[Warning: The article below contains major spoilers for Fire Country Season 4 and for the Season 3 finale, Episode 19, “A Change in the Wind,” and Episode 20, “I’d Do It Again.”]
For three seasons, the core cast of Fire Country has remained the same. But ahead of Season 4, the CBS firefighter drama is losing two of its seven series regulars.
Stephanie Arcila and Billy Burke are on their way out, according to Deadline, meaning fans will be saying goodbye to firefighter Gabriela Perez and batallion chief Vince Leone.
Fire Country co-creators and executive producers Joan Rater and Tony Phelan and executive producer and showrunner Tia Napolitano confirmed Arcila’s departure to Deadline. But they declined to confirm Burke’s exit, instead keeping secret the fates of Vince, wife Sharon Leone (Diane Farr), and father Walter Leone (Jeff Faley) — who were all trapped in a burning building in the finale — and Jake Crawford (Jordan Calloway) — who had put in his two-week notice after accepting a new job.
The producers told Deadline the exits were creative decisions. “You always want to, on these shows, make sure that the threat is real, and also make sure that you are telling stories in an honest way, and that you’re finding the most exciting, creative way to tell the story,” Phelan said.
“Season 3 [is] leaning into the authenticity of the real-life heroes that our characters are playing, people die, they leave,” Napolitano said. “That’s a reality, there’s danger in this sort of job, so we wanted to honor that and really up the stakes. … You want the opportunity for that door to open, for someone to walk out of it, or for someone to walk into it. We’re really leaning into that aspect of the show as well as honoring the authenticity.”
Napolitano added that they decided earlier in the season that Arcila would leave the show, and they spoke to her while shooting the finale.
“It was really a decision that came out of the dynamic between Bode and Gabriela; we felt like those two characters needed a reset,” Phelan said, adding that they’re hoping Arcila will come back as a guest star. “We love Stephanie, and we are committed to saying that the Bode-Gabriela story does not end here, it goes on.”
Fire Country, Season 4, TBD, CBS
