“Emotionally, by the end of [the episode], we push a lot of story

forward in a really satisfying way,” Tia Napolitano tells EW.

A firenado is hitting Edgewater in the latest episode of the CBS disaster

series, but the emotional toll on the characters might be an even bigger crisis, showrunner Tia Napolitano tells Entertainment Weekly. “The fire tornado is beautiful, flashy, and gorgeous, but equally epic in this episode are the emotional punches. It has so much heft and teeth,” she says.

Last we saw Bode (Max Thieriot), he was on an ambulance ride with his potential baby mama Cara (Sabina Gadecki) and Diego (Rafael de la Fuente), who’s engaged to his ex Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila)… oh yeah, and who just overheard Bode tell Gabriela that he’s still in love with her. Talk about awkward.

“There’s history there, there’s a love triangle in there, there’s parent drama in there. We threw the most conflict-ridden stories together in a little box and sent it off the side of the road,” Napolitano says of the ride.

Putting Bode’s relationship drama aside, Napolitano tells EW that Manny (Kevin Alejandro) and Eve (Jules Latimer)’s arc in this episode is one to watch. “The high-stakes emotional storytelling that happens in that story, in Smokies, is some of my favorite work that we’ve put on the air. I’m so proud of it,” Napolitano says of the pair, who are forced to work together after butting heads all season. “They’re both passionate about the men doing this work and in redemption stories. They’re both down for the cause, so they’re both able to fight to save the crews they work with in a refreshing way. That’s a long way from where we started them in [the season premiere].”

Elsewhere, Sharon (Diane Farr) and Vince (Billy Burke) will find themselves closer than ever. “When the stakes are life and death, they will realize how deeply interconnected and in love they are in a nice way, so it speaks to where we started them in a distant place in the beginning of the season for them to say if it’s the end of the world, it’s Vince and Sharon forever,” Napolitano says.

The firenado marks a “pivotal time in the season” according to Napolitano. “When the stakes are this high, secrets [get] out, people fast-forward their relationship or they admit the thing that they couldn’t say before. Emotionally, by the end of [the episode], we push a lot of story forward in a really satisfying way.”