Jared Padalecki Joins Fire Country, Will Possibly Lead Spinoff — Showrunner Previews His ‘Dynamic’ Debut
Fresh off his four-season run on The CW’s Walker, Jared Padalecki is relocating to Fire Country — and it might not be a short visit.
Padalecki will have a three-episode arc in the CBS firefighting drama’s upcoming third season, our sister site Deadline reports. His character, Camden, is described as a “SoCal firefighter and maverick with a surfer swagger who is a force to be reckoned with and immediately recognizes Bode’s raw talent.”
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Speaking with TVLine after the news broke, Fire Country showrunner Tia Napolitano said, “We launch Camden Casey in a really dynamic way.
“We were so excited about casting Jared,” the EP continued, “and he’s really going to ‘flip the script’ in Edgewater,” the fictional Northern California town where the show is set. “Everyone sort of treats Bode (played by series co-creator Max Thieriot) as this tiger they’re trying to tame, and Camden kind of says, ‘Why are you trying to tame a tiger? Let him out!'”
Padalecki has only signed on to recur as Camden, but Deadline is already reporting that the character could land his own spinoff, alongside the Morena Baccarin-led Sheriff Country.
Fire Country planted the seed for its first spinoff when Baccarin (Homeland) guest-starred in an April episode as sheriff’s deputy Mickey Fox, Sharon Leone’s estranged sister. Weeks later, CBS gave a series order to Sheriff Country, which will premiere during the 2025-26 TV season.
CBS CEO Cheeks first teased Fire Country offshoots — plural — back in June 2023, saying the network would be “doubling down” on a show that “completely lends itself to building out a whole new universe.”
Coming off of best-of-freshman class ratings and a highly engaged audience, “It became very clear that not only was [Fire Country] special, it really felt like this could be a great example of us building together a franchise from scratch,” Cheeks said. “And so I’m like, ‘You guys, congratulations, you got your [full-season order]. Now let’s start talking about ideas for new extensions.’ They’ve already come up with some great ones.”
In a TVLine poll, 63% said that they would “definitely” watch Sheriff Country, while 25% said “maybe” (depending on who else gets cast). The other 12% were a big nope.
Cast Updates: Who’s In & Who’s Out This Fall?
TVLine spoke with Padalecki back in June, at which point he said he wasn’t ready to jump into another leading TV role just yet.
“I don’t mind long TV, but I’ve heard it said many times, and I agree, that hour-long episodic television is the hardest job in the industry,” Padalecki said. “It’s not for the weak-spirited. Like, you really have to sacrifice a lot, and I’ve sacrificed everything I have to sacrifice for many, many years, and I think I’m at a point in my life where I want to spend more time with my wife and kids. If a job on a TV show comes up, like I’ve talked to [Eric Kripke] about The Boys stuff, like, ‘Yeah, I’ll come play with you for a month. Yeah, I’ll come play with you for two months, for six weeks, or whatever,’ or, ‘Yeah, I’ll come pop in a week out of every month for the next three months.'”
Fire Country Season 3 premieres Friday, Oct. 18 at 9/8c, where it will follow S.W.A.T. Season 8 and lead into Blue Bloods’ final eight episodes.
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