'Fire Country' Star Stephanie Arcila Reveals Whether She's Team Bode or Diego
Paola Nú?ez, Kevin Alejandro, Stephanie Arcila, and Rafael De La Fuente in 'Fire Country' Season 2
Fire Country Season 2, Episode 8 was a big one for Gabriela Perez (Stephanie Arcila). She saved her boss Vince Leone’s (Billy Burke) life, unexpectedly reunited with her estranged mother, Roberta (guest star Paola Nú?ez), and had some more doubts cast on her impending wedding to Diego (Rafael de la Fuente), who’s a good guy, but he isn’t Bode (Max Thieriot).
And all the while, she was wearing formalwear.
“It’s Not Over” took place at a Cal Fire fundraising gala, so everyone got dressed up, a very rare occurrence on Fire Country that delighted Arcila.
“It was so beautiful, because we had literally just seen each other in uniform all year long,” the actress told Parade. “So it was just really nice to see everybody dressed up in their suits and their dresses and glammed up.” In fact, it was such an unusual occurrence that the sound department had to find new places to put the actors’ mics, since they’re so used to easily hiding them under their uniforms.
Keep reading for Acila's behind-the-scenes insights into the episode, including whether she's Team Bode or Team Diego.
Related: 'Fire Country' Renewed for Season 3 on CBS
On Gabriela's relationship with her mother ... and filming with a telenovela legend
Several storylines converged at the Firefighters’ Ball, as the Station 42 and Three Rock firefighters made a last-ditch effort to persuade the governor to keep Three Rock open. The governor revealed that division chief Luke Leone (Michael Trucco) was behind the closure, which led Gabriela’s father Manny to start a fistfight with him for lying about it. Ultimately, Three Rock got an extension to go fight a campaign fire, but there might not be a camp when the inmates get back.
The ball brought the whole ensemble together in one room—eventually (more on that in a bit). Gabriela was there with Diego, and was surprised when her mother showed up. She invited her mother to the wedding and is very stressed about it, and was mentally preparing to see her for the first time in a long time. But Diego took it upon himself to invite Roberta to the gala, under the misguided belief that seeing her before the wedding would “take the edge off.” Gabriela was mad. Diego doesn’t really understand her.
Years ago, after Manny got out of prison, Roberta left her family to find herself, which has led to a lot of anger and resentment toward her from Gabriela and Manny (though there’s obviously still a spark between the exes, who shared a kiss). Now, Roberta has regrets, and would like to build some sort of relationship with her daughter.
Sergei Bachlakov/CBS
Paola Nú?ez is a veteran telenovela actress—she has appeared in nearly a thousand episodes of Mexican soap operas—and Arcila, who has some telenovela experience herself, was thrilled to work with her in the mother-daughter scenes. Working in telenovelas is like “boot camp” for actors, Arcila explains, because they shoot at a relentless pace, sometimes filming over 50 scenes a day. “And I think that that shows, because she comes in and out of these emotions, and then they say ‘cut’ and we hang out,” Arcila said.
It was Arcila’s birthday the week the episode filmed, and said it was an extra special time, because it’s unusual to have so much Latin representation on the set of an American broadcast show. The episode’s director, Gonzalo Amat, is from Mexico, and she, Nú?ez, Kevin Alejandro, and Rafael de la Fuente are all Latino. “It's so beautiful that CBS is giving us this opportunity to be able to have this much diversity,” she said. “We never get to be in the same room as this many Latinos on set. So the fact that this is happening was a gift for all of us. It felt like home.”
On Vince's response to Gabriela's life-saving help
Gabriela ended up leaving her mother at the party to go check on Vince, who hadn’t shown up and wasn’t answering his phone. When she got to his house, she found him passed out on the floor. He was having cardiac arrhythmia as a result of his electric shock last week, and he didn’t want anyone to know. He ordered Gabriela to defibrillate him to basically reset his heart, which she refused to do at first, because she would never be able to look Bode in the eye again if she killed his father. But when Vince’s condition worsened, she did it. For one frightening moment, his heart stopped, but then he came back to life with the condition fixed.
But instead of being grateful, he had the audacity to imply that he would make things bad for Gabriela if she told anyone what happened—especially his wife. It was a real heel turn for the usually upstanding character.
“It is not nice at all!” Arcila playfully said of Vince’s threat. “That is like, I'm helping you stay alive, and you're gonna threaten me? Because you don't want to be honest? I think it hurt her feelings a lot. And I think she was in a very vulnerable position because she wants everybody to be okay. She wants Bode to be okay, but she doesn't want to stress him out either. And she wants to also listen to her boss. She’s a very empathetic and compassionate person. So she tries to see the best in everyone and tries to accommodate things like what Vince is having her do. But once you cross a boundary like that… It'll show she was really hurting and not happy with with that response. It wasn't a safe space.”
Later, Gabriela chastised him for threatening her, and he apologized. He said he would tell Diane, he just needed more time. But he still hadn’t by the end of the episode, so Gabriela is still in the bad position of having to keep a secret.
Related: CBS Picks Up 'Fire Country' Spinoff: Everything to Know About 'Sheriff Country' So Far
On Gabriela's choice between Bode and Diego
When Gabriela got back to the party, Roberta told her that she had talked to Bode, who filled her in on his and Gabriela’s history. He explained that when he pulled away from her, it hurt her more than he could have imagined, because of her abandonment issues from what Roberta did to her. Roberta could tell that Bode understands Gabriela. Gabriela was mad that she talked to him.
“Why are you telling me this?” Gabriela asked.
“Because you’re about to make a choice,” Roberta answered. “A choice you have to live with for a long time. Choose wisely. Learn from my mistakes.” Sounds like we know which team she’s on.
Personally, Arcila would make the same choice between Bode and Diego if it was her. “I lead with my heart always, so if I was to pick knowing the dynamics, I love Diego, but my heart is with Bode,” she said.
Fire Country airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on CBS. It’s available to stream on Paramount+.
Next, Will Bode and Gabriela End Up Together on 'Fire Country'?
