'Fire Country' Season 3 Episode 15 Recap: Bode Is Up to Something

Editor's note: The below recap contains spoilers for Fire Country Season 3 Episode 15.The top question for Friday's episode of Fire Country is what the hell is going on with Manny (Kevin Alejandro), and we don't have to wait long, as the toxicology report signals that Manny has pesticide poisoning, which is likely what also killed Birch. It puts Eve (Jules Latimer) on the case of solving who exposed her guys to the pesticides and tried to cover it up. Meanwhile, Vince (Billy Burke) and Sharon (Diane Farr) make the tough call to put Walter (Jeff Fahey) in full-time memory care. It's safe to say the cantankerous old man does not enjoy being shipped out to an assisted living facility, but after his disappearing act last week, the Leones aren't equipped to take care of him at home either.

Mysteries need to be solved, (familial) bridges need to be rebuilt, lighthouses need to be saved, and new love needs some space to grow in this episode of Fire Country — and it all has to happen while rain pours down from the heavens. Everyone has something to do in this episode, and it sets up some major storylines for the back half of the season.

The Three Rock Conspiracy Sets Up 'Fire Country's Next Big Arc

The treatment for pesticide poisoning involves putting Manny on some scary antibiotics, including a nerve blocker to help his respiratory system. The goal is to "avoid organ failure," according to the toxicology doctor. Cue Gabs (Stephanie Arcila) being righteously concerned. When Eve returns to Three Rock, her entire crew has come down with pesticide poisoning. She still doesn't know whether the grounds or a previous job may have had pesticides, but first, she needs to get all the prisoners to the hospital before they end up like Birch. Eve eventually realizes the well water is the source of the poison as she tends to her team. She confiscates all of their water bottles and orders testing, but every guy at the camp is down bad.

Eve takes the information to Sharon for help and Sharon figures out that a major chemical company, Oxalta, is poisoning the well. Great, there was a culprit, but Sharon also warns that Oxalta has a senator on their board and generously donates to the state government so they won't take kindly to Eve starting an investigation. Oxalta sends a lawyer to tell Sharon that all communication between Cal Fire and Oxalta will cease without legal representation, essentially halting the investigation in its tracks. It's going to be David vs. Goliath to get justice for Birch, Manny, and the rest of the Three Rock guys.

Daredevil Surfers Help Walter See the Light in 'Fire Country' Season 3 Episode 15

The road to "Club Dead," as Walter affectionately calls his new living quarters has been washed out by the storm, so the Leones can't officially move him out. That forces Vince and Sharon to bring Walter to the station until the rain dies down and gives all of Station 42 a front-row seat to Vince and Walter fighting it out. If the fight isn't enough action, Sharon is delivered a surfer, Rocco (Kai Bradbury), who has a piece of beach wreckage impaled in his ribs. While Sharon sees to his injuries, Gabs and Audrey take care of his friend, who suffers a seizure while he tries to argue he should go back out and catch once-in-a-lifetime waves.

They stabilize the kid and Walter is the one to convince him that going back out to the waves is a terrible idea in that storm. He can relate to the teens' thrill-seeking, and talking to them helps him realize he needs to stop fighting Vince so hard. Walter then agrees to go to the assisted living facility. The painful experience leads Vince to preemptively forgive Bode if he's ever forced to put him in a home.

Bode and Jake Bring Lighthousing Back in 'Fire Country' Season 3 Episode 15

The emergency of the week takes Jake (Jordan Calloway) and Bode (Max Thieriot) to a lighthouse where a group of British tourists are trapped at the top of a collapsed stairwell. They get every tourist but one down from the landing with the ladder, but the rest of the stairs collapse when the last woman, Lacey (Gigi Neil), is trying to make her way down. Bode catches her on the way down so she only suffers a sprained ankle.

Bode and Jake discover the lighthouse caretaker, Carlton (Adrian Hough), still at the top. He refuses to come down until he helps two nearby tourist ships avoid crashing into the rocks after the storm knocks out their GPS. Our firefighter duo use their tools to help Carlton get the lighthouse beacon going again. It works well for about five minutes before the old fuses overheat and set the dilapidated lighthouse on fire while one of the errant tour ships is still approaching the shore.

They get the fire in the lighthouse under control, but it requires shutting off the electricity and thus the beacon. Bode suggests starting a controlled burn and reflecting the light of the fire onto the water to save the last ship sailing in the storm. A "small" fire in a run-down lighthouse already primed to burn? This can't go wrong! Jake at least calls in additional units before they attempt this crazy plan. Bode uses paper and a batter – an old prison trick – to get the fire started and they light the beacon to save the last ship from shore. It's a wild ride to get there, but overall a successful rescue for Bode and Jake.

New Love Is in the Air on 'Fire Country' Season 3 Episode 15

Things go better for Jake in this episode, at least initially. He makes breakfast in bed for his new…romantic partner (official labels are still pending), Violet (Nesta Cooper). They're having a very cute moment when Violet announces that she's just landed a job at a prestigious law firm. Oh god, is someone else also going to desert Jake? It's worse than that! Violet's dream job is at Oxalta, the same chemical company now stonewalling Sharon, Eve, and Three Rock from getting answers about the poisoned well.

Meanwhile, Gabs is able to distract herself from her dad's terrifying diagnosis with Finn (Blake Lee), who stops by to see her at the station while they prepare flood supplies for the storm. He could have gone to the hospital to check on his gash, but instead has Gabriella replace his bandages and the two start an absolutely adorable game of "This or That." That's how Finn finds out Gabs was once an Olympic diver and is adequately impressed. He also shows up at Smokey's later that night and officially asks Gabs out. We officially have a new couple alert! It is so good to see Gabs put Bode in the rearview, as she said in the episode, and find something that makes her happy. Let's just hope Finn doesn't have any terrifying skeletons in his closet or connections to an evil chemical company that poisons incarcerated firefighters. The bar is in hell for dating prospects on this show, my friends.

What Is Bode Up To in 'Fire Country' Season 3 Episode 15?

If the Oxalta drama isn't enough, Bode is determined to stress everyone out even more. Audrey (Levin Rambin) notices a large bandage on Bode's hand when he informs her of Walter's displeasure with his living arrangement. Bode brushes her off by saying it happened while he was clearing some trees for extra cash for an "old friend" of his that she doesn't know. We have to be suspicious of every shifty thing Bode says because he is still holding on to a bag of pills and Audrey is the only one who knows about them.

She has every right to be concerned. When Vince asks about the same bandage, Bode says he got hurt during an incident. At the end of the episode, his parole officer shows up and asked why Bode has been associating with "known criminals," so something fishy is definitely going on. We'll have to wait until next week to find out what Bode has actually been up to.

Fire Country Season 3 continues Fridays at 9 PM on CBS. Episodes are available to stream the next day on Paramount+.