Bode (Max Thieriot) is going through it when Fire Country Season 4 begins. Not only did his dad, Vince (Billy Burke), die in a fire while he was unable to go in to try to save him, but his ex-girlfriend (Stephanie Arcila‘s Gabriela), whom he’s been leaning on since the loss, is leaving and he has a new boss (Shawn Hatosy‘s Brett Richards) who definitely won’t be running 42 in the Leone way.
Furthermore, he’s an addict and certainly tempted by the pills in his locker, and he sent his girlfriend, Audrey (Leven Rambin), away while she’s dealing with her own stuff (like possibly being charged for shooting Gabriela’s stalker in self-defense). Below, Max Thieriot (also a co-creator and executive producer) breaks down the Season 4 premiere, teases what’s ahead for Bode now that he has a new battalion chief, has lost his father, and has said goodbye to Gabriela, and more. (Plus, read our breakdown of the premiere and what’s to come with executive producer Tia Napolitano
Manny (Kevin Alejandro) is the one to tell Bode that Vince is dead. That relationship is so good. And it feels like of all the people who could have told him in that moment who were there, it had to be Manny, right?
Max Thieriot: 100%. Yeah. Manny has always been the guy that has always been there for Bode. I think they’re so similar in the things that they’ve experienced in their lives, and I think when you go through things like that, it’s easy to look at somebody and say, “You don’t understand. You don’t understand. You don’t know me, you haven’t been through these things.” But most of the stuff that Bode has gone through, Manny, to some level, has. There’s so much similarity. And Manny has from the get always believed in Bode and has always been there for him. And so, yeah, I think there’s really nobody else that could have broken him that news in that moment because I think almost anybody else Bode probably would’ve lashed out at in a way. And I think that Manny and Bode have a real kind of respect between them and just sort of this bond and this love that all Manny needs to do is look at him and so much can be said without even saying anything.
Bode is tempted to take those pills. Vince is dead. Gabriela’s gone. He sends Audrey away. How hard is it going to be for him to not give into temptation?
It’s going to be the hardest thing he’s ever done. Without feeling like he has that support group around him and with him sort of internalizing so many things and pretending like everything is OK, but really in some deep pain that he’s going through inside, he is constantly going to be tempted by the urge to sort of numb that pain and the way that he’s known to numb that pain. And it is really breaking him up inside for sure, it’s tearing him apart, but I think it’s also tearing him apart because Bode, also as selfish as he can be, he’s more selfless than anything, and we’ve seen that throughout the series. And so I think what he wants to do, he’s grown enough to know that some of his decisions ultimately impact those around him so greatly that I think that sort of in a way is the angel on the one side speaking to him, reminding him that while this might make it go away for you, it will destroy everyone around you. And in the past, I think when Bode was isolated and away from everyone, he didn’t have to look those people in the face. And I think seeing his mom and his friends and all these people who care about him deeply, now he’s at a point where that’s why we’ll really feel that push and that pull because so much of him wants to take these pills and make it all go away. But then he looks at these people around him and he now realizes the pain that he can cause other people.
Station 42 has a new battalion chief in Brett, and he says that he’s there to reinvent it, that 42 wasn’t working. We see how Sharon (Diane Farr) feels about Brett being there. How does Bode feel about this guy who plans to change what his father built?
The thing about Brett Richards is I don’t think he’s wrong, but I think that given what the station has gone through and all these people have gone through and losing really sort of the center of their station and this father figure to all of them, emotionally, they’re not at a place where they’re willing to accept any kind of change. I think they still are reeling from picking up the pieces and wanting so badly to turn back time and be back to the way things were that anybody’s going to be the enemy right now. And I think that that person will be viewed as the enemy for different reasons for each character because of what they’re personally experiencing.
I think obviously for Bode, this has been a Leones’ station and this is his father’s house, and to see someone else come in and sit in your dad’s chair at your dad’s seat at the table is like, it’s personal to him. It’s not firefighting. And so he can’t see through the personal side of it. But again, like I said, I don’t think Brett Richards is wrong. I think that he does have the best interest of the station and all these firefighters, but our characters are fairly blinded right now by anything. And so someone coming in and taking that place, that locker at the end of the lockers is accepting the fact that his dad is gone and he is not willing to do that.
Bode also said goodbye to Gabriela, and we saw how much she means to him. She told him that she still loves him and he pointed out that love’s never been their issue. How is he going to be coping without her there? Because even when they weren’t together, she was so important to him.
It’s going to be really hard. I think that they’ve always shown, and Gabriela frankly has given up so much for him throughout the series, and Bode has always said, “You deserve the best. You deserve everything. You deserve better than me. You deserve this, you deserve that.” And she has, and she’s put herself through so many things because of him that now he has to kind of eat his words and as badly, I think, as he wants to tell her to stay, he knows that he’s not at a place where he can really give that to her after losing his dad. And I think she sort of has finally hit a place where after the Finn of it all and everything that she went through, it’s like she really does need to step outside of it and heal and live and just remove herself from all of the things. I think Bode wants so badly to say, “Please stay.” But I think he finally has to let her do that thing so that they can finally grow to be the people that they need to become.
And I think there’s a part of him that knows that could be dangerous for him, but he’s put her through enough danger that he’s unwilling to put himself before her. And so I think the place that we leave them off is frankly kind of like the ideal place. I think we get to see that they have come back together. She’s helped him through some of the most difficult times he’s ever gone through in his life and has been there for him like no one else and knows him, and we get that even in their conversations. She just knows what he needs in those moments. And I think leaving them at this place where they’re finally kind of back to a good place and they leave off with this admission sort of between the two of them, it leaves us with so many possibilities down the road, if/when/where that could be really gratifying and really wonderful.
