Stephanie Arcila On ‘Fire Country’ [Spoiler] & Gabriela’s Future After Season 3 Finale

SPOILER ALERT: The story includes details about two-part Season 3 finale of CBS‘ Fire Country, “A Change In the Wild” and “I’d Do It Again.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Season 3 finale of CBS’ Fire Country on Friday marked the last episode as a series regular for original cast member Stephanie Arcila, who plays firefighter and EMT Gabriela Perez. As Deadline reported based on sources, Arcila is one of two Fire Country OG actors, alongside Billy Burke, who are leaving the hit firefighter drama after three seasons. Only Arcila’s departure has been confirmed.

Gabriela’s stalker story arc was brought to a close in the finale when crazed former love interest Finn (Blake Lee) tracked her down and tried to force her to go with him until he was shot in the chest by Audrey (Leven Rambin), Gabriela’s co-worker and budding love interest of Gabriela’s ex Bode (Max Thieriot). Gabriela’s dad Manny (Kevin Alejandro) came to the rescue and helped stabilize and transport Finn. He also offered to take the responsibility for the shooting when he initially thought (mistakenly) that it was Gabriela who had pulled the trigger.

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This may not be the last we have seen from Gabriela, whose on- and off- romantic relationship with Bode (Thieriot) has been a cornerstone of the show’s fan following.

In an exclusive interview with Deadline, which you can read here, Fire Country co-creators/executive producers Joan Rater and Tony Phelan and executive producer/showrunner Tia Napolitano revealed that the goal is for Arcila to come back as a guest star, stressing that “the Bode-Gabriela story does not end here, it goes on.”

In her own interview with Deadline, Arcila responded to the invitation and shared how she got the news that she would not be continuing as a series regular. She reflected on Gabriela and Bode’s relationship, the stalker storyline and what she hopes Gabriela does next. Arcila also talked about the joy of playing a Latina on TV, what happened on set after her last scene and what she would take away from her time on Fire Country.

DEADLINE: When were you told that that you will no longer be a series regular on Fire Country? The producers mentioned that it happened during the filming of the finale.

ARCILA: Yeah, we were filming. I actually got the news the day that we got renewed, so it was kind of serendipitous because I love the aspect of death and rebirth. Not that I’m dying but you know what I mean, synonymously.

I believe in fate and that we’re put where we’re supposed to be. And this is the nature of our business, right? This is what we all sign up for.

DEADLINE: It is. Did the producers tell you at the time that they want you back?

ARCILA: They did. They did tell me that this is kind of a break for Bode and Gabriela. He’s seeing someone else right now, so it makes sense that we would take a breather.

DEADLINE: Would you go back? Are you open to it?

ARCILA: I never say never. Life takes us through so many avenues, and Gabriela is such a gift to me in my career, personally and professionally. I’m so grateful to have played a Latina on a show and a Latina where they were able to include part of my culture as well, part of my Colombian background. It was really exciting.

DEADLINE: Did they do it for you? Did you have input in that element of your character?

ARCILA: I did, so it was nice. Kevin is Mexican. My mom’s Peruvian and my dad’s Colombian but I was born and raised in Miami, so they allowed me to lean into my Colombian roots, which is so beautiful, and the fact that I was able to also speak Spanish on the show. Yes, I know I was born in the U.S., but I’m first generation, so my first language is Spanish.

DEADLINE: Fire Country fans love Gabriela and Bode as a couple. What is your take on their on- and-off love story over the past three years and what might lie ahead for the two of them?

ARCILA: When they met, they were both going through their own self-discovery and so much change in their personal lives that I think this is part of that breather, continuing to grow individually and getting to know themselves individually, and seeing where they are in their lives right now in terms of their self worth, their boundaries, their dating life, their careers.

Gabriela jumped in from being an Olympic diver and having such a solitary life to being thrown into this small town out of choice where everyone knows everyone, everyone knows everyone’s business, and everybody dates, and Bode just got out of his firefighter program as well and is creating a different life. So I think the fact that they have this space to grow individually is really beautiful.

As for the future, I’ve learned that these writers always surprise me, and I have no expectations, just excitement.

DEADLINE: What would you want for Gabriela? What do you think she should do next? Would she stay in firefighting, would she do anything else? Will she ever be in a healthy relationship?

ARCILA: I think she will. I think Gabriela is someone who is forever evolving and learning. I think she is someone that feels, if she’s not evolving, she might as well be dead. It’s life, right? We continue growing, we continue learning, and if we put the effort in individually, it’s magical.

