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Fire Country Season 3 , Episode 5 introduced the man fans have been waiting for: Jared Padalecki as Camden Casey. The Supernatural and Walker star made his hotly anticipated Fire Country debut as Bode’s ( Max Thieriot ) new boss and mentor in “Edgewater’s About to Get Real Cozy." And he left quite an impression on everyone, especially Bode, who has finally found someone who really understands him and can teach him how to channel his daredevil impulses into something positive.
🤩 📺 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter & get the scoop on the latest TV news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🤩 🎥 Padalecki’s guest-starring role was announced before the season premiered. At the time it was also hinted that he could potentially get a spinoff of his own as the Fire Country universe expands ( Sheriff Country , starring Morena Baccarin as Mickey Fox, head of the local sheriff’s department and Bode’s aunt, is already in the works). His debut episode offered some hints about what his show could look like.
Here’s what happens with Camden Casey in Jared Padalecki’s first Fire Country episode. Related: Everything to Know About Fire Country Season 3 Making a bold entrance Camden’s introduction is a memorable one. The first we see of him, he’s a stranger putting Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” on the jukebox at Smokey’s during the bar’s grand reopening under Sharon ( Diane Farr ) and Vince’s ( Billy Burke ) ownership.
He surveys the bar and determines he’s the coolest person in the place, proudly rocking a Dodgers jersey in Giants territory, revealing that he’s from Southern California. He sits down next to James ( Leven Rambin ), and they bust each other’s chops a bit. He seems laid back, but he’s willing to throw down.
When some of Diego’s friends try to fight Bode, Camden steps in, throwing his own flip-flops at the biggest guy. He then takes out a total of five dudes while barely lifting his arms, except to clothesline one guy and throw salt and pepper into the eyes of two others. A guy who can win a fight barefoot is not someone you want to mess with.
When Bode introduces himself and offers to buy this stranger a drink to say thank you for helping him out, he drops a bombshell on the cadet: He’s the Phase 3 training captain for Station 42’s cadet class. AKA Bode’s new boss. Eric Milner/CBS The wolf inside Camden is immediately dropped into the action when a commercial airliner makes an emergency landing in a field just outside Edgewater.
He did his homework before he got there, and he knows his cadets’ histories, strengths and weaknesses. He sends Bode climbing up to the roof of the plane to spray a hose down into the cockpit. Bode isn’t supposed to be doing this type of advanced, high-level firefighting as a cadet.
But he does a great job, and Camden is impressed. Jake ( Jordan Callowa y) is mad that Camden put Bode in a dangerous position, but Camden doesn’t care. “He’s not my buddy, he’s my cadet.
It’s my job to make a firefighter out of him,” Camden growls. “My way.” Back at the firehouse, where many of the passengers are sheltering until they can get out of Edgewater, Camden compliments Bode on the work he did back there, and tells him that he sees him differently than his family and friends.
“They see who you were,” Camden says. “Me—fresh eyes. I see who you are.
” Related: Diane Farr Reveals She Lost Her Voice Due to Anxiety While Directing Fire Country He tells Bode to follow his instincts no matter what other people say. He once lost his entire crew to a blaze because he listened to his commanding officer, who was wrong, instead of listening to his gut. He doesn’t want others to make the same mistake.
“I saw you today at the plane,” he says. “You didn’t follow procedure, and it worked. You moved without hesitation and you were right.
So you want to know what I see? I see a man who wants to take the biggest swings—and you should.” “You got a wolf in you. You gotta feed it,” he concludes.
“And don’t ever keep it in a cage.” It’s very Fire Country that Bode, who is constantly getting himself in hot water because of his impulsivity and disregard for the rules and often cops an attitude when he’s called out for putting himself and others in danger, has found an authority figure who gives him permission to do just that. It’s not enough that everyone else tacitly supports Bode by letting him slide when he breaks the rules, he needs someone to actively support him, too.
Eric Milner/CBS What's next for Camden? There’s going to be some tension between Camden and Jake. When a fire breaks out in the station, and Camden takes charge in dealing with it, Jake huffs and puffs and then admits that Camden’s idea for how to deal with it is the right one. And though they both want what’s best for Bode, their opinions on what that is are at odds.
“He can’t shine unless he can be everything he’s meant to be, everything he already is,” Camden says to Jake at the end of the episode. He’s seen a lot of cadets, and Bode is different. “You gotta let him be free to run into the fire, and don’t worry, he’s not gonna burn,” he says.
Jake just glowers. This disagreement doesn’t seem likely to resolve itself anytime soon. Padalecki is signed on for three episodes, so he’ll be around for a little bit longer.
That's enough time to either give Bode the confidence he needs to become a real firefighter, or to get him killed. Beyond that, it would make sense for his spinoff to be about his cadet training program, training the next generation of Cal Fire firefighters, either in Edgewater or back in SoCal where he’s from, showing us another part of Fire Country . But that’s way in the future.
For now, it’s fun to watch Padalecki offer both gravitas and a wildcard element to Fire Country . Fire Country airs Fridays at 9/8c on CBS and streams on Paramount+. Next, Fire Country Star Diane Farr Goes Behind the Scenes of Her Directorial Debut .
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