From demon (and ghost and many other supernatural creatures) hunter to Texas ranger to firefighter, Jared Padalecki remains in the business of saving lives with his upcoming three-episode arc on Fire Country, and TV Insider has an exclusive first look at him as Camden!
Padalecki debuts in the November 15 episode, titled, “Edgewater’s About to Get Real Cozy,” in which Station 42 and Three Rock jump into action when an airplane makes an emergency landing outside of Edgewater. Our exclusive photos, which you can see in full below, offer a look at Camden in action, alongside Jake (Jordan Calloway), and talking to Bode (Max Thieriot).
The role of Camden was “written for Jared, very specifically,” executive producer Tia Napolitano told us in August right after his casting was announced. Padalecki’s Camden is a SoCal firefighter who immediately recognizes Bode’s raw talent.
“Everyone in Bode’s life before Camden hits the scene is sort of trying to tame a tiger when it comes to Bode to make sure he works the program so he can get out,” Napolitano explained. “Camden is more Bode than anyone else on our show. I think they’re twin flames and similar and Camden’s able to encourage, draw out maybe the dangerous side of Bode, but he sees the talent and leans into it. He doesn’t try to put lightning back into the bottle.”
In his debut, “Camden jumps onto the screen in this really dynamic way,” Napolitano told us earlier this month. “In real life, Jared and Max are friends and you can feel that chemistry. You could feel it on set, you could feel it once the director calls action, they just shine on screen.”
She called Camden “a solo operator. He’s really adventurous. He’s an envelope pusher, and he and Bode are both going to be the first one to jump into a fire when they shouldn’t. And it’s almost a race of which one of them is more heroic and willing to go rogue and willing to do anything to get the save. They’re just brothers in that way. And I think in that way there’s conflict as much as there is similarities and it’s really exciting to watch.” We get a look at Camden seemingly doing just that, leaping into the action, in the photo below.
It should be interesting to see what the dynamic between Camden and Jake, both captains, is like. “Camden’s going to rub a few people the wrong way and not always, but he has very unconventional tactics when it comes to firefighting, when it comes to Bode, when it comes to what rules are meant to be broken,” the EP cautioned. “And I think it’ll be fun. He’s not a villain by any means, but it’ll be fun to see our people have this new real alpha guy in their midst.”
There are already rumors about a potential spinoff with Padalecki’s character. “Bode is definitely going to help Camden. I think by the time we say goodbye to Camden this season, at least, all of our people and all of Edgewater will have really left an impression that Camden’s going to bring forward with him when he leaves us for now,” Napolitano said. “When we say goodbye to Jared this season, it’s definitely not goodbye forever. You get the feeling that it’s a revolving door and he’ll be back again.”
What do you think of the first look at Jared Padalecki as Camden? What are you hoping to see during his arc? Let us know in the comments section below.
Fire Country, Fridays, 9/8c, CBS