By the very nature of Fire Country, death should be an integral part of it.
But while destruction has reigned on the CBS firefighter drama, death has been a much less frequent visitor.
There have been five deaths throughout 28 episodes of Fire Country.
The most significant death, that of Riley Leone, happened before the series began. That event did put several characters on new paths.
As explained via flashback on Fire Country Season 1 Episode 2, Riley had been secretly dating Jake, Bode’s best friend. He broke up with her on the night of her birthday.
On the ride home after the breakup, a distraught Riley jumped out of Bode’s car and wanted to return to Jake’s house. Bode tried to get her back into the car and lost control, crashing the vehicle and killing Riley on impact.
Their father, Vince, was the first person on the scene and blamed Bode, telling him to leave and never return. Bode took the last name Donovan and, battling addiction, slid into a life of crime that eventually would land him in prison for armed robbery.
Bode’s participation in the Three Rock convict firefighting program is supposed to be his first step on the road to redemption, although it’s been a rocky road, to be sure.
The following three deaths, featuring a couple of one-and-dones and a short-timer, weren’t nearly as noteworthy:
Which brings us to the lone death this season, that of Cara on Fire Country Season 2 Episode 5.
It should have been a sign of things to come when Cara wasn’t given a last name. That would have been too much work for the writers.
Cara racked up a complicated history during her nine episodes.
She was Bode’s next-door neighbor and high-school sweetheart. She was like Sharon’s second daughter until she supposedly dumped Bode after his baseball injury. Then she left Edgewater.
On Fire Country Season 1 Episode 10, Cara returned to town to help her mother pack up her childhood home, which would be going on the market.
A power outage led to Cara suffering an electrical burn and cardiac event, which Sharon helped treat, even performing CPR.
Cara revealed to Sharon that she didn’t break up with Bode after his injury, as he had claimed, but that he had broken up with her.
Cara also said that she was training to become an ER nurse, like her mother. This proved helpful when Sharon passed out from the heat and could not take her dialysis due to the power outage.
After Bode and Gabriela became a couple, Cara (his ex) and Jake (her ex) slowly came together.
On Fire Country Season 1 Episode 11, Cara found herself coaching Jake through a needle thoracostomy on the side of the road following a brutal motorcycle incident in which Sharon’s brakes were cut, and Dolly and Paulie were severely injured.
Afterward, at Smokey’s, she revealed her plan to remain in Edgewater and begin her rotations at the local hospital.
After she and Jake began dating, Cara admitted to him that her ‘sister’ Genevieve is her biological daughter and that Bode might be the father on Fire Country Season 1 Episode 22.
During the six-month hiatus after Bode returned to prison following his ill-conceived but noble gesture, Genevieve was told that Cara was her mother. That was one of the many changes that seemingly came out of nowhere for Fire Country viewers in this strike-shortened season.
After four episodes of “Is Bode Genevieve’s father or not?,” it was time for Cara’s departure. Bode was being transported by an ambulance driven by Diego (Gaby’s new fiance) to have his latest batch of heroically earned injuries treated. Cara went along … who remembers why?
Then, a tree felled by a fire tornado (why not?) forced the ambulance off the road. Cara got impaled by a steel rod, suffered a brain bleed, and eventually died. Before dying, she extracted a promise from Bode to take care of Genevieve.
So, what has been the fallout from Cara’s death? On Fire Country Season 2 Episode 6, Jake was walking around in a daze, as would be expected.
The court placed Genevieve with Bode’s parents. Then the DNA results came back, and, oops, Bode’s not the father.
Knowing that Bode will walk the straight and narrow (as much as he’s capable) to get out and be Genevieve’s father, Sharon downplayed the negative results as just a speed bump.
That’s optimistic. Cara’s mother is still out there somewhere. Also, Genevieve has a biological father, although Cara took the list of possible candidates to her grave.
A court would favor either of those candidates over an ex-con with no biological connection, wouldn’t it?
As far as potential future deaths in the series, Diego has that disposable look. He’s standing between Bode and Gaby so he could go next.
To feel more authentic, one of the regular characters needs to go. After all, firefighting is a dangerous profession.
But that’s not likely to happen in this melodramatic mess of a season. Maybe it will after things start to get straightened out next season.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.