Warning! SPOILERS about Fire Country season 3, episode 18 ahead.

Bode and Manny’s war against Oxalta caused trouble for the Leones and the families of Three Rock’s inmates in Oxalta was introduced as Fire Country’s villain in season 3, episode 15, after Eve and Sharon discovered it was their plant that poisoned Three Rock’s well, causing all inmates to get severely ill. Their questions quickly got Oxalta and its lawyers’ attention, leading to difficult negotiations that threatened to leave Three Rock uninhabitable and unprotected more than once.

Oxalta's introduction caused great trouble in Edgewater generally and in the Leone family especially, with this instance being the first time Fire Country introduced a credible villain that lasted more than a couple of episodes.

With Violet’s help, Sharon managed to force Oxalta’s hand to clean up Three Rock, pay Birch’s family, and get Manny out of prison before the end of his sentence, securing a deal that left her thinking she had protected Three Rock and its inmates. However, Bode viewed the money Sharon fought for and inadvertently pushed Manny to accept – because the alternatives he had were prison or freedom, which could have only been achieved by g Oxalta’s NDA – as dirty, causing a rift in Bode’s most solid relationship. Fire Country season 3, episode 18 solved the disagreement by ingeniously vindicating Bode.

Oxalta's Crisis Somehow Cleaned Up Bode's Image In Edgewater

Bode Is Finally Seen As Someone Following His Moral Com, Not Just Stirring Trouble

Sharon and Bode had spent the better part of Fire Country season 3, episode 17 fighting, to the point Sharon even ordered another course of action during a call only to seemingly go against what Bode had suggested. The episode’s end brought with it a truce that was swiftly broken the moment Meriwether revealed Bode and Manny’s plan in the presence of Sharon and Vince. This only confirmed to Sharon the need to be overly present in Bode’s life to parent him, contrary to everything she had previously agreed with Vince, as she viewed his choices as the wrong ones.

Sharon’s surprise participation in Bode, Manny and Renée’s plan to get Meriwether to it to harassing the Three Rock inmates’ families revealed she finally trusted Bode’s vision. If Sharon had previously believed Bode was too idealistic and that it would have brought them nowhere, she finally got on board to try and get them some justice, at least in the court of public opinion. Sharon’s actions proved she could finally see beyond the old version of Bode that she knew, who made mistakes that landed him in prison, and consider him as an adult capable of making his own decisions.

What Bode's New Image Means For Fire Country's Future

Bode's Relationships With His Family Can Change For The Better

Bode’s image was always heavily influenced by his past in prison, making it so that some only viewed him as an inmate, while others could see his potential. Bode forcing the reveal of Oxalta itting to their thuggish practices makes him a hero in the eyes of those in Edgewater and beyond, proving that being idealistic sometimes pays in Fire Country season 3, episode 18.

[Sharon’s] ing Bode in Fire Country season 3, episode 18 teases a future where everyone in Edgewater can see Bode for his actions now instead of his past mistakes.

This can change how his family sees him in Fire Country season 4. After all, if Sharon always ed him in Fire Country’s three seasons, she also believed Bode was a threat to himself, as she felt the need to oppose his worst impulses. Unlike Vince, who had already equated Bode with his worst mistakes and believed in his change in Fire Country season 1, Sharon never went through that moment. Her ing Bode in Fire Country season 3, episode 18 teases a future where everyone in Edgewater can see Bode for his actions now instead of his past mistakes.

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Fire Country airs new episodes every Friday at 9pm ET on CBS.