When it was announced that Jared Padalecki was joining Fire Country for a handful of episodes on the 2024 TV schedule, I was thrilled. That’s a big name to bring in, and I expected a big character from him too. And that’s what we got. Now, we’ve met Camden Casey, there’s potential for a spinoff with him, and after hearing Max Thieriot talk about what the Supernatural actor brought to his character, it’s getting me excited about what could come next in the SoCal firefighter’s story.
Camden was introduced in episode 5 of Fire Country’s third season, and it was quickly established that he and Bode have a lot in common. They’re both spontaneous and impulsive, and Camden is trying to teach the cadet how to harness that energy for good. To that point, Thieriot told me that that “lone wolf” energy is something Padalecki brought to the character, as he explained:
Jared was really serious about his approach…and his character and his character's backstory, and he really, sort of, spent a lot of time kind of going in deeper on this lone wolf concept. And I know that was saying that he brought to the table, and [he] brought his own personal life experiences and just things that mean a lot to him, relationships that he has outside, like, personal relationships and having these certain conversations with people about ‘you gotta let, like the wolf, out of the cage.’
Now, knowing that Camden was written for Jared Padalecki and he brought so much into the part, it makes me very excited about his potential Fire Country spinoff.
In Camden’s first episode, we learn that he has a dark past. He lost his team during an incident, and that has clearly traumatized him. However, he’s also seemingly carefree and waltzes around in flip-flops. So, there are layers to unpack here.
It sounds like Padalecki has unpacked it too, as Thieriot told me:
And so it was great, we had a lot of really in-depth conversations personally that I think really kind of made the material into what it was, and certainly added the depth that I think it needed, and that he needed to get to where he went with all of it.
I love hearing that so much thought went into this. Plus, knowing that Padalecki and Thieriot are really good friends makes it even better. Overall, it makes me very excited to see what’s coming for Camden, because it’s clear that the actor playing him cares.
Learning about this backstory and how he got his lone-wolf mentality is something I’d love to explore more in a potential spinoff.
And we know that that’s a possible outcome for the Walker star. When his casting was announced, it was also revealed that he could get a spinoff. I love the idea of a Fire Country series traveling to Southern California and giving us the chance to learn more about Camden.
As Thieriot said, his friend and co-star added a lot to his part. So, hopefully, we’ll get to see more of him outside of Edgewater. If more news comes out about Jared Padalecki’s character and his future in this franchise, we’ll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, you can see him playing Camden in this week’s episode of Fire Country on Friday, November 22 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS or the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.
