‘Fire Country’ Sets up Introduction of Sharon’s Mother: Ruby Wrote Note to Vince

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Fire Country Season 4 Episode 5 “Happy First Day, Manny.”]

There’s quite a bit to enjoy in the Friday, November 14, episode of Fire Country. Station 42’s new battalion chief is keeping it in the family with Manny (Kevin Alejandro) filling in the spot left open with Vince’s death. We even like that he and Sharon (Diane Farr) clash over changes he’s making (the coffee!) and who’s in charge during a call. Eve (Jules Latimer) comes up with a plan involving chickens to help build up Three Rock again. W. Earl Brown brings Wes Fox over from Sheriff Country, for some family time with Sharon and Bode (Max Thieriot). And speaking of those Leones, mother and son finally talk, sharing what they’ve been keeping from one another.

Now that Jake (Jordan Calloway) has told Bode about the note blackmailing Vince from an R, whom he and Eve think is his ex, Renee (Constance Zimmer), he wants him to tell his mom. But instead, Bode decides to search the house and finds a PO Box key. He hides it from her, but Sharon’s also keeping something from him: the fact that ATF thinks someone deliberately set the fire that led to his dad’s death. As she explains to Manny, she doesn’t want to tell Bode something that will unleash an anger in him.

Eve, meanwhile, pushes Jake to tell Bode to tell his mom, but the captain doesn’t want to ruin the fact that they’ve just gotten back onto speaking terms (after Bode blamed Jake for keeping him from going back into the fire that killed his dad). But it does come up on their way to a call, with Jake testing the waters in pointing out that Vince was a great man but nobody’s perfect; Bode refuses to even acknowledge the possibility of Vince having an affair since he worshipped Sharon.

During the course of responding to a fire at the drive-in, Bode can see something’s going on with Sharon and Manny and his mom is hiding something, and Jake calls him out on the irony of it. He finally tells Bode that he needs to tell Sharon. Eve agrees. And when Bode clues in Wes on the situation, Sharon’s stepfather agrees with Jake to tell his mom, play offense, and use his whole “team,” including Sharon and his friend. Good ones tell you what you don’t want to hear, Wes reminds Bode.

And so when Jake gets home, it’s to Bode moving back in. He also didn’t check out the PO Box, agreeing that his father wasn’t perfect and had his secrets. He then heads to his mom’s to tell her about it. But first, Sharon tells him about the ATF investigation and makes sure he knows he can’t go all vigilante. Then, Bode shows her the note. But Sharon assures him Vince wasn’t having an affair. Rather, the fact that “she” would extort him for money and he’d get into this position with her … So, who’s she? “She’s my mother,” Sharon reveals, teeing up Christine Lahti‘s debut as Ruby in the November 21 episode.

What did you think of the latest episode? What do you think of that tease about Sharon’s mom? Let us know in the comments section below.

Fire Country, Fridays, 9/8c, CBS