Fire Country Season 3 Episode 3 Review: The Cult is Real

Critic’s Rating: 4.3 / 5.0

4.3

We’re deep in the journey to a full season of Fire Country Season 3, and the show is already redeeming itself from the flop of a second season.

This Fire Country Season 3 Episode 3 review breaks down my thoughts on what transpired during the episode.

And believe me, there is much to discuss!

So, let’s get down to business and talk about the messy magic in Fire Country Season 3 Episode 3, starting with Bode’s acceptance into the cult.

Sharon was dead on the nose when she likened belonging to the fire department to being in a cult. Both environments consume every moment of one’s life; participation gives you a rush, and not everyone understands your desire to join.

It’s hard for most of us to contemplate doing a job that comes with the daily risk of losing our lives, not to mention having other people’s lives depend on you.

Just look at the guilt Gabriela is feeling for her near-fatal mistake of giving her patient a life-saving drug that nearly killed him. She didn’t make it five seconds after Bode got into the room before she was spilling her guts.

However, if Bode feels bad for his part in the situation, he doesn’t show it.

He seems unconcerned with his role in nearly killing a man due to negligence and then stealing the man’s medical alert necklace to cover up their mistake. It’s a dumb move leaving the necklace in your locker, bro.

Bode’s behavior rubbed Jake in all the wrong ways. But I get it. Bode loves to play hero, but he doesn’t like to be told he was wrong for his actions.

Show of hands: who loved seeing Jake go alpha-male when Bode tried to act like his actions weren’t a big deal? (Fans self giddily)

We thought Eve would have to find some alpha in her as well when it looked like the Three Rock crew would give Manny a hard time for being an inmate instead of the boss.

I’ll admit, I watched that scene twice. Three Rock is what makes Fire Country stand out against all the other fire shows out there. And it just so happens to be where two of my three characters are Manny and Eve, so take me to camp and leave me there.

Does anyone else prefer more of a focus on Three Rock and its inhabitants?

It was fun seeing fire training camp, so I’m not too mad that we didn’t stay at camp the whole episode. School, camp, bullies, rule-breakers — boy, are we back in our childhoods?

Even the three strikes, you’re out rule at fire training was nostalgic. Then again, the World Series just ended after a crazy five-game run, so maybe I have baseball on the brain.

Jake was smart to pair up Bode and Audrey for fire training. Not because they’re both blonde ex-con cadets, but because of their competitive drive.

It’s interesting news to hear that Audrey James isn’t a first-time fire cadet.

She’s on her third try, which might explain why she was so territorial about those limited spots in the training program.

While Bode wants to be a firefighter for the adrenaline rush, James is on a mission of redemption. She wants to replace the shame of being an inmate with the pride of being a firefighter.

If we were curious to know why Bode has entitlement issues, we must look no further than Silver Fox Grandpa Walter Leone.

He’s old-school firefighting, back when you’d do anything for family, regardless of legality or moral code. He thinks Bode should cash in on being a Leone.

I’m so glad to see that Bode wants to pass training on his own merit.

His family connections already got him into Phase 2 of training without completing Phase 1, ahead of other applicants waiting longer.

But just when it looked like Bode and James would get away with their last-second dummy rescue using insider knowledge, Jake’s suspicious mind noticed something odd.

Crud.

Was it alcohol or Leone entitlement that caused Pop Leone to run his mouth to Jake as he tried to do his job and question the cadets? And was he in the right to tell Bode where to find the dummy in the first place?

I say no. Just because he’s a Leone doesn’t mean he should get to cheat.

However, I don’t think his actions warrant the extreme punishment Jake dished out. A three-strike offense for one action? Immediate dismissal from training?

This is especially true since Bod didn’t do the cheating. He told James the information his grandfather had given him. And she took off into the fire, leaving Bode to follow her.

Damn, Bode’s hero complex, once again.

I’ve said time and again how we see massive nepotism in Fire Country, and we weren’t the only ones. Bode tried rationalizing James, calling him a nepo-baby by saying that firefighters breed firefighters.

And the legacy followers are nuggets.

There are several examples of legacies; Bode and Gabriela are both nuggets. James called Bode a 24k nug. Okay, Bruno Mars.

And Vince is a nugget, too.

Maybe Eve and Jake could also classify since they are unofficial Leones and see Vince and Sharon as pseudo-parents.

Could Jake be going extra hard on Bode because he’s overcompensating for their family ship? Or is he lashing out because of the sucky predicament Bode and Gabs put him in with the necklace knowledge?

