‘Fire Country’ Star Is Just as Surprised as You Are That the Season 4 Trailer Revealed That Death [Exclusive]

Fire Country is no stranger to controversy. The hit CBS drama has found itself the target of fan backlash multiple times, but that has not stopped it from consistently delivering entertaining stories. The upcoming season brings fresh controversy following the revelation that fan-favorite character Vince Leone (Billy Burke) is no more. “I was surprised,” series star and co-creator Max Thieriot told Collider’s Christina Radish about the decision to reveal the death in the season’s trailer.

While the answer to Season 3’s biggest question has already been revealed, Thieriot explained that it was all done out of respect for the character. “You’re not just trying to use a central character’s death as a cliffhanger and as a gimmick. There’s a weird fine line there,” he explained. But who decided that it was time for Vince to die? “I think it was a big group decision. A decision like that is not one that is easy for anybody. It’s so layered and it’s such a process,” Thieriot said. He continued:

“No one is above the show and everything is about the greater good of the show itself, what makes the show better, and what allows us to push these stories further, and create good television, good drama, and character growth. It was a long process of coming to this conclusion. I don’t know that there was one person who was like, ‘This is what we need to do.’ But eventually it just became clear to everyone and the writing was on the wall that that this was the way things would probably and should probably go.”

Killing Off Vince Was Not an Easy Decision for ‘Fire Country’

The death of a character as central to the narrative and the lives of other characters as Vince causes a ripple effect. Additionally, it’s not easy to make a decision that will affect someone with whom everyone has formed a close relationship. “It was also a weird and difficult conversation to have because Billy is so loved and such an incredible actor and scene partner. This crew loves him. He really is like a family member and a father figure on set. The hardest thing is separating the personal from the work part of everything, especially because you spend so much time with these people every day. […] For me, the hardest thing to digest was not working with this guy every day. I think that was hard for everyone,” Thieriot said.

However, making tough choices is part of life, but what matters is how they are made. For Fire Country, it was important to remain faithful to the character even in his final moments. “Nobody knows the stakes of this job better than firefighters, and what their families can possibly go through. It was important to show that not only did he really care about this community and fighting fires, but at the center of that, he cared about his family the most. That was the center of his world. So, we had to show that he was willing to put his own life at risk for those people, and everyone and everything that he believed in and stood for and everything that he loved,” explained Thieriot. As for how the show honors Vince going forward, he explained:

“We also felt like it was really important to have a big impactful scene, coming back in the season, that represented how much this character and this figure of this town is loved, and how important he was. It’s multifaceted and it’s hard. Moving forward, you’re constantly going, ‘Okay, how do we continue to honor this character? How do we continue to find growth and story for all these characters moving forward and what they all go through and what this community goes through with losing this figure?’ We have to find a way to make it a central part of this season while not making the central focus of the season be about grief. It’s that fine line between those two things. I think the writers are doing a great job.”

Fire Country returns on CBS on Friday, October 17. Stay tuned to Collider for further updates.

Release Date

October 7, 2022

Showrunner

Tia Napolitano

Directors

Bill Purple, Dermott Downs, Eagle Egilsson, Gonzalo Amat, Kevin Alejandro, Max Thieriot, Sarah Wayne Callies, Marie Jamora, Kantu Lentz, Antonio Negret, Laura Nisbet Peters, Lisa Demaine, Nicole Rubio, James Strong, Anton Cropper, Erica A. Watson, Joy T. Lane, Jacquie Gould, Chi-Yoon Chung

Writers

Tia Napolitano, David Gould, Natalia Fernandez, Barbara Kaye Friend, Tony Phelan, Joan Rater, Dwain Worrell, Julia Fontana, Sara Casey, Manuel Herrera, Jen Klein, Anupam Nigam, Tonya Kong