Fire Country is now streaming on Netflix, leaving fans anxious and excited to learn new information about its upcoming Season 3 release.
Made by CBS, Fire Country's first season made its Netflix debut on August 1 (per Variety), introducing new fans to the series outside of its regular Paramount+ home. This turned out to be a windfall move for the show as it reached new levels of popularity.
Season 1 has been firmly placed in Netflix's Top 10 most-watched TV shows in its short time on the streamer. From August 14-20 (per Flix Patrol), it ranked between #3 and #7 across those six days, and between August 5-11, Netflix had it ranked #6 in the United States.
Considering these numbers came with only one of Fire Country's two seasons being on Netflix, that alone built plenty of anticipation for its next set of episodes.
When Will Fire Country Season 3 Release?
Fire Country and CBS TV's Instagram pages confirmed with a short video message that Season 3 is now filming as of August 14.
The video also reaffirmed a July Deadline report noting that Season 3's first episode will air on CBS on Friday, October 18 between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Deadline first announced the renewal for Season 3 on March 12, which came directly in the middle of Season 2's initial run on CBS.
Who's Cast in Fire Country Season 3?
Unsurprisingly, Fire Country's entire core cast of characters is expected to be back in action for Season 3.
Not only does Max Thieriot play the show's leading character, Bode Donovan, but he is also a co-creator, executive producer, and occasional director for the series. Bode is a convict working to reduce his prison sentence with Cal Fire, an assignment that puts him in his hometown near old family and friends.
Expected to be by his side are Fire Captain Manny Perez (played by Kevin Alejandro), Battalion Fire Chief and Bode's father Vince Leone (Billy Burke), and Cal Fire Division Chief/Bode's mother Sharon Leone (Diane Farr).
The full list of expected returning cast members can be seen below:
- Max Thieriot - Bode Donovan
- Billy Burke - Vince Leone
- Kevin Alejandro - Manny Perez
- Diane Farr - Sharon Leone
- Stephanie Arcila - Gabriela Perez
- Jordan Calloway - Jake Crawford
- Jules Latimer - Eve Edwards
Deadline also reported that Walker and Supernatural star Jared Padalecki will have a three-episode arc in Season 3 of Fire Country. He'll play a Southern California firefighter named Camden, who is something of a maverick and a force who recognizes Bode's natural talent.
Also joining the cast (per TVLine) is Grey's Anatomy and True Detective veteran Leven Rambin, who will play a former fire camp inmate named Audrey in a recurring role. Audrey shows plenty of grit, but beneath that hard outer surface is said to be a soft spirit and an empath.
What Will Happen in Fire Country Season 3?
One of the biggest questions moving forward into Fire Country Season 3 is whether Stephania Arcila's Gabriela winds up marrying Rafael de la Fuente's Diego.
In the Season 2 finale, she is seen grappling with her feelings for Bode as fans wonder whether she will call off her wedding. Bode even leaves the ceremony to stop himself from objecting to the union.
Fans also see Manny turn himself over to the police after running from the law for a while. Jordan Calloway's Jake is seen skipping the wedding entirely to take his daughter out for milkshakes, which is interrupted when Adam Aalderks' Rick reveals that Gen may be his biological daughter.
Speaking with Parade, showrunner Tia Napolitano teased the heartbreak Jake feels in this moment while setting up "a surprising little journey with Rick" moving into Season 3:
"I just loved Jake's face when he looked back at Genevieve. He’s so heartbroken, like 'oh kid, it's about to get so much harder for you.' And Jake's just grown so much. He seems like the dad everybody wants. And I think Rick will surprise you. We'll go on a surprising little journey with Rick as well."
This is said to pick up in Season 3 right where Season 2 left off.
She also touched on W. Tré Davis' Freddy, a friend of Bode's from Season 1 who Bode helped get free. Freddy then followed his dream of opening a food truck.
Although the character "didn’t need to be redeemed," Napolitano wants to see more of his journey in Season 3 as he and his family continue to thrive:
"My favorite thing about seeing Freddy is, you know, our show is so about redemption. Freddy didn’t need to be redeemed. He was wrongfully incarcerated. So what you still want for him is for him to get his happy ending that he deserved earlier than he got it. But just to hear he got the truck, he has [his girlfriend] Cookie, he has his baby. Things are good. He looks great. He got dreads. He's just the heartbeat of joy. So I hope especially with Bode out that we have an opportunity to see Freddy some more."
Thieriot then spoke with Deadline about what he hopes to see in Season 3, specifically noting that he hopes "to do more stuff with floods."
He wants to tackle that idea as a director specifically, having thought about ways to produce scenes that big "without it getting too crazy expensive:"
"I hope to do more stuff with floods. Those are obviously pretty massive and I grew up in an area that was not far from the Russian River, which would flood at times. The fire departments are intimately involved in dealing with that. I think would be fun to do if we can figure out how to do it in a big scale. As a director, it is definitely something I’ve been wanting to do. I’ve thought through a lot of different ways that we can accomplish some of those scenes without it getting too crazy expensive, but still have it feel like a big scale."
In a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly, Napolitano hinted at how Bode's freedom will impact upcoming storylines in Season 3.
Part of that will be simply seeing Bode "in his own clothes having fun like a normal 30-year-old guy," allowing the show team to "dial up the joy and levity:"
"That’s what we’re most excited about. It’s just pure wish fulfillment and it’ll feel so fresh to see Bode in his own clothes having fun like a normal 30-year-old guy. It felt so refreshing and we have these fun scenes of Eve, Gabriela, Jake all joking around. He can be there now, so we can dial up the joy and levity in Season 3."
Fire Country Season 3 is set to debut on CBS on Friday, October 18 at 9 p.m. ET. The first two seasons are streaming on Paramount+ and Season 1 is streaming on Netflix.
Read more about Fire Country below:
What Happens to Sleeper on Fire Country, Explained
Fire Country: Here's Why Jake Was In Drake County
Fire Country: Does Sharon Die? Showrunner Addresses Her Future
