‘Fire Country’: Stephanie Arcila Confirmed to Appear in Season 4 Premiere Ahead of Exit

Fire Country’s fourth season is right around the corner, and Stephanie Arcila is officially coming back to give Gabriela a proper goodbye.

In April, it was revealed that both Arcila and Billy Burke will be leaving the CBS drama ahead of its new season.

While fans have hoped that Arcila would be coming back as firefighter and paramedic Gabriela Perez, as she and EP and showrunner Tia Napolitano expressed interest in the return, it was unknown if it would happen, especially for Season 4’s opener. Luckily, fans won’t have to wonder anymore. Napolitano confirmed to TV Insider that Arcila is appearing in the first episode of the fourth season, premiering on Friday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

“We’re so happy to have Stephanie back, to have Gabriela back in the premiere, and we really wrote a love letter to the character,” she said. “We will see glimpses of Bodiela [the relationship between exes Bode and Gabriela]. It’s really a beautiful sendoff for now that’s fitting to the character that, if you’re fan, I think it’s real fan candy.”

Bode (Max Thieriot) and Gabriela’s relationship has been at the forefront of Fire Country since the beginning, and whether it’s platonic or romantic, they made an impact on each other. And when it comes to Gabriela’s exit, Napolitano said she’ll “become very significant to him, as she always has been, in support in his life in the premiere so that he wonders when she leaves how he’s going to be without her.”

“We’ve only known him since she’s been in his life in different capacities over the years, so, it’ll shake things up,” she continued. “I think it’ll make us wanting more Gabriela in the future, which is never a bad thing.”

The announcement of Arcila’s exit was a surprise, especially since there was no indication that Gabriela was planning on leaving 42 or Edgewater in the Season 3 finale. While it’s unknown how and why she’ll be leaving, it’s possible that Gabriela will want a change of scenery. She went through a lot in the third season, between a disastrous wedding that ended up not happening, her downward spiral, isolating herself, and her stalker, it would make sense that she’d want to take a step back.

Napolitano also noted that Gabriela’s father, Manny (Kevin Alejandro), will be going through it when his only daughter says goodbye. “With Gabriela eventually not here every episode, he’s got all of his dad advice and dad jokes with nowhere to go, so you see him being a parental figure to Jake [Jordan Calloway], to Eve [Jules Latimer], of course, Bode in ways that remind us, Manny’s got wisdom,” she explained. “We put him through it. Manny’s got a lot of wisdom.”

Tune in on Friday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS to see how and why Gabriela will say goodbye to Edgewater. The first three seasons of Fire Country are streaming on Paramount+.