“It’s a mystery”: Fire Country cast has no idea how Season 4 will handle Gabriela’s exit

After three wonderful seasons, Stephanie Arcila has said goodbye to Fire Country as a series regular. Ever since CBS announced that Gabriela would not be a part of the upcoming Season 4 of the action drama, fans have been disappointed.

The announcement came as a surprise, as the recently released Season 3 did not set up Gabriela’s exit. It turns out Stephanie Arcila’s co-stars are also unaware of how the show is going to address her departure.

In a recent interview with TVLine, Fire Country stars Kevin Alejandro and Diane Farr revealed that they were as shocked as the audience when they learned about Arcila’s demotion from being a series regular. Alejandro added that how the series will handle her absence is still a mystery:

“It’s a shocker. Honestly, it’s a mystery to all of us. The finale ends with so many questions… anything in the universe could happen. I just know that the presence will be missed, and we’ll see how the community heals.”

Kevin Alejandro and Diane Farr talk about Gabriela’s exit from Fire Country

While Kevin Alejandro was surprised by Stephanie Arcila’s departure, Diane Farr added that she is confident that the actress will be brought back to Fire Country in the future. Arcila was announced to be leaving the show in April 2025, along with Billy Burke, who plays Bode’s father, Vincent "Vince" Leone.

While the Season 3 finale almost established Burke’s exit by showcasing Vince trapped in a collapsed building, things ended in a pretty normal way for Gabriela, which made Arcila’s demotion even more astonishing. Alejandro added that, keeping up with the theme of the show, the cast will go through this change together:

“Our show is about community and redemption and getting through circumstances together, and I feel that as a cast and as a show, we’re going to do that.”

Gabriela remained a main character in the show ever since its premiere on CBS in 2022. Her will-they or won’t-they romance with Bode became one of the major plot points over the years. Arcila previously revealed that leaving the show was not her own decision, and it was instead the creators’ call. She said in an interview with Deadline:

“I actually got the news the day that we got renewed, so it was kind of serendipitous because I love the aspect of death and rebirth. Not that I’m dying but you know what I mean. I believe in fate and that we’re put where we’re supposed to be. And this is the nature of our business, right? This is what we all sign up for.”

As for why the decision was made, co-creator Tony Phelan said the team wanted to give the story a reset and move away from the Bode-Gabriela plot for some time:

“It was really a decision that came out of the dynamic between Bode and Gabriela; we felt like those two characters needed a reset. We love Stephanie, and we are committed to saying that the Bode-Gabriela story does not end here, it goes on.”

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Fire Country tells the story of Bode, a former prisoner who joins a firefighting program called the California Conservation Camp to redeem himself. The show continues to star Max Thieriot as Bode, Kevin Alejandro as Manuel "Manny" Remy Perez, Jordan Calloway as Jake Crawford, Jules Latimer as Eve Edwards, and Diane Farr as Sharon Leone.

Fire Country is available to stream on Paramount+.

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