Who Is Liam on 'Fire Country,' and What Happened Between Him and Sharon?
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Friday's episode of Fire Country Season 2, "Like Breathing Again," ended with a shocking, potentially explosive twist. The episode's final scene implies that Sharon Leone (Diane Farr) got in some kind of relationship entanglement with a firefighter named Liam (Jason O'Mara) while she was away from Edgewater battling a wildfire. And now Liam has unexpectedly come to find her in Edgewater, and her husband Vince (Billy Burke) is meeting him—and neither of them know about the other. Did Sharon have an affair with Liam? Or is there a more innocent explanation for what's happening here?
Before we get into who Liam is and what happened between him and Sharon, let's back up and look at how we got here.
Related: All About ‘Fire Country’ Season 2: CBS's Hit Came Blazing Back
What's wrong with Sharon on Fire Country?
Sharon is having a bit of a mid-life crisis—and understandably so! She's been through a lot in the past few months.
She underwent life-saving kidney replacement surgery with Vince's brother Luke (Michael Trucco) as the donor. She almost died, but now that she's recovered from her illness, she's examining what she really wants out of life. She took a leave of absence from her job as division chief and left town for awhile to get some space from her family's problems.
Bode (Max Thieriot) going back to prison hit everyone hard, but Sharon and Vince dealt with it in different ways, which became a source of tension between them. Vince stayed close, visiting Bode regularly to make sure his son knew he wasn't giving up on him. Sharon, however, was fed up, and decided it was time for her adult son to face his problems without his parents trying to make it right for him. She went off to work on a campaign fire, leaving Edgewater, Vince and Bode behind.
When she came home, she didn't return to her old job, choosing instead to work as a firefighter on the crew under Vince. And things were still not great between the Leones. They weren't communicating like they used to. And she's been acting out, staying out late and driving her motorcycle recklessly. It's affecting her work, too. She lost her temper on a job, scolding a teenage girl who got trapped in a cave so harshly that Vince told her to go home and cool off. He asked her if she's mad at Bode and taking it out on the world.
How did Sharon and Vince make up?
The day after the fire, Sharon finally went to talk to Bode for the first time in months. She told him that if she would go back to the way things were if she thought that would be good for him, but she doesn't. She told him he has to rebuild his life for himself, not for her or anyone else. She lovingly called him a liar when he said he had moved on from the newly engaged Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila), and they embraced.
Related: Will Bode and Gabriela End Up Together on 'Fire Country'?
When she got home, she told Vince that she went to see Bode. She realized she's not mad at him, she's worried that she hurt him, and she's going to try to parent him differently. The person she's mad at is Vince. He wasn't there for her the way she needed him to be in the aftermath of her illness and Bode's re-incarceration.
"I needed that campaign fire, but I needed you there with me," she said. He said he had to stay for Bode, but he missed her every moment she was gone.
"Then show me!" she said. She wanted him to put in some effort to make her feel appreciated and desired and not taken for granted. So he decided to take her on a date to Smokey's, the local bar.
Who is on Fire Country and when did he show up?
Everything was going great. Sharon and Vince were reconnecting, proving that their love for each other was still strong after 30 years. But then Liam showed up at the end of Season 2 Episode 2.
When Vince got up to buy shots, a man approached Sharon.
"Liam, what are you doing here?" she said, uncrossing her legs and sitting up as if she needed to be ready for fight-or-flight.
“There’s a big fire headed this way and they needed volunteers, so I figured, you know," he said, revealing an Irish accent.
Sharon jumped up from the couch with a horrified expression on her face and ordered Liam to stop talking. From the bar, Vince took notice.
"Ever since that campaign fire, I've thought about you every day—" he said, reaching to take her hands in his. She pushed him away and told him to shut up.
Just then, Vince came over, holding shots of whiskey in each hand. "Liam, is that it?" he said, and downed one of the shots.
"And you are?" Liam said. Cut to Sharon looking like her soul is leaving her body to escape from this situation. And then back to Vince as he stares at Liam—not Sharon—as the episode ends.
What happened between Sharon and Liam on Fire Country, and what comes next?
The first thing we're supposed to think is that Sharon had an affair with Liam. That she was unhappy in her stale marriage and far away from Vince so she had a fling to feel alive again.
The next thing we're supposed to think is that there's no way Sharon would cheat on Vince. Their marriage is too strong for that. But because she felt neglected by Vince, she let this handsome Irish guy develop a crush on her. And now he's come to shoot his shot, much to her chagrin.
The last thing we're supposed to think is that if Sharon wanted Vince to fight for her, she's about to get her wish, but maybe not the way she wanted.
Jason O'Mara (who's perhaps best known for The Man in the High Castle) was cast as a recurring actor, so Liam will be around for a bit. We can't wait to see how this triangle unfolds.
Fire Country airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. It's available to stream on Paramount+.
