Critic’s Rating: 4.6 / 5.0
4.6
Yo, what an episode! It’s been a while since a TV series did such a great job with a new character introduction. Maybe it’s the actor. Maybe it’s the character. But it worked.
That’s why this Fire Country Season 3 Episode 5 review will be raving about the newest addition to the Fire Country family.
Captain Camden Casey is the instructor of Cal Fire Phase 3 cadet training.
As if a new firefighter wasn’t enough to get excited about, we also celebrated the re-opening of Smokey’s, experienced an emergency plane landing, an overpopulation of stranded tourists, and a freaking fire of hell.
This episode opened in a disappointing fashion, in the aftermath of Bode and Gabriela having another hookup in the RV still parked inside the fire department.
Despite putting the brakes on a relationship, Gabriela continues using Bode to fulfill her physical needs. For him, it’s the start of something serious. For her, it’s a fix. A way to distract herself from all she’s screwed up.
Sorry sister, but no sympathy here. You’re in a mess of your own making.
If she had postponed the wedding to Diego as he’d offered, she wouldn’t be in debt trying to pay back his family for the wedding they didn’t finish. And now, she’s living in the RV that Bode could be using since he’s trying to move out of his parents’ house.
We’ve all noticed that Diego has been MIA in the last few episodes. Now we know he’s gone for good. Poor dude.
Not that anyone blames him. Why stay in a small town where you are trapped in tight quarters with your ex and the guy she left you for while working with her on a daily basis as her boss?
Honestly, she probably did him a favor in the long run. She’s a mess. Has been since the show started. She needs some time to get her life in order before she goes back into any relationship.
Right now, she’s stuck in self-destruct mode. And it’s annoying AF for this viewer.
First off, stop being so thirsty. Trying to get Bode to sneak off for a hook-up while on shift while still in Phase 3 training with a new hardass boss is not responsible behavior.
Especially when you’re hooking up in an RV inside a fire station crammed with strangers seeking shelter after an emergency plane landing. Not to mention most of CFD, including your dad and friends.
Nice way to stay on the DL.
Jake and Eve had already figured out she and Bode were back to messing around. But they didn’t know she was living inside the fire department. Neither did Manny.
Not that Manny would know anything about Gabriela since she’s too busy being a brat. Yes, he’s back in prison. He made a mistake. One that caused the first Station 42 firehouse fire. But move past it. Everyone screws up.
Chime in, fanatics. Is she in the right with her anger at Manny? Or is she being selfish?
It’s disappointing to see the tension between Bode and Manny. They’ve been uber close since the show started. I’m sure some of us understand why Manny is against Bode and Gabriela being together.
This viewer is in full agreement. Like Manny says, they’re not good for each other.
Bode’s walk of shame in the show’s opening credits proves that. Bode is on a path of redemption. He’s trying to live his life right and prove he’s a changed man.
Being with someone who is ashamed of your relationship isn’t right. Bode is more than a piece of meat. He deserves flowers, public acknowledgment, and gold.
Speaking of gold, since we’re talking about 24K, who else loved seeing more James? She and Bode have a natural correspondence, and they’re just alike. She makes one helluva firefighter and an even better barroom singer.
Maybe my music-addicted brain was overly flooded with serotonin at the jam session with Vince and James, but I want more of Audrey in any way we can get her.
If I had a crush before, I’m in love after her piercing ballad seemed to be a necessary wake-up call for Bode. Hopefully, we’ll see more of her and Vince on stage now that Smokey’s belongs to the Leones, complete with Bode behind the bar.
I’d almost prefer a spinoff of her than the sheriff one the network has in the works. No offense, Baccarin. I’m a music addict.
This episode revealed a bit more about James’ romantic status. It confirmed that she has a boyfriend, but they’re doing the long-distance thing.
If you pay attention to small clues (maybe that’s why I’m so good at the Masked Singer), like James browsing houses with her boyfriend, you’ll have noticed she was looking at two types of houses.
So, this viewer’s mind sees how her future could go one of two interesting ways.
There’s chemistry between Audrey and Bode. So, option one is that Bode takes a step back from Gabriela and starts something with James. This viewer supports this! After all, she said she preferred ATVs and meteor showers, which are all NorthCal.
Bode, my man. That’s your girl. Get her!
But her boyfriend was sending photos of Southern California beaches. Rumors are the newest Fire Country spinoff will take place in Southern California, with Camden Casey as the main character.
And after meeting Casey (Jared Padalecki), that’s one series spinoff I can’t wait to try. So, if Audrey doesn’t become a regular on Fire Country, maybe she will join the Fire Country: Surfside ranks.
Right now, Casey is Audrey’s training officer. But there was a little current of sexual spark when Audrey blew the roof off Smokey’s.
Holy Beetlejuice, what was that?!
