Fire Country season 4’s premiere episode updates nevertheless established it as Gabriela’s last, making it imperative that it sets up her departure. Fire Country season 3 gave Gabriela plenty of reasons to look for a fresh start away from Edgewater, but Fire Country season 4’s trailer seemingly points to another reason altogether, one having more closely to do with Bode.
Gabriela’s Confession In Fire Country Season 4’s Trailer Doesn’t Do Justice To The Character
Fire Country showrunner Tia Napolitano told TV Insider how season 4’s premiere works as a love letter to Gabriela that also features glimpses of Bode and Gabriela, likening it to “real fan candy.” This already puts the focus of Gabriela’s exit episode to revolve around Bode. However, Gabriela’s confession to Bode in Fire Country season 4’s trailer effectively confirms that.
Gabriela’s introduction in Fire Country didn’t allow her to be developed as a character in her own right, with her role always being connected to Bode, even when she dated Jake. Whether they were together or not, Gabriela functioned as a prop for Bode’s development, with the promise of their future working as Bode’s guiding light until he moved on.
Gabriela admitting she still loves Bode in Fire Country season 4’s trailer definitively links her departure to Bode and Gabriela’s relationship, instead of using the many tragedies that befell Gabriela personally and the Edgewater community to offer her a way out. This reduces Gabriela’s role to nothing more than Bode’s love interest, not worthy of her story being the focus.
Fire Country season 3 already highlighted such terrible handling of Gabriela. Not wanting a relationship like Bode did could have led to the firefighting drama giving a nuanced portrayal of her problems. Instead, Gabriela’s situation was magically solved by her talking again with her father, wasting her story’s potential that could have made Gabriela three-dimensional and more than Bode’s soulmate.
Gabriela’s Exit Involving Bode Sets Up A Grim Blueprint For Her Potential Return
Gabriela seeing her feelings for Bode as a big enough reason to remove herself from the situation diminishes the serious struggles she faced in Fire Country season 3, which would have been reason enough for her departure. Reflecting on those reiterates Gabriela’s connection to Bode at the detriment of her own development, freezing her in time as Bode’s love interest.
Banking on that doesn’t take into consideration how Bode might change, but it also doesn’t do justice to Gabriela, continuing to see her as an extension of Bode’s storyline even beyond Fire Country’s reach. This cannot help but highlight how Fire Country never saw Gabriela as more than a means to an end by solely addressing her relationship with Bode.
