It’s another day on Fire Country, which means that Bode (Max Thieriot) and Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) are making terrible choices. The second episode of Fire Country Season 3 kicks off moments after the premiere, with Bode, Gabriela, and Diego (Rafael de la Fuente) running into action after the fuel from the crashed helicopter exploded. Diego helps a firefighter to the truck while Bode and Gabriela go after Gil (Paul Moniz de Sa).
They work on Gil for a short while before Vince (Billy Burke) and the rest of 42 show up to help them out and get Gil to the ambulance. It immediately becomes clear that something happened between Bode and Gabriela before Vince arrived, and the two now harbor a secret about how they treated Gil. It’s only the two of them out there, though, so it’ll stay between them, and no one will ever find out. It’s going to be fine, you know? (Spoiler: It’s not fine.)
‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Episode 2 Follows Bode the Firefighter, Part 100
There’s not a lot of time to dwell on forest secrets because, in a not-shocking-at-all development, Sharon (Diane Farr) and Luke (Michael Trucco) pull off a miracle and get Bode the chance to test into the most exclusive firefighting team in Edgewater. The team is overseen by Jake (Jordan Calloway), and all Bode has to do is pass a verbal exam to skip a level and join the rest of the cadets. The verbal exam is a “hot wash” of the last incident Bode was part of, meaning he has to reiterate everything he and Gabi did during the helicopter fire and what they did to save Gil. He also needs to face questions from Jake, the head of the department, and his fellow cadets, who are not stoked that he’ll be skipping a level of training to join them.
As Bode panics, we see flashbacks of the incident and discover that Gil almost dies because Gabi misses the allergy tag around his neck and gives him medication that sends him into anaphylactic shock. It wouldn’t have happened if she had taken her time and done a proper assessment. If Gabi wasn’t working with the man she’s in love with while wearing the dress she was planning to marry another man in, maybe she would be more focused on the patient. When they manage to stabilize Gil, the duo then chooses to bury Gabi’s mistake so she doesn’t face an internal affairs investigation and potentially lose her job. It is a panicked decision and, in hindsight, just owning up to the mistake would probably be a lot less drama than what they’ve done here.
Bode just needs to stick to the incident report and everything will be fine. He mostly nails the test until it comes time for his fellow cadets to ask him questions. Audrey James (Leven Rambin) steps up and says she has a friend at Three Rock, and he saw Bode and Gabriela fighting during the fire while trying to save Gil. What were they fighting about if the rescue went so smoothly? It is a miracle Bode doesn’t slip on the amount of flop sweat pouring out of him when Audrey asks the question. Luckily, Gabriela is there and comes up with an excuse for the fight — saying Bode forgot an oxygen tank she had asked him to grab, but it was actually her fault because she is the medic and should have checked the supplies.
When Bode gets no further questions, it’s assumed that he’s passed the test, and celebrations of him finally starting a legitimate firefighting career can begin. So naturally, Bode decides to tell Gabriela that he didn’t ditch Gil’s allergy medallion in the woods, which would have made their “it fell off during the explosion” story actually plausible. He still has it and wants her opinion on what they should do so they can do it together. And if you’re thinking these two immediately decide to take the necklace out to the woods and dump it properly you are so sorely mistaken. Bode, instead, is holding the necklace at the fire station he doesn’t officially work at yet. This is not a joke. He puts the medallion in his locker, and it falls out just in time for Jake, his new boss, to find it. Not a single brain cell is used during this entire operation.
Like Father, Not Like Daughter in ‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Episode 2
Fire Country has made it clear that Bode and Gabriela are some sort of endgame, but this latest scheme proves that Manny (Kevin Alejandro) is right about them. They are chaos incarnate. However, Gabi is in no place to listen to her dad because he decides to come at her from an alleged moral high ground on the day of his criminal arraignment. He actually fixes his face to say that he believes she learned to walk out on people from her mother, who abandoned them when Gabi was a preteen. Manny is usually so good at speech, but he really craps the bed with this one, and I can’t blame Gabriella for walking out on him after he says it. And I’m pretty comfortable blaming Gabi for a lot!
A tiff with Gabi is just the beginning of Manny’s problems in this episode. Yes, he punched one dude, but he did it in front of the governor and her staff, so when his public defender goes to work out a deal for him, the district attorney demands that Manny serve three years in prison. That’s the maximum sentence for his crime because the state is paying attention to this case, and the district attorney can’t be seen as being lenient on Manny. Vince and Sharon rally the troops, including Eve (Jules Latimer) and a few of the Three Rock guys who show up at the D.A.’s office, offering statements and affidavits in support of Manny getting a fair sentence.
His sentence is reduced from three years of hard time to twelve months at Three Rock. Manny thinks this is a huge win, but Gabi doesn’t agree. She’s pissed her dad is being incarcerated again because he couldn’t control his impulses. She expects him to apologize for comparing her to her mom, and he expects her to apologize for not showing up to support him. They do not find middle ground, so Manny will be shipping out to Three Rock at an emotional impasse with his daughter.
The Fight for Gen and Other Activities Continue in ‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Episode 2
Naturally, Manny isn’t the only parent struggling in this episode. Before Jake discovers that Bode is a lying liar who lied on his entrance exam, he gets a visit from Rick (Adam Aalderks). They are still waiting for the result of the DNA test that will confirm that Rick is Gen’s (Alex Lefler West) biological father. He tells Jake, again, that he’s not trying to take Gen away. He recognizes that Jake is her father, but if he is the biological father, he’s going to be a part of her life. He wants her to know the truth and for Gen to have the chance to get to know her siblings. Jake is trying to put off telling Gen the truth and adding another potential parent into her life, but Rick isn’t asking for permission to tell her the truth. He’s just warning Jake that it’s going to happen and allowing him to be part of it if he wants. It feels imperative for Jake to have some good luck in the immediate future, because this is way too much to have on a single person’s plate.
Meanwhile, Vince and Sharon are trying to figure out how to parent Bode less. He’s out of Three Rock. He’s in the firefighter program. They need to let him make his own choices, but that also means making choices for themselves, which they are not sure how to do at the beginning of the episode. It turns out the solution is… making huge purchases. Sharon makes a bid for Smokey’s when she finds out it’s potentially being sold to a vegan chain. At the same time, Vince buys a bused air stream he wants to fix up for them to go camping in. It’s a mystery how they afforded both a damaged restaurant and an airstream or how they’ll have the time to fix up either, let alone both. But Vince and Sharon seem happy and the decision to let Bode make his own bad choices feels like a very healthy one. Let us pray they never find out about Gil’s medallion in Bode’s locker, for their own peace and sanity.