Fire Country Season 3 Is Fumbling Its Biggest Storyline (And Fans Are Angry)

Contains spoilers for "Fire Country" Season 3, Episode 7 — "False Alarm"

"Fire Country" fans had a feeling that Gabriela Perez (Stephanie Arcila) would move on from Bode Leone (Max Thieriot) in a very dramatic way, but this wasn't quite how they envisioned her attempt at crafting a fresh life for herself. While she spins out alone — mired in debt from her failed wedding and bailing her father out of arrears, reeling from her dead relationship with Bode, keeping a dirty trailer, injuring herself free-diving off a cliff and causing poor Sharon Leone (Diane Farr) to worry her head off — Bode has been making eyes at the suddenly-single Audrey James (Leven Rambin). 

When Gabriela suddenly has a drunken hookup with her normally level-headed ex, Jake Crawford (Jordan Calloway), in the parking lot of Smokey's, it feels like a tit-for-tat gesture — or another sign that Gabriela is completely out of control. This is a shocking move from the show to say the least, especially because it seemed like "Fire Country" was setting Gabriela up for an affair with Bode's supervisor, Cam Casey (Jared Padalecki). Either way, a love triangle — now quadrangle — is exactly what we don't want to see happen during Season 3 of the drama. Whether it's Cam or Jake, fans are already sick of this quadrangle and want it to end as quickly as possible. 

Fans are upset with Gabriela's choice to sleep with Jake, to say the least. Several threads on the "Fire Country" subreddit blame her for this decision and are even calling for the character to be killed off. "Why are on earth do they think we want to see Jake and [Bode] feuding over Gabriela again? That's been done already," remarked u/Comfortable-Talk-946. Many fans are worried there will be a "who's the daddy?" drama now that Gabriela has slept with both Bode and Jake during a short interval of time.

Some fans are willing to defend Gabriela's behavior. "CLEARLY SHE IS NOT HERSELF ... They're going with this mental health aspect but these writers are so bad they can't even do that without destroying the character," posted u/Confident-Map-8868. Other viewers just think this is a roadblock on the way to Bode and Gabriela ultimately getting back together.

But many audience members have an even bigger bone to pick with "Fire Country": they just plain don't want the show to be romance-heavy anymore. Some fans have been fed up with the show since the Season 2 finale, and things don't seem to be getting any brighter for them. At this point a whole passel of viewers are threatening to abandon the series due to these love-addled storylines. They blame the series' showrunners and the writing for driving them away. What can be done to win them back?

Here's something of a radical statement about the whole Gabriela-Bode-Jake-Audrey mess — it might just be the best possible thing that could have happened to "Fire Country." Gabriela's downward spiral, for all of its stereotypical notes, also gives the show a chance to write a unique storyline about the rigors of depression, something that doesn't often happen in prime time. To do it with a Latina character is also a fresh twist on such a story.

Plus — dare we say it? — Jake and Gabriela have a healthier, less complicated relationship than Bode and Gabriela. We know — Jake isn't over Cara. But if he does get over her, why not in the embrace of someone familiar?  Audrey and Bode already have a relaxed relationship that's better than the tortured one Gabriela and Bode have always shared. At this point, Bode and Gabriela are insufferable as a couple and the relationship should stay dead until the show commits to them. After all, we know that deep down Gabriela and Bode are destined to be together, but there's no reason the drama should avoid keeping its options open and even explore an ending that might be what they'd always had planned out.