Fire Country Season 5, Episode 1 “Founder’s Day” centers on second chances and who deserves them. Can people truly change from evil to good? Does everyone deserve a chance to prove themselves to be good? Why won’t someone take the chance to do what they love if it gives them purpose? These are questions we asked ourselves when it came to meeting new characters CJ (Olivia Thirlby) and Manny’s nephew Angel (Ethan James Romero) in this season premiere.
Overall, the sinkhole rescue of “Founder’s Day” left us with a reminder of how good humanity can be when everyone comes together. When first responders and ordinary citizens who aren’t entirely trained but eager to help each other when in danger. So, the best of humanity aren’t just the ones most equipped to save lives. It’s anyone who chooses to help because they have the capacity to care about strangers like they’re a loved one.
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CJ Is Someone We Want to See More Of
When Bode first meets CJ in “Founder’s Day” to ask her to put out a campfire, we’re naturally drawn to her. She’s tough, opinionated, kind, and strong-willed as someone who’s been hurt by life. There’s nothing romantic about this duo and their playful banter feels like a breath of fresh air.
Finding out she’s an ex-firefighter who is running from her life in Philadelphia quickly made sense, mainly because of how quickly she rushed to help injured victims who were trapped in the sinkhole with her. While we don’t know if she’ll be up to help Bode lead the volunteer firefighter program, we hope she stays at the very least. She doesn’t need to be a friend to anyone in Station 42 yet. But Edgewater is in need of firefighters and CJ blended in smoothly alongside Jake and Bode when saving their music teacher from the rubble.
CJ may have her secrets that she’s keeping to herself after “Founder’s Day,” but we hope it won’t be enough to villainize her. As much we love Sharon and Eve, we’d love to see more women on the team in a station full of men. We haven’t had a full-time female addition to the team since Gabriela, so we’d want to love CJ’s wrongs. However, we also hope she isn’t evil because we have morals. Let’s make her a good person, Fire Country.
Manny and Eve At Odds
Throughout “Founder’s Day” Eve believed that Angel is at Three Rock to work hard in redeeming himself to be better. Meanwhile, Manny believes his nephew is just like his father, incapable of change because of the damage he caused in his youth. Ultimately, the hard thing about Manny and Eve’s argument is knowing they both want to protect the integrity of Three Rock. They’re the past and present captains of Three Rock. So, we will say they’re both valid in their reactions to Angel’s presence.
Manny thinks he will try to ruin the integrity of the camp by manipulating others. On the other hand, Eve wants to give him the benefit of the doubt by allowing him to show her who he is. In the end, Manny’s reaction to seeing Angel was extreme and unprofessional. Sure, his problems with the boy are personal because they’re family. But he was captain of Three Rock for years before Eve came along. He’s been in her shoes of trusting the people who others wouldn’t even want to look at.
As the captain of Three Rock, Eve’s job isn’t to judge people based on their past. It’s her job to teach inmates how to fight fires, follow rules, and prove they can be good citizens when they get out of prison. Initially, it was sweet for Manny to tell Eve to be wary of his nephew because it shows he cares about her and Three Rock’s reputation. But he crossed a line in telling Eve why she shouldn’t give Angel a chance to prove himself at all. Telling Eve to drop his nephew to avoid getting hurt isn’t fair to Angel. Who is Manny to say the boy hasn’t changed if he hasn’t been around in ten years?
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Community Matters
So, we’re glad Eve is choosing not to listen to Manny after “Founder’s Day.” As a potential friend and Three Rock captain for Angel, Eve needs to create her own opinions of him. If Manny is proven right, then so be it. Eve would get hurt but at least she gave someone a second chance to prove if he’s a changed man. However, if Manny is proven wrong, we expect to see him apologize to Eve. Everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves. If our hopes come true, Angel can be another example of Three Rock positively impacting people’s lives.
Not that Edgewater needs to build their reputation up for anyone. If you asked us, those in Station 42 already represent the best of people. Bode was the one to offer a helping hand to CJ when her car was destroyed. He’s going to start up the volunteer firefighter program so citizens can help them fight fires when necessary. Jake just found out he’s going to be a dad and it didn’t stop him from rushing into the unknown. He didn’t hesitate to go into the sinkhole or a car stuck in rubble to save his music teacher.
So, when both men asked for help to lift the woman out of the rubble, everyone agreed. Because they were witness to how much Station 42 cared about saving lives even while understaffed. Bode, Jake, and Eve are the first ones to run toward the danger which is always admirable. They care about anyone and everyone they come across even, and especially, if they’re strangers. “Founder’s Day” made it so easy to fall back in love these characters.
Fire Country airs on Fridays on CBS at 9:00pm EST.
