Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Fire Country Season 4, Episode 6.It seems like only yesterday that I was saying Bode (Max Thieriot) is currently the most rational of his generation of firefighters on Fire Country. Okay, it was last week, but the point is that I already have regrets. It took him a quarter of an episode to have me sighing in exasperation, and it wasn’t long before Bode gets up to his old ways, putting both his and Manny’s (Kevin Alejandro) careers in jeopardy again. At some point, maybe we’ll accept that Bode is never going to learn his lesson, but that day is not today. Fire Country’s latest episode begins with the exposition that Bode is on his final day of parole before being a fully free man. The problem? Station 42 has also been assigned to help the ATF with the Zabel Ridge investigation, and Manny can see that his protégé is itching to be triggered.
While Manny has his hands full trying to keep Bode from getting himself thrown back in prison at the last minute, Eve (Jules Latimer) is thinking about what “the next big step” really looks like with her girlfriend Fran (Katie Findlay) and what it’ll mean for the future she envisions for herself. Across town, Sharon (Diane Farr) is facing down demons from her past and is shocked to find them showing up on her front doorstep.
Bode Wants a Fight in the Zabel Ridge Investigation
Bode tells Sharon that he wants Station 42 to help with the Zabel Ridge investigation. He wants to help find whoever started the fire that killed Vince (Billy Burke) in the right way, so Sharon obliges and gets 42 assigned to cleanup duty with a promise that everyone on the crew will behave. Bode is on the scene for a couple of hours before he uncovers evidence of a potential fire accelerant. The lead agent blocks off the scene to properly tag the new evidence, and Bode oversteps the barrier to see that it’s an old Smokey’s lighter. He’s already out of line by crossing the boundary, but he insists that the ATF let him help with the investigation since his parents own Smokeys. That offer is declined, and Manny is warned he needs to get Bode in line because the feds aren’t interested in giving either of them second chances (or third, in Manny’s case) after their prison sentences. Yikes.
Bode missed the kindergarten lesson on what “no” means, though, and starts his own investigation. He compiles a list of every person who has been working at Smokey’s since those lighters were in commission and narrows in on a former barback who quit a few days after the Zabel Ridge fire. It turns out the same guy recently got in trouble for some illegal fireworks. That information emboldens Bode to accost Agent Ruffin (Luvia Peterson), the lead ATF investigator on the case, during her lunch break to push her to look into this lead he just found. She encourages him to give the information to the tip line, which Bode finds insulting. He demands that she gets justice for his dad or he’ll do it himself! Telling a federal agent that you plan to derail her investigation unless she follows your orders sounds like an incredibly rational and level-headed thing to do with 10 hours left on your parole. What is it going to take for us to get two consecutive episodes of Bode using common sense? He is the most infuriating main character on network TV.
‘Fire Country’ Season 4 Gives Max Thieriot a ‘SEAL Team’ Reunion With Bode’s New Love Interest
New episodes debut on CBS every Friday.
Ruffin doesn’t finish her lunch at Smokeys, but she does find time to call Manny and tell him to get his dude in line, which he does promptly. Bode is supposed to have the day off, but Manny pulls rank and drags Bode out on the incident that day so he can’t get into trouble. However, this is Bode we are talking about, so he’ll find a way regardless. He steals one of the Station 42 vehicles and goes to his suspect’s house. He’s like that Peter Griffin with the shotgun meme from Family Guy, “I just want to talk to him.” Absolutely no one believes that, Bode! Thank God Manny is still on top of things. He realizes the truck is missing and what Bode must be up to. He calls his probie and tells him to stand down. There’s like two hours left on his parole now! We are in the home stretch! For the love of God, Bode, do not get thrown back in prison weeks just after your father died and put Sharon through even more stress!
