Fire Country Season 2's Major Bode-Genevieve Twist Explained
"Fire Country" Season 2, Episode 6 — "Alert the Sheriff" — is a critical installment of the drama series for several reasons. Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin) is introduced, a character who's more important than fans may think. The installment also clarifies Bode Leone's (Max Thieriot) familial relationship with Genevieve (Alix West Lefler), and it turns out he's not her father after all.
Fans have been waiting with bated breath up to this point in Season 2 to hear about the paternity results. Deciding to make Bode and Genevieve not related by blood was a difficult decision, as Max Thieriot, a real-life hero, told TV Insider. "We went back and forth on it for a bit," he explained. "I think we had a minute where some of us were split and felt like he should be and some of us felt like he shouldn't be, and so it became almost a real, 'Alright, everybody in favor of this, raise your hand.'"
What's more interesting is that this choice was made partway through Season 2 rather than being decided on when Genevieve was introduced. While arguments could be made in favor of both sides, the fact remains that Bode has always acted like a father figure to Genevieve, and he'll likely continue doing that as long as she's on the show.
Fire Country's showrunner wanted to see how Bode would handle this news
While Bode's paternity results feel like something out of a soap opera, the showrunner for "Fire Country," Tia Napolitano, had a good reason for wanting to pursue that route. She told Entertainment Weekly, "We became very interested in, what does Bode go after when this paternity goes away? It's an open question mark of, how much growth has he achieved since we first met him? Is he able to be his own cheerleader?"
There were always questions regarding Genevieve's true parentage, as Cara (Sabina Gadecki) would've conceived her years ago, around the time she and Bode broke up, which would've opened the door for Cara to have other sexual partners. Genevieve's biological father could be virtually anyone, including someone who hasn't been introduced on "Fire Country" yet. Even though Cara tasked Bode with looking after Genevieve before her death, it may be hard for him to do that from a legal perspective, with him being an inmate only complicating matters further. "Fire Country" is all about redemption, though, so Bode may need to prove even more that he's capable of helping raise a child.
The fact Genevieve's parentage is still up in the air means there's still ample drama for "Fire Country" to mine. We already know this season isn't done playing with viewers' emotions, as Max Thieriot has teased how the Season 2 finale will devastate fans. However, "Fire Country" is also about emphasizing the significance of found families, so the fact Bode and Genevieve aren't technically related definitely won't hamper how much he cares for her.