Spoilers for Fire Country Season 3, Episode 18 are ahead! If you haven’t seen the episode, you can stream it with a Paramount+ subscription.
Gabriela has really gone through it this season. Her relationship with Diego ended, her dad went back to prison and faced a mystery illness at Three Rock, and her love life has had some major ups and downs. Speaking of her love life, it faced a major bump in Episode 18, when it was revealed that the man she was starting to date was stalking her. However, it quickly came to an end, and while this development shocked Stephanie Arcila, the actress who plays Gabriela, she also told me why it was a “big wake-up call” too.
In the last episode of Fire Country to air on the 2025 TV schedule, it was revealed that Gabriela’s potential love interest Finn was a stalker. Considering everything she had been through this season, this development shocked me, and it surprised Arcila too. However, she told me why she appreciated the storyline, explaining:
Well, I was in shock. And at the same time, I was like, ‘This sounds good.’ You know, it's good to bring awareness to these things as well, because so many people go through this, women, men, you know, everyone can go through something like this. And to be able to see the red flags, or have the tools and awareness for things like this, is so important, you know?
It is important to show that, and I appreciated how Gabriela and everyone around her handled the situation. After learning about Finn, her Station 42 family was fiercely protective of her, and she was quick to get away from the stalker.
Her mature and fairly calm reaction to it all shows how good Gabriela is at handling difficult situations, and I think it highlighted her growth this season. Thinking about her romances with Bode and Diego, her one-night stand with Jake, her difficulties at work, and her turbulent-turned-healed relationship with her father, she’s been through a lot. However, she’s also learned from all of that.
So, I asked Arcila how Gabriela’s growth this season helped her in this episode. While she said it had, she also noted that this situation with Finn “was a big wake-up call,” saying:
As much as she'd worked on herself, I think it was a big wake-up call of like, there is a balance of being a good human and seeing the good in people, but of also having boundaries and taking things slow, to be able to really see the truth in people and those red flags.
Moving forward, Arcila told me she thinks Gabriela will have “a little bit more of an armor up.” She explained that this was “a very teachable moment” for her character. Now, as the firefighter moves forward, she will likely do so with more caution, taking time to assess everything that’s going on and trusting her gut instincts.
Speaking to that point specifically, Arcila said Gabriela’s naivety won’t be as prevalent going forward. She’ll walk through the world a bit differently:
So I think the naive-ness that she kind of has, and much as she wants to see so much good in humans in the world, I think she's gonna start taking her time and assessing a little differently now.
Overall, this situation with Finn was terrifying, and I wish Gabriela had never gone through it. However, it also highlighted an issue many people face, and it served as an important moment of growth for this character.
Now, going into the last episode of Season 3, which will air Friday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, I’m curious to see how this scary storyline helps Gabriela grow into an even better and stronger person.
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