families for Oxalta.
And with the way Fire Country has stopped dropping side characters that no longer serve a purpose, there’s a good chance we’ll see Meriweather again.
I have a feeling he has a massive bone to pick with Station 42.
Hell, if that lawyer does take a vendetta out on Bode and Sharon, there may not be a Station 42 for Jake to be the Battalion Chief of in the first place.
Jake’s Character Arc Suggests That Jordan Calloway May Be Making Some Moves Behind the Scenes
Is it me, or does Jake feel like a big fish in a small pond? Or, more accurately, a fish that has grown far too big for the pond he started in.
When we first met Jake on Fire Country Season 1 Episode 1, he was one of the top firefighters at the station, along with Eve.
Since then, Jake and Eve have become captains, and while Eve has her sights set on her future, Jake has the opposite mindset. That man wants to settle down so bad.
There isn’t a character on Fire Country as eager to retire as Jake Crawford is.
Even Vince and Sharon want to travel the country and have new adventures. All Jake wants is a wife, some kids, and a job that he can eventually retire comfortably from.
Usually, I would call that dreaming too small, but in this economy, that qualifies as an actual goal. Still, it would do Jake a world of good if he took some time off and broadened his horizons.
With Jordan Calloway’s (Black Lightning) character moving to a new station for a promotion, the actor may be taking on other roles and needs time away from the show.
To be fair, it has been three seasons of raging fires, rock slides, and generally intense action, which is bound to wear an actor out.
Either way, even if Jake’s handsome face is less present in coming episodes or seasons, we still have PLENTY to work with.
First, there were the fires, and now Edgewater has a certified psycho running around town.
Fire Country Is Bringing in More Storytelling Genres, and It’s Having a Profound Effect on the Audience
Just so it’s clear, I was joking when I called Finn a sociopath in my Fire Country Season 3 Episode 17 review. I was using hyperbole.
That said, my hat is off to the writers because that was some brilliant storytelling. They took the cliched “rinse and repeat” approach that female leads get with love interests and flipped it on its head.
Rather than bringing in yet another romantic partner for Gabrielle to give the “Diego Treatment,” the writers turned that romantic comedy into a thriller.
You can’t tell me your heart rate didn’t go up as Jake and Leven Rambin’s (The Path) Audrey made their way down to Finn’s basement. That was chilling.
Then, something about seeing Finn running towards the woods made it feel like we were watching the end of a murder mystery. One second, we’re finding out he’s a stalker, and the next, he’s on the run and in hiding.
Best of all, the writers used a meta-approach to the episodic story, which is a great reflection of the show’s direction. Let me explain.
Fire Country Is Taking Established Storytelling Patterns and Using Them as Opportunities to Revamp the Show, but There Are Still Things Falling Through the Cracks
Think about it. We watch romantic comedy shows or movies and never question why a man introduces a woman to his family after one date or proposes on date three.
However, crap like that does not fly in the real world. By turning Gabriella’s love interest into a psychotic stalker, the writers gave the series a heavy dose of reality.
It’s incredible because it makes you look back on Fire Country Season 2 and wonder, “Was Diego also a psycho? Is that all Gabriella attracts? Is that why things didn’t work out with Bode? Because he wasn’t crazy enough?”
It’s like Gabriella is waking up from The Matrix and realizing she has been making bad decisions for a LONG time, but that’s hardly news.
At the very least, we can expect her to stay single for quite some time.
However, I have to ask how hilarious it was that Audrey was not even fazed by Finn going nuts. She was like, “Yeah, most guys suck, and the rest go the extra mile of crazy.”
Hands down, this was one the best episodes of Fire Country Season 3, and I’ve said that a few times now. So, it’s a good thing the show was already renewed for another season.
Still, there are a few things that the series is letting slip through the cracks.
For starters, what happened to Bode’s drug problem? It’s like he funneled it all into the Oxalta case so he wouldn’t have to deal with it. Oh, wait. That’s precisely what happened.
Also, and this is just my own personal issue, Sharon and Vince pay Walter’s Assisted Living facility $7,200 a month. That place still tried to charge $12 to take Walter’s blood pressure.
In fairness, that last one feels like something a writer worked in as a plot device but never meant for it to mean anything. Sorry, pal, but I’m a stickler for continuity.
I’ve had grandparents. I know that particular price point for the Assisted Living means Jeff Fahey’s (From Dusk Till Dawn) Walter is in a high-end facility. Enough with these a la carte services. It’s not believable.
It’s Fire Country’s fault for hitting things so close to home with Walter’s dementia. Now, I’m invested and paying attention to every single little detail.
Speaking of little details, you must admit, the show got us at the start of the episode. We thought it was an Oxalta rep watching the gang, but it was really Finn. Little twists like that are what make a story sing.
Suffice it to say that this has been the best season of CBS‘s Fire Country. I know not everyone feels that way, and some even feel the show has been on a decline since Season 1.
All I can say is, did you catch the part where I mentioned the show was already renewed for another season?
Were you shocked by the Finn reveal?
What are your thoughts on Fire Country Season 3?
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