Eve experiences a new level of frustration with Three Rock on Fire Country Season 4 Episode 8, “Fresh Start.”
While Eve is no stranger to conflict and being the one to navigate through tricky issues, this time around, she’s a little hesitant to engage.
Rather than dealing with adults and being able to speak her mind freely, she has to be more calculated in her approach. That’s because the new bodies taking up space at Three Rock are youth offenders.
Meanwhile, Bode is keeping his word and spending his free time with Tyler. Through his consistency and outreach, Bode garners a small connection with him and uncovers a dark secret he’s been holding on to.
A New Beginning
Fire Country excels with “Fresh Start” and making the move to introduce a dozen new faces. Not only does it bring further conflict to the overall plot, but it also gives Eve one chaotically gigantic push toward what she’s been working so hard toward.
With any new team comes the usual awkward tension and conflict as we learn one another’s tendencies. And man, do these boys have quite the hill to conquer.
From the jump, we see them fighting one another, hurling insults, and providing no real attention toward learning the ways of Three Rock. That despite them studying and taking the prerequisite exams to enter the program.
However, tensions hit the boiling point for Eve and the boys when Manny activates them on their first day as a team. Eve knows it’s too early. Jake knows it’s too early. Hell, even the viewer knows it’s too early, but that doesn’t stop Manny from trying to prove a point.
In his quest to force Eve to immediately begin forming a bond with the boys, he instead sets them up for a disastrous failure. During their fighting, one of the hoses intended to help Bode and Luke gets severed.
Their mistake leads to one of the most deafening moments on “Fresh Start”: when Eve, in a moment of frustration, quips back to Manny that they aren’t her men. Even though the majority of them aren’t treating the situation with the seriousness needed or putting in the effort they should, her words echo amongst them, and it’s clear it hurts for them to hear.
With her general unease around kids, it’ll be interesting to see how Eve approaches building a solid ground moving forward.
One upside to the situation, though, is that we do get to see Manny apologise for pushing Three Rock too early.
Hopefully, moving forward, he will learn to listen to Eve about what is best for Three Rock. Had he not forced her hand, Station 96 could have joined from the beginning, ensuring a smoother rescue all around.
A Devil in Disguise
While it’s not a fun discussion topic, it is statistically proven that children are prone to more violence when living in a household with stepparents.
Unfortunately, we see that scenario play out on screen on “Fresh Start.” While Bode spends the day engaging with Chloe and slowly getting Tyler to work toward straightening out his behaviour, we see the figurative light switch flipped within Landon.
The sweet, caring, and thoughtful person we’ve seen up to this point is revealed to be a belligerent, emotionally abusive asshole who takes his anger out on Tyler when his mother is away.
Bode swooping in to the rescue and defending Tyler is by far one of my favorite moments of the season from him. The audience already knows the qualities Bode possesses and the lengths he’ll go to for those he loves, and it’s nice to see it on display.
Not only is Bode in his natural groove when he’s working with others who need coaching, but forming that bond with Tyler is also what makes him feel more comfortable and leads him to reveal a bombshell of knowledge accidentally.
On top of being a pathetic loser of an adult, Tyler’s comments paint the picture of Landon also potentially being an arsonist. If he’s correct, Landon could be the one behind the Zabel Ridge Fire that wreaked havoc on Edgewater. Aka, the reason his father died.
One of my favorite aspects of “Fresh Start” is seeing the tremendous personal growth Bode has experienced.
Season 2 Bode would have taken Landon outside and given him a beating for bucking back at him inside Chloe’s home. Not only that, but pre-growth Bode would have never called Sharon first when discovering the person responsible for the death of his father.
While I’ve been outspoken about my thoughts on Bode being thrust into a new relationship so quickly after Audrey in my past reviews, I don’t mind this protective side of him.
Tyler might not be blood-related, but he’s clearly earned himself a protector for as long as Bode lives.
Fire Country Season 4 Episode 8, “Fresh Start,” perfectly balances introducing a dozen new cast members with maintaining the primary plot and advancing side storylines.
Now that the next steps in the highly anticipated reveal of Jake’s brother have been set, I hope proper time is allocated for exploration in Jake’s storyline. The problems he faces sometimes feel like they can be put on the back burner or sped through in an attempt to get to the next issue.
