Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
'Everyone's story will be very, very surprising from the moment you see them.'
It's all about second chances in Edgewater, California, and fans of Fire Country have been patiently waiting for a second chance to watch the CBS series. And for good reason: When Season 1 ended, it left viewers with numerous cliffhangers. Not only was Bode sent back to prison, but he also claimed he was a drug dealer within Three Rock and his high school sweetheart revealed he may have a secret child.
With all those open storylines, it's been a long summer — and now fall — with fans waiting for the most watched new broadcast series of 2022-2023 to return. Although primetime series traditionally come back in early fall, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes delayed production and filming. Now that the WGA strike has ended, we're getting closer to Fire Country Season 2 returning. Read on to see when it could premiere, who will be in it, and everything else we know so far.
More on Fall TV 2023:
Max Thieriot, Fire Country
Sergei Bachlakov/CBSThe Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike began on May 2, which meant a delay in writing Fire Country Season 2 scripts. However, when the strike ended on Sept. 27, the writers room quickly got back to work. They regrouped on Oct. 3 and began writing the sophomore season, according to Deadline.
"I feel energized, and honestly, Season 2 is not a continuation of Season 1," showrunner Tia Napolitano said. "It's the next chapter, and I think, having had a rest from Season 1, we feel like we're ready to come back even stronger and shock everybody from the second the episodes start to air when we're finally out there."
Although the Fire Country writers are back at work, the SAG-AFTRA strike is ongoing, which means the actors can't return yet. Because of this, it's unlikely we'll see Fire Country Season 2 before 2024. If the strike ends within the next month, it's possible we could see a 13-episode second season with a spring 2024 premiere.
"There will be fire… and there will be country," co-executive producer Anupam Nigam jokingly told Deadline about Season 2. Beyond that, Napolitano added: "My goal is to, the first time we see each and every character, the audience will gasp and be shocked, everyone's story will be very, very surprising from the moment you see them."
Although the showrunners and producers did not share specifics, we know Season 2 will have to address all the cliffhangers that the Season 1 finale left open — the biggest being how Bode Donovan (series co-creator Max Thieriot) will get back to the fire prison camp Three Rock.
At the end of the season, Bode was approached by someone from the state's attorney's office who was investigating drug activity at Three Rock. She's set her sights on Bode, and if he doesn't confess, his friend Freddy Mills (W. Tré Davis) won't be released. Because Freddy has a wife and baby on the outside, Bode cops to leading the drug ring and is sent back to prison.
Fire Country Season 2 will have to address how Bode gets back to Three Rock — if he does — and what this means for his relationship with Gabby (Stephanie Arcila). "I'm really excited for Gabriela's new moment and for her to be a little more present in her life," Arcila told TV Guide when the Season 1 finale aired. "She's releasing a lot of expectations and control that she's used to having."
It might not help that Bodie's high school sweetheart Cara (Sabina Gadecki) told his best friend Jake (Jordan Calloway) that she had a baby in secret when she was 19 and her parents raised it as her sister. The timing means it could be Bodie's.
Finally, Season 2 will also need to resolve what's going on with Bode's mom, Sharon Leone (Diane Farr). She was sent to the hospital after she collapsed during the mudslide rescue. She's forced to come clean with her husband, Vince (Billy Burke), that his brother Luke (Michael Trucco) is a donor match for her kidney.
Although Season 2 of Fire Country hasn't been fully written yet and casting hasn't been announced because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, it's likely that much of the cast will return for the second season because there weren't any deaths or departures in Season 1.
All 22 episodes of Fire Country Season 1 are available to stream on Paramount+ with a subscription. You can also purchase the season on Prime Video or Apple TV.