Look, we’re sympathetic.
Last yr’s simultaneous writers’ and actors’ strikes threw all the things into disarray and tousled loads of issues for lots of people.
And when you thought all the things would instantly return to regular as soon as the agreements had been made and Hollywood returned to work — properly, Fire Country Season 2 is right here to point out you ways fallacious you had been!
Now, it’s potential that the present’s writers had been at all times planning on veering into such wildly melodramatic territory of their second season.
But we won’t shake the sensation that they’re attempting to cram a full season’s value of story right into a strike-shortened episode order.
For instance, Fire County Season 2 Episode 1 featured a jail knife battle that was damaged up by a freakin’ earthquake.
And Fire Country Season 2 Episode 2 had purple wildfires and newly reunited households utilizing TikTok to find lacking teenagers misplaced in cave mazes.
Obviously, a sure diploma of suspension of disbelief is required for many nighttime soaps, however Fire Country is at its greatest when the far-fetched storylines are tempered with a level of gritty realism.
And whereas wildly unbelievable storylines might be enjoyable, once they turn out to be the norm as a substitute of the exception, a present runs the chance of alienating its fan base to the purpose that it loses them eternally.
And people, that brings us to Fire Country Season 2 Episode 3.
We open on a sight we’re aware of — a Leone behind bars.
But there is a twist! This time, it is Vince Leone who’s within the clink, his knuckles bloodied from a barroom brawl.
We lower to an erratically edited flashback wherein Vince is as soon as once more given trigger to be involved about Sharon’s constancy — a properly that the present has arguably returned to at least one too many instances.
Vince does a shot (was the bizarre modifying meant to make the viewer really feel like they’re additionally hammered?) after which punches out his spouse’s new Irish good friend, Liam.
Sharon reassures Vince that nothing occurred with Liam, however the household drama is simply simply starting for the Leone clan.
The episode’s thematic pursuits are underscored by a shot of Bode Leone watching a fellow inmate play basketball together with his younger son on visiting day.
The touching scene is a potent reminder that this present has extra on its thoughts than fires and the act of placing them out, and when it needs to decelerate and supply a relatable tackle difficult household dynamics, it will possibly accomplish that fairly successfully.
Understandably, Bode will get upset when he learns that his dad spent the night time in jail. Less comprehensible is the truth that he blames himself for Vince’s indiscretion.
It’s just like the present retains telling us that Vince and Sharon are this good, enviable couple, however what it exhibits us is an entire lot of dysfunction.
Hey, with one child within the cemetery and one other in jail, these two have been by an terrible lot — however their tendency to mistreat each other makes it laborious to root for his or her marriage.
What’s most irritating about this episode’s shortcomings is the truth that we all know this present is able to depicting relationships in such an sincere approach.
Take the scene wherein Gabriela and Manny are sampling wedding ceremony cake. Sure, the trade about unloading “Bode baggage” is just a little heavy-handed, however the Yoda/Cookie Monster bit on the finish is so very heat and human.
It feels improvised in one of the simplest ways, and it is the kind of vibe the collection ought to lean into extra closely.
All this Bode baggage that you simply’re carrying round, mija? It’s heavy. And the earlier you let it go, the higher you are gonna really feel.
Manny
We get extra of the good things in a wonderfully believable trade between Vince and Sharon that reminds us of the profound mutual affection that retains this relationship going regardless of all of the setbacks.
Eve and Jake trade views on the challenges that include authority, and Sharon’s good friend Liam reveals himself to be the operator of Cal Fire’s “schmancy” new drone.
And that is all earlier than the opening title card! Did we point out this present has been packing in so much of plot currently?
But again to the strengths. Following a really cool drone shot, we get a tense trade between Vince and Sharon wherein the occasions of the day’s emergency carefully tie into what is going on on of their marriage.
And that is the kind of goal correlative that retains us coming again and retains us rooting for this present regardless of its struggles.
