A new season of Fire Country means new changes are on the horizon. The CBS firefighter drama heads into its fifth season this fall, marked by developments like a new showrunner and a reduced episode count. But even the story itself is getting an upgrade with the arrival of two new characters. For the first time since the show premiered in 2022, it will add a new series regular as Olivia Thirlby joins as CJ. This development has led viewers to speculate that Bode is getting a new partner, or maybe something more.
Since the character first appeared in the pilot episode, there have been no hints that he would be paired up with anyone in the professional sense. However, he has occasionally teamed up with other characters or guest stars for demanding arcs. Most of his new relationships have been romantic, and he has had three romantic partners so far. His latest is Chloe (Alona Tal), a former single mother with a troubled son whom Bode helps, despite his involvement in the fire that claimed Vince’s life. They are now in a romantic relationship, but could CJ’s arrival spell trouble for Bode and Chloe?
Series star and co-creatorMax Thieriot previewed the upcoming season and addressed the speculation that Bode is ready to move on from Chloe. While Bode and CJ do share a lot of scenes, especially in the Season 5 premiere, Thieriot confirmed that the connection is purely platonic and that Bode is still dedicated to Chloe. The Season 4 finale left them in a good place after Chloe admitted she loves Bode, even accompanying him as his date for Jake’s wedding. Thieriot, however, didn’t reveal what’s on the horizon for the couple. The other character is someone related to Manny (Kevin Alejandro), with his own complications.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor Sheridan Show Do You Belong In? Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn’t write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
Advertisement
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
Advertisement
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
Advertisement
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan’s universe is always absolute — and always costly.
Advertisement
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it’s crossed.
Advertisement
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan’s worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
Advertisement
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
Advertisement
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they’re defending.
Advertisement
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan’s world is never given — it’s established, maintained, and constantly tested.
Advertisement
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
Advertisement
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
Advertisement
10
When it’s over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan’s characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
Advertisement
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
Advertisement
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
Advertisement
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.
Advertisement
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
Advertisement
Advertisement
What to Expect in the ‘Fire Country’ Season 5 Premiere
The season-opener features what Thieriot called a “multi-layer” emergency. A sinkhole that could be tied to the massive flooding from Season 4 opens up in Edgewater. It couldn’t have come at a worse time because Edgewater is celebrating Founder’s Day and Main Street is filled with people. Station 42 has to cut the celebration short when duty calls, and during the rescue, Bode meets CJ, a former firefighter running from something. They collaborate on the rescue, and Bode thinks there is something in CJ worth investing in, just not in a romantic sense. “Founder’s Day” airs on Friday, October 9, on CBS.
Catch up with Fire Country on Paramount+ and stay tuned to Collider for more updates. Watch the season’s promo above.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Release Date
October 7, 2022
Showrunner
Advertisement
Tia Napolitano, Eric Guggenheim
Directors
Bill Purple, Dermott Downs, Eagle Egilsson, Gonzalo Amat, Kevin Alejandro, Max Thieriot, Sarah Wayne Callies, Marie Jamora, Kantu Lentz, Antonio Negret, Laura Nisbet Peters, Lisa Demaine, Nicole Rubio, James Strong, Anton Cropper, Erica A. Watson, Joy T. Lane, Jacquie Gould, Chi-Yoon Chung
Advertisement
Writers
Tia Napolitano, David Gould, Natalia Fernandez, Barbara Kaye Friend, Tony Phelan, Joan Rater, Dwain Worrell, Julia Fontana, Sara Casey, Manuel Herrera, Jen Klein, Anupam Nigam, Tonya Kong
You must be logged in to post a comment Login