Part of what we love about Fire Country is that something is always happening. It’s not just things that you think would or could never happen. It’s real life things, real life moments, real life feelings. This past weeks episode is no different.
Especially after we were left with that cliffhanger after the last episode. With Sharon falling and us seeing that bottle fall to the ground. It feels like everything is always on the line here – freedom, love, family.
And this week doesn’t seem to be any different when it comes to Fire Country.
It seems to get more intense.
UTTER DENIAL
Sometimes facing the truth is the scariest thing of all and for Sharon, facing the truth means accepting things that she’s not ready to accept. It means not willing to say that she’s getting better. So at the doctor, she’s not saying the things that she needs to.
Instead she’s practicing avoidance.
Now there are many reasons to hate Vince, but I have to admit that hasn’t changed. But the fact that he’s sitting in with his wife and her doctor and telling all of the things that Sharon won’t say, part of me starts to like him.
Putting others first doesn’t seem to be his strong suit, but he’s definitely doing it in this episode.
Sharon has a terminal illness. Kidney disease is not a joke and she knows how serious it is, but she also is in denial. She wants to get into the clinical trial. Her son is back – she has a chance at having her family back together. She’s not going to want to admit to herself or give any indication that things are worse.
She’s going to want to be in denial.
But there comes a time where denial is something that you have to face in life. And for Sharon, it’s a lot more than facing death, it’s facing missed time. It’s facing that she’s not indestructible when that’s exactly who she’s had to be. She wants to have hope and when someone or something wants to take that hope from her, it’s too much.
As it would be for anyone.
Finding out her disease has progressed to stage five is a lot to handle. Having to go on dialysis is a lot. But if there is anything Sharon has – it’s support. She just has to see it.
WITH FAMILY LIKE THIS…
Vince’s brother hits town and well, apparently douchiness runs in the family. His brother, Luke, hits town and he’s trying to not show it – but it’s evident – he’s after something. He wants Sharons job.
And he’s basically come to town to shoot a sizzle reel of the things that he could change and do if he was in charge of Cal Fire. And it doesn’t seem to matter who he takes down in the process.
Now, Luke does have a soft spot in his heart for Bode and wants to keep him safe. At least that is part of what we are lead to believe. I however think that he’s trying to make it seem as though his reforms, his ideas, are even good enough to rehabilitate his nephew.
The questions he is asking though, can get Bode sent back to prison. Manny is the one to remind him of that, but it seems like (to me) that Luke doesn’t care. Manny seems to care more about this family than Luke does.
Manny has him pegged and isn’t afraid to tell him that he knows what he’s after. Luke wants Sharon’s job and if he has to screw over his family… it doesn’t matter.
JEALOUS JAKE
There is no love lost for Jake. The man is despicable and he knows it.
What kills me is that Jake thinks that no one is capable of change. Well no one except him.
When Gabriella is hoping that her father will be calling to wish her a great first day, Jake takes it upon himself to answer her phone. What he gets is a rude awakening, it’s Bode calling her.
Personally, though Jake is the lowest of the low, I was glad he got a rude awakening. I was glad that he had to come face to face with the fact that Gabriella has options. I was glad for him to see that Gabriella’s entire life doesn’t revolve around him.
Now that being said, do I think for a second that anyone should be an option? No. But I do think Jake doesn’t deserve Gabriella and so I am glad that she is seeing that more people believe in her. And she needs to believe in herself.
Bode and Jake both like her for different reasons. But the thing is with Bode, he doesn’t expect her to be anything other than herself.
And that’s part of what I want to see – Gabriella fighting for herself.
Even when Jake puts Bode down, Gabriella knows that she needs to stay focused on her choices and her beliefs. And she does just that.
THE HORSE AND THE CHILD
There are a lot of fires in Northern California, apparently. Kind of ashamed that we weren’t aware of just how many. This fire leads the team and Manny’s squad to a farm, where Vince tries to help the family get their horse out of the barn.
But the horse won’t leave. He’s scared and the family doesn’t want to leave him behind. Vince knows they need to get out and tells them that he’ll look after the horse and do everything to get him out.
Now, this is going to mean working with Bode, who has just been promoted to First Sar. Not sure what any of it means, but apparently it’s something. Bode is in trouble, for covering for Freddie, who was injured, and Manny catches them.
Do I believe that Bode had bad intentions? No. But sometimes intention doesn’t matter. When you’re working a dangerous job, you have to think of everything. Their careless thinking could have gotten someone killed.
Bode and Vince working together was the best part of this – they saved a little girl from the fire, and also the horse. But you also got to see that Vince does love his son and I have to admit that I didn’t see that one coming. It’s hard to see Vince be so aloof all of the time.
But just when he is this person that isn’t redeemable, Vince is willing to head back into a burning barn with no way out, because his son is in there.
Damnit – I started to feel the ice around my heart melt for Vince.
But before he has to go in, here comes Bode out of the barn, horse in tow.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- We all need to find a way to harness Sharon’s positivity
- Sharon and avoidance is also a vibe
- Still hate Jake. He’s not redeemable
- Bode loosing first sar… I mean I feel like he’s lucky that is all it was.