Is Max Thieriot's "Fire Country" hot or not? Read our recap of the CBS drama premiere and weigh in!
At the hospital in the aftermath of the blaze, Sharon realizes that Bode is the man who rescued Jake and Eve. He also talks of how the liquor store owner had written the parole board a letter saying that he sees a chance for Bode to eventually “succeed.” With that in mind, Manny invites Bode to swing into action when a random car accident triggers a massive forest fire. As Eve tries to break things up, we learn through the gents’ shouted accusations that on the night Riley died, Bode had gone to pick her up from Jake’s and found her sobbing. But before that rendezvous happens, Bode comes to the rescue of Gabriela, a local celeb of sorts (the Olympian is the 14th best diver in the world!) whose car happened to break down right where the guys were waiting. Manny finds the phone Freddy got from MVP, but Bode jumps in to claim it is his, since a 90-day prison sentence add-on is on the line. In the course of helping Gabriela, Bode clocks a photo of her with boyfriend Jake (Jordan Calloway) — whom Bode clearly recognizes.
With a rural setting and the inspiration of Cal Fire's inmate firefighter program, 'Fire Country' sets itself apart — sort of — from the competition.
(In any case, I’m not about to warn you away on the basis of a single, pretty good episode.) And some of the fire scenes are exciting, though in this (literal) climate, it is odd to watch things burn for the sake of a television show, even when one recognizes that special effects account for much of what we’re seeing and some professionally controlled burns for the rest. Often one feels the need to see several episodes of a series to write about it, but sometimes its purpose is so clear, the assignment so obviously executed as intended, that one feels safe in imagining a whole season from a single hour. There is also a dead person named Riley who is important to some of them. The twist here is the [rural setting](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-12-30/virgin-river-schitts-creek-country-city-pop-culture) and bringing in Cal Fire’s [inmate firefighter program](https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-inmate-fire-crew-civilian-recruitment-20160914-snap-story.html), around since World War II, in which, for a little pay and time off their sentence, eligible convicts live in “fire camps” and supplement the pros, clearing brush to keep wildfires from advancing. Unluckily for him, he finds himself sent to a “fire camp” in his old hometown, where there are people he wants to avoid and history he wants to bury. With the state predicted to face a fourth year of drought, and fires burning hotter and faster with accelerating climate change, and the question raised not for the first time of whether people should be rebuilding towns that burned to nothing or should have been living there in the first place, it’s an odd thing to watch.
Fire Country showrunner Tia Napolitano shares what to expect from the rest of the season of the new CBS drama.
And I just think that's very relatable and very exciting and comforting to share with our viewers. "I think the program is very ambitious, and is very much looking to help people carve a path to redemption, and that's really what we're looking to highlight. There will be action to tune in for every week and a healthy dose of soap, cliffhangers, relationship entanglements, deep family exploration will always be there for you as well every week. And our characters are constantly evolving and rolling with the punches and hopefully becoming better making some mistakes, but overall, clawing their way to becoming a better version of themselves. They have conflicts and they really hash it out and they hold each other very accountable and always find their way back to each other at the end of the day. Our show lives very much in the present, but we do let the audience in on some key pieces of flashback that make the state of relationships today make a lot more sense, and feel more raw and emotional and deep. And like I said, CallFire is a full-service department so it might be a water rescue, it might be a carbon monoxide leak or a simple medical call or a huge structure fire, but there will be an incident to tune in for every week. Bode ( [Max Thieriot](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/max-thieriot/3030114822/)) is not just a convict trying to make up for his crimes by training as a firefighter, but he's doing it in his hometown, surrounded by his firefighter family and constant reminders of the death of his sister. Until a new bill was signed in 2020, it was very difficult for people with criminal records to turn their prison careers into a real career as a firefighter, and the pay is miniscule for such difficult, dangerous work. Thieriot has friends and relatives who are firefighters, and they work side by side with inmates as part of a real California program in which inmates live in "fire camps" and help stave off wildfires using various tools to take out vegetation and create spots that will stop the fire from spreading. "We're very committed to exploring the reality of this program," Napolitano says. [Fire Country](https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/fire-country/1060153216/), fire is both a second chance and a family business, as was revealed in the final moments of the first episode.
Max Thieriot stars and executive produces 'Fire Country' for CBS. The show is a passion project for him, and fans want to know if it's a true story.
When Max announced that CBS greenlit Fire Country for one season, many SEAL Team fans worried about his future on the network’s other crime drama. I got a couple of kids to throw in there and moving around up to Vancouver to shoot a TV show. If fans are upset that Fire Country is mostly fiction, they aren’t the only ones who found the show problematic. The write-up explained that the SEAL Team star pivoted behind the scenes to create a new show for CBS, [Fire Country](https://www.distractify.com/p/fire-country-filming-locations). We don’t have any record of the actor ever serving a prison sentence, and the outlet shared that he created the plot himself. [Max Thieriot](https://www.instagram.com/p/CZmmpzSpoD2/) posted a Deadline article to his Instagram account.
In CBS' 'Fire Country,' Max Thieriot stars as a man who joins California's inmate firefighter program in hopes of reducing his sentence — and finds himself ...
