What a rush! I may have to start watching "Fire Country" during the day! After the adrenaline surge, I got from watching Episode 2 last night, I had to leash up my Rottie and head out for a late night walk just so I could get rid of the adrenaline and get some sleep! I'd love to know if people without firefighting experience felt the same way after watching.
So, Episode 2 starts out with Bode (Max Thieriot) having a flashback to a birthday party where we're introduced to Riley, the friend, girlfriend and daughter being mourned in Episode 1. We find out that she was Bode's little sister. And the night she died in what appears to be a very tragic accident, she went from being a happy young woman celebrating her birthday with family and friends, to getting her heart broken by Jake (Jordon Calloway) and then dying. It looks like upcoming episodes will show us more details about the rest of that fateful night, including what really happened in the accident. By the way, they did a great job of making the cast look younger in the flashback. Bode rocked the shorter haircut!
The next scene has Bode facing the consequences for going rogue on the Buckeye Fire in Episode 1; taking a chainsaw up the fireline to save his former best friend Jake who was trapped under a burning tree. Bode's Captain, Manny (Kevin Alejandro does an excellent job with this role! He is SO much like so many Fire Crew Captains I knew back in the day) listens to both of Bode's parents, both chiefs who outrank him, as they share their completely opposing opinions about what Manny should do. He respectfully, but firmly, informs them both that it's his decision to make, whether to send Bode back to prison for disobeying a direct order.
After Vince let's go some pretty angry, and kind of ugly, comments to Manny about his son, Bode lets it slip, in front of his mom, Sharon (Diane Farr) that there was at least one of his dad's orders that he did follow well. The looks the three exchange say a lot and Vince knows he's in trouble. But that knowledge doesn't persuade him to tell his wife what he said. It's becoming increasingly clear that there is still a great deal of anger and hurt surrounding Riley's death and the aftermath. And the writers are doing a good job of making us not like Vince so much, at this particular moment. It will be interesting to see how they explain his feelings towards his son in a way that hopefully lets us fall back in love with this character.
The next morning at breakfast at the local bar and grill, (it's pretty cool the name of the local hangout the CAL FIRE folks frequent is Smokey's!) the banter between Sharon and Vince picks up where it left off. It continues throughout the episode and it's pretty entertaining. They're both such talented actors, the dialogue flows easily; unlike Vince, who's still in the doghouse for not flowing his own dialogue and telling his wife what he said to Bode.
Their back and forth is interrupted when they hear radio traffic that a dry lightning storm is headed towards Edgewater. They both react quickly and head for the door while explaining to the folks at Smokeys what's happening. Sharon's line about the incoming storm at the end of the scene is perfect. "Dry storms don't rain water, they rain lightning. So it's like little fires everywhere." What a completely natural piece of dialogue that helps the viewers understand what's happening.
So, side note; I am not about to Monday morning quarterback the writers, directors, actors or producers of this show. I hope that's not how this comes across. I'm not from that world. These are my thoughts and opinions based on 31 years in CAL FIRE and 3 years of rookie writing. But I do know from that combined experience that it's very difficult to write drama about firefighters; especially CAL FIRE with it's complex and diverse types of incidents and operations. You have to find ways to use dialogue to introduce concepts, terminology and jargon that the audience has likely never heard; all while trying to make it sound as natural as possible. And sometimes the dialogue that results can end up sounding a little awkward, though the dialogue seemed much smoother in this episode. But it is NOT an easy thing to do.
Next up we see Manny and the Fire Crew head out on the road as the dry lightning approaches; these are a specific kind of thunderstorm with hundreds of down strikes (lightning) and little to no rain. They can cause multiple fire starts within minutes of each other; often in remote areas.
We see Manny and the crew pulling into the parking area of Edgewater's Rec Center. Manny is explaining that the Rec building needs defensible space, that it needs to have the brush cleared away from its perimeter so the fire won't ignite the brush, which could then ignite the building. His explanation is spot on but the scene is confusing to me. It's a great message to get out to viewers. But it doesn't make sense in this particular situation. There is no actual fire yet. And they don't know if or when they may get a down strike in that area.
Maybe the scene was supposed to depict what fire crews can do to help when structure protection is necessary. Crews are invaluable when teamed up with engines to provide protection to buildings in the path of an advancing fire. What was strange about this scene was, there was no advancing fire. When lightning did hit a nearby tree and it exploded - yes that really happens! Then they had fire.
Next we see the porch roof of the rec building ignited because of embers from the exploding tree; a very realistic occurrence. Just as it ignited, I thought, "just cut the posts and push it away from the building."
It was cool that that's exactly what they did. It was just strange that they did it so slowly. That would have needed to happen very quickly, within minutes of the porch roof igniting, in order to keep the fire from spreading to the main building. The extended conversation between Manny and Bode as well as seeing the inmates standing around leaning on shovels, watching, was just odd.
