Fire Country’s First Major Death Is a Blessing in Disguise for the Most Popular TV Series
Fire Country’s first major death turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the No. 1 TV show of the 2023-2024 season. The CBS firefighting show premiered in 2022 and quickly became a hit for the network. As Max Thieriot’s return to television after leaving the SEALs, the show has a lot of fans, despite criticism of Fire Country’s accuracy. Aside from the main premise of seeing the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, respond to various fire threats in their area, the show’s main appeal lies in its characters.
Admittedly, Fire Country wasn’t exactly a critical darling despite its viewership success. It ranked 19th in the ratings, averaging more than 7.3 million viewers per week. This makes it more popular than smaller dramas like both Law & Order season 23 and Law & Order: SVU season 25, as well as Grey’s Anatomy season 21. Despite the issues with the storytelling, death is still a part of the story, given its premise. With that said, Fire Country seasons 1 and 2 had some major losses, but the first major casualty of the firefighter procedural happened at the end of its first year.
Due to the nature of their work, Cal Fire participants risk their lives every day in the name of duty. So death is understandable in Fire Country. That said, the CBS police procedural has been able to get away with only a few major casualties on the show so far—this could change as the stakes of the story get higher in the future. Fire Country’s first major death is Rebecca Lee, played by Fiona Rene, Bode Leone’s cellmate who was also a member of Three Rock.
The character’s popularity on the Northern California-set Fire Country grew when she died. During a joint mission with Black Creek, she was accidentally hit in the stomach by a falling tree while the team was trying to rescue an injured Eve Edwards. While Bode and others were able to get her to the hospital, she eventually passed away after her spleen ruptured.
Rebecca’s death on Fire Country was tragic, but in real life, it was a blessing for Rene, who was able to join the cast of Tracker. Justin Hartley’s latest drama ranked as the most-watched show of the 2023-2024 season, averaging nearly 11 million viewers per week. On Tracker, Rene plays Reenie Greene, a lawyer who is an ally of Hartley’s “reward,” Colter Shaw. The actress appeared in several episodes in the first year, but she is expected to be involved more in the upcoming season.
While joining a highly successful show like Fire Country isn’t a bad thing, Fiona’s role as Rebecca is pretty small compared to the role she’s currently playing on Tracker. Aside from being the person Colter goes to for any legal issues, there’s also the possibility that they could eventually develop a romance, which would only expand her involvement in CBS’s latest procedural. Overall, both shows benefited from Rebecca’s death. The incident reset the stakes for Fire Country. Meanwhile, it led to Tracker eventually casting Rene as Reenie.