But it is telling that Manny offers it just to Bode, while surrounded by empty prison cots that remind us that Bode is one of many. In Fire Country, the fires seem to come from nowhere, and their repercussions rain down offscreen to characters we don’t see enough of to care about. It’s a missed opportunity to dig into the specific experiences of California’s inmate firefighters — to examine the relationship between professional firefighters and their incarcerated counterparts, or to question how participants in the program who aren’t angsty heroes forced to return to their hometowns might feel about the bargain they’ve struck. Fire Country could spend some time exploring the psychologies of its firefighters — what attracts them to such dangerous jobs in the first place and what makes them excel at it, and the personal toll that constant peril can take on a person’s life. However, Fire Country‘s incuriosity also undermines the more personal themes it does want to grapple with — namely those about forgiveness and second chances. Fire Country notably spares very little time or attention for the all-prisoner firefighting team that Bode ostensibly spends most of his time with. Tre Davis), who serves variously as comic relief for an otherwise straight-faced show, or as the Goofus to Bode’s Gallant. Perhaps nuanced discussions of such heated issues are too much to expect from Fire Country, which does not pretend to harbor ambitions of hard-hitting commentary. But they’re let down by a script that sounds too often like a first draft waiting for some nuance and personality to flesh out its core ideas. The series takes its time mapping out precisely how all the principal players are connected to Bode, adding a bit of soapy intrigue to go with the flame-based episodic storylines. The gambit works possibly too well: So overwhelming is the Bode-ness of it all that Fire Country leaves little oxygen for anything or anyone else, flattening what could have been a smarter, more interesting procedural. He’s simply a scruffy knight in fire-resistant armor, tailor-made for audiences to admire and swoon over.
The 2022 fall TV schedule just got a little bit hotter with the arrival of the new CBS firefighter drama series, Fire Country. The new show, which features ...
[Paramount+ original series](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2570823/the-best-paramount-original-tv-shows-so-far) Guilty Party, which saw her share the screen with Kate Beckinsale and Geoff Stults. Over the years, she has also made brief appearances on shows like NCIS, Passions of the Heart, black-ish, Supergirl, The Rookie, and various others. During that same stretch of time, Calloway made appearances on a wide range of shows, including The Parkers, George Lopez, Reckless, Pure Genius, and The Mick. This is on top of one-off appearances on a long list of shows that include Grey’s Anatomy, CSI: Miami, Modern Family, The Good Doctor, White Collar, and Arliss. Prior to that, Alejandro landed roles on shows like True Blood, Arrow, Shark, Ugly Betty, The Young and the Restless, and a couple dozen others. When he's not writing about movies or television, Philip can be found being chased by his three kids, telling his dogs to stop yelling at the mailman, or yelling about professional wrestling to his wife. Since then, she has landed major roles on shows like Numb3rs, Splitting Up Together, Californiacation, The Secret Life of an American Teenager, and more. His work on the silver screen, which goes back more than 30 years, includes titles like Along Came a Spider, Three Days to Vegas, various Twilight movies (he portrayed Charlie Swan), Drive Angry, Red Riding Hood, and multiple others. The new show, which features SEAL Team star Max Thieriot as a [California inmate who joins a firefighting program](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/fire-country-premiere-date-and-other-quick-things-we-know-about-the-cbs-show) to secure an early release, has now debuted and introduced viewers to various different characters played by actors some may or may not recognize. Though it seemed like Thieriot wouldn’t be coming back for the sixth season on Paramount+, a Thieriot also co-wrote the project, according to Well, worry no more, because we are about to break down the show’s main stars so you can get to know them a little better before continuing with the series.
CBS | A gorgeous S.W.A.T. premiere drew 4.6 million total viewers and a 0.4 demo rating, down just a tick from its previous averages. Fire Country debuted to ...
Blue Bloods‘ season opener (6.1 mil/0.4) exactly matched its previous averages. This is only an exhibition, not a competition; please, no wagering. [time slot predecessor Magnum P.I.](http://tvline.com/tag/magnum-pi) (which last season averaged 5.2 mil/0.4). Fire Country debuted to 5.7 mil and a 0.4, drawing a few more viewers than NBC-bound [[email protected]](http://[email protected]%E2%80%9D) and your question may be answered via [Matt’s Inside Line](http://tvline.com/category/matts-inside-line/). premiere drew 4.6 million total viewers and a 0.4 demo rating, down just a tick from its previous averages.
The 9 PM slot series premiere of Fire County on CBS was a ratings winner, drawing 5.74 million viewers and beating its competitors by more than 3 million ...
[The CW](https://deadline.com/tag/the-cw/) had the iHeart Radio Music Festival, with Morgan Wallen, Megan Thee Stallion, Halsey and others. [NBC](https://deadline.com/tag/nbc/), the Capital One College Bowl, a quiz show battle between students vying for scholarship money, came in with an 0.2. [Fox](https://deadline.com/tag/fox/)’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown saw Logan Paul’s confrontation with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline propel the season premiere to a demo wars win on the night with an 0.5. [CBS](https://deadline.com/tag/cbs/) was a ratings winner, drawing 5.74 million viewers and beating its competitors by more than 3 million viewers. [ABC](https://deadline.com/tag/abc/) had a new Shark Tank, as entrepreneur panelists Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Barbera Corcoran and guest judge Kendra Scott hearing pitches from a pumpkin carving tool company, a fitness product, Korean food, and a sculpted playset firm. At 8 PM, the sixth season premiere of S.W.A.T.
The action drama from Bruckheimer TV built on its linear lead-in and improved CBS' streaming ratings for the night.
The series built on its “S.W.A.T.” lead-in by a significant margin, as the sixth season premiere of the police drama brought in 4.6 million viewers at 8 p.m. “Blue Bloods” gained 12% to hit a new live streaming high. “Fire Country” stars Max Thieriot, Billy Burke, Kevin Alejandro, Diane Farr and Stephanie Arcila. CBS easily took Friday bragging rights in linear total viewers with an average of 5.5 million. The show also helped boost CBS’ live streaming numbers compared to the comparable fall Friday premiere night in 2021. “Fire Country,” an action-drama revolving around California firefighters, opened to 5.74 million viewers in the 9 p.m.