Freddy (W. Tré Davis) continues in his role as comic relief. He seems like a total natural. As he tries to convince Bode to stay with their crew, he mentions the food at a neighboring camp is awful - "suspicious soup and mystery meat". The latter, "mystery meat" is actually a term inmates use for some of the weird food that is served at camp.
As Vince's engine crew finishes up the first of the lightning fires, they're all sent to the Rec Center where Manny's crew is trying to keep from losing the rec building. One of the best lines from this episode is when Vince balks at being sent to the same location as his son Bode and Sharon reminds him, "Aren't you the guy who was just complaining about his son not following orders? Do you think that could be genetic?" What a fantastic line! Perfection.
I love the scene with Sharon at Station 42, pacing back and forth, switching between her radio in one hand and the phone in the other while she ran operations on this series of lightning fires. What's weird; I've been there; exactly there. It was so surreal watching this.
Later, as Jake is fed numerous conflicting viewpoints about what he should put in his report to Manny about the incident with Bode on the Buckeye Fire, the scene shows clearly that this is a tough decision. Should he tell the truth? That Jake punched him, but also saved his life? Or should he omit the part about getting punched so that Bode can stay at Three Rock and he and his parents can begin to heal. It is not black and white. Not much ever really is.
Sharon and Vince's well written dialogue continues as the show reaches its end. Their scene at Smokey's is so well done. I felt what Sharon portrayed in a real way. The fact that she still loves her husband but is incredibly angry with him is pretty evolved.
When she reveals her illness to Manny in the next scene and pleads with him to keep Bode at Three Rock, she evokes heartbreak from every parent watching the show. Well done by Diane Farr! My new favorite character.
The last scene between Bode and Manny rocks! When Manny reveals he is a former inmate (he stole cars when he was a kid); that Sharon gave him a second chance and that he believes in second chances too, it feels like one of the premises of the entire show is being revealed. People make mistakes and they usually deserve a second chance.
A couple technicalities:
I'm so excited about the potential of "Fire Country." Not only does it have the opportunity to truly entertain people with the excitement and human drama, it has the chance to educate people. To teach them about fire in California; about defensible space and fire history; about the importance of the Camp Program and the integral part Fire Crews play. Inmate Crews are vital to California's fire suppression capabilities, but also to its resource conservation efforts; helping with fuel reduction on state and federal land as well as flood protection, just to name a couple.
I could be wrong, but I swear sometimes it seems that Max believes so strongly in the good this show could bring, the valuable opportunity it's success could mean, that it's palpable when you watch him portray Bode. He's almost bursting with the weight of it.
Can't wait for Episode 3! Friday night at 9:00 on CBS!
So, Episode 2 starts out with Bode (Max Thieriot) having a flashback to a birthday party where we're introduced to Riley, the friend, girlfriend and daughter being mourned in Episode 1. We find out that she was Bode's little sister. And the night she died in what appears to be a very tragic accident, she went from being a happy young woman celebrating her birthday with family and friends, to getting her heart broken by Jake (Jordon Calloway) and then dying. It looks like upcoming episodes will show us more details about the rest of that fateful night, including what really happened in the accident. By the way, they did a great job of making the cast look younger in the flashback. Bode rocked the shorter haircut!
The next scene has Bode facing the consequences for going rogue on the Buckeye Fire in Episode 1; taking a chainsaw up the fireline to save his former best friend Jake who was trapped under a burning tree. Bode's Captain, Manny (Kevin Alejandro does an excellent job with this role! He is SO much like so many Fire Crew Captains I knew back in the day) listens to both of Bode's parents, both chiefs who outrank him, as they share their completely opposing opinions about what Manny should do. He respectfully, but firmly, informs them both that it's his decision to make, whether to send Bode back to prison for disobeying a direct order.
After Vince let's go some pretty angry, and kind of ugly, comments to Manny about his son, Bode lets it slip, in front of his mom, Sharon (Diane Farr) that there was at least one of his dad's orders that he did follow well. The looks the three exchange say a lot and Vince knows he's in trouble. But that knowledge doesn't persuade him to tell his wife what he said. It's becoming increasingly clear that there is still a great deal of anger and hurt surrounding Riley's death and the aftermath. And the writers are doing a good job of making us not like Vince so much, at this particular moment. It will be interesting to see how they explain his feelings towards his son in a way that hopefully lets us fall back in love with this character.
The next morning at breakfast at the local bar and grill, (it's pretty cool the name of the local hangout the CAL FIRE folks frequent is Smokey's!) the banter between Sharon and Vince picks up where it left off. It continues throughout the episode and it's pretty entertaining. They're both such talented actors, the dialogue flows easily; unlike Vince, who's still in the doghouse for not flowing his own dialogue and telling his wife what he said to Bode.
Their back and forth is interrupted when they hear radio traffic that a dry lightning storm is headed towards Edgewater. They both react quickly and head for the door while explaining to the folks at Smokeys what's happening. Sharon's line about the incoming storm at the end of the scene is perfect. "Dry storms don't rain water, they rain lightning. So it's like little fires everywhere." What a completely natural piece of dialogue that helps the viewers understand what's happening.
