Fire Country Season 4 Episode 9 Review: Who Owns the Dirt

Critic’s Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

3.8

Whenever I hear someone claim that humans are superior in some way, I call their attention to how natural occurrences could wipe us out if the scale is large enough.

Fire, wind, earthquakes, volcanoes, tectonic shifts, tides, and more could end entire civilizations in less than 24 hours. 

Fire Country’s treatment of these disasters has always resonated because the show creates such taut circumstances that one can’t help but be impressed.

In what seems like the midseason finale, the show remembers what makes it great: drama and disaster.

A massive fire is the hour’s emergency, and given how unimpressive the last few emergencies have been, they go all out for this. I’m not even in the vicinity, but that fire leaves me feeling scared and powerless.

It’s Three Rock 2.0’s first proper fire emergency. Meanwhile, Drake and Edgewater counties collide, creating explosive tensions between the bosses and the two brothers as the infamous Malcolm finally appears.

I haven’t been impressed by Fire Country‘s handling of family dynamics, and the meeting between Malcom and Jake does nothing to shift my perspective.

Why Are They Fighting Again?

Given this show’s propensity for manufacturing drama at the least opportune time, I’m just glad Malcolm and Jake did not start arguing in the middle of a rescue while someone else’s mortal life is at risk.

The duo is forced to interact, and as one would expect, it’s a contrived conflict whose source I did not understand.

Malcolm and Jake are grown men, so they should understand that life can be complicated and sometimes there is no one to blame for anything. Other times, whoever is to blamed is absent.

Look, they both appear like stand-up guys, so this bad blood does not make sense.

Perhaps I missed something, but I don’t see why they spend minutes arguing over nothing.

This arc is the most disappointing of the episode, and that’s saying something in a show with Bode. Speaking of Bode, I have to laugh.

Life Plays a Cruel Trick on Bode

Apparently, Tyler is now part of Bode and Sharon’s life. Bode loves saving people, so it makes sense that he’s so embedded in Tyler’s life. He did the same with Gen.

But the best part of this arc is that Bode has his behavior reflected to him, and he realizes how bad it looks. How do those shoes fit, Bode boy? Comfortably snug? Too tight?

When he explains that a fire like this one can be dangerous, I can’t help but burst out laughing. Take your own advice, man!

But for all its worth, Tyler seems like he will fix Bode. We can see the latter start to think more deeply about his actions both in the present and the past.

If Fire Country truly fixes Bode, it might earn more than four stars in my rating.

Following Vince’s death, everything is slowly coming together. Bode is improving, and Three Rock is back — well, sort of.

Baptism By Fire. No, Really.

I may have been a bit flippant in my assessment of the new Three Rock crew. Okay, I was flippant because it I didn’t feel like the show need it any more.

However, after this hour, I see that the camp has its place in the narrative, and dare I say I like this camp better?

For one, it doesn’t have Bode, and second, no one deserves a second chance more than young people who may have made one mistake and their life turned out this way.

But they are teenagers, and teenagers would do anything rather than talk about their feelings. They will let negative emotions fester and eat away at them from the inside before acknowledging them.

After Eve’s loud denial, feelings are all over the place, and in their true fashion, the young adults don’t back down. I expected them to be on their knees trying to impress Eve, but boy, can they hold a grudge.

However, even the biggest of grudges melts in the vicinity of a massive fire coming from the hills.

Eve does the most mature thing and finds common ground with her new crew. It’s heartwarming to see what could be a massive standoff resolved by talking. The power of words, people!

This new Three Rock promises more stories, and I can’t wait to see what the writers come up with.

But as that happens, there exists a hidden arc that Fire Country thinks we haven’t caught on to yet.

Who Set the Zabel Ridge Fire?

They want us to believe that Tyler’s stepdad is the suspect. However, as I said in the Fire Country Season 4 Episode 8 review, this has Tyler written all over it.

In fact, I think his stepdad is protecting him, which is why Tyler is freaking out over Bode’s decision to involve ATF.

Both parties are being too careful not to say too much, but they’re saying a lot with the words they do speak.

The final nail for me is when Landon and Sharon go head-to-head, and he warns her about talking about things she doesn’t know much about.

There! I think I have the arson mystery solved.

Being stuck under a fire might finally make Tyler understand how dangerous fire can be and lead him to confess. Fast forward a few weeks, and he’s at Three Rock because of nepotism and favors.

What do you think? Are you convinced that Landon is the arsonist, or are your spidey senses going off, too?

Drop a line in the comments, but in the meantime, my favorite section.

Bodeisms in Fire Country Season 4 Episode 9

As the show appears to be trying to fix Bode, these moments are far in between now. Still, his screaming, ‘leave Edgewater’s name out of your mouth,’ fits the bill. Oooh, so scary! Such a frightening man, ready to fight for a town’s honor? Everyone retreat!

Gut Check

“Who Owns the Dirt” is one of the strongest episodes of the season, but I suspect it’s because it’s the midseason finale.

The final minutes leave many characters’ fates at stake, but is the show courageous enough to kill off another main character so soon? We shall see.

Stray Observations

• Diane Farr continues to be this show’s greatest performer. I have never failed to buy into whatever she’s selling in all her scenes, and the spar with Landon is a great example. Of course, it helped having an equally good scene partner.

• The irony of Eve breaking up with Francine over children, only to be saddled with a dozen or so of them, will never not be funny to me.

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