In preparation for Fire Country’s return this fall, the firefighting
drama has been making waves on Netflix. The streamer has managed
to introduce the series to a whole new audience, and with Season 3 in mind,
we can’t help but meditate on the best relationship on the show. No, we’re not talking about Bode (Max Thieriot) and Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila). We’re not even talking about a strictly romantic pairing but rather the best friendship that the show has explored. Bode has plenty of friends and family in Edgewater, but his best relationship, by far, is with Freddy “the Goat” Mills (W. Tré Davis).
Bode and Freddy Have an Unbreakable Bond in ‘Fire Country’
From the moment we first meet Bode in the “Pilot,” Freddy is already by his side. As the pair join California’s Conservation Fire Program, they instantly flock together under the supervision of Captain Manny Perez (Kevin Alejandro), with Bode priming himself for “first saw” and Freddy earning his endearing nickname. While Fire Country centers itself a lot around romantic and familial relationships, sometimes friendships take the limelight. Bode and Freddy go through some of the most challenging trials together, between fighting fires, working to better themselves, and their hopes to get out of Three Rock and be reunited with their own respective families and loved ones. It’s this shared hope that binds the two of them and keeps them through thick and thin.
It would have been easy for Fire Country to isolate Bode at Three Rock. To give him Manny as a mentor, his parents as emotional support, and to instead explore his fractured friendship with Jake (Jordan Calloway), but that’s not what the show did. Bringing Freddy on board, even as a recurring character (who really should’ve been a part of the main cast), gave Bode someone to talk to who understood what he was going through. No, Freddy wasn’t actually a criminal himself, but he had also been incarcerated and misjudged like Bode had, and because of that, the pair forged a connection that seemed unbreakable. It’s hard to put into words the value of a good friendship, and in our age where any on-screen friendship offers the opportunity for fans to “ship” it to no end, Fire Country’s dynamic between Bode and Freddy is a breath of fresh air. It reminds us that, as the old biblical adage says, “a friend sticks closer than a brother.” In this case, that’s especially true.
Even when Sleeper Hadley (Grant Harvey) shows up at Three Rock and seemingly divides the pair, it turns out to be nothing more than a well-constructed ruse by Bode and Freddy, hoping to draw out the criminal’s true nature. Not even the potential promise of freedom could get Freddy to turn his back on his best friend, nor could any seeming betrayal convince Bode to be anything but Freddy’s best wingman. When it came to helping Freddy get back to his family — his soon-to-be wife and infant son — Bode didn’t let his own wants get in the way. At the end of the first season, at the heavy cost of his own freedom (and his potential future with Gabriela), Bode sacrifices himself to ensure that Freddy’s wrongful conviction case goes through. Unwilling to keep his friend from those who need him most, Bode admits to a wrong he didn’t do in order to clear Freddy’s name and exonerates his Three Rock partner. It’s a beautiful moment that only reminds us how close these two really are.
Three Rock Wasn’t the Same When Freddy Left
