"Fire Country" boss teases arrival of Shawn Hatosy's new Battalion Chief: 'His methods will not be wellreceived' Alamin YohannesOctober 18, 2025 at 3:00 AM 0 Sergei Bachlakov/CBS Billy Burke as Vince Leone on 'Fire Country.
- - "Fire Country" boss teases arrival of Shawn Hatosy's new Battalion Chief: 'His methods will not be well-received'
Alamin YohannesOctober 18, 2025 at 3:00 AM
0
Sergei Bachlakov/CBS
Billy Burke as Vince Leone on 'Fire Country.'Key Points -
Fire Country showrunner Tia Napolitano explains how Vince Leone's death moves the show forward in season 4.
Napolitano shares how Sharon and Bode will work through their grief this season.
Get ready for change, as Shawn Hatosy's Brett Richards takes charge at Station 42.
Fire Country has lost its patriarch... and his replacement isn't wasting any time rewriting the rules.
While the CBS drama's season 4 trailer confirmed that it was Vince Leone (Billy Burke) who died in the fire at the end of season 3, the new season's premiere reveals Vince's Cal Fire family learning his fate.
Before the episode jumps ahead to Vince's funeral, we see Jake Crawford (Jordan Calloway) forcing Bode Leone (Max Thieriot) into a vehicle so he stays clear of the fire. Meanwhile, Walter Leone (Jeff Fahey) saves Sharon Leone (Diane Farr) instead of his son.
As the team struggles with grief, Sharon decides to pull Station 42 off active duty entirely, rather than assign a new captain. But when a call puts their replacements in danger, the crew steps in, making an argument that they are ready to return. That leads Luke Leone (Michael Trucco) to bring in a controversial new battalion chief, Brett Richards (Shawn Hatosy) — a man Vince couldn't stand, according to Sharon.
We spoke to Fire Country showrunner Tia Napolitano about Vince's death, saying goodbye to Gabriela for now, what Brett Richards has in store for 42, and more.
Sergei Bachlakov/CBS
Jordan Calloway as Jake Crawford and Max Thieriot as Bode Leone on 'Fire Country.'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Talk to us about the decision to kill off Vince. How does this death move the story forward?
TIA NAPOLITANO: Vince is so important to everyone on our show, it would make the biggest impact. We're in season 4, and we felt like it was time to take all the puzzle pieces, throw them up in the air, and make a fresh picture for everybody.
The beginning of the series had such deep ties to the death of Riley. It felt like the death of Vince was a fresh wound all of our characters would experience together along with our audience. We didn't know Riley nearly as well as we've come to know Vince over all these seasons. [The characters] have to learn how to rise from that blow, and it's what our show does best. It's how we met Bode. It's a fresh spin on our familiar themes of redemption or rising to the occasion.
How do you see Sharon's emotional journey unfolding this season? Grieving Vince, worrying about Bode, and taking care of her Cal Fire family is a lot to balance.
You see it in the premiere, for the first time, Sharon in her pajamas and retreating in her house over those weeks. We've never seen that. We expect her to throw herself into work and instead she takes that grief to a very private place. Once she is back in uniform she has a huge job, a ton to worry about. As we get further out of grief, Bode will become less of a thing for her to worry about. He is really going to grow and come into his own and be the person who can give advice and wisdom to others. She's going to be very proud of her son.
Sharon's going to have to navigate the world as a single person, and I don't mean romantically. We've seen her at work and home, always paired with Vince. She's going to have to learn how to stand on her own two feet. In addition, a stranger will come to town that will shake things up for Sharon and recontextualize both her past and her present.
You mentioned Sharon being proud of Bode. In what ways will his grief manifest this season, and what role will his struggle with sobriety play in his emotional journey?
There'll be a few challenges for him, one of them being his sobriety and addiction issues. We didn't show you pills for us to ignore them moving forward, but it'll be a struggle. We wanted to honor the fact that our lead struggles with addiction. In times of grief or struggle, those issues tend to come up and we'll root for Bode to fight his way through them.
Does Gabriela's exit and declaration signify a permanent departure, or could their be a chance she returns this season?
I say the door is open for a Gabriella return, and for the potential of Bodiella in the future. She's off to do great things. You know, we wrote her a happy ending. We had them say their feelings to one another on that bench in a way that I think is really sweet and really authentic. It feels like love was never their issue, as Bode says, and now is not their time, but the door's open.
What does Manny's story and world look like this season without Gabriela there?
We really want to rise Manny up this season. He's got all these dad vibes and jokes without Gabriela to use them on. You'll see him try with Eve, Jake, and Bode. It's really endearing. Manny was a father figure for Bode in season 1 and we get those vibes back. He doesn't want to fill Vince's role at all, but in certain ways he must and he has all these dad vibes with no place to go. It's really cute.
Sergei Bachlakov/CBS
Jules Latimer as Eve Edwards, Max Thieriot as Bode Leone, Jordan Calloway as Jake Crawford, Stephanie Arcila as Gabriela Perez, and Kevin Alejandro as Manny Perez on 'Fire Country.'
I wanted to talk about Brett Richards. Why would Luke Leone bring him into Vince's firehouse?
I don't think Luke was privy because they all did not like each other in the academy. Luke didn't hand-pick Richards, he made a call to Cal Fire, and Cal Fire sent Richards because this is what this man does. You got to love Luke. He tries to help. He screws it all up.
Would you describe Brett as an antagonist? What does him showing up at 42 mean for the team?
We won't know right away. He's set up as an antagonist. We will get to know more about the real, human inner workings of him, of why he does what he does, which is to go into fire stations that are in crisis and get them through it. His methods will not be well-received, especially right away by some people. In episode 2, you're just going "Who is this guy? What does he want? Can I trust him? I like that actor." He'll slowly, over a couple of episodes, show us who he really is.
Sharon makes it clear that Vince didn't like Brett. Will we learn more about their past?
We'll learn more about what their beef was, but I would say there are other strangers who are going to come to town that'll shed a little more light on Vince, more than Richards. Brett is mostly about the present and the future.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Fire Country airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: VoXi MAG
Full Article on Source: VoXi MAG
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities