Why Fire Country won't return with new episodes in March 2024 and when it's coming back

Well, Fire Country fam, we're in for a three week hiatus. If you're asking, "Why? How is that possible?!" let me remind you what time of the year it is. While there are tons of us who aren't stoked about March Madness aka the NCAA College Basketball Championship, there are plenty of people who will be tuning in through the morning well into the night to enjoy clashes between their favorite teams and their rivals. CBS will be carrying the games so there's going to be programming disruptions in the daytime and primetime slots.

Coverage for the first round of the championship will kick off on Thursday, March 21 and run through Friday, March 22 which is why CBS' entire Friday line-up won't be on. Then the following Thursday, March 28, they'll be in the midst of the regional semifinal which will extend into Friday, March 29, hence the reason the Friday line-up is missing yet another week without airing or having a new episode to premiere.

Fire Country season 2 episode 5 release date

Thankfully, we'll be returned to our regularly scheduled programming on Friday, April 5 at 9 p.m. ET. But this does mean that Fire Country won't be on for the rest of March. If you, or a fellow fan of the show, have fallen behind now is the time to stream the current season on Paramount+ because you're going to want to be up to date for "This Storm Will Pass."

Warning: You wan to stop reading here if you haven't watched episode 4, "Too Many Unknowns," because I will be going into what happened and what I know so far about the upcoming episode. Bookmark this article and come back once you've caught up.

What is the episode about?

According to the official synopsis via CBS: "The station 42 crew must protect Edgewater and take cover when an extremely rare and dangerous fire tornado leaves lives in peril."

Based on the promo, we knew that Edgewater was going to be in the middle of a wind storm that wreaked havoc. It already did so at the tail end of "Too Many Unknowns" when a tree fell causing Diego to swerve the ambulance he was driving. It caused an accident and we were left on a cliffhanger. What we didn't know was that it would be a fire tornado!

As expected, Bode is fine but in the teaser it does sound like Gabriela is concerned about him. From the way her voice is somewhat distorted she must be asking via radio. He is clearly fine, but he is helping someone who's trapped in a vehicle. The person, who is hard to identify but is likely Diego, does have mobility because he's shielding himself from the glass as Bode kicks the window in.

Cal Fire is being called to a scene involving children during the storm and they will be taking shelter in what appears to be a barn. We get a quick glimpse of someone armed raising a gun at Eve as she and Three Rock are waiting out the storm in what maybe Smokies but could be another eating establishment. What we don't see, which is worrisome, is what condition Cara is in. But we do hear someone flatline, so I'm going to guess we will make it to the hospital at some point in "This Storm Will Pass," and someone could die or be brought back despite that scare.

Now, if you want more information, I have some for you but it's spoiler-y in nature, so I'd stop here if you want to go into this episode entirely fresh with no hint about what's going to happen outside of the promo you've watched.

Fire Country season 2 episode 5 spoilers

Let's start with what's been confirmed. In an interview with TVInsider, Diane Farr had teased that episode 4 and 5 of this season would be connected. We finally know how, this is essentially a two-parter the way episode 8, "Bad Guy," and episode 9, "No Good Deed," were in the first season. She said:

"Then [Episode] 205 feels the most like a family story, and it’s not just the Leone family, it’s the town of how these people interact. [Episode] 205 feels like a dream. Everything they’ve been laying out for the season starts to really come to a head beginning in 204 and then sort of sprouting in 205.""

What better way than to highlight family and the different dynamics these characters have than in the middle of a storm when much of the cast will need to shelter in place. This will likely lead to some much needed conversations.

Eve opens up to Manny

I do know one that's set to happen. When I spoke to Jules Latimer ahead of the season 2 premiere, she shared that Manny confronts Eve in episode 5 about how she's interacting with the Three Rock firefighters.

"For the most part Three Rock becomes like my passion project, and I get so deeply engrossed in it that I sort of forget about my social life, and I get so consumed by it. That also becomes an obstacle for [Eve] in the season. Everything sort of becomes secondhand and it like really wears her down. She's really exhausted, and I actually just filmed the scene for episode 5, and she gets confronted by Manny with how she's interacting with the crew.

[Eve] feels so alone but I think the solution to it is her talking about, and being vulnerable about, the things that she's struggling with and asking for help. We see that turn sort of happen like midseason where she starts asking for her community to back her up."

We know Eve is a stickler for the rules. She believes that if she can run a tidy ship without any incidents the heat on Three Rock, due to the drugs being sold out of the facility last season, will pass. However, her approach has caused major tension at the fire camp particularly in the way she speaks to the inmates even when their infraction is an innocent one such as when Bode carried Isla to her and the correctional officer at Three Rock to get help, and when Cole shook the IC's hand at the chemical plant fire.

Eve wanting to send Cole back to prison not because he'd done anything at the camp to be sent back but because he's serving time for murder and the victim's family opposes him being at Three Rock is certainly going to come up. Especially if that's the reason Manny needs to intervene.

Cara has an emotional moment

I am manifesting only good things for Cara but, thanks to Sabina Gadecki's Instagram Stories, we do know that she's supposed to have an emotional scene though we don't know with who. Gadecki had shared in her story that she was getting back into the same headspace as she had been for the scene because she had to re-record a moment that happened after she'd bumped her mic. The story also included her excitement having wrapped looping for "This Storm Will Pass."

Now, it's speculation time based on what two cast members have said about their storylines which look like they could fit squarely in this episode.

Gabriela has to choose between 58 and 42

We're highly likely to circle back to the decision Gabriela has to make about her career. In "Too Many Unknowns," Diego had approached her with a job opportunity. She could transfer to 58 instead of staying at 42 as a paramedic firefighter. Gabriela was caught off guard by the offer and asked for time to make her decision but it was one that her fiancé thought should be a no-brainer.

It wasn't to her though as she knows that 42 is her chance to build a medic program from the ground up plus the station is where her friends and family are. This did not sit well with Diego as they're supposed to be building a family together, they're getting married after all. In a turn from the season 2 premiere, Gabriela no longer thinks it's a good idea for them to be living and working together. What happened to being the next Sharon and Vince Leone?

In my interview with Stephanie Arcila, she said the following about the choice Gabriela has to make:

"I think there is a moment where she comes to terms and realizes this is why I moved to Edgewater to be with family, to have that family that I've never had, you know, and that's when she makes a decision to choose where she's actually going to stay."

It wouldn't be surprising if it's the storm episode, when she's sheltered in place while on call, that Gabriela chooses where she's going to work moving forward.

Sharon and Vince could find out about Genevieve

We're approaching the halfway mark in Fire Country season 2 and, while I can't confirm that Shaorn and Vince will learn they could be grandparents in episode 5, there's a good chance they will. When I spoke to Billy Burke ahead of the premiere he shared the following:

"Sharon and [Vince] both find out at the same time in a not so opportune situation. We're on the job and it just kind of gets blurted out. I don't know if I'm supposed to say that but that's what I know, and so we just now have started getting to that point in the story. So where it goes from there I don't know but I can tell you that Vince's attitude towards being a potential grandparent differs from Sharon's."

Reminder, this is speculation and not confirmed, but in the promo it looks like Vince and Sharon are on a call where they have to help a group of children. I'd been wondering why we got a close up of a child taking a firefighter's hand in the promo but then it came to me, it's quite possible that that's Gen and one of them. Remember, in "Too Many Unknowns," Jake was getting ready for the preteen's bake sale for her team. Perhaps that's who 42 has to help. From the footage it does look like the children are in uniforms. This would be the perfect imperfect scenario for Vince and Sharon to find out if they're on a call with their potential granddaughter present.

With three weeks between us and a new episode of Fire Country we're going to get more teasers and info about the episode in the coming days and weeks but I feel it to, y'all, we need April to get here lickety-split.

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more news and coverage!