Fire Country Season 4 brought some new changes to the series with some very mixed results. Sadly, one of the show’s best characters, Vince Leone (Billy Burke
), perished in the fire that ended Season 3. Also, Gabriela Perez (Stephanie Arcila) left the show, getting written out of the series and sent away on a recruiting mission in the Season 4 premiere, “Goodbye for Now.” For three years, the writers constantly dangled the carrot of the Gabriela and Bode Leone (
Max Thieriot) romance for viewers, only to jettison the subplot in Season 4. Yet, the writers confusingly made sure to leave the Bode and Gabriela pairing open-ended, with Gabriela confessing her love to Bode before she left Edgewater
. Despite Fire Country’s back-and-forth writing with the Gabriela and Bode romance, it’s time to explore why this pairing does not deserve another chance at love!
Image via CBS
In “Goodbye for Now,” Gabriela departs from Edgewater after confessing her love for Bode. Bode was still in a relationship with Audrey James (
Leven Rambin) at the start of the season, so nothing could have happened at that point. The confession came after multiple seasons of frustrating will-they/won’t-they antics between Gabriela and Bode. The scene also came off as a cheap way for
Fire Country to eventually revisit the Bode and Gabriela relationship at some point in the future, making the scene feel even more emotionally manipulative. If the writers are so big on Bode and Gabriela together and setting them up as the end game, why did she need to leave, and why write out Arcila from the main cast?
According to comments by series showrunner Tia Napolitano and co-creator Joan Phelan in an April 2025 interview with Deadline, Arcila’s exit from the show was a creative choice and not because the actress wanted to leave
. Phelan stated about the decision, “It really just comes down to what’s best creatively.” Meanwhile, Napolitano said on Gabriela leaving, “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.” Truthfully, the reasoning sounds like a flimsy excuse and a lazy way to allow Bode to re-enter the dating field without concern about him being unfaithful to Gabriela.
Frankly, all the drama about Gabriela leaving appears forced because it’s not like she left the country. She’s on a recruiting mission, so there’s no reason she and Bode couldn’t attempt a long-distance relationship. Moreover, how long do CAL Fire recruiting missions typically last? Sure, Gabriela could probably use the vacation and a breather after the whole ordeal with Finn (
Blake Lee), but the recruiting gig also comes off as thin plotting to write the character out of the show. If Bode and Gabriela love each other and want to be together,
her out-of-town recruiting mission doesn’t seem like a major roadblock.
