7 Reasons Why Bode & Gabriela Shouldn’t Be Together In Fire Country

Warning! SPOILERS about Fire Country season 3, episode 8 ahead.

Bode and Gabriela went through many ups and downs in Fire Country
’s three seasons, having multiple heartwarming moments, but also giving plenty of reasons for which they shouldn’t be together. Bode and Gabriela’s connection sparked the moment they met when he and Freddy helped her with the car, but it took some time for them to actually act upon their feelings. Indeed, Gabriela’s plan was always to return to diving, and even when she changed her mind, she was romantically linked with Jake. Even as Gabriela and Jake’s relationship proceeded, with them considering moving together, Bode and Gabriela’s bond grew.

Despite Bode being incarcerated, he and Gabriela’s bond seemed unbreakable in Fire Country season 1. Diego’s arrival in Fire Country season 2 changed things, with his and Gabriela’s upcoming nuptials being the talk of Edgewater. Gabriela’s shocking wedding decision in Fire Country season 3’s premiere put a stop to her and Diego’s relationship, but that didn’t mean Bode and Gabriela got together, although the reason Gabriela stopped the wedding were her feelings for Bode. Fire Country season 3 has Bode and Gabriela unmistakably apart, but that can unexpectedly be good based on how unequipped Bode and Gabriela seemed to date.

7

Bode Needs To Focus On Firefighting & His Future

Bode’s Freedom & Building His Life Takes Priority Over Love

Ever since getting to Three Rock and training under Manny, Bode’s whole purpose was to fight fires. Bode eagerly did so in Fire Country season 1 within the fire camp, but his objective had also become to follow in Manny’s steps, wanting to be a firefighter even after his release. Bode’s firefighting arc had been central throughout Fire Country season 3, to the point he considered ignoring family and friends to convince his captain of how serious he was. Fire Country season 3’s midseason finale finally has Bode fighting fires as part of Cal Fire, giving him something to protect.

Were Bode and Gabriela to date, Bode’s focus would be pulled from firefighting. It already was in Fire Country season 3, when the two weren’t dating but only casually hooking up, and Bode’s attention being pulled was so evident that a perfect stranger like Camden realized it. Between pulling away from the rest of the group and riskily proposing to hookup in the middle of shift, Gabriela proved a liability for Bode, making it evident how Bode needed all his focus to deal with his training instead of sneaking around with or worrying about Gabriela.

6

Gabriela & Bode Want Different Things From Life

Bode Wants A Relationship, While Gabriela Is Focused On Her Problems

If the biggest challenge for Bode and Gabriela’s happily ever after was Bode’s incarceration in Fire Country season 1, they didn’t have that impediment in season 3. Fire Country season 2’s ending had already delivered Bode’s freedom, as his extraordinary conduct credit was awarded by season 2, episode 9’s ending, and Bode was officially out and about in Fire Country season 2’s finale. Fire Country season 3 marked the first time Bode and Gabriela could practically and relatively easily get together, and Bode wanted them to, but Gabriela had evidently other ideas.

Indeed, Bode and Gabriela wanted entirely different things from life in Fire Country season 3. Bode needed to focus on his future and finally build a life in Edgewater, surrounded by his family, while Gabriela felt adrift, wanting to settle her debt with Diego’s family about the wedding and also dealing with Manny serving time at Three Rock. While Bode and Gabriela briefly agreed to casually hang out, it quickly became too little for Bode by Fire Country season 3, episode 6, making it yet another good reason for which Bode and Gabriela shouldn’t date.

5

Dating Always Brought Out Bode & Gabriela’s Recklessness

Gabriela & Bode Behave More Reasonably When There Are No Feelings Involved

Another major hurdle in front of Bode and Gabriela’s dating is how their being closer brought out the worst recklessness in them. Bode consistently disobeyed Three Rock’s rules to meet with Gabriela in Fire Country season 1. Bode nonetheless displayed the worst recklessness on calls, going above and beyond to save Gabriela in season 2, despite refusing to tell her about his feelings. Bode’s vicinity also made Gabriela reckless, and that couldn’t have been more evident than in Fire Country season 1, episode 9, when Gabriela dove into a dangerous river to save Bode, disobeying orders and endangering her life.

