Spoilers for Fire Country Season 3, Episode 5 are ahead! If you haven’t caught it yet, you can stream it with a Paramount+ subscription.
The day on the 2024 TV schedule all of us Fire Country fans had been waiting for finally arrived. By that I mean, Jared Padalecki made his entrance on the CBS drama as Captain Camden Casey, and boy did he do it with a bang! So, when I had the chance to chat with the show’s co-creator and star, Max Thieriot, about his friend and new co-star’s big first scene, he told me the epic story behind filming it.
While speaking to the Bode Leone actor during an interview for CinemaBlend, I specifically asked him about Padalecki’s first scene. It’s an epic entrance that shows his character Camden in flip-flops and a Dodgers jersey (a bold choice, considering he’s in Northern California, now). Ultimately, he winds up in a fight with some guys who were trying to provoke Bode, and it quickly shows fans this new captain’s colors. That was the goal too, as Thieriot told me:
You know, the fight was something that they came up with in the [writers’] room. I think they knew that they wanted to really sort of have him enter and make an impact, and kind of immediately come in and be this sort of force and … make a big splash for his character. But also, at the same time, have [him] impact and be involved with the normal regulars in the show. So, to get to see him kind of come in and instantly interact with everybody, but leave an impact, I think was a big concept that they were hoping to pull off.
The SEAL Team actor went on to explain that they wanted the juxtaposition between firefighters from Northern and Southern California to be evident immediately. He told me he was excited to see it, as he said it’s a whole different vibe, because “it’s like flip-flops and tank tops” in SoCal rather than the “Wrangler jeans and Ben Davis shirts” we see more often on Fire Country.
Continuing to chat about all this, Thieriot said that this scene helped show how big an organization Cal Fire is, while also giving us a memorable introduction to Padalecki’s character:
He’s obviously part of the world, but he’s not part of Edgewater. And to get to feel that was fun – you know, just somebody so different from all of our people. So, yeah, it was a good time.
After that, the actor broke down what it was like watching his friend perform in the fight scene. Considering Jared Padalecki spent 15 years on Supernatural and another four seasons on Walker, we know the guy is no stranger to a bit of action. However, that didn’t dim how impressive it was for the Fire Country cast to watch, as Max Thieriot explained:
And he came in like a freaking pro and crushed that fight scene like nothing, I was like ‘Man!’ Like [he] just came in and did it. And he really did. He knew every step, every move, had it choreographed, like, boom, boom, boom. So, I think all of us were sitting there sort of watching in real-time, we were ‘Oh dang! He’s doing it.’
Considering Thieriot and Padalecki are also friends, I imagine seeing his pal in his element was epic. As a fan, it was certainly thrilling to watch. Plus, it gave us a clear picture of who Camden Casey is.
Like Bode, Camden is a loose canon who is also wickedly intelligent, as proven by his use of salt and pepper in the fight scene. Padalecki brings a new flavor to Fire Country, though, that could shake things up in good and bad ways, especially for Bode, and I can’t wait to see it!
Luckily, we won’t have to wait long for that, because Jared Padalecki will be back on Fire Country as it continues to air on CBS every Friday at 9 p.m. ET. Plus, if you want to go back and watch this fun and epic scene again, you can stream every episode of the drama on Paramount+.