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It’s going to be a difficult fall for the Fire Country crew as the CBS drama says goodbye to not one but two main characters when Season 4 premieres this October.
Following the Season 3 cliffhanger, which found Captain Vince Leone (played by Billy Burke), his wife Sharon (Diane Farr) and his father Walter (Jeff Fahey) trapped in a burning building, it was announced that Burke won’t be returning to the series. And he’s not the only one leaving the show: Stephanie Arcila, who plays Bode’s on-and-off love interest Gabriela, is also exiting. But while a grim goodbye seems like the most likely outcome for Vince, given the dire situation he was left in, Arcila’s character will appear in the Season 4 opener, titled “Goodbye for Now,” for what sounds like a more hopeful farewell.
“We’re so happy to have Stephanie back, to have Gabriela back, in the premiere, and we really wrote a love letter to the character,” executive producer Tia Napolitano tells TV Insider, adding that the hour is “really a beautiful sendoff for now that’s fitting to the character that, if you’re fan, I think it’s real fan candy.”
Gabriela’s final episode (for now, at least) will also acknowledge the relationship between her and ex-boyfriend Bode. “We will see glimpses of ‘Bodiela,’” Napolitano says.
The pair have had their ups and downs over the seasons, but they remain very important to each other even though they’re no longer together. So naturally, Gabriela’s goodbye will have a big impact on Bode. “She’ll become very significant to him, as she always has been, in support in his life in the premiere so that he wonders, when she leaves, how he’s going to be without her,” Napolitano previews. “We’ve only known him since she’s been in his life in different capacities over the years, so it’ll shake things up. I think it’ll make us wanting more Gabriela in the future, which is never a bad thing.”
Perhaps Bode can commiserate about Gabby’s departure with her father Manny, who will have to find new channels for his fatherly energy in his daughter’s absence.
“With Gabriela, eventually, not here every episode, he’s got all of this dad advice and dad jokes with nowhere to go, so you see him being a parental figure to Jake, to Eve, of course to Bode, in ways that remind us Manny’s got wisdom,” Napolitano shares.
