Warning: This article contains spoilers for Fire Country season 5, episode 1, “Founders’ Day.”Fire Country’s showrunner has provided a massive update on the outcome of the show’s shocking season premiere.

Season premieres can be dramatic as many series use them to set up several new storylines. However, Fire Country season 5 took things to a completely different level by ending with gunfire, which left viewers wondering who might not survive the sudden violence. Thankfully for everyone who cares deeply about Fire Country’s characters, the series showrunner has revealed what happened immediately after the gunfire rang out.

On October 9, TVLine spoke to Fire Country’s showrunner, Eric Guggenheim, about whether any of the firefighters from Station 42 were hurt or worse after their world was suddenly attacked. Fortunately for anyone who would be heartbroken to see one of the show’s characters depart, he revealed that nobody suffered serious injuries during the stunning attack. Check out Guggenheim’s comments below:

Physically, everyone is OK. But there is some mental fallout. It’s one thing to risk your life on incident. It’s another when someone is taking shots at you.

With so many modern series often featuring shootouts, it can be easy for viewers to become numb to how profoundly having bullets fired at you can affect people. However, despite firefighters regularly facing danger, it makes perfect sense that Fire Country’s characters would be seriously traumatized by what happened at the end of the show’s season 5 premiere.

While the aftermath of that incident seems poised to have a major effect on everything about Fire Country season 5, Guggenheim’s TVLine interview teased more about the coming episodes. Notably, the series’ boss told the outlet that despite Manny and Camille sharing a solid relationship, the introduction of Angel will test their bond. “They’re in a good place. But Angel’s presence in Edgewater — and what that stirs up for Manny — will test them.” He also remarked that Manny is right to be suspicious of the show’s new addition.

That’s the real question,” Eric Guggenheim says. “Because Manny’s absolutely right — Angel has an agenda, and he’s fiercely loyal to Ricardo. But being at Three Rock and having Eve as his captain could cause him to break good, which would certainly lead to some inner turmoil.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the TVLine interview is that Guggenheim confirmed that Alona Tal will be returning as Chloe during the show’s fourth episode. Considering Tal’s involvement in the Prime Video series Cross, he noted that the Fire Country team is “lucky to get her back for multiple episodes.”

Of course, there is almost always a bittersweet element to every part of this show. In this case, Chloe’s return comes amidst some concern from viewers about Bode’s bond with Fire Country’s new character, CJ. Still, Guggenheim assuaged those worries by remarking that CJ and Bode are just friends. “They certainly have terrific chemistry, but it didn’t read to us as flirty. They do have a close relationship, but it’s platonic.”

When showrunners give interviews about what is to come on their series, they often provide elusive and hedged responses that create as many questions as answers. It is refreshing that Guggenheim was so forthright and provided Fire Country’s viewers with a lot of reasons to be excited about what will happen during season 5.

Fire Country season 5 airs every Friday, 9 pm ET on CBS.

Release Date

October 7, 2022

Showrunner

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

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