Massive, massive, massive spoilers for Fire Country Season 2, Episode 5 are ahead. If you have not seen the episode, please go back and watch it with a Parmount+ subscription.
Fire Country will never be the same. At the end of the fifth episode of Season 2, we sadly lost Cara, the mother of Gen, Bode’s ex and Jake’s girlfriend. Following the tragic ambulance crash, Sabina Gadecki’s character died after getting injured. This development has created a ton of questions, and it left me very sad. So, when I had the chance to speak with Max Thieriot and Jordan Calloway, I had to ask them about how they reacted when they got the news about their characters’ loved one.
There’s no question that what happened to Cara was tragic. As a viewer, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of the loss and how it would impact Bode, Jake and Gen. After hearing how Max Thieriot and Jordan Calloway reacted, it only added to that weight. While speaking with Calloway, he told me the cast had similar feelings when they learned about Cara’s death. He said:
It was heartbreaking. It was absolutely heartbreaking. It’s funny, I feel like all of us, every single person on the cast and crew, we were just like ‘Is there a way that we could change this?’ Like what is, no, not Sabs, not Sabs, not Sabina. She’s absolutely amazing.
I’m right there with him, and Max Thieriot had a similar reaction. However, he also noted that this move will further the story in a meaningful way. Considering Bode still doesn’t know if he’s Gen’s biological dad and Jake was about to propose, Cara’s death creates an interesting dynamic between the two guys and her daughter. Speaking to this point, the Bode actor said:
Frankly, I was sad. I mean, you know, Sabina is a really good friend of mine. So, I was actually personally sad. But I think story-wise, I’m also aware of what certain opportunities bring and what they, unfortunately, like tragic things like this add to this series, and allow us to open up and expand on other stories…that we’re already invested in.
He makes a valid point, and he went on to tell me that it’s important to see these characters “push” and grow. In Cara’s final moments, she seemed to come to terms with Bode being in Gen’s life, and hopefully, that will be enough validation to help him push forward.
Jordan Calloway made a similar point as he told me about how Jake will have to handle this loss. He was about to propose to Cara, and now without her, he’ll really have to grieve and reevaluate his life. Explaining this, Calloway told me:
Now, talking to you about her as for the character of Jake. I think like, you know, it broke my heart. Because here we have Jake when we first found him, he didn’t even know if he was in love or if you really wanted love. And then we find out by the un-layering of his heart that he actually was always in love with Cara, his first high school sweetheart. Having parents that are high school sweethearts, I definitely attached to that.
Along with this death impacting Bode and Jake immensely, it will also take its toll on everyone in Fire Country. Max Thieriot told me that he expects Cara’s death to “resonate” through the rest of Season 2, and now that the firefighter drama has been renewed for Season 3, it seems her legacy could live on for a long time.
Ultimately, like me, both men were truly saddened by Cara’s death, and they told me they’d miss Sabina Gadecki greatly. Jordan Calloway reiterated that in the final moments of us talking about his reaction to this terribly sad situation when he said:
But I mean, like, yeah, when this came out, you were just broken. It shattered everybody. I mean, she’s become such a loved character too.
She really was, and we’ll all miss her dearly. Now, the question is: How will Cara’s death change the lives of the characters moving forward?
Obviously, it’s going to impact everyone in the Fire Country cast, specifically Max Thieriot’s Bode and Jordan Calloway’s Jake, and it will be interesting to see the choices they make in the coming episodes. To see the effects of this tragic loss, you can catch new episodes of the hit drama on the 2024 TV schedule every Friday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS or the next day on Paramount+.