So, side note; I am not about to Monday morning quarterback the writers, directors, actors or producers of this show. I hope that's not how this comes across. I'm not from that world. These are my thoughts and opinions based on 31 years in CAL FIRE and 3 years of rookie writing. But I do know from that combined experience that it's very difficult to write drama about firefighters; especially CAL FIRE with it's complex and diverse types of incidents and operations. You have to find ways to use dialogue to introduce concepts, terminology and jargon that the audience has likely never heard; all while trying to make it sound as natural as possible. And sometimes the dialogue that results can end up sounding a little awkward, though the dialogue seemed much smoother in this episode. But it is NOT an easy thing to do.
Next up we see Manny and the Fire Crew head out on the road as the dry lightning approaches; these are a specific kind of thunderstorm with hundreds of down strikes (lightning) and little to no rain. They can cause multiple fire starts within minutes of each other; often in remote areas.
We see Manny and the crew pulling into the parking area of Edgewater's Rec Center. Manny is explaining that the Rec building needs defensible space, that it needs to have the brush cleared away from its perimeter so the fire won't ignite the brush, which could then ignite the building. His explanation is spot on but the scene is confusing to me. It's a great message to get out to viewers. But it doesn't make sense in this particular situation. There is no actual fire yet. And they don't know if or when they may get a down strike in that area.
Maybe the scene was supposed to depict what fire crews can do to help when structure protection is necessary. Crews are invaluable when teamed up with engines to provide protection to buildings in the path of an advancing fire. What was strange about this scene was, there was no advancing fire. When lightning did hit a nearby tree and it exploded - yes that really happens! Then they had fire.
Next we see the porch roof of the rec building ignited because of embers from the exploding tree; a very realistic occurrence. Just as it ignited, I thought, "just cut the posts and push it away from the building."
It was cool that that's exactly what they did. It was just strange that they did it so slowly. That would have needed to happen very quickly, within minutes of the porch roof igniting, in order to keep the fire from spreading to the main building. The extended conversation between Manny and Bode as well as seeing the inmates standing around leaning on shovels, watching, was just odd.
Freddy (W. Tré Davis) continues in his role as comic relief. He seems like a total natural. As he tries to convince Bode to stay with their crew, he mentions the food at a neighboring camp is awful - "suspicious soup and mystery meat". The latter, "mystery meat" is actually a term inmates use for some of the weird food that is served at camp.
As Vince's engine crew finishes up the first of the lightning fires, they're all sent to the Rec Center where Manny's crew is trying to keep from losing the rec building. One of the best lines from this episode is when Vince balks at being sent to the same location as his son Bode and Sharon reminds him, "Aren't you the guy who was just complaining about his son not following orders? Do you think that could be genetic?" What a fantastic line! Perfection.
I love the scene with Sharon at Station 42, pacing back and forth, switching between her radio in one hand and the phone in the other while she ran operations on this series of lightning fires. What's weird; I've been there; exactly there. It was so surreal watching this.
Later, as Jake is fed numerous conflicting viewpoints about what he should put in his report to Manny about the incident with Bode on the Buckeye Fire, the scene shows clearly that this is a tough decision. Should he tell the truth? That Jake punched him, but also saved his life? Or should he omit the part about getting punched so that Bode can stay at Three Rock and he and his parents can begin to heal. It is not black and white. Not much ever really is.
Sharon and Vince's well written dialogue continues as the show reaches its end. Their scene at Smokey's is so well done. I felt what Sharon portrayed in a real way. The fact that she still loves her husband but is incredibly angry with him is pretty evolved.
When she reveals her illness to Manny in the next scene and pleads with him to keep Bode at Three Rock, she evokes heartbreak from every parent watching the show. Well done by Diane Farr! My new favorite character.
The last scene between Bode and Manny rocks! When Manny reveals he is a former inmate (he stole cars when he was a kid); that Sharon gave him a second chance and that he believes in second chances too, it feels like one of the premises of the entire show is being revealed. People make mistakes and they usually deserve a second chance.
A couple technicalities:
- The Battalion Chief (Vince) should have his own pick up, BC's always do. They do not (ever) ride shotgun in the engine. This is just weird.
- I'm guessing it's difficult to film, but there is SO much more smoke in real fire situations. At least 'some' more would look more realistic.
I'm so excited about the potential of "Fire Country." Not only does it have the opportunity to truly entertain people with the excitement and human drama, it has the chance to educate people. To teach them about fire in California; about defensible space and fire history; about the importance of the Camp Program and the integral part Fire Crews play. Inmate Crews are vital to California's fire suppression capabilities, but also to its resource conservation efforts; helping with fuel reduction on state and federal land as well as flood protection, just to name a couple.
I could be wrong, but I swear sometimes it seems that Max believes so strongly in the good this show could bring, the valuable opportunity it's success could mean, that it's palpable when you watch him portray Bode. He's almost bursting with the weight of it.
Can't wait for Episode 3! Friday night at 9:00 on CBS!