So, a second option could be that she moves south to be with her boyfriend and works with Camden since he knows her skills — and boy, does she have them.
Or, alternatively, she moves to be with her boyfriend but ends up with Casey.
Since I’m talking so much about Camden Casey, let’s go ahead and get into how we feel about him.
If you’ve read our Fire Country Season 3 Episode 5 spoilers or any of the recent news releases regarding Padalecki’s Fire Country arrival, you knew Camden was going to be a shot of whiskey over a glass of tea.
Meaning not everyone was going to like him. But those who do like him because he stimulates them.
Jake and Sharon fall into the don’t like category ATM.
Casey is cocky and bold and set in his ways about how to train firefighters during Phase 3. And that method seems to be letting them get hands-on and up-close.
Casey wants to help Bode become the best because he knows it’s possible. Of the hundreds of firefighter cadets Camden has trained, he’s never seen anyone like Bode.
Seriously weird to see Bode as the one trying to follow the rules, only to be told to ignore them and do what his boss says. Poor Bode’s probably as confused as a puppy trying to figure out his loyalty to his recently divorced parents.
But there is a reason that Camden wants to teach Bode how to rely on his instincts.
He comes with a sad backstory, and I think it’s a nice nod to another of Thieriot’s shows, SEAL Team. Throughout its run, we often heard of an elite SEAL team unit that died, leaving behind only one member.
That member joined the show for SEAL Team Season 7 to fill the void left by Clay’s (Thieriot) death, which impacted the entire series wrapup.
Casey lost a crew of nine firefighters during a horrendous fire. He blames himself for surviving and for their deaths because he ignored his gut to follow the rules. Given Bode’s heroic outlaw tendencies, having validation for breaking the rules is a lethal weapon.
Sharon is not going to like this.
Jake’s methods are the opposite of Casey’s. He’s like Sharon, preferring to overprotect Bode from himself and everything around him rather than letting him find his way.
Both Sharon and Jake nearly lost their minds when Bode stood on top of the plane to put out a cockpit fire. A move he wasn’t supposed to do as a fire cadet. But Casey let Bode go with his instincts and it led to him becoming an internet sensation.
Jake told Casey Bode is hard to captain. But is he?
Bode did fine with Camden, who used Bode’s fearlessness to their advantage. It seems like Jake meant more like Bode is hard to control.
Who’s in the right? Jake or Camden?
Bode is a loose cannon. Is it a good idea for him to get into the habit of going rogue? At least he followed his new boss’s orders, even if those orders were to disregard following CFD rules.
But then again, Camden seems to march to the beat of his own drum, too, rules be damned. Just look at the way we got introduced to him!
Our first meeting with the maverick SoCal firefighter will forever live on in my memory as one of my favorite scenes.
Walk into a NorthCali bar wearing a Dodgers jersey, denim jeans, and flip-flops, put Tom Petty on the jukebox, and start a fight by throwing your shoe at a giant body of muscle.
Then, to flick a dude with a coin and end the fight with salt and pepper? CBS, we agree with your spinoff decision. Make it happen!
Camden didn’t start the barfight to be a troublemaker. The guys were targeting Bode, blaming him for Diego’s departure. But instead of Bode losing his cool and getting into trouble, Casey came to the rescue.
That’s an interesting way to meet your boss for the first time.
That first impression had to instill some loyalty in someone like Bode. His boss had just taken on a pack of angry drunk guys so he wouldn’t get into trouble.
Casey is quick on his feet, coming up with unconventional ideas. From interrupting the fight to putting out the luggage fire at the firehouse, which backfired into a blazing fire from hell.
Of course, our favorite firefighters must deal with a fire that continues to burn, even underwater. Like huh?
Cool, but uh-oh.
He even had the smart idea of pulling the blazing pallet outside and letting it burn out since they couldn’t extinguish it. Two inside fires seem excessive for one firehouse.
Granted, this season’s station fire occurred from the moronic plane passenger who was too lazy to go outside to blaze up. Not a fire captain in overprotective mode who threw a punch at a bad guy.
A bad guy whose donated kidney is still good. Yay, Sharon isn’t going through kidney rejection.
We’re also happy with the good news of Eve’s path to family reconciliation. She made up with her brother — who initially rubbed this viewer wrong — and found out she will be an aunt.
But only if she reconnects with her parents. We doubt it will be as easy as with her sibling. It may sound demented, but I hope the family drama stretches out a bit.
I’m enjoying seeing more of her personal life. Hopefully, we’ll see her find someone to love soon, too.
What did you think of Fire Country Season 3 Episode 5 and Camden Casey’s entrance? How did you like Jared Padalecki as a surfer fire captain? Did this show do enough to interest you in a series spinoff featuring Casey as the lead actor?
Give us your thoughts in the comments.
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