Gabriela's Stalker Closes in as Character Fates Are Left Hanging -

Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Fire Country Season 3 Episode 19.

Fire Country continues its intent mission to ruin my life at the top of the Season 3 finale by kicking off with a Station 42 farewell breakfast for Jake (Jordan Calloway). His new job is allegedly the next county over, but the breakfast reveals that he’ll be a few hours away. That doesn’t sound like we’d be seeing Jake at almost every incident next season, so consider me officially pissed off that one of the best characters on this show might actually be saying goodbye.

Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) can only gloat about taking Jake’s locker for so long before Manny (Kevin Alejandro) discovers Finn (Blake Lee) skulking around the station. Manny immediately goes on the hunt so that the authorities can arrest his daughter’s stalker, but Finn randomly appearing outside the station means that Gabs is far from safe at work or at home. Unfortunately, scouting out Finn leads to a dangerous fire that needs our first responders’ immediate attention.

Finn Starts a Gas Station Fire in ‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Episode 19

Kevin Alejandro in Fire Country Season 3 Episode 19 — Image via CBS

Manny calls Bode (Max Thieriot) as he tails Finn out of the Station 42 parking lot. Bode is able to catch up to Finn at an isolated gas station on the way to see Walter (Jeff Fahey). They call in Finn’s new location to the cops, but the stalker catches Bode watching him and speeds off — taking a fuel tank with him, running over a gas engine attendant, and knocking over the gas station sign, which sends sparks flying onto the leaking gasoline. In mere moments, a chill watch-and-follow operation turns into an explosive event that calls for multiple fire engines.

Three Rock is the first engine to arrive on the scene, but with no emergency water supply, everyone is scrambling to figure out how to put out the fire before it reaches the fuel tanks. There is a fire suppression system inside the gas station store, along with a teenage girl, Inez, stuck inside, but the flames block everyone from being able to get to her or the switch that could save everyone. To make matters worse, Eve (Jules Latimer) discovers a cage of propane tanks sitting dangerously close to the spreading flames. Manny comes up with the brilliant idea to pull the cage away from the building by dragging it with the girl’s Jeep parked outside. The fire spreads as he starts pulling back the cage, and the crew screams for him to stop, but Manny knows if he pulls the cage farther, the propane tanks will blow up anyway and take down the building with Inez still inside. He steps on the gas and gets the cage an extra few feet away from the building before the tanks explode in a massive fireball.

Station 42 thankfully shows up just in time with some tank water that can at least calm the flames of the fireball. Once it’s declared that Manny has escaped pretty unscathed, Jake shoots water onto the flames, putting them out enough to allow Bode enough room to break a window and make it inside the gas station store. He triggers the fire suppression system and gets Inez out; unfortunately, he also twists his knee, which forces Vince to bench him for the rest of the day.

Gabriela Reaches a Dangerous Crossroads in ‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Episode 19

Leven Rambin in Fire Country Season 3 Episode 19 — Image via CBS

Gabs is sent to hunker down at the Leone house once Finn is spotted outside the station. Sharon has the foresight to realize that Gabs will spiral out of control if left to her own devices, so she sends Audrey (Levin Rambin) to keep an eye on her. Gabs almost shoots Audrey when she comes through the door, but after the initial shock, Gabs is stoked to have a friend to nervously eat Oreos with to pass the time until Finn is arrested. Their heart rates skyrocket again when they hear the neighbor’s dog barking, implying that someone is outside the Leone house. The women crouch together in the living room, looking for the possible culprit, but can’t find anyone. At no time did anyone think, “Hey, did we grab Gabriela’s gun that she just left on the cabinet in the foyer?” Why would we leave a gun just lying around when there’s a stalker on the loose?

Anyway, that kind of rational thought goes out the window when Audrey declares no one is outside and they’re safe — and then Finn, who had apparently scaled the house and climbed in through a second-story window, chimes in, “Of course you’re safe. I’ve been saying that all along.” He says it right as Gabs pulls out her phone, which Finn bought her, to update the Leones. The fact that the police didn’t insist she get a new phone once she gave them a statement about her time with Finn is absolutely bonkers.

Finn doesn’t notice the gun because he is packing a taser of his own. Audrey and Gabs then have to play hostage manipulation to allow one of them close enough to grab the gun before Finn causes irreparable harm. Finn is ahead of the curve, though, and tases Audrey so it’s down to just him and Gabs talking about their future together. Gabs tries to convince Finn that they should take an unconscious Audrey to the hospital so she can be examined after collapsing on the floor. When that doesn’t work, Gabs tries to distract him with talk of passports and a plan to escape together so she can get closer to her gun. She is inches away from grabbing it when Finn realizes she is up to something and screams at her.

Max Thieriot and Jordan Calloway in Fire Country Season 3 Episode 15

’Fire Country’ Gets Engulfed in a Massive Inferno in Season 3 Finale Sneak Peek

“I’d Do It Again” airs on Friday.

Gabriela tries to talk Finn down, but he is ready to explode. She goes for the gun, and he tussles with her over it. Then we hear a gunshot as the camera pans to Manny in his car outside, listening to a voicemail from Sharon (Dianne Farr) before going to check on Gabs. He rushes into the house after he hears the gunshot and finds Gabs holding the gun and standing over a bleeding Finn. Let us all pray they do the responsible thing and call the cops and claim self-defense. That would be the sensible thing to do, but knowing Gabs and Manny, they’ll probably just try to hide the body instead, and we will spend all of next season suffocating in their guilt.

The gas station would have been enough heroics for the day, but this is a two-part Fire Country finale! As soon as the Station 42 firefighters return to the station, they get the call that they’re needed at the spreading wildfire, so they pile back in the truck to go fight more flames. Everyone is back on duty except for Bode, and his being marooned at the station means that he’s there to get Walter’s call from the memory care facility. Walter is clearly in the middle of a dementia episode, but he tips Bode off that the wind is changing so the Zable Ridge fire will be making a turn for Edgewater, putting the memory care facility right in its path. Bode packs up his gear and heads out, which is a direct violation of Vince’s orders. What exactly is Bode going to do with that hurt knee? Will he be a one-man protection crew for the memory care facility? Something feels so off about this.

Vince Considers His Replacement in ‘Fire Country’ Season 3 Episode 19

Three Rock is back in commission now that the Oxalta case has been wrapped up, and they start this week with some good news. Cole (Tye White) has made parole, so he has one last fire with the crew before getting out. It’s a sign of how much this show has traumatized me that my immediate thought when Cole announced the news was, “Well, I guess Cole is going to die in this gas station fire.” Wouldn’t it be nice for Fire Country to let us have nice things? Cole is still alive at the end of the first hour, but a fire is also brimming at Three Rock at the end of the episode, so the inmates are on the scene soon enough.

Vince (Billy Burke) immediately starts to regret not fighting for Jake to stay at Station 42 when he has to start combing through potential replacement applications. Not a single person feels qualified to replace his surrogate son. That leaves Vince with only a few options. He could turn Bode into a total nepo baby and jump him up to captain — an idea from Walter — but even Sharon (Diane Farr) thinks it would be too much, and she is correct. The second option is to beg Jake to change his mind, which would have been a great pick. Or, Vince could consider Manny, who has conveniently just reapplied to Cal Fire and is looking for a new job. The best candidate for Station 42 will hopefully emerge during the Zable Ridge fire, but who knows what other physical and existential damage the Fire Country Season 3 finale has in store for our crew?

The second half of the Fire Country Season 3 finale airs at 10 PM on CBS. The episode will also be available to stream on Paramount+. Come back to Collider on Saturday morning for our recap.