Fire Country’s latest episode seems to have resolved the situation with Gil’s (Paul Moniz de Sá) necklace, once and for all. After the previous episode ended with Jake (Jordan Calloway) finding the necklace in Bode’s (Max Thieriot) locker, it looked like Bode and Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) would be facing some serious repercussions. This week, though, the whole storyline gets wrapped up pretty neatly. In Season 3, Episode 3, “Welcome to the Cult,” while Jake decides what to do about the necklace, Bode and Gabriela confess to Gil. Gil immediately forgives them and expresses his gratitude to them for saving his life.
With the Gil situation resolved and their jobs safe, Bode and Gabriela finally have breathing room to discuss their relationship. They haven’t had the chance to properly talk about everything after she ran off on her wedding for him, and it seems like the perfect opportunity for them to get back together. Instead, though, Gabriela expresses to Bode that she wants to take a step back. She worries that their relationship is just a continuation of Bode’s addiction to thrills and that the two of them are too dangerous together. At this point in the show, it feels like a bit of a cop out, as if Fire Country is just stalling Bode and Gabriela’s reunion.
‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Is the Perfect Time to Bring Bode and Gabriela Back Together
For a typical slow-burn pairing, a show can easily go on for many seasons without bringing the two characters together. Once a pairing has actually gotten together and broken up, though, there is only so long that obstacles can keep them apart before it gets too repetitive. Going into Season 3 of Fire Country, the previous obstacles keeping Bode and Gabriela apart are all out of the way. When they broke up at the end of Season 1, Bode pushed Gabriela away because he was going back to prison and didn’t want to hold her back. Now, he is out of prison and on the path toward becoming a firefighter.
Gabriela literally left Diego (Raphael de la Fuente) at the altar because she was in love with Bode. She got into a massive fight with Manny (Kevin Alejandro) when he disapproved of this decision. From a storytelling perspective, it doesn’t make sense that Gabriela would now be having doubts, when she burned everything to the ground because of her love for Bode. Gabriela’s relationship with Diego is no longer an obstacle, and both her and Bode’s jobs are safe. There is nothing standing in the way of them anymore and it is the perfect time for the two to finally get back together.
Why Is ‘Fire Country’ Keeping Bode and Gabriela Apart?
Fire Country has no shortage of messy drama. Even if Bode and Gabriela were to get back together so early in the season, the show would not suddenly become boring. The two of them could still deal with their family issues, their jobs, and everything else that might come their way this season. The only change would be that Bode and Gabriela would then be taking on these struggles as a team. Instead, though, the show seems set on keeping them apart for a while longer, with new and frustrating obstacles.
As Gabriela pushes Bode away in “Welcome to the Cult,” he is simultaneously growing closer to his fellow cadet, Audrey James (Leven Rambin). It seems like Fire Country might be planning to put Bode and Audrey together for now, but it would be a huge mistake. In the past, the show has regularly placed other people in between Bode and Gabriela: Jake, Rebecca (Fiona Rene), Diego. When Gabriela expresses her fears about their relationship in the latest episode, Bode tells her he can be safe and even boring. He tells her that he will wait for her as long as she needs. Their conversation ends on a heavy note, though, and now it seems like the show might be preparing to repeat a tired pattern. Instead of pushing them apart with another outside relationship, Fire Country should finally let Bode and Gabriela get back together.
Fire Country airs Friday nights on CBS and is available to stream the next day on Paramount+.