Fire Country Boss Teases Gabriela's Rock Bottom After a Blazing Winter Finale

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the Season 3 winter finale of Fire Country. Read at your own risk!] 

Fire Country is officially going on winter hiatus but not without leaving a few key members of the Ladder 42 family in grave danger. Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) has been on a downward spiral ever since she left Diego (Rafael de la Fuente) at the altar in the Season 3 premiere. She's been acting out, binge drinking, and mouthing off to her superiors. After sleeping with Jake (Jordan Calloway) last week, she's cruising for a bad time in the winter finale. 

She steps over the line when she siphons gas from a car parked in front of a fire hydrant during the fire of the week. She wants to give the gas to a homeless woman and her daughter, but it's not the best look for a firefighter to be committing crimes. Jake rightfully calls her out on the absurd behavior, but Gabs doesn't want to hear it. She tells Jake to shove it, ditches her protective gear, and walks off the scene. Unfortunately, they are in the middle of an active fire and Gabs end up trapped by the surrounding flames without any of her gear. 

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She's not the only one who's in trouble. Bode (Max Thieriot) didn't listen when Sharon (Diane Farr) told him and Audrey (Levin Rambin) to report back to base when flames got too close to the house they were trying to save. Bode couldn't take the loss, so he insisted that he and Audrey stay, but they soon found themselves surrounded by the fire. The episode ended with them taking shelter in the pool and dunking underwater to try to slow down their smoke inhalation.

Eve (Jules Latimer) is not having a better time after finally taking Three Rock out to her parents' ranch to clear away brush and do a controlled burn to stop the encroaching fire from taking over the entire ranch. She manages to convince her stubborn dad to let her start the burn, but the wind shifts and the embers from the fire catch the barn on fire. After swearing this would be safe, Eve is on the verge of watching her family's legacy go up in flames. This is definitely not going to help make the next family reunion less awkward. 

There's a lot going on as Fire Country takes its holiday break, but TV Guide caught up with showrunner Tia Napolitano to discuss the finale and what fans can expect when the show returns next year. 

Gabs is in grave danger at the end of the episode, but she's been going through it all season. Assuming she makes it out of this, how close is she to hitting rock bottom?
Tia Napolitano: I think we're close to Gabriela's rock bottom. Our show is all about redemption and we really wanted to put her through a difficult time. She's had difficulties earlier in her life, but not so much on screen, not of this magnitude. A human is most interesting when pushed to their limits. We were curious about whether she'd be like Manny and pull herself up like we've seen him do and heard about him doing. But we, and the audience, are craving getting our old Gabriela back soon. 

She's aware that she's spiraling. She's been saying for a long time that she needs to work on herself, and while she understands that the path isn't linear, she doesn't seem to have started that work. What is she looking for to actually start buckling down on that?
Napolitano: I think that Gabriela without Manny doesn't work is a realization that's coming. She's not been great with her dad. They haven't been close. She hasn't had that person to go to, and I think until that wound is healed, she can't work on herself. That's her family. That's her whole family, right? Mom hasn't really been in the picture. I think that getting right with Manny is a big piece of that and will let her say, "Okay, now let me just work on me and start to rise back up again."

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Manny has been on a rollercoaster of his own this season. How is it going to test him in the second half of this season knowing that Gabriela is in danger?
Napolitano: I think he's fully in control and choosing to be where he needs to be. But if you ask Manny to choose between being a star inmate or ensuring his daughter's safety, he's going to pick his daughter every time.  

Jake has been acting like the adult in the room for most of this season, if not longer. Then he takes a real backslide when he sleeps with Gabriela in the penultimate episode. What accounts for that error in judgment? 
Napolitano: It's losing Genevieve. That's huge. Gen wants to stay in Idaho with Rick and that is so hurtful. It pulls the rug out from under him and leaves him super vulnerable in a way that we haven't seen in a long, long time. 

So is he willing to just let her go or will we see him put up more of a fight to keep her?
Napolitano: I think his realization is going to be that if that's what she wants and it's working out for her, it's probably what's best for her. I imagine he weighs the life of a little girl with her siblings and a big house with a yard versus the life of a little girl with one, young, firefighter in an apartment. That life is fine, but she's happy with the kids and the outside. Who is he to take her from that life?

Bode is trying to make some changes and says the old Bode is dead and buried in this episode. Then he does some very vintage Bode stuff and is also in danger. How is this event going to shake him up going forward?

Napolitano: He'll face new challenges, but there's that shine of the first day where you think the way the first day goes is how your whole career is going to go. That's just not true. I think life just keeps on rolling. I think leaving old Bode behind is an evolving lesson for our friend and that proves harder than he thought it was going to be. 

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Eve is also not having a good time with this fire. She finally makes contact with her family and then the ranch catches fire and her progress with them goes up in smoke with the barn. What can you say about how that storyline continues?
Napolitano: We're going to stay there. We're going to crank up the heat, crank up the discomfort and the tension. This has been a long time coming. They have this conversation, and it's not going well. We've really just painted her into a corner and wondering how she'll ever get out of it, which I think is the most satisfying way to cliffhanger a mid-season and then come back to see how she gets out. 

At this point, we've alluded to her family. We've mentioned that things are not good. We've learned some of the history. It really felt like it's time to put faces to names and go to her world. They live in town. Now we learn they live on this beautiful ranch, and Eve loved it once. This is our season of legacy and this is Eve's. It's really complicated. 

She's in a similar position that Bode was in a few episodes ago of having to choose between family and firefighting. How does that battle wear on her in the back half of the season?
Napolitano: Once upon a time, there was a crossroads, and Eve chose firefighting over her family. They were estranged, and now she's here again. Her dad's accusation or implication that she's choosing fire over him again is just wrong. It's a very parental thing to not give your kid the benefit of the doubt. She's there to save the ranch. She's not just lighting matches. She is sticking up for herself, but it'll always be a sore spot for them. It is the original wound in their relationship. That's going to be a touchy one and will need to heal over time, but it's not going away overnight. 

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One of the most exciting developments this season was Vince putting that stage in Smokeys. Will there be any more Billy Burke performances on Fire Country?
Napolitano: If you ask Billy Burke, it would be in every episode. We love a Vince performance and we are always looking for ways to incorporate it into the show, so it was definitely not the last time you will see Billy Burke with a guitar on Fire Country.

I also have to ask: Is there any update you can give us on the potential Fire Country: Surf County spin-off?
Napolitano: I do not have anything on that. I'm sorry! 

What else do you want to tease for the rest of Season 3? It's the winter finale, but we're technically not even halfway through yet. 
Napolitano: We have a lot of new engines for the back half driving toward that finale. There are bigger forces, I don't want to say of evil, but there are some dragons to slay for our people. There are some things for them to butt up against and fight for, which is a sweet spot for them. They'll come together. There are some gasp moments. It's a fun season. Season 3 has been a really fun ride. 

Fire Country returns Friday, Jan. 31 at 9/8c on CBS. Episodes are now available to stream on Paramount+.