Sabina Gadecki, Max Thieriot, and Jordan Calloway explain how the impact of this loss will ripple across the community.

Warning: This article contains spoilers about the Fire Country episode “This Storm Will Pass.”

Fire Country lost one of its own.

Last month, star Diane Farr teased “a turning point” coming up on Fire Country, and that turning point just turned. While a firenado put the entire town of Edgewater in danger, Cara (Sabina Gadecki) was the episode’s big casualty. She succumbed to injuries sustained when the ambulance she was in was flung off the road. This tragedy leaves Genevieve (Alix West Lefler) without her mother, and the entire Edgewater community facing a lot of questions about what happens next for her.

Gadecki found out about Cara’s fate going into production for the season premiere, so she knew this was coming for some time. “I’m so grateful I had time to process my own feelings before it became something, so it was my little secret from the cast,” she tells Entertainment Weekly.

While she will miss both the role and working with her castmates, Gadecki understands the storytelling choice because it sets several characters on new courses. For example, Bode’s (Max Thieriot) driving force since returning to Edgewater from prison in the season premiere has been the fact that he is most likely Genevieve’s father. That secret is now out after Jake (Jordan Collaway) shared the news with Bode’s parents, so everyone will have to step into the new normal without Cara there to stabilize things for her daughter. “The story has to go places. It broke my heart, but I understood it,” Gadecki says about the exit.

“This is one of the best shows I’ve ever had the opportunity to work on,” the actress gushes about the family feel of the Fire Country set. She recalls a dinner at one of her favorite restaurants in Vancouver with Thieriot and their spouses where the entire cast was waiting. “Everyone went around the table one by one and just voiced what I brought to the cast on- and off-camera. It was the most beautiful gesture.”

In the final episode, Cara and Bode are seen talking through their past relationship and current issues while he tries to keep her alive in several powerful scenes. Gadecki remembers how gracious Thieriot was during these tense moments. “When the camera’s not on him, he could just go through the motions, but he was always locked in, ” she says, “What was really beautiful about this episode is there was a genuine connection as friends and actors and support, both on- and off-camera.”

Thieriot recalls staying in an intense state while filming in the ambulance. The cast and crew spent multiple days on those scenes to make sure they maintained the power and heartbreak of Cara’s death. “That also really helps everybody’s performance because you get to go through the entire arc and all of those feelings,” Thieriot tells EW about filming.

Part of the devastation of Cara’s death is hearing Jake say goodbye to her over the radio, but Colloway reveals that wasn’t in the original version. “They gave them space within that scene, and to have that for Jake was something I was very grateful for [interim showrunner Bill Harper] hearing me out and letting Jake say his final goodbyes,” he shares about the rewrite.

Genevieve’s paternity may not be confirmed with a test, but Cara and Bode do end the episode on the same page about him stepping up and ensuring the young girl has a village of good people. Given her medical knowledge as a nurse, Cara is the first to know that she is unlikely to survive, which allows her to work through her complicated feelings about Bode fighting to be a better man while incarcerated.

As for Thieriot’s take on Bode in those final moments together, “He gets to apologize a little bit for things he couldn’t see before because he was just blinded by himself and everything he had put himself through, so it finishes in this beautiful place where they’re at peace with each other.”

Gadecki agrees that they came to an understanding, and highlights the line where Cara tells him to find all the good people he can to take care of their daughter. “This is my hand-off of saying you are a good person and Jake is a good person and all she needs is love and good people around her. It’s showing our past relationship was true genuine love and care,” she says of where the pair leave things.

While the loss of Cara is heartbreaking, Colloway is excited to continue developing Jake and Genevieve’s dynamic. “Alix is a fantastic actress,” he says, “I love to work opposite her, and to see a broken character like Jake find strength in his surrogate daughter. It’s a beautiful story that we can tap into.”

For Jake, he has been stepping up all season to be a man who can be there for the young girl. Not only has he been creating a family unit with Cara and her daughter, but has also taken a leadership role as fire captain. “Both are synonymous to one another because they sharpened him to be a better person all around,” he says of his character’s arc so far.

Figuring out how to get out of Three Rock to be there for his daughter is still Bode’s top priority, but the truth being out could impact things with Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila). What helped Gabriela move on with her fiancé Diego (Rafael de la Fuente) was Bode saying he had “a new woman” in his life, but she may now reevaluate her own feelings after finding out he’s changed everything to be a good father. “One of the big things is her realization that he actually hasn’t moved on,” Thieriot teases.

What comes next is complicated, but the adults in Genevieve’s life will all need to step up because she’s already faced too much tragedy for someone her age. Luckily, Edgewater is a small town where everyone is close, so she will have a huge found family.