What To Know
- The Fire Country midseason premiere featured a shocking twist as Tyler was arrested for arson related to the devastating Zabel Ridge fire, surprising both viewers and cast member Kevin Alejandro.
- Manny faced intense scrutiny from Luke over his decisions during the recent fire, but ultimately received unexpected support, with Luke acknowledging Manny’s actions saved lives and offering to take responsibility if needed.
- The episode highlighted emotional family dynamics and teamwork under pressure, with standout performances and improvisation from the cast praised by Alejandro as some of the most rewarding scenes to film.
Fire Country left off its fall finale with multiple lives hanging in the balance and it all hanging on Manny (Kevin Alejandro), the battalion chief in charge of a fire that could become the next Zabel Ridge, the one that consumed Edgewater at the end of Season 3 and ultimately cost Vince (Billy Burke) his life.
Bode (Max Thieriot) and Tyler (Conor Sherry) were under a fire shelter, surrounded by flames in the woods. Jake (Jordan Calloway) and his half-brother Malcolm (Dominic Goodman) were on their way back to the incident command center when they ran into trouble and their engine flipped. And despite Three Rock’s best efforts, the fire just kept getting worse. Now, in the February 27 midseason premiere, “On the Carpet,” Manny faces questions from Luke (Michael Trucco), Vince’s brother and Bode’s uncle who’s now assistant unit chief, about what exactly happened that led to one firefighter’s career possibly being over. Kevin Alejandro told TV Insider he was definitely surprised by the result of that. Warning: Spoilers for Fire Country Season 4 Episode 10 ahead!
But before we dive into that, we must talk about the most shocking moment of the episode: After all is said and done and 42 returns to their station, Bode and his high school crush Chloe (Alona Tal) are making plans for dinner when ATF cuffs her son Tyler — and he’s being charged with arson for Zabel Ridge. As he tells Bode, he’d told him he could pick the kind of kid he wanted to be, and he wants to be the one who does the right thing.
When we asked Alejandro for his reaction to that, he let out a dramatic gasp. “That was my reaction. For real,” he insisted.
CBS
He wasn’t as shocked by Luke’s reaction once he questioned Manny and Sharon (Diane Farr) for the after-action of the most recent fire. The episode is framed by Manny and Sharon explaining to Luke exactly what happened. Bode and Tyler helped free Jake, Malcolm, and the engine’s driver, then eventually made their own way to safety — well, almost all of them. Jake’s leg is caught, and Sharon is so upset when she learns that Manny OKs Bode and Malcolm to go back for him that she punches the battalion chief.
“It’s family, right? We’re in a small town. We’re dealing with family elements, we’re dealing with family choices, and sometimes family gets heated, and that’s what happens in that moment,” explained Alejandro. “And then we deal with it like brother and sister would deal with it, and we squash that s**t and we come together and we still have to get over whatever our personal issues are and then focus on the task at hand, which is save our city, save our town. And we do that in a really great way. I love working with Diane. She’s one of those actors, like Trucco, who comes from a similar world as me, I think, which is in the theater, and which is also engulfed with improvisation, grounded in reality. So she always and they always elevate my instincts. It’s always a really cool opportunity to just riff with each other.”
Bode and Jake are fine, but Malcolm slips and falls down a hill, hitting his head. He’s still in the hospital, unconscious, at the end of the episode. But it wasn’t Manny’s fault, Luke tells him. His call to send Bode and Malcolm back in is why Jake’s alive. He’s also gotten some good advice about how to do these hotwashes: Put yourself in their shoes. Would you make same calls in good faith? If Sacramento needs a head to roll, it’ll be his, he promises. He can handle it.
That is “completely surprising,” Alejandro agreed, expecting viewers to feel the same way. “Everyone just assumes [Luke] has another agenda, but also, it just adds another layer to his character as of like, OK, there is a reason he’s Vince’s brother. They come from the same world. He does have a heart. He does have good intentions when he believes in something.”
He also loved filming those scenes in Luke’s office, first with Michael Trucco then with Diane Farr as well. He called them among “the most fun I’ve had with scenes” Fire Country so far.
“As you know, our show is big and it’s exciting and it’s full of energy, but what made this particular part of our journey so fun was that it’s two people and then eventually three people sitting in front of each other just talking,” Alejandro shared. “The challenge was making you understand and making you believe that we’re having a real conversation. And so it was a really amazing experience. Trucco is just so good. And we did a lot of improv, quippy kind of stuff that would lead us into the actual scripted dialogue. It was good. It was a good challenge. It was beautiful.”
What did you think of the midseason premiere? Let us know in the comments section below.
Fire Country, Fridays, 9/8c, CBS
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
