“Fire Country Teases a Fiery New Romance for Bode – And the Sparks Between Them Are Even Hotter Than What We Saw in SEAL Team!”

There’s never a dull moment in Fire Country, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. As we officially head into the midseason break, one of the biggest reveals of the season, if not the series, has come to light — Landon (Josh McDermitt) is the person responsible for the Zabel Ridge fire that took the life of Vince (Billy Burke). The big unveiling came just one week after the character was brought in alongside another exciting introduction that saw Max Thieriot’s SEAL Team co-star, Alona Tal, join the CBS procedural. Although Tal’s new role as Chloe — a teacher at the school and a friend from Bode’s (Thieriot) past — appears to just be in a guest capacity at this moment, there are already sparks flying between the old pals that might see her stick around.

Ahead of the midseason finale, Collider’s Christina Radish sat down with Fire Country showrunner, Tia Napolitano, to pick her brain about the new personalities now roaming Edgewater and how all the pieces fell together to make for one of the title’s most

 jaw-dropping moments yet.

There’s nothing audiences love more than seeing old co-stars reunite on a new project — especially when they have the kind of chemistry that Thieriot and Tal have. In the case of what came first, the character or the casting, Napolitano admitted that “the character existed” and that things just lined up perfectly for Tal to take on the role of Chloe. “We started thinking about this teacher that Bode knew from his past, before all the bad stuff happened, and then knew of him when the bad stuff happened.

They have this fondness for each other and this crush that neither of them were ever able to act on because of opportunity.”

Though she doesn’t name names, Napolitano says that several “wonderful people” came in to read for Chloe, but that Thieriot had that light-bulb moment that eventually brought Tal in for the part.

“Max just went, ‘Wait a minute, what if Alona could do it? Will they even let us do that?’ And it turns out, not only would they let us do it, CBS was so excited about it. Alona was so excited about it. It was so wonderful having her on set. She said that acting with Max again was like riding a bike. They’re lovely together, and I’m really enjoying them.”

The chemistry and trust that the actors built up during their time working together on CBS’ SEAL Team came in increasingly handy for their Fire Country reunion, with the latter’s showrunner explaining,

“The way that you’ll see them together feels very easy. It feels like people who knew each other in a past life because they sort of did.” In the case of Bode and Chloe, this type of ease and understanding lends itself to their relationship. “In our storytelling, they knew each other as kids, which brings a certain sweetness and a certain amount of wish fulfillment,” Napolitano said, “What if your crush walked into your life now and you both happened to be available? What would happen? We’re leaning into the innocence and magic and ease that exists between those two people.”

Since re-entering Bode’s life, there’s been a bit of chaos in the mix for Chloe, who discovered that her boyfriend, Landon (McDermitt) was abusing her son, Tyler (Conor Sherry

). Seeing bits of himself in the young troublemaker, Bode has taken Tyler under his wing, which could prove to be disastrous to his potential romantic relationship with Chloe in the future, should the pair pursue something.

“There’s definitely an element of risk when it comes to Bode and Chloe,” Napolitano told Radish, “They’ll have to weigh their decisions very carefully because there is Tyler in the mix.”

The Zabel Ridge Fire Is Finally Solved

Since losing Vince (Burke) at the beginning of the season, both the characters of Fire Country and the fans at home have been

mourning the loss and looking for someone or something to blame. Tonight’s episode finally gave us the answer we’d been looking for as it was confirmed that Landon (McDermitt) was the person who set the fire — a fact brought up in the previous episode that was finally hammered in tonight. Explaining how the creative team landed on Landon as the arsonist, Napolitano said, “It developed as we went. It became organic and intertwined with the storytelling.”

If it felt like the Zabel Ridge Fire was holding up a mirror to the devastating blazes that rocked the Los Angeles area last year, Napolitano says that it was a strange coincidence.

“We made the decision before we found out there was an arsonist involved in the Palisades fire, so it felt really authentic and like we could pull a lot of information about how these things happen.” Eventually, they leaned on the aftermath to better shape Fire Country’s storyline. “Also, it was terribly tragic, obviously,” Napolitano said, “It just felt organic to feel like all the storylines were talking to each other and growing organically from how we started the season.”

As for what the future holds for Landon, it doesn’t look great. Napolitano said that the idea of him as the arsonist packed a much more “personal” punch. “Talk about a bad guy. He’s abusive, he’s Chloe’s ex, and now he’s involved in the fire. He was scary in episode nine.”

Catch up on Fire Country now streaming on Paramount+.