'Fire Country' Season 3 Episode 8 Recap - Gabriela Hits Rock Bottom

Editor's note: The below recap contains spoilers for Fire Country Season 3 Episode 8.Fire Country is going on hiatus and will leave us clutching our pearls until the show returns at the end of January. Another campaign fire breaks out in the winter finale, which separates the team to try to get all of these mysterious "zombie fires" under control. Bode (Max Thieriot) and Audrey (Levin Rambin) team up, as it's their first day as officially part of the Ladder 42 family. Their desire to prove themselves quickly lands them in hot water — or should I say hot woods? Sharon (Diane Farr) would love to see Bode put his troublesome behavior behind him for good, but she and her rookie firefighters learn in this episode that saying you're going to change and actually changing are two very different things.

Eve (Jules Latimer) isn't doing much better, as the episode finally brings her back to her family ranch. There are old wounds that refuse to heal and emotional chasms between her and her father that no amount of goodwill is helping her cross. No one is having a worse day than Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila), though. After sleeping with Jake (Jordan Calloway) in the penultimate episode, she's continuing her downward spiral, and this time she may end up with some deadly consequences. Let's break it down.

Gabriela Isn't Listening To Anyone in 'Fire Country' Season 3 Episode 8

Image via CBS

Vince (Billy Burke) has tried talking sense into Gabriela. Sharon has tried reasoning with her. Manny has tried a few times. Even Jake gives it a go at the top of the episode after realizing that the two of them sleeping together is a recipe for disaster, but Gabriela doesn't want to hear it. She's been telling everyone who will listen that she needs time to work on herself, but it's the last thing she wants to do when they push her to actually start doing that. Needless to say, she heads into this latest campaign fire with a real bad attitude. She's triggered by a car parked in front of a fire hydrant that the truck needs. Jake lets her break the windows of the sedan so they can thread the fire hose through the car, which Gabs really enjoys. When they later meet a homeless mom and her daughter living in their car who desperately need gas, Gabs returns to the hydrant car and siphons gas to give to them.

Breaking the car windows is sanctioned by Cal Fire because it allows the firefighters to get to the hydrant they need to access. Siphoning gas is just a straight-up crime, and Gabriela should know better. Her heart is in the right place, but her execution is so far off. Unfortunately, it's Jake who calls her out on crossing the line. He's so heated that he compares her blowing off her wedding to him losing Gen, and that officially sends her over the edge. Losing your surrogate daughter is pretty rough, but the situations are apples and oranges. Anyone with common sense could have told Jake that line of argument wasn't going to get him anywhere good.

Gabs decides she's also going to blow off work. She takes off her work jacket and storms off like a pissed-off teenager who has just been grounded for breaking curfew. She's so mad that she doesn't pay attention to her surroundings… in the middle of a wildfire. Before she knows it, Gabs has walked down a road that becomes completely engulfed in flames. There's no way out for her, and she ditched most of her protective gear back at the truck during her temper tantrum.

Let us all cross our fingers that if Gabriela makes it out of this fire, this near-death experience is enough to make her genuinely look at the correlation between her life and her choices.

Related

It's the New Old Bode in 'Fire Country' Season 3 Episode 8

Image via CBS

Both Bode and Audrey are looking to bury their old selves and start this new chapter with their best selves. It is a noble ambition, and I believe that Audrey is serious about sticking with it. Bode lasts maybe an hour before his hero complex comes back with urgency. The duo is assigned to help evacuate the neighborhood in the path of the incoming fire when they meet a man who is refusing to leave because he wants to protect the house beloved by his deceased wife. Bode promises that nothing is going to happen to the house in order to get the man to leave the property. You know who really respects grand promises like that? Raging wildfires. They're super respectful of property lines and people's possessions.

I really wish I didn't have to break out the sarcasm every time I talk about Bode, but the dude begs for it. Of course, as soon as he makes this property, and they send this man to the local shelter to wait out the evacuation order, zombie fires pop up. Sharon calls Bode and Audrey back to camp because it's getting too dangerous for them to be out alone, but Bode can't leave with flames now creeping toward the house he's promised to save. So he ignores the order and keeps spraying water. Audrey can't go back to Sharon and tell her that she left Bode out there to fend for himself, so she is stuck trying to convince him to leave.

Bode doesn't give up on the house until the roof is on fire, along with all the surrounding trees. He and Audrey are blocked in and have to take shelter in the pool to escape the inferno. This is the worst news for Audrey, who has to admit she can't swim. Bode steps up and offers to keep her afloat as they dive in to cool off from the surrounding fire. The fire is literally everywhere when they get into the pool and end the episode dunking themselves underwater to avoid the flames and the intensifying smoke. This is one hell of a bonding experience on their first day.

An Awkward Family Reunion Goes Up in Flames in 'Fire Country' Season 3 Episode 8

Image via CBS

The show has been teasing Eve's family reunion since the Season 3 premiere, and the chickens come home to roost in this episode. By chickens roosting, I mean that Eve returns to the family farm and delivers a baby horse, but tomato tomahto, you know? To Eve's credit, her reception at the Edwards ranch is as cool as she warned everyone it would be. Her dad is not interested in having her or the Three Rock crew on his property. And he is still very salty about her choosing to become a firefighter instead of working the land, despite Manny and Vince telling her that would not be the case. Not everyone is father of the year like you, Vince!

Eve does manage to convince her dad to let her do a controlled burn of the ranch's overgrown brush once she proves she still knows how to deliver baby horses. It's going well until the wind shifts and then embers from the controlled burn float over and catch on the barn's roof. The ranch goes up in a blaze as the episode comes to a close, and Eve's father once again blames his daughter for choosing fire over her family, despite the fact that she is trying to save everything her family has worked for. If she can't figure out a way to get the flames under control before they take over the whole farm and the bigger surrounding fire meets them on the ranch, she can kiss her family legacy and a potential return home goodbye.

Fire Country returns Friday, Jan. 31 at 9 PM on CBS. Episodes are available to stream on Paramount+

Gabriela takes a one-way walk to the danger zone in Fire Country Season 3 Episode 8, but Bode and Eve don't fare much better.

Pros

• Jake returns to making responsible decisions.
• Zombie fires are an incredible new addition to the Fire Country lexicon.
• Audrey is also still doing her best, and that should be acknowledged.

Cons

• Gabriela is now a danger to herself and everyone around her.
• Bode is always going to Bode, apparently.

Watch on Paramount+