Fire Country

Fire Country showrunner Tia Napolitano shares what to expect from the rest of the season of the new CBS drama.

And I just think that's very relatable and very exciting and comforting to share with our viewers. "I think the program is very ambitious, and is very much looking to help people carve a path to redemption, and that's really what we're looking to highlight. There will be action to tune in for every week and a healthy dose of soap, cliffhangers, relationship entanglements, deep family exploration will always be there for you as well every week. And our characters are constantly evolving and rolling with the punches and hopefully becoming better making some mistakes, but overall, clawing their way to becoming a better version of themselves. They have conflicts and they really hash it out and they hold each other very accountable and always find their way back to each other at the end of the day. Our show lives very much in the present, but we do let the audience in on some key pieces of flashback that make the state of relationships today make a lot more sense, and feel more raw and emotional and deep. And like I said, CallFire is a full-service department so it might be a water rescue, it might be a carbon monoxide leak or a simple medical call or a huge structure fire, but there will be an incident to tune in for every week. Bode ( [Max Thieriot](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/max-thieriot/3030114822/)) is not just a convict trying to make up for his crimes by training as a firefighter, but he's doing it in his hometown, surrounded by his firefighter family and constant reminders of the death of his sister. Until a new bill was signed in 2020, it was very difficult for people with criminal records to turn their prison careers into a real career as a firefighter, and the pay is miniscule for such difficult, dangerous work. Thieriot has friends and relatives who are firefighters, and they work side by side with inmates as part of a real California program in which inmates live in "fire camps" and help stave off wildfires using various tools to take out vegetation and create spots that will stop the fire from spreading. "We're very committed to exploring the reality of this program," Napolitano says. [Fire Country](https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/fire-country/1060153216/), fire is both a second chance and a family business, as was revealed in the final moments of the first episode.

Max Thieriot stars and executive produces 'Fire Country' for CBS. The show is a passion project for him, and fans want to know if it's a true story.

When Max announced that CBS greenlit Fire Country for one season, many SEAL Team fans worried about his future on the network’s other crime drama. I got a couple of kids to throw in there and moving around up to Vancouver to shoot a TV show. If fans are upset that Fire Country is mostly fiction, they aren’t the only ones who found the show problematic. The write-up explained that the SEAL Team star pivoted behind the scenes to create a new show for CBS, [Fire Country](https://www.distractify.com/p/fire-country-filming-locations). We don’t have any record of the actor ever serving a prison sentence, and the outlet shared that he created the plot himself. [Max Thieriot](https://www.instagram.com/p/CZmmpzSpoD2/) posted a Deadline article to his Instagram account.

In CBS' 'Fire Country,' Max Thieriot stars as a man who joins California's inmate firefighter program in hopes of reducing his sentence — and finds himself ...

But it is telling that Manny offers it just to Bode, while surrounded by empty prison cots that remind us that Bode is one of many. In Fire Country, the fires seem to come from nowhere, and their repercussions rain down offscreen to characters we don’t see enough of to care about. It’s a missed opportunity to dig into the specific experiences of California’s inmate firefighters — to examine the relationship between professional firefighters and their incarcerated counterparts, or to question how participants in the program who aren’t angsty heroes forced to return to their hometowns might feel about the bargain they’ve struck. Fire Country could spend some time exploring the psychologies of its firefighters — what attracts them to such dangerous jobs in the first place and what makes them excel at it, and the personal toll that constant peril can take on a person’s life. However, Fire Country‘s incuriosity also undermines the more personal themes it does want to grapple with — namely those about forgiveness and second chances. Fire Country notably spares very little time or attention for the all-prisoner firefighting team that Bode ostensibly spends most of his time with. Tre Davis), who serves variously as comic relief for an otherwise straight-faced show, or as the Goofus to Bode’s Gallant. Perhaps nuanced discussions of such heated issues are too much to expect from Fire Country, which does not pretend to harbor ambitions of hard-hitting commentary. But they’re let down by a script that sounds too often like a first draft waiting for some nuance and personality to flesh out its core ideas. The series takes its time mapping out precisely how all the principal players are connected to Bode, adding a bit of soapy intrigue to go with the flame-based episodic storylines. The gambit works possibly too well: So overwhelming is the Bode-ness of it all that Fire Country leaves little oxygen for anything or anyone else, flattening what could have been a smarter, more interesting procedural. He’s simply a scruffy knight in fire-resistant armor, tailor-made for audiences to admire and swoon over.

Two of "Fire Country"'s regular cast members, Jordan Calloway and Jules Latimer, have Atlanta ties.

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Fire Country series premiere.] When he can't get parole, Bode (Max Thieriot) — who robbed an innocent ...

She was crying and trying to get out of the car to go back to Jake, Bode pulled her back in and lost control. She know what kind of a guy you are?” He saved Jake because he wasn’t going to let him die a hero. But Bode makes sure to cover his face as he helps free the injured Jake then cover them both with his fire shelter since the firefighter had taken off his pack and can’t get to his. And it’s probably a good thing he does, because Edgewater’s dealing with a massive fire, one that requires the inmates to put to use what they just learned; also helping are a group of civilians, led by Gabriela, putting the skills her dad to good use. But he’s going to get the chance to prove that may not be the case. The two bond over waiting years for their lives to begin: her four years with the Olympics, his time in prison.

CBS | A gorgeous S.W.A.T. premiere drew 4.6 million total viewers and a 0.4 demo rating, down just a tick from its previous averages. Fire Country debuted to ...

Blue Bloods‘ season opener (6.1 mil/0.4) exactly matched its previous averages. This is only an exhibition, not a competition; please, no wagering. [time slot predecessor Magnum P.I.](http://tvline.com/tag/magnum-pi) (which last season averaged 5.2 mil/0.4). Fire Country debuted to 5.7 mil and a 0.4, drawing a few more viewers than NBC-bound [[email protected]](http://[email protected]%E2%80%9D) and your question may be answered via [Matt’s Inside Line](http://tvline.com/category/matts-inside-line/). premiere drew 4.6 million total viewers and a 0.4 demo rating, down just a tick from its previous averages.