The most reckless Bode and Gabriela have been in Fire Country was when they weren’t together, but there was still a possibility for them. This was also the case in Fire Country season 3 when Bode and Gabriela tended to their fellow firefighter Gilmore and completely missed the medical alert necklace. Bode put his future on the line by cutting Gilmore’s necklace and covering for Gabriela, and they were spared punishment only because of Gilmore’s blessing. With their job already putting them in danger, recklessness isn’t something Bode and Gabriela can afford.

4

Gabriela Has To Focus On Getting Better

Gabriela’s Crisis Reached Terrible Highs In Fire Country Season 3’s Fall Finale

Gabriela has been lesser and lesser like herself in Fire Country season 3. While she refused to talk with anybody worried about her, Gabriela slightly opened up to Jake in Fire Country season 3, episode 7, admitting she drank to numb her feelings and performed risky dives from the rocks to feel something. Jake, Vince and Sharon all tried to help her, seeing how differently she behaved, and even Bode worried, before Gabriela shut him out. Manny’s incarceration didn’t help, as Gabriela could put all the distance she wanted between them and he couldn’t do anything about it.

Fire Country season 3, episode 8 highlighted how badly the situation had gotten. Gabriela first siphoned gasoline from a car to give it to a family in need with whom she empathized and then left her crew in the middle of a call to run off from Jake’s questioning, even endangering herself after the road was blocked by fire. Gabriela is in no shape to date anyone in Fire Country season 3, especially someone who brought out her recklessness like Bode, making it imperative she focuses on herself and getting better given her problems.

3

Bode & Gabriela’s Short History Proves They Might Not Really Know Each Other

They Spent Little Time Together & Even Less Getting To Know One Another

Fire Country always established Bode and Gabriela’s love story as the one at the center of the firefighting drama, with Bode even using it as his anchor not to waver while in Three Rock in season 1. However, Bode and Gabriela had only known each other mere months. Bode’s incarceration made it difficult for them to really get to know one another, and they spent the better part of Fire Country season 2 not speaking to each other after Bode shut Gabriela out upon returning to prison and Gabriela refused to speak with him once he returned to Three Rock.

Bode and Gabriela’s feelings inevitably felt big for them, enough to put all their focus on their future together, but the time they spent together wasn’t a lot. Coupled with the drama that seemed to follow Bode and Gabriela, it wouldn’t be irrational to assume they don’t really know one another, especially given how they either spent their time together being blindly in love and not focusing on the present, or intent on avoiding one another after their respective actions hurt them.

2

Gabriela & Bode’s Timing Is Always Off

There Is Always Something Stopping Bode & Gabriela From Getting Together

Fire Country season 3 showing Bode and Gabriela getting the chance to be together and not taking it proved their timing was off even when external circumstances were in their favor. Fire Country already proved Bode was better off without Gabriela after their relationship became the cornerstone of his entire motivation to get out of the fire camp in season 1, as everything he hoped for depended on getting parole as that meant he could finally be with Gabriela freely. Their stubbornness didn’t help them, as the setback of going back to prison effectively prompted Bode to ignore Gabriela.

Bode’s return to Edgewater and Three Rock in Fire Country season 2 could have let Bode and Gabriela pick up where they left off, tentatively trying to form a romantic relationship based on some actual foundations. However, Diego’s presence and Gabriela’s rightful anger at Bode for cutting her out upon his return to prison made that impossible, once again stopping them from dating. Bode and Gabriela have finally no reason not to date in Fire Country season 3, but their different focus proves they need other things, making it a disservice to themselves if Bode and Gabriela start dating now.

1

Bode & Gabriela’s Approach Shows They Don’t See One Another As Partners

They Idealized Their Relationship & What It Meant

Gabriela and Bode have confessed their love for one another in more than one occasion, but it’s unclear if they actually see each other as partners, understanding the other’s wishes and needs, or just use their bond as an ideal. Indeed, instead of truly getting to know Gabriela, Bode spent the majority of Fire Country season 1 focusing on the future they could have together once he paroled, but his parole being granted wasn’t a certainty.

Similarly, Gabriela idealized her and Bode’s short relationship in Fire Country season 1, seeing it as a panacea for all her personal problems, like the ones she had with Manny. Gabriela did exactly the same in Fire Country season 2’s ending when she realized she had doubts about marrying Diego. Instead of thinking about the reason why she was unsure about marrying Diego, Gabriela focused all her energies on what kissing Bode made her feel, proving that it was less about the relationship she could build with Bode and more about the idea Gabriela had of Bode in Fire Country.

Fire Country season 3 returns to CBS at 9pm on Friday, January 31, 2025.