‘Fire Country’ Boss Tia Napolitano Talks Fall Finale’s Biggest Moments and Having to ‘Live in Suspense’ After Multiple Cliffhangers (Exclusive)

Friday’s fall finale of Fire Country was as intense as ever, and showrunner and executive producer Tia Napolitano spoke to PopCulture.com all about it.

In “Who Owns the Dirt,” a red flag warning sets the stage for a turf war between Station 42 and neighboring Drake County.

There is a lot that went down in the episode. After his true personality was discovered, Landon showed off just how dangerous he can truly be, Jake’s family life got a lot more complicated, Eve and Three Rock were put to the test, and Bode had to deal with Tyler, all the while a wildfire was threatening to enter Edgewater. Which is where Manny and his crazy plans come in, and it leads to some cliffhangers that will keep fans on the edge of their seats until Fire Country returns in February. Take a look at what Napolitano had to say. (Interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

PopCulture: After learning that Landon not only has been hurting Tyler, but he possibly started the Zabel Ridge Fire, how is Bode handling everything?

Tia Napolitano: The Bode that we’ve seen really grow up, especially this season, we’ve seen him almost approach what he thought, that Pat was the arsonist. You see him approach that house and really hold himself back. And so now that he is calling the ATF on Landon, watching Bode try to, and win, restraining himself, not resorting to violence, not coloring outside of the lines, really sticking with the rules, but also taking care of business, is really interesting and will make us lean in.

PC: In the episode, there is a red flag warning, and 42 and Three Rock have to remain on high alert in case they’re called to assist. But eventually, Manny takes it upon himself to send everyone, which leads to a continuing rift between Manny and Springer from Drake County. What was your favorite part of getting to play out that storyline and see Edgewater and Drake County, especially Manny and Springer, butting heads amid such a big fire?

Napolitano: This was inspired by, without naming names, the real firefighter who told us that he saw a turf war escalate to blows on a fire. But, really, people do get that heated. When Cal Fire is up against Drake County, the episode’s called “Who Owns the Dirt,” and I think that’s really the question. Seeing an ambiguous area of who’s in charge and seeing that power struggle is very exciting to us. We understand the hierarchy, but when it’s department to department, what’s gonna happen? And watching Manny really pull rank and claim that leadership position drew us to that story.

PC: Eve is trying to get used to the new Three Rock, and with the red flag warning, everyone is as anxious as ever to be on the frontlines of the fire. And things are still a bit tense after she said that they weren’t her guys. What has it been like exploring this new version of Three Rock and really seeing Eve’s leadership be tested not only by Three Rock, but by Manny as well?

Napolitano: Eve really goes through it. She’s definitely becoming a new kind of a leader. She found her footing with her old crew. This is not her old crew. They’re going to be forged in the fire and challenged very much in this two-part midseason. And moving forward, you see a little bit of it in these midseason episodes, but as they kind of blossom into the bouquet that they’re supposed to be, they’re really funny. They’re youthful. They’re humorous. They have a different kind of attitude than these guys, who have been older and been through it. They have their whole lives in front of them. They have so much potential, and so Three Rock becomes a very hopeful and funny area of the show with a lot of camaraderie. It’s fun to be with.

PC: After what happened with Landon, Chloe and Tyler are staying at Sharon’s, and Chloe wants to confront Landon, but Sharon tells her it’s a bad idea and that he’s really dangerous. But ultimately, he comes to the fire station and confronts Sharon, and at the same time, Bode tries to talk Tyler into talking to ATF about Landon. It’s clear that he’s very dangerous, but he’s not willing to go down so easily. What can we expect in these upcoming episodes after the fall finale?

Napolitano: That Landon-Sharon scene is one of the most legitimately scary scenes that we’ve done. He is scary. I mean, we’ve had stalkers on this show, and Landon is still terrifying a lot because he has that ability to cling to this nice guy persona. It seems like he operates in the shadows. And that threat is going to loom large even after these two midseason episodes. He is dangerous. We will worry about how to deal with him, how to contain the threat, how does good win over evil is a struggle and a battle that we’ll fight into the back half of the season.

PC: In these last few episodes, Jake has become a little obsessed with trying to get to know his half-brother, and I almost forgot that the first time he even mentioned having a brother was way back in the first season. Eventually, he finds out where he lives, but his sister doesn’t really want anything to do with Jake. They do eventually run into each other when they’re both on lookout during the fire, and there’s a lot of tension between them, understandably. Why was now a good time to bring that storyline back and really explore it, especially in this way?

Napolitano: Jake’s brother’s story is a long game, baby. As we start to populate the families outside of our found family, which is Station 42 and all of our regulars, it just adds so much more texture and depth to these characters and to the world. And Jake’s experienced a lot of loss before we met him, when the show started, and on the show.

And it felt like it’s time for Jake to start getting what he wants. And one of the things he wanted as far back as Season 1 is his brother. So to see him really pursue it, and, of course, it won’t be easy. Eleanor is one obstacle to that, as you mentioned. But Jake pictures, I think, as he grows, a huge family dinner table. And this is step one to him just going and getting what he wants and learning some lessons on the way.

PC: Throughout the episode, Manny is adamant about his plan to contain the fire, but then, towards the end, it starts to get into Edgewater. Then he revealed that his plan was to always bring it to the line that Three Rock cut, even though nobody thinks that it’s a good idea. What’s your take on why Manny has been acting this way? Because he’s really been a little different since he got promoted.

Napolitano: He’s making some big choices. As you know, it all rests on his shoulders, and that’s very clear by the end of this. And I think Three Rock was his backup plan. That he was hoping for a water drop, hoping for bigger moves. But really, he chose to open Three Rock early. He chose to deploy them there. He chose to have that be the backup plan in case this fire turned around. The fire did turn around. He is relying on the people that he put in power, and I think, as we’re seeing what kind of chief Manny is, many people in jobs where he thinks they belong, and he trusts them to do it. And does that go well or not? It’s all about Manny, and we’ll see next episode. But Sharon certainly has questions.

PC: Going off of that, the episode ends on some pretty big cliffhangers. First off, the fire truck that Jake and Malcolm are riding in crashes and flips several times, and then we see Tyler, who stowed away in the truck, and then leaves the car to bring batteries, walking in the forest, surrounded by the fire, and Bode reaches him with the fire shelter just before it reaches him. What can you tease about how the winter premiere will pick up?

Napolitano: I mean, listen. Those fire shelters are only built for one person, and there’s two of them in there. And Bode threw his helmet before he got in just to make room. Tyler has no equipment on him. It’s very, very harrowing and very scary. We will live in suspense on that cliffhanger for a little while when we come back.

And as for Jake and Malcolm and Ringo, who we sent over a hill, oof, if those brothers may get out of there, the first thing they did together was nearly die, if they make it out there. And so they’re gonna have to contend with not only are they in each other’s lives, suddenly they’re in each other’s lives in this intense survival way. It’s very propulsive and very intense right from the get-go, and also just exciting and heartwarming, and you’ll just be rooting for our people to get through this.

Season 4 of Fire Country returns on Friday, Feb. 27 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day on Paramount+.