Exclusive: Max Thieriot Returns to the 'Fire Country' Director's Chair for an Explosive Episode

This week’s episode of Fire Country, “Alert the Sheriff” is extra special for star and co-creator Max Thieriot (Bode Donovan), as he also directed and co-wrote the episode. On top of that, the story arc introduces a whole new set of uniformed men and women in Edgewater: the sheriff’s department.

This article contains spoilers for Fire Country Season 2, Episode 6.

After Cara’s death in an action-packed and heartbreaking episode five, you might be thinking: how could things possibly get more complicated for the residents of Edgewater and the Three Rock inmates? By now, fans all know Fire Country keeps viewers on their toes week after week.

For starters, we were introduced to a brand new character, Mickey Fox (played by Morena Baccarin), who is Sharon’s sister and a Sheriff Sergeant with the Edgewater County Sheriff’s Office. Luckily, Bode Donovan (Thieriot) himself is here to help us unpack the events of episode six (new characters, runaway inmates, a paternity test, just to name a few), and give us a glimpse into the future of the season.

Introducing ‘Fire Country’ Newbie Mickey Fox

morena baccarin as sheriff mickey fire country

“It certainly was a challenging episode. And I was pretty heavy in it. From an acting standpoint, and introducing a new character into the world. There’s always some pressure involved with that, but obviously, especially one that has so much to do in the episode. But it was really fun getting to do all this helicopter stuff, do a bunch of practical fire work with Morena. She made my job as a director super easy, because she’s such a pro,” Thieriot told Country Living about ushering in the new character.

As fans are introduced to Mickey, we also get a deeper look into the inner workings of the Edgewater County Sheriff’s Department, as they lead the search for escaped Three Rock inmate, Rudy (and, of course, sisterly drama ensues between Mickey and Sharon). With Thieriot in the director’s chair, he decided to make alterations to visual aspects of the episode to reflect the change in perspective from primary firemen to now law enforcement, while still staying true to the series as a whole.

sert as rudy, max thieriot as bode leone

Max Thieriot’s Directorial Flare

“While trying to, obviously, keep it looking like an episode of Fire Country, we color the episode a little different with these pastel-y, sepia, sort of vintage-y tones to it and gave some of the scenes just a different feel, because we’re seeing a different job in the show for the first time really, at least in depth. It was important that it felt like Edgewater, these people felt like they belong in this community. But this job looks a little bit different from our firefighters that we’ve been watching for a couple years now. It was fun—I think everybody was just really excited to get to do something a little bit different,” Thieriot explained.

Thieriot made his fair share of appearances in the episode as Bode, while juggling directing responsibilities, though he admitted working as a director made his acting responsibilities easier. “It’s always funny, I think in kind of weird way, like the directing helps the my acting. And I think part of that is because, in this one in particular, I wrote the story with Tony [Phelan] and Joan [Rater], I was so intimately involved with the episode from such an early point in the process,” Thieriot said.

max thieriot

While Thieriot played a huge role in the creation, execution, and even the acting in “Alert the Sheriff,” he admits that his key to success is pulling in all of the talented people around him on the set of Fire Country.

“I think that, to have a really great product, the key is to inspire everyone around you. And I think when you give people that creative freedom, and you let them run with it, then other people get more excited, and they don’t feel like they’re purely executing your vision,” Thieriot described. “And so when I’m directing, I’m always trying to communicate with the whole crew, and all the actors and hear out different ideas and try different things and really, sort of just figure out what is best for the show.”

What’s Next for Max Thieriot’s Bode Donovan

We’d be remiss not to mention the bombshell Thieriot revealed at the end of episode 6. The paternity results are in and, although in Cara’s absence he’s stepped into a parental role, he is not Genevieve’s biological father. Thieriot weighed in on what this, and all the other twists and turns of season two, means for Bode’s future.

“I think Bode has kind of been through a whirlwind of emotions this season. From finding out he’s likely a father to losing Cara, to finding a new purpose, basically, to live and a reason to want to really get out and change and be better. And then all of a sudden, sort of have that ripped away just as he was actually digesting this idea. I think he’s sort of spinning a little bit in his head. At the center of it, he still knows that his main focus and his main drive was to give this girl a family and to try and be there for her. And now that he’s promised Cara, that’s what he was going to do. I think his goal is now to just do whatever he can for her and be there for her in any way that he can, even though he’s not her father, and try and somehow give this girl a family. Whatever it takes.”