‘Fire Country’: Diane Farr Talks Sharon’s New Business Venture and How She’s Handling Bode’s CalFire Training (Exclusive)
Tonight’s new Fire Country was directed by series star Diane Farr, but the episode also had some great Sharon moments, especially following the events of Episode 2, and Farr spoke to PopCulture.com about the aftermath. In last week’s episode, Sharon wound up buying beloved bar Smokey’s Tavern after it was going under following the helicopter crash, and Farr says the storyline moving forward is “amazing.”
“She’s got all these kids at the firehouse, and now I’m gonna make them all do this. I don’t even know,” Farr continued. “Every time they bring up Smokey’s, it’s in a different way, and it’s wonderful because it affects everyone. And there’s always the idea of if we’re not on a shift at the firehouse, now we can be there. There is one episode where I think 50% of the episode takes place in Smokey’s, and they’re not serving any food. It’s the most fun thing, and honestly, it reaches out to everyone as equally as it does Sharon. It’s just such a fun other set to make our home.”
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In the new episode, Billy Burke’s Vince wasn’t so much willing to hear his wife out at first, but towards the end, he started to come around. He even had some ideas, and so does Farr herself. There will be a lot to look forward to with this Smokey’s storyline, especially since, as Sharon said, Smokey’s is the “heart of Edgewater,” and Farr is “most excited for the singing.” She shared. “We have so many singers in our cast. Billy and Jules [Latimer], and our new character Leven [Rambin] also sings. There’s so much heart that could happen in that little space, no less, you know, the drinking of Dutch Courage.I’m doing it. And all of that’s coming in, like, the next five episodes. So it’s just a really fun place to see us, not in a rush to save somebody’s life.”
One of the main reasons Sharon decided to buy Smokey’s was so she could have something to take care of and focus on now that Bode’s a free man and she doesn’t have to constantly keep an eye on him and worry about him, even if she will still be doing that. Bode, meanwhile, has been in the CalFire training program but thanks to his and Gabriela’s secret about a medical alert necklace, he nearly got permanently kicked out. Assuming this won’t be the only obstacle in his way when it comes to becoming a firefighter like his family, Diane Farr says that Sharon is “doing her best to stay out of it.”
“Sharon’s not good at staying out of anything, but at this point, it’s gonna hurt you to have your mommy in there,” she said. “I think Sharon knows he has everything he needs to do it if she doesn’t get in his way, and she’s trying to do that. And Diane, as a person, knows there’s no way it’s gonna be an easy ride for him. I just hope he gets in there. Our show does a great job of not dragging anything out for two months. Right? Like, we don’t make everybody wait for everything. I love that he got released from prison, not even in the last episode of this season, in the one before. So I’m excited to see all the things he does now that he’s not just at Three Rock. Now that we’ve stuck Kevin Alejandro in there.”
Running Smokey’s is going to be a fun storyline for Sharon, and it’s likely there will be many more moments to come with all characters there. On top of that, with Bode in the program and him never seeming to catch a break, Sharon having Smokey’s to keep her mind off of it shouldn’t be too bad for her, but anything involving Bode can go in any direction. Fans will have to see what happens in new episodes of Fire Country airing on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.