So I think that she could continue as a firefighter, I think that she could continue as an EMT, but I definitely think she will never stop learning and growing. And as of what I would love for her, I would love for her to — within all of that growth — just own her stuff and save herself. Everybody’s always saving her, and she’s always trying to save everyone. So I would love for the tables to turn and for her to rise up as the incredibly resilient, smart woman that she is and save herself.

DEADLINE: That’s a good segue, because I wanted to talk about Gabriela’s stalker storyline where she was saved again, this time by Audrey. Have you had any personal experience — hopefully not as creepy — that you could draw from?

ARCILA: I think we all have had, to some degree, some type of trauma, whether that’s with a partner, whether that’s with a family member or friend or something, and that’s where we grow and we learn boundaries, and we learn to read the signs, and we learn to ask for help, and we learn to acquire the tools that we need for circumstances like this.

And I think it’s great that this is coming to light within this show, just so that it can bring awareness to it, because there’s so many people that are so good at putting on a mask, and there’s a lot of people that genuinely want to see the good in others. But there’s a time of taking it slow and genuinely getting to know someone before you let them into your space and your personal life.

DEADLINE: Were you surprised that Gabriela was not the one who pulled the trigger?

ARCILA: I was, this is why I want her to save herself at one point. I was, but the writers know what they’re doing. Yeah, when I read it, I thought the whole time that it was going to be Gabriela, and when I read it, I was surprised.

All the stunt work also in those scenes was so great and fun to do. And Blake, after every single take, is like, “Are you okay? You okay? Are you? Yes, okay, let’s go.”

DEADLINE: There was this moment when Manny comes, finds Finn shot and rallies everyone to treat him like a normal patient. With Gabriela, there was a moment of hesitation before she joined her father in saving her stalker. Why was that?

ARCILA: I think Gabriela has been through so much in her life that I don’t know if it was hesitation more than trauma shock, when someone freezes in a traumatic situation, and as soon as she snaps out of it, she goes straight into work.

DEADLINE: Talk about the complex relationship between Manny and Gabriela and the close bond they share that will hopefully continue even after Gabriela leaves Edgewater.

ARCILA: I think the way that the writers did it was great in the sense of, families aren’t perfect, and shadows always come up, and sometimes we are resistant to taking care of the issues that come up just because, maybe we feel like we can’t speak up within our family.

So the fact that they gave them that opportunity to separate in their own frustrations with each other, but come back and show what a strong bond they do have, no matter what, they know that they’re there for each other. I also think that Gabriela just wanted to figure things out on her own and stop having everyone tell her what to do or how to do it. Sometimes we do have to sit with our emotions and with our shadows to discover what we actually do need for our healing.

DEADLINE: Speaking again of Gabriela always being saved, for a moment, Manny thought that Gabriela had shot Finn so he immediately jumped in to protect her, taking the blame himself. It’s good to have somebody come to your rescue, but as you said, at some point, she needs to be the hero of her own story, right?

ARCILA: It’s her dad. A dad is always gonna want to save their daughter and want the best for their daughter. So I get it. He’s just being a dad, and I think it’s adorable.

DEADLINE: Would you want Gabriela to pop in and check on her pops? That would be another reason to return besides Bode, just to come and see Manny, maybe for Thanksgiving.

ARCILA: Yeah. I believe that Manny is her first example of love in a man, her father figure, her rock. The fact that he was so open to being imperfect in front of her and letting her see how we get up and how we react and how we respond and how we deal with these situations, as long as we’re dealing with them in a moral, honorable way, it’s okay.

DEADLINE: What was your relationship with Max, Kevin and the rest of the cast like? Did you have fun behind the scenes?

ARCILA: For the most part. As you see, most of my scenes are with the guys, so I barely got to see the girls or spend too much time with them, but the guys literally treated me like a cousin or a daughter or a sister, and It was so beautiful to build on that.

Part of the gift that Gabriela has given me on this set is having a set dad; [Alejandro] basically became my dad outside of set too, and we’re still very much in contact, we still very much hang out. Billy as well is so incredible and also someone whose work I admire so much.

The fact how Max opened up his doors for me as well and trusted me with this character. I know it wasn’t just his decision, there was lots of people in the kitchen deciding these things. I’m eternally grateful to be able to learn from the well of wisdom that these men have had, and the influence and how inspiring they’ve been to me has been really beautiful.