James may not be a firefighting legacy, but her time at prison camp corrected her moral compass. We got a deeper understanding of her past, and boy, she and Bode have a lot in common.

She took responsibility, which reversed Jake’s decision for Bode’s future. Now, he and James both have two strikes. But Jake left it up to Gil to decide if Bode had strike three or if he would get to continue with fire training.

It was kismet that Gabriela was stuck at Station 42 when the young nanny came in needing fire advice — and a nonjudgmental ear to confess her guilt.

The situation helped Gabriela decide to tell the truth about the necklace.

Who agrees with Jake’s decision to base Bode’s future in fire training on the patient’s reaction to Bode and Gab’s confession?

I think it was the right call.

Gil didn’t hold Gabriela and Bode responsible for their negligence, and Jake let the issue go without taking it to command. Bode is back in training camp.

But how will this affect Jake’s strained friendship with Bode and Gabriela?

Is anyone else super confused about what’s happening with the Bodelia relationship? I mean, besides Bode and Gabriela.

Just when we thought the couple were finally going to test the waters — after all, isn’t that why Gabriela didn’t marry Diego? — Gabriela slams on the brakes yet again.

At least she had a good reason this time.

Manny compared his marriage to Gab’s mom and Bode and Gabriela’s relationship on Fire Country Season 3 Episode 2 when he begged Sharon and Vince to keep the couple apart.

It seems that Gabriela is now making those same connections, but she’s not willing to follow in her parents’ footsteps. Yay!

Bode claims he can be boring. But once an addict, always an addict.

Only now, the rush of firefighting is his drug. And as Gabriela pointed out, also the chaos of their on-again, off-again relationship, which has been nothing but taking chances and breaking rules.

Go ahead and hate me if you want, but I’m rooting for a hook-up between the two ex-cons versus an out-of-prison relationship attempt from Bodela.

Tell me if you picked up on the chemistry between 24k and Jamesy. Ugh. Now, we need to get Bode on board.

Can someone tell me what’s up with this episode and daddy issues? Poor Vince is fighting with his dad. Gabriela is mad at hers, and Genevive is angry at Jake and her real father, Rick.

At least Vince and Bode have made up — for now.

As if things weren’t already tense enough between Vince and Walter, the kitchen fire and Walter’s angry outburst accelerated the slow burn into an inferno. Could the accident hint at a more sinister problem with Walter’s health?

We’ve seen Vince with his guitar in hand during the campaign fire in Fire Country Season 2 Episode 9. So, it’s great to hear that we might see more of his musical talents once he and Sharon reno the bar and re-install the stage.

Let’s hear your thoughts on Vince and Sharon becoming entrepreneurs.

Who thinks it’s a good idea for them to keep Smokey’s and re-open it? I’m all for it. However, it feels slightly like taking a page from the book of Chicago Fire.

Molly’s, anyone?

Despite that similarity, I’m all for them having the place. They need to invest their time and energy in something other than firefighting and parenting an adult son.

Finding out we’re about to see more of Eve’s past nearly had me jump out of my chair. Mentally. I’m too tired to physically. But it still counts!

I watch A LOT of TV, so it could have just gotten lost in the background — and please correct me if so! — but I don’t recall hearing much about Eve’s family or their ranch. But Fire Country Season 3 seems to be putting quite a focus on it.

Looks like Eve is going home.

Firefighting plus ranching — now that’s a spinoff idea I might be able to get behind. Alas, that’s not the theme for either of Fire Country’s two upcoming spinoffs – Sheriff Country and Fire Country: Surfside.

Does anyone else wonder if Sharon isn’t doing a bit of meddling by convincing Eve to talk to her family about using the ranch for the fire department’s controlled burns?

To learn later in the episode that Eve hasn’t talked to her family in six years. Wow. I could never. Will her personal insight make Manny change his mind about adding Gabriela to his visitor list at the camp?

Overall, everything is on track for an exciting and properly paced third season. And it’s just in time, given the less-than-stellar blemish that was Fire Country Season 2.

Let’s get a Fire Country Fanatic check in. Give us your thoughts in the comments.

How do you like the way things are progressing so far this season? Do you feel the show has done a good job wrapping up leftover cliffhangers from last season? And have they set the course for new plots to develop organically this season?

What has been your favorite part so far for Fire Country Season 3? And what was your top moment from Fire Country Season 3 Episode 3?

Watch Fire Country Season 3 Online