Hey, it is similar to Vince and Sharon’s marriage! Fire Country pushes us away typically, however we nonetheless adore it!
Speaking of battle, Manny and Eve’s conflict over their reversed circumstances is the type that rings true, and Omar’s tumble from a cliff is a plausible escalation.
Meanwhile, Gabriela and Manny’s conflicts with the cussed forest-dweller current us with the kind of battle that first responders possible encounter with some regularity, however that’s seldom portrayed on tv.
Following a second of unintentional comedy (who did not chuckle a bit on the hippie woman saying, “Our wheels, maaaan”?), Jane and Gabriela are compelled to enter baked potato mode on the roof in order that all the evacuees can match contained in the engine.
As she hops behind the wheel, Sharon delivers what may grow to be the badass line of the season, and as soon as once more, the occasions of the episode’s principal emergency correlate properly with this week’s interpersonal conflicts.
You higher! Or my husband’s gonna kill you!
Sharon
Look, we do not wish to focus an excessive amount of on believability in our discussions a couple of Jerry Bruckheimer-produced nighttime cleaning soap about firefighters.
It’s simply that the “eff yeah” moments pack extra of a punch once they’re surrounded on both facet by plausibility.
Fire continues to fix relationships when Liam’s try at humor falls flat (though “Snake Shelton and Hissy Elliott” was truly a reasonably first rate line), and Vince takes over the duty of speaking Sharon by a disaster.
It cannot be straightforward to give you new situations involving forest fires week after week, so we tip our helmets to the writers of this week’s episode for cooking up a humdinger of an emergency.
The tendency towards melodrama that we complained about earlier? It is usually a little eye-roll-inducing throughout run-of-the-mill marital spats.
But it is hardcore, white-knuckle stuff when one half of that married couple is flooring it by a raging inferno with a full cargo of terrified passengers!
Sure, the water principal resolution was just a little handy, and everybody was just a little too imply to Liam for no actual cause (it is not his fault that Vince and Sharon’s marriage is a large number).
But what began out as a reasonably lackluster episode wound up delivering some crowd-pleasing moments within the third act.
There’s even a second of renewed deal with the present’s core premise, because the anticipated reconciliation scene between Manny and Eve yields an unexpectedly poignant dialog concerning the way of life distinction between captains and convicts.
At the tip of your shift, you get to go residence. They do not. You see your folks; you see your loved ones. You come again right here. You go well with up; you boss ’em round. But that is the gig.
Manny
The depth of emotion continues within the subsequent scene as Sharon offers Liam the brush-off and speaks the kind of laborious truths concerning the difficulties of marriage that one seldom hears on TV.
It’s one other reminder of what this present does so properly when it is at its greatest.
When Vince stepped in and guided Sharon to security by saying all the suitable phrases, he was rescuing his marriage as a lot as he was serving to to rescue his spouse.
And Sharon knew that she wanted to belief him and ignore her intuition to run if she needed to avoid wasting the day.
Eve and Jake’s dialog about Bode’s hero’s journey is perhaps just a little heavy-handed, however we’ll forgive it, because it helps us attain the purpose of Eve discovering out about Genevieve’s paternity.
The similar might be mentioned of the convenience with which Bodi and Gabriela buried the hatchet.
Did we completely purchase it? No, however we’ll let it slide as a result of — like that jail knife battle — it was a helpful scene that nudged the plot within the path wherein most viewers already knew it was headed.
See? We do not anticipate perfection from this present.
We simply need it to pump the brakes on the melodrama from time to time.
There’s no disgrace in slowing issues down once in a while. Hey, it is not like we’re driving a packed hearth engine by a burning forest right here!
What did you assume, TV fanatics? Are you liking this season’s path up to now?
Hit the feedback part beneath to share your ideas!
Tyler Johnson is an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic and the opposite Mediavine O&O websites. In his spare time, he enjoys studying, cooking, and, in fact, watching TV. You can Follow him on X and e mail him right here at TV Fanatic.
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