A miracle occurs, and Bode listens to Manny, but it’s a close call. He put his hoodie on and looked ready to go full vigilante mode, but he stops himself at the last minute, giving Manny time to arrive on the scene and ensure Bode fully steps away from the edge. It’s a good thing, too, because Agent Ruffin arrives with her team shortly afterward. If Bode had broken in, he would have been caught trespassing and potentially assaulting a person of interest in an important investigation, and he definitely would have ended up back in handcuffs.
Do you think that this close call was enough to make Bode reconsider his choices and recommit to the straight and narrow? So sorry, this is Fire Country, and he will continue this reckless behavior. Bode’s suspect has an alibi for the Zabel Ridge fire, so the actual arsonist is still out there. Manny says that Bode won’t go looking for this new person, but you can tell by the look on Bode’s face that he isn’t keeping that promise. The wheels are already turning, and he’s going to do something so incredibly stupid before this investigation is over. I will be here to bemoan whatever it is when it happens.
Are We Going to Get Mama Eve?
On a happier note, Eve and Fran are getting really serious. Eve kicks off the episode by giving Fran a key to her apartment to prove that she’s all-in after taking some time to process her grief after the Zabel Ridge fire. However, Fran is looking for more than keys. She wants to be a mom. She’s not expecting her or Eve to get pregnant tomorrow, but she’s taking steps to become a foster parent, and she wants Eve to come along for the ride.
That….is a lot of information for Eve to process. She really thought she was doing something with the whole key situation, and Fran just upped the level of commitment Olympics on her. It’s something that Eve needs to think about, which she does on the Station 42 incident that day when she takes care of a barbecue restaurant owner suffering from severe smoke inhalation. She has to manage her patient and his curious grandchildren, which proves that Eve has a way with kids. The encouraging grandfather tells her that compromises have to be made for love, which makes Eve consider what she’s willing to concede to make her relationship with Fran work.
Eve is not ready to sign up to be a foster parent or promise that she ever wants kids. However, she is willing for Fran to put her on the foster parent application as her girlfriend and someone who will be in the life of whichever kid Fran ends up fostering. It’s a big step for them, and fostering may prove to Eve that she really does have what it takes to be a parent — and she may have more time for the endeavor once the new Three Rock is up and running, which is going to happen within the next few episodes.
It’s a Mom Thing With Sharon and Her Mom
Eve is improving her relationship with the word “mom,” but the same cannot be said for Sharon. After finding out that her mother was blackmailing Vince before his death, Sharon goes through the Leone records to try and figure out exactly what Ruby (Christine Lahti) was holding over her late husband. The files lead her to Walter (Jeff Fahey) because Vince was skimming money Sharon thought was for Walter’s care to pay Ruby. Luckily, Walter is having a lucid day when Sharon has him brought over for lunch.
The two have a nice lunch of steak and charcuterie before they get down to brass tax. Walter reveals that Vince has been paying Ruby to stay away from Sharon since Riley died. Sharon got into a motorcycle accident shortly after her daughter died and Vince thought it might have been because Sharon was trying to end her life. Having Ruby around, especially with the insinuation that if Sharon was a better mother, Riley wouldn’t have died, would only make things worse. Walter also confesses that he saw Vince before he pulled Sharon out of the Zabel Ridge fire. He knew his son was dead, and that’s why he forced Sharon out. If he told her in the moment, he knew he’d never get her out of the building. Vince was dead before they left him, which means there’s nothing else Sharon could have done for him.
That’s a massive amount of guilt that can come off of Sharon’s shoulders. She uses the now free brain space to call her mom and say that the payments won’t be coming anymore because Vince is dead but Sharon wants her to continue staying away from her family. Maybe Bode gets his inability to listen to directions from his maternal grandmother, because the next thing Sharon knows, Ruby is at her front door. She’s coming to stay for a bit and Diane Farr has already teased to Collider that it’s going to lead to Sharon doing “bad things.” Honestly, I don’t know if I can handle Sharon and Bode going off the rails at the same time, especially when there’s no Vince to counteract them! How are they going to make it through this impending train wreck?
Fire Country continues Fridays at 9 PM ET on CBS. Episodes are available the next day on Paramount+.
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