Season 4 of Fire Country introduced several hurdles for its characters — a death, a major exit and a possible relapse — and there are no regrets about exploring so many changes at once.

During the premiere on Friday, October 17, Bode (Max Thieriot) was dealing with dad Vince’s (Billy Burke) death when Sharon (Diane Farr) chose to shut down the station for a while. Then Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) chose to leave Edgewater and Bode ended up in a concerning place by the time he was secretly checking the pills he had stashed away in his locker.

The CBS series surprised viewers with the shakeups, which came amid other fictional firefighters leaving or dying on other shows. While speaking exclusively to Us Weekly, showrunner Tia Napolitano defended the vision for the series going forward.

“It’s a fire show. Anyone can go at any time,” she said about the character deaths and departures. “But in terms of losing people, we’re also adding some really fun guest cast. It’s a revolving door of people from Sharon’s past and new faces that are exciting to bring conflict and secrets and twists and turns.”

While “really spicing it up” this season, the show has to walk a “fine line” of still paying tribute to the loss experienced on screen.

“What we’ve done is really thread the needle of honoring — especially Vince — because Gabriella is gone but she’s gone to a happy and successful life. She’s still out there. But we really walk this line of honoring Vince while also finding hope rather quickly,” she noted. “Looking forward, the theme of the season is rising from the ashes and recovery.”

Napolitano continued: “How do you recover from something like this and we’re really going to see everybody rise to the occasion. In celebration of Vince, of his life and in honoring the sacrifice that he made.”

Keep scrolling for a breakdown of what to expect from the season:

How Does the Show Adjust to Billy Burke’s Exit?

According to Napolitano, the show “planned” for Vince to be killed off.

“It was a creative choice we made so we knew that Vince wouldn’t be in the picture for season 4,” she revealed. “We felt like for this show — that was so rooted in the death of Riley — we started having a death that the audience could experience and mourn along with our characters. It felt like a return to the show’s roots while keeping it fresh and really throwing new challenges at everyone but most of all Bode.”

Where Does Gabriela’s Exit Fit In?

Vince’s loss is meant to hit in a “different” way compared to Gabriela’s departure.

“It really feels like a reimagined and fresh version of our beloved Fire Country. We do have Audrey for some time — just in terms of following more firefighters who are early in their careers on the show to keep alive that generation of the show,” Napolitano explained. “Us missing the Manny and Gabriela stories has been interesting. You’ll see Manny say, ‘I have nobody to flex these dad muscles on.’”

She continued: “So you really see him becoming paternal with Eve, becoming paternal with Jake and always with Bode. But he finds his way to be a leader and a mentor and an inspiration to that generation.”

Napolitano isn’t ruling out a return for Gabriela in the future.

“We intentionally let that door open and Bode says that love has never been the issue between him and Gabriela. It’s always been timing,” she continued. “That door certainly is open. I’m a fan of Bode and Gabrielas so I’m hopeful that we’ll see more of them to come.”

Will Bode Continue His Romance With Audrey?

“She’s back. They will be a couple that we really root for. We throw some obstacles at them right off the bat. You see Bode grab for those pills in the premiere and that’s going to be an issue for him,” Napolitano teased. “She’s going to be someone that he’s really able to to lean on and who’s really going to encourage him to choose good over evil and to be the person he’s worked to be for all these seasons that we’ve seen him.”

When asked about the fan backlash against Bode’s connection with Audrey, Napolitano replied, “We love for an audience to have strong opinions. I love a slow burn romance. I love longing. I love rooting for two people to get together. That’s a show that’s in it for the long run — with a long romantic arc. I think getting [Bode and Gabriela] together would have felt like the less exciting version. I want the audience to want for them to be together.”