It seems like only yesterday that I was saying Bode (Max Thieriot) is currently the most rational of his generation of firefighters on Fire Country. Okay, it was last week, but the point is that I already have regrets. It took him a quarter of an episode to have me sighing in exasperation, and it wasn’t long before Bode gets up to his old ways, putting both his and Manny’s (Kevin Alejandro) careers in jeopardy again. At some point, maybe we’ll accept that Bode is never going to learn his lesson, but that day is not today. Fire Country’s latest episode begins with the exposition that Bode is on his final day of parole before being a fully free man. The problem? Station 42 has also been assigned to help the ATF with the Zabel Ridge investigation, and Manny can see that his protégé is itching to be triggered.
While Manny has his hands full trying to keep Bode from getting himself thrown back in prison at the last minute, Eve (Jules Latimer) is thinking about what “the next big step” really looks like with her girlfriend Fran (Katie Findlay) and what it’ll mean for the future she envisions for herself. Across town, Sharon (Diane Farr) is facing down demons from her past and is shocked to find them showing up on her front doorstep.
Bode Wants a Fight in the Zabel Ridge Investigation
Bode missed the kindergarten lesson on what “no” means, though, and starts his own investigation. He compiles a list of every person who has been working at Smokey’s since those lighters were in commission and narrows in on a former barback who quit a few days after the Zabel Ridge fire. It turns out the same guy recently got in trouble for some illegal fireworks. That information emboldens Bode to accost Agent Ruffin (Luvia Peterson), the lead ATF investigator on the case, during her lunch break to push her to look into this lead he just found. She encourages him to give the information to the tip line, which Bode finds insulting. He demands that she gets justice for his dad or he’ll do it himself! Telling a federal agent that you plan to derail her investigation unless she follows your orders sounds like an incredibly rational and level-headed thing to do with 10 hours left on your parole. What is it going to take for us to get two consecutive episodes of Bode using common sense? He is the most infuriating main character on network TV.
A miracle occurs, and Bode listens to Manny, but it’s a close call. He put his hoodie on and looked ready to go full vigilante mode, but he stops himself at the last minute, giving Manny time to arrive on the scene and ensure Bode fully steps away from the edge. It’s a good thing, too, because Agent Ruffin arrives with her team shortly afterward. If Bode had broken in, he would have been caught trespassing and potentially assaulting a person of interest in an important investigation, and he definitely would have ended up back in handcuffs.
Are We Going to Get Mama Eve?
On a happier note, Eve and Fran are getting really serious. Eve kicks off the episode by giving Fran a key to her apartment to prove that she’s all-in after taking some time to process her grief after the Zabel Ridge fire. However, Fran is looking for more than keys. She wants to be a mom. She’s not expecting her or Eve to get pregnant tomorrow, but she’s taking steps to become a foster parent, and she wants Eve to come along for the ride.
That….is a lot of information for Eve to process. She really thought she was doing something with the whole key situation, and Fran just upped the level of commitment Olympics on her. It’s something that Eve needs to think about, which she does on the Station 42 incident that day when she takes care of a barbecue restaurant owner suffering from severe smoke inhalation. She has to manage her patient and his curious grandchildren, which proves that Eve has a way with kids. The encouraging grandfather tells her that compromises have to be made for love, which makes Eve consider what she’s willing to concede to make her relationship with Fran work.
It’s a Mom Thing With Sharon and Her Mom
Eve is improving her relationship with the word “mom,” but the same cannot be said for Sharon. After finding out that her mother was blackmailing Vince before his death, Sharon goes through the Leone records to try and figure out exactly what Ruby (Christine Lahti) was holding over her late husband. The files lead her to Walter (Jeff Fahey) because Vince was skimming money Sharon thought was for Walter’s care to pay Ruby. Luckily, Walter is having a lucid day when Sharon has him brought over for lunch.
That’s a massive amount of guilt that can come off of Sharon’s shoulders. She uses the now free brain space to call her mom and say that the payments won’t be coming anymore because Vince is dead but Sharon wants her to continue staying away from her family. Maybe Bode gets his inability to listen to directions from his maternal grandmother, because the next thing Sharon knows, Ruby is at her front door. She’s coming to stay for a bit and Diane Farr has already teased to Collider that it’s going to lead to Sharon doing “bad things.” Honestly, I don’t know if I can handle Sharon and Bode going off the rails at the same time, especially when there’s no Vince to counteract them! How are they going to make it through this impending train wreck?
