The following contains spoilers from the Season 3 finale of CBS‘ Fire Country.
Though the Fire Country Season 3 finale on Friday night left viewers with a number of cliffhangers, the fate of Stephanie Arcila‘s Gabriela did not figure into any of them. The first hour did hint that Gabby had shot almost-beau turned stalker Finn, which at the very least could have raised questions of “self-defense,” but soon enough it was revealed that ex-con Audrey (Leven Rambin) had instead pulled the trigger, to protect her friend.
And yet… and yet, Arcila, an original cast member, was one of two cast exits reported late Friday as the finale came to a close. She will not be back as a series regular for Season 4, which was ordered back in late February — on the same day that Arcila learned of her fate with the CBS drama.
Days after the news broke, TVLine hopped on Zoom with Arcila to ask a few lingering questions…
TVLINE | How are you feeling right now, a few days after the news broke, after surely fielding many well wishes from fans and having had a chance to do a cleansing, retrospective Instagram photo dump?
[Laughs] “A cleansing Instagram photo dump.” I’m trying to get better at being on social media. I have a friend who’s just like, “Steph, you need to boast more, you need to this.” So I haven’t done that yet, but I’m good. I’m happy. I’m grateful for the opportunity I was given, which was the gift of Gabriela. It completely changed my life, in all the ways. I don’t know if a lot of people know, but I was bartending right before Fire Country. I was between jobs and this was the job that that ended that journey for me. It’s opened more doors up for me, and it’s made it easier to be seen and have other jobs. I’m just eternally grateful and honored to be a part of — unfortunately and fortunately, right — the 3% that Latinas represent in Hollywood. We gotta get those numbers up, but I wear it with so much honor to be able to represent.
TVLINE | Your TV dad, Kevin Alejandro, has been around the block in this business. Has he offered any sage advice?
Oh my goodness, what an incredible well of wisdom that man is. You know, as silly as he is and as much of a clown as he is sometimes, he’s got my back, man, and he’s so willing to teach me. When I shadowed [him directing], he asked for my ideas, he allowed me to think on the spot, he would pull me to the side and say, “Hey, this is how this works.” I’ve grown so much professionally and personally through our relationship.
TVLINE | Was there any point during or heading into the two-hour finale that you believed Gabriela had indeed shot Finn in self-defense?
I did, I did. Yes, I completely thought it was going to be her. I’m like, “Oh, here we go. Gabriela’s gonna do this herself,” and no, it wasn’t her. I was in shock, because I definitely thought it was going to be her.
TVLINE | I speculated for a hot second that if it was a bad shooting, she ends up at Three Rock in Season 4. Because you always have to have someone at Three Rock!
I mean, I don’t know if I would have wanted her at Three Rock. At the end of the day it was self-defense, and it was inside of a property, it wasn’t outside… I don’t know if she would have ended up at Three Rock, and I don’t think I would have wanted her to! That would have been devastating and it would have been a cycle of this family going through that.
TVLINE | Have you been given any sense of why Gabriela isn’t around when Season 4 opens? Because now that Audrey has copped to shooting Finn, literally no exit story was set up.
I think that’s a question for [showrunner] Tia [Napolitano] and the executive producers. They’ve said that it’s a creative decision on their end, so I don’t know, but this is the business that we’re in.
TVLINE | Right, but do you think, like, Season 4 will open and someone’s gonna say, “Yeah, I hear Gabriela is doing great at the fire department in Kalamazoo. She just needed some time away.”
[Laughs] Maybe! I’ve said it before, the writers always surprise me, and I’m looking forward to what they’ll write and and how they’ll justify this journey. Every show needs some type of of shocking aspect, and I guess this is it, right?
TVLINE | I’m just kicking myself because I’d been been mulling an op-ed about how Gabriela can never catch a break, that even the “nice guy” love interest is revealed to be a stalker. Were you hoping that the Finn thing would at least be a “reset” for her after spiraling so hard earlier this season?
No, no, I think that’s what she did with Diego, when Rafael de la Fuente played her fiancé. She was doing the thing where she was like, “Oh, this seems like a nice guy, so this is what I’m supposed to do.” She does see the good in a lot of people, but I think he was a big wake-up call to that pattern of hers. This broke that pattern and she’s now walking into things differently and and seeing the signs and seeing the red flags and taking her time. Just because someone is a good human doesn’t mean you have to be with them. It doesn’t mean that they’re meant for you. So whoever needs to hear that out there…!
TVLINE | People kept nudging Gabby, like, “Hey, this Finn guy would be your next great romance!” I’m like, “Slow down people. Her track record is not great.” Can we just let her simply have a boyfriend for a couple weeks?
Well, this is why it’s so important to work on yourself and to know who you are. Because if you know who you are and you’ve worked on yourself and you’ve worked on your traumas and you’ve worked on your patterns, there is no one that can sway your intuition, your gut, and who you are because you know who you are to a core and are grounded.
TVLINE | Were you pleased to see Gabriela and Audrey (Leven Rambin) develop a sweet rapport? Because I think some fans were surprised by that.
I think that’s, one, a testament to Gabriela’s professionalism at work, and two, a testament to her as a person. You can’t control who people are with. You can’t control if someone leaves, or if you leave, or if something doesn’t work out and then you end up seeing that person around town. It’s a small town. In a way, that’s also a testament to people’s own self-love when they’re put in a situation like that, to not force things, to not create those attachments, which is a really big deal for Gabriela. Because of everything she’s been through, it would be normal for her to be anxious about attachment and abandonment.
TVLINE | Fire Country co-creator Joan Rater has said they hope to at some point bring Gabby back in a “satisfying, beautiful way.” How does that sound to you?
You know, I never say never, and I believe that. Having this news come out has really shown me how people feel about Gabriella, and I had no idea. And it’s been so heartwarming to have all of that support. Like, I’ve seen it happen on other shows, I’ve seen fans go nuts and I just never thought I’d be in that position, but it feels so good that all of the hard work that I’ve put into this character has translated into so much love for the fans. They are the reason we are on air, for them, because of them.
TVLINE | Does any part of you still believe Gabriela and Bode are, as they say, “endgame”? Because from Day 1, I assumed that’s what this show was about. There’d be highs for them, there’d be lows, but it’d always come back to “hashtag Bodiela.”
I think they will always love each other and have love for each other. I think that this break allows them to grow and build a different foundation, because it’s not good when you rush into things. I understand that there’s chemistry, and I understand that there are sparks, but over time, all of that goes away, you know? And then what are you left with when you don’t build that foundation, when you don’t build that strong friendship within each other? After so much time, what is left? I think it’s important for them to heal for themselves, for others.
TVLINE | Did you watch the finale on Friday night?
I have not yet. I’ve given myself time and space, but I will get to it. I’ve given myself time and space because it’s the first time I have off in so long, and of course I’ve saturated myself with classes that I’m taking and all the press that I’m doing. I’m like, “OK, I choose sleep because I feel like I haven’t slept in nine months because of work!”
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