DEADLINE: Do you remember how many scenes you had left in the finale when you found out that you were leaving the show? Did you already know when you filmed the scene at the fire, which is the last time we see Gabriela?

ARCILA: I already knew when we were filming that. I already knew which was nice. I love that I knew while I was still filming because the crew has been such an important part of my life, and they’ve been such a light in my life. They’ve always had my back.

If they’ve seen something silly or something that they’re maybe like, hmm, I don’t know about that, they’ve always spoken out for me. I love Vancouver [where Fire Country films], I think it’s stunning and gorgeous, but I’ve never lived somewhere where there’s no sun for seven months, so it can be a little bit depressing, and they know it.

The way that they all come together and just check up on you, and the way that they let me into their lives and told me about their children or would invite me on the weekends and be like, “Hey, Steph, I know you’re here alone. We’re going to the science museum with my wife and my child.” Or, “Hey, Steph, we’re all gonna go out and do this,” was just really, really special. In Spanish, we say “Cómo me apapacharon.” How they held me and held space for me.

Even in days where they thought that maybe something was a little off, they’d check in on me and be like, “Hey, Steph, are you okay?” That is a rarity, and I will forever hold that so dear to my heart. Also, they let me learn so much. I would have questions about the focus, cameras, everything. They let me play with all their gadgets, they let me hold all their cameras. They let me sit on their chairs, and they let me go in the DP tent where the DP was. I got to shadow. This was genuinely a school, and I have so many people to thank for that. And the fact that I knew before I finished filming was a gift because I got to say my goodbyes.

DEADLINE: What was your last scene? Do you remember what happened when you wrapped; did you commemorate the occasion behind the scenes?

ARCILA: Yeah, I had asked Jorge [Orellana], who is one of the floor managers, he was our AD that night. Before we ended the night, very early on, I had asked him if he could have everyone come together and hold space for me so that I can thank them and have a chat with them and just shower them in all the gratitude that I felt for them.

DEADLINE: Was the cast there too? Did you have little goodbyes with them?

ARCILA: I did at one point, but not everybody was there. It was practically Max and I and some of the firefighters. We have a lot of firefighters there, either retired firefighters or current firefighters, that are playing background. Some of them have been there with us since Season 1, and they are the kindest humans on top of just, if we had any questions on set immediately, aside from our incredible fire techs Jeff [Snider] and Simon [Gould], who I adore and have even offered classes outside of Fire Country to us, because we’re so eager to learn. Some of us want to know more about it, we want to do our jobs correctly.

So they were there as well, all of those firefighters that have been there since Day One. I remember telling everyone and just hearing an enormous gasp. I told them, I don’t want this to be a sad moment. I want everybody to be excited. I’m sure we’ll see everyone again at one point, but I will not be here for now, moving forward. And you just hear an enormous gasp and feel all of their love.

I knew we had a really beautiful relationship, but I didn’t realize how deepening it was and how emotional that night was going to be for me and everyone. So I it was really special to have known before I ended.

DEADLINE: I’m not going to ask you what are you going to miss the most about the show because I think you just answered that, but looking back at your run on Fire Country, is there a favorite episode, favorite scene, something that you will take away?

ARCILA: There are many, many favorite episodes. There are many favorite moments. There are many inspiring moments. I remember Season 1, the first time I saw Sarah Wayne Callies direct, I was like, wow, this woman is a badass. She comes in, she’s about the work, she knows what she’s doing, and it was so inspiring to me because I want to do other things as well. I want to learn about other departments. I’d like to direct one day, I’d like to produce my own stuff.

I’m currently working on developing something as well. So to watch a woman own so much of herself in an industry that is still very male-driven, and to watch her just own a room and everybody respects her because she knows her sh*t was just amazing.

And any episode that Kevin’s directed, also, he’s such an incredible artist. Watching him and this past season being able to shadow-direct with him and also be in scenes [with him], one of the scenes that was a big, pivotal moment for Gabriela, which was when she finally breaks down and tells her dad and is honest with him, having him direct it, and the respect that he gave me as an artist in allowing me to be because he trusts my work, and also commanding a respect on the set, which the crew always does anyways, it’s special.

DEADLINE: You already touched on this a bit but what is next for you? Maybe you will come back to Fire Country as a director.

ARCILA: Yeah, I’m currently in the process of developing my own project. I’ll be excited whenever I can talk about it, and I’m in the works for some other things, some other projects that haven’t been announced yet.

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