‘Fire Country’ Teases [Spoiler]’s Exit After Bode, Audrey’s Shocking Split

Fire Country hinted at a third possible cast exit after a main couple called it quits.

During the Friday, November 7, episode of the hit CBS series, Audrey (Leven Rambin) and Manny (Kevin Alejandro) discovered Bode (Max Thieriot)’s hidden pills and he had to face the consequences. Manny offered to take accountability for Bode, who tested negative on the mandated drug test.

Bode ultimately proved that he could be trusted — and Manny earned the position of Cal Fire Battalion Chief. But Bode’s road to recovery caused Audrey to take a step back so he could focus on himself instead of their relationship. She also chose to take a job at another fire station, which called into question Rambin’s future on the show.

Earlier this year, Fire Country’s third season ended on a cliffhanger with Vince (Billy Burke), Sharon (Diane Farr) and Walter’s (Jeff Fahey) lives left in the balance. News broke hours after the finale aired in April that budget cuts led to Burke, 58, and Stephanie Arcila’s exits. (Burke has yet to address his departure.)

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“I had no idea ever. But at the same time, I know that this is the nature of the industry that I’m in, and I have accepted the flow of release and acceptance throughout my journey and knowing that when one door closes, another one always opens,” Arcila, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly in April. “We have this beautiful eternal door of revolving desires in what we love in life. I believe that if we put resistance towards that, sometimes it stops us from fulfilling other things that we love.”

While speaking to Us, showrunner Tia Napolitano defended the vision for the series going forward.

“It’s a fire show. Anyone can go at any time,” she said in October about the character deaths and departures. “But in terms of losing people, we’re also adding some really fun guest cast. It’s a revolving door of people from Sharon’s past and new faces that are exciting to bring conflict and secrets and twists and turns.”

While there are plans for “really spicing it up” this season, the show still has to walk a “fine line” of paying tribute to the loss experienced on screen.

“What we’ve done is really thread the needle of honoring — especially Vince — because Gabriella is gone, but she’s gone to a happy and successful life. She’s still out there. But we really walk this line of honoring Vince while also finding hope rather quickly,” she noted. “Looking forward, the theme of the season is rising from the ashes and recovery.”

Napolitano continued: “How do you recover from something like this? And we’re really going to see everybody rise to the occasion, in celebration of Vince, of his life and in honoring the sacrifice that he made.”

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Before Audrey’s transfer, Napolitano teased the outcome of her romance with Bode.

“She’s back. They will be a couple that we really root for. We throw some obstacles at them right off the bat. You see Bode grab for those pills in the premiere and that’s going to be an issue for him,” Napolitano teased. “She’s going to be someone that he’s really able to to lean on and who’s really going to encourage him to choose good over evil and to be the person he’s worked to be for all these seasons that we’ve seen him.”

When asked about the fan backlash against Bode’s connection with Audrey, Napolitano replied, “We love for an audience to have strong opinions. I love a slow burn romance. I love longing. I love rooting for two people to get together. That’s a show that’s in it for the long run — with a long romantic arc. I think getting [Bode and Gabriela] together would have felt like the less exciting version. I want the audience to want for them to be together.”

Fire Country airs on CBS Fridays at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes will be streaming the next day on Paramount+.