For a “Fire Country” finale, Friday’s episode lacks quite a bit of blaze — but the fresh take on an Edgewater emergency aptly reflects the emotional season’s joyous ending.
The Season 4 finale picks up right where we left off, with Bode, Jake, and Danny trapped in a rural cabin surrounded by surging flood water. Danny at first resists Jake and Bode’s help — he’s still holding a grudge against Bode, who, amid his troubled past, violently broke into Danny’s home 10 years ago and left an emotional scar.
Soon, the situation gets even more dire as water shatters a window and rushes into the home, causing Danny to get pinned against the wall by a huge piece of furniture. Finally, Danny accepts Bode and Jake’s help, and the pair manages to rescue Danny just moments before he drowns.
The entire crew ultimately survives the catastrophic flood — including Manny’s ex-wife, who was in a precarious position mid-surgery when the hospital’s power went out and survived only thanks to Three Rock who restored power. (Oh, Manny’s ex-wife also has Manny’s new girlfriend, Dr. Camille, to thank, since she provided crucial care during the storm.)
Sharon and Bode step in to save Jake’s wedding
Having survived catastrophe yet again, the 42 crew celebrates with a proper party at Jake and Violet’s wedding. Well, almost proper: The firefighter had left the rings inside the truck that got washed away in the flood, and he’s left scrambling at the altar for some kind of token to symbolize his devotion.
Bode unexpectedly steps in, saving the day by offering up Vince’s wedding ring, which he keeps tied around his neck. Sharon offers her blessing, approving of the gesture, and slips off her own ring to give to Violet.
The way the season began, in the thick of intense grief and heartbreak, it’s hard to imagine that Bode would readily part ways with such a pivotal piece of Vince’s history — especially not for Jake, with whom he’s shared plenty of tension.
Max Thieriot, who stars as Bode and executive-produces the CBS drama, tells TVLine that the offer is less about fulfilling Jake’s needs in that moment, and more about fulfilling Bode’s duty as a son.
Max Thieriot explains why Bode stepped in for Jake
“It’s about choices that his dad would have made, and him trying to become more like, not only the firefighter, but the man that his dad was, and the man that his dad was in this community,” Thieriot explained. “[Vince] was the guy who people could go to, and the guy who cared about everyone, and put everyone else before himself.”
Thieriot went on to unpack the season’s earlier conflict between Bode and Jake, saying it was less about Jake gunning for the chief job, and more about “Bode just really hurting” over the death of his father. Now that time has passed, Bode can recognize that, per Thieriot, “Jake has always been like a good brother to Bode.” (Of course, siblings do bicker from time to time!)
“Bode knows that Vince saw Jake as one of his sons,” Thieriot added. “So, it’s a multi-layered, emotional beat of really these two brothers coming together, but also Bode knowing what his dad would have wanted.”
Max Thieriot teases what’s next in Season 5
The emotional ending was made even more layered by plenty of other lovely little revelations: A giddy Sharon agrees to go on a trip with Alexi, Bode tells Chloe that he loves her, Danny lets the past go and no longer expects Bode to report to the police for breaking into his home 10 years ago, and everyone lives in relative bliss for the time being.
For Thieriot, it was important to end the season “with everybody in a good place” after starting out on such a sad note after Vince’s death. In Season 5, he told us the show is “going to really just sink our teeth into getting to see the next chapter of each of these characters.”
Are you happy to see the entire “Fire Country” crew go out on a such a high note? Grade the episode — and Season 4 overall — in the poll below, then sound off in the comments!
