SPOILER ALERT! This story contains plot points from Friday’s Season 3 premiere Fire country on CBS.

In the episode titled “What the Bride Said,” a catastrophe wreaked havoc on Diego and Gabriela’s marriage, but it wasn’t because of anything Bode did after we last saw him leaving the church in the season 2 finale.

Instead, a helicopter crashed through the stained glass window and cast a shadow on the ceremony, prompting everyone in attendance to take action and help the victims. Here, showrunner Tia Napolitano talks about why she decided to postpone the will-they-or-won’t-they drama and what we can expect from Part 2 of which we unofficially dub Copter nado.

DEADLINE How many different scenarios did you have for the wedding?

TIA NAPOLITANO We talked about many things. We really looked at what viewers are familiar with when it comes to weddings that ultimately didn’t happen. We wanted to make sure ours was very different. We threw some ideas around the room. And then one of my writers said, “Well, you want to crash a helicopter into that wedding, right? Bring the action to the soap.” And I said, yes, we’re going to do that.

DEADLINE You certainly suspended some disbelief by having Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) save lives in a wedding dress. Did Stephanie ever get to the point where she said, “Hey, this sucks?”

NAPOLITANO She was game. She loved it. And actually they are not on duty. It is civilians who help until the firefighters on duty arrive. So it is not her choice to stop helping and buy different clothes. She kept helping and said, ‘screw the dress.’

DEADLINE What is the cause of Manny (Kevin Alejandro) not wanting his daughter to end up with Bode?

NAPOLITANO Manny loves his daughter and he supports her. He loves and supports Bode. But that dynamic seems to remind him of him and Roberta, which wasn’t a completely healthy relationship. He fears that Bode and Gabriela are attracted to each other because of the things they bring out in each other… breaking the rules. They are a bit codependent or always push the boundaries in a bad way.

DEADLINE Why the two-part version?

NAPOLITANO Honestly, the crew built these beautiful sets. We had that whole forest and the helicopter and all the work went into it. It was so visually spectacular that we wanted to stay in that world longer and just milk it for everything we could.

DEADLINE Will Gabriela Diego (Rafael de la Fuente) provide an answer in the next episode?

NAPOLITANO We’ll definitely get Gabriela’s answer.

DEADLINE You had Rick (Adam Aalderks) find out pretty quickly that Genevieve (Alix West Lefler) could be his daughter. Why?

NAPOLITANO We know we played with fatherhood so much last season. We really have lived in the unknown for so long. So this season we wanted to deliver the information, the red meat, and really understand the consequences that flow from that information.

DEADLINE Max Thieriot told us this week that the new season is about legacy. Can you expand that?

NAPOLITANO We heard Bode say it in the finale last season. He is ready to claim his legacy as a firefighter and as Leone. We would really like to investigate what that means. The Leones are a multi-generational firefighting family. We’ve talked about parental scars passed down from Papa Leone to Vince (Billy Burke) and possibly to Bode. What does it look like to really dig into that family history, to really dig into where he came from? When we met Bode, he was a man who didn’t want to come home, and now he says, I’m home and I’m going to dig in my heels, both career-wise and family-wise. We’ll also meet some of the other families on the show. We’ll learn a little more about Eve (Jules Latimer) and where she comes from. And you’re going to see a lot of new characters. We already announced that we will meet a new character named Audrey (Levin Ramblin). And of course, Jared Padalecki is joining us for a while to play Captain Casey. This season we have a nice guest cast.

DEADLINE Padalecki could result in a potential spinoff. What do you like about what he brings so far?

NAPOLITANO Oh, I love the character. Jared himself is great. We wrote Captain Casey with him in mind, and we were fortunate that he took on the role. He’s just great with Max on screen. They have great friendship chemistry. And Jared has a little fun. You know, Casey is sassy, ​​and he encourages the adventurous side of Bode, the rogue side of Bode. He encourages Bode’s side who might want to break a rule every now and then.

DEADLINE Need more lifting to get ready? for the spin-off of Sheriff country?

NAPOLITANO That writers room opened last week. They have their own writers and their own showrunner, and they’re doing a great job. We know a lot of friends there. We had a large mixer. There will be a lot of collaboration. We have networks to ensure we work together. We’re in the same universe, we’re in the same city. We’re going to send a lot of carrier pigeons back and forth to make sure we’re telling a coherent story.