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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Fire Country Season 2 Episode 7 “A Hail Mary.”]
To say Three Rock is in need of rescue in the latest Fire Country episode would be an understatement.
Residents of Edgewater aren’t happy with inmates around, and even the fence that Luke (Michael Trucco) has put up doesn’t stop the protestors. But it seems like Eve (Jules Latimer), as Three Rock’s captain, and the inmate firefighters themselves are able to sway some when they leap into action alongside Station 42 to help the injured and save a life after a car crashes into a utility pole. Vince (Billy Burke) is injured after the danger seems to be over when the power is turned back on, but his trip to the hospital reveals a hand tremor he’s hiding. As for Three Rock, as Eve’s riding a high of a news report seemingly being a good sign for the camp, Luke delivers the unfortunate news: They’re being shut down, immediately.
Below, Latimer discusses that crushing blow and teases what’s next.
Eve is really stepping up as Three Rock’s captain and coming into her own and earning the inmates’ respect. What have you been enjoying most about that?
I just love that everybody gets to see a different side of her, her taking a position of power even though it’s not necessarily the most comfortable thing. In Episode 6, when I had to do that press interview about the inmate, I had so much fun doing that. And then the transition into this episode where I’m [being interviews by the reporter] and having to be in charge was really was a big thing for me. I loved it.
Eve seems to be optimistic watching that news report, then Luke tells her Three Rock’s being shut down. How’s she feeling after that news and how is she going to be dealing with that?
Yeah, as everybody can see, I’ve dedicated this whole season to saving Three Rock and proving that it’s definitely something that we need. I think Eve’s been working so hard to keep Three Rock going and she had the idea to do these interviews, and so for everything to not go as well as she had planned for it to go—it was going so well—it’s very heartbreaking. Towards the end, I remember when we were filming that scene, it was very difficult. It just feels like she keeps hitting a wall when it comes to getting people to see the value of Three Rock.
Sergei Bachlakov / CBS
There’s also been some tension between Eve and Bode (Max Thieriot) as she’s struggling to be his captain but also his friend—especially this episode, when she has to be a stickler for the rules, like with Jake (Jordan Calloway) visiting. How hard is it for her to not be there as Bode’s friend as she sees what he’s going through?
Oh, it’s so difficult. You get to kind of feel that later in the season how hard it’s been for her. She has to give a big speech at the gala and she really needs a friend in that moment and Bode’s there for her. But it’s very difficult and I feel like she just keeps being put in a position where she has to be a stickler, but I don’t think that’s the thing that she wants to be doing all the time. She knows it’s for the good of everybody else, but a lot of people can’t see that. That’s the one thing I love about Eve, is that she has such incredible foresight, but not everybody wants to go along with a plan so that everybody can be good.
Manny’s (Kevin Alejandro) probably the one who understands the best, and Eve and his dynamic has been interesting this season.
It’s like yin and yang. He’s the oil to my water. We just don’t mix. But in a weird way, we balance each other out, which is kind of incredible. I love, love, love playing opposite Kevin Alejandro. I just love that tension between us on the show and yeah, I have to check him a lot in Episode 7 and he doesn’t want to hear me and then it ends up in that big fight and it’s crazy. Episode 7 was really overwhelming because you just see people start to unravel and I start to unravel, too, after Episode 7 because it’s just so disappointing. You work so hard to establish something and then it crumbles and that’s kind of a theme with Eve, with everybody.
And so much is out of Eve’s control. There’s only so much she can do, and it feels like she’s doing as much as she can.
She is. She’s doing as much as she can. She dedicates every hour to servicing other people. I think that’s the one thing that I always feel with Eve, is that you don’t really see her relaxing or the fruits of her labor at all. It’s just ultimate sacrifice. She really loves her community. She loves her people, and hopefully this season it pays off, but that news at the end of [Episode] 7 is really heartbreaking.
Does Eve feel like there’s anything she can do to save Three Rock? Everyone’s hoping to impress the governor at the Firefighters’ Ball in Episode 8. How’s Eve feeling going into that?
She’s optimistic that this is the last effort that she thinks will potentially push Three Rock into being a firmly established part of Cal Fire. But it’s difficult for her. She’s really putting herself out there. She’s never done a speech before. She’s really kind of piecing it all together, and this is it. She’s hopeful, and she’s really apprehensive and nervous, and she’s really relying on everybody to lift her up so that she can accomplish it.
But it also seems like a Ball is the perfect place for some personal drama. Is there anything coming up there that Eve’s going to have to be dealing with?
Eve is trying to promote Three Rock, but there are a lot of personal things that pop up, a situation with Manny and Luke and Luke telling me one thing, and then there’s just a lot of lies and a lot of people who have personal agendas versus the good of the whole. I feel like Eve is constantly trying to look out for what’s best for everybody, and that definitely comes up in this episode.
With all this going on, does Eve even have time to think about her personal life?
She can’t even relax. It’s one thing that we’ve brought up for next season because this season, she’s so focused on keeping Three Rock open. She doesn’t really have that time to relax and the drama just gets more and more as the episodes go on. And the season finale is so intense that I don’t think there’s room for my personal life. [Laughs] I’m hoping that next season we can get to it. She works her ass off.
What can you preview about the finale and how it ends?
It’s like a 180. Everything changes. That’s really all I can say.
Besides her personal life, what are your hopes for Eve in Season 3?
This season and being a captain, it was hands-on, but she wasn’t able to actually be in the field and actually cut line and be with the guys. So that’s one thing I’m looking forward to. And then, her personal life, sure, but I think just some recognition for her hard work, which she does get at the end of the season. I’m interested for them to maybe do cases or incidents that are outside of Edgewater—I think that’d be a lot of fun—and work with different units.
I’m hoping we get more Eve, Jake, and Bode.
Yeah, I actually just did some dubbing for Episode 9. There’s some great Jake, Eve, and Bode scenes that are really juicy.
Fire Country, Fridays, 9/8c, CBS