Fire Country season 3 recently made its way to Paramount Plus, and the series is attracting fans who didn’t watch it when it was originally on CBS. While new viewers are catching up, they’re learning that Fire Country season 2 features one of the most heartbreaking moments of the show so far, and it involves Cara, played by Sabina Gadecki.
Who Is Cara in ‘Fire Country’?
Cara joined Fire Country midway through the first season. She’s an ER nurse who previously dated Max Thieriot’s Bode Donovan. After returning to Edgewater to help her mom move, Cara decided to stay and continue her rotations at Edgewater Memorial Hospital. Once she was back in town, Cara became romantically involved with Jake Crawford.It’s eventually revealed that Genevieve, who everyone believed to be Cara’s little sister, was actually her daughter after she became pregnant at just 19 years old. Cara’s mom had chosen to hide her pregnancy and pretended as though Genevieve was her daughter instead. However, it’s still unclear if Bode is Genevieve’s father.
Just as fans see Bode considering how his life would change if he was confirmed to be Genevieve’s dad, tragedy struck.
Does Cara Die in ‘Fire Country’?
Fire Country showrunners made a big decision that changed several characters’ lives in season 2 when Cara was killed off. In episode 5, “This Storm Will Pass,” Cara, Bode and Diego found themselves in the middle of a Fire Tornado after the ambulance they were in crashed. Cara was impaled by a steel rod and Bode and Diego saw that her pupils had dilated. The discovery led them to realize that she was suffering from a brain bleed.
The nearest hospital was still five miles away and Cara couldn’t be moved due to her injury, so the men attempted to keep her alive until backup could arrive, but it was to no avail. Cara succumbed to her wounds.
Before she passed, Cara made Bode promise to look after Genevieve for her, again hinting that he was likely her father. Right before she died, Cara heard Jake telling her that he loves her.
Did Sabina Gadecki Choose to Leave ‘Fire Country’?
Shortly before fans learned Cara died in Fire Country season 2, Sabina revealed that it wasn’t her choice to leave the show.
“If I had any involvement, I would not be dead,” Sabina said during an interview with Us Weekly on April 5, 2024.However, the actress was given a heads up before filming for the season began.
“We had a whole beautiful heart-to-heart before the season started, so I feel really grateful that I knew ahead of time,” she explained. “They felt they needed a place for all the characters to go and they were like, ‘We need you to know this was a pivotal storytelling moment, not a spur of the moment decision to get rid of a character.’”
Showrunner Tia Napolitano had already planned the story around Cara’s death and knew what was in store.“It’s very hard because Sabina Gadecki is so sweet and such a wonderful actress and we love having her on our show. But when I pitched this season originally, Genevieve was really the soapy center of it. Then we want to lean into and complicate that as much as we possibly could,” Tia told the publication. “When there’s only one known biological parent left standing, it complicates everything.
