Sheriff Country Trailer Sets Up A Murder Mystery — Plus, 5 Things To Know About The CBS Spinoff
Sheriff Country has its own fires to put out in Edgewater.
CBS released a trailer on Wednesday for the Fire Country spinoff, which premieres Friday, Oct. 17 at 9/8c. (Episode 2 will then air in its regular time slot, Friday, Oct. 24 at 8 pm.) The footage sees Sheriff Mickey Fox (played by Homeland's Morena Baccarin) juggling her law enforcement duties with the challenges of mothering her daughter Skye (Degrassi: The Next Generation's Amanda Arcuri). Plus, she's got her ex-con father Wes (Deadwood's W. Earl Brown), who is an off-the-grid marijuana grower, in the mix. (Watch below.)
WHODUNNIT? | The trailer has set up what will be a continuous story throughout the season: the murder of Skye's new boyfriend. (Yes, in case you missed it, that is him lying in a pool of blood toward the end of the clip.) The series will still follow a case-of-the-week format alongside the ongoing mystery, which begins to unfold at the end of the premiere and continues with Skye's perspective in the next few episodes. To find out how that mystery ends, you'll have to wait until the finale. TVLine recently spoke to creators/executive producers Tony Phelan and Joan Rater, and Phelan shared that the Sheriff Country writers had just pitched the Season 1 ending that will solve the murder, and it left them "dead on the ground. We were screaming. We couldn't believe how great it was."
THE CAST | In addition to Baccarin, the Sheriff Country cast includes Matt Lauria (CSI: Vegas) as Nathan Boone, a smart and capable chief deputy/Mickey's right-hand man; Christopher Gorham (Covert Affairs) as Travis Fraley, Mickey's lawyer ex-husband and Skye's father; and Michele Weaver (Love Is___) as Cassidy Campbell, a deputy who was inspired by Mickey to become a sheriff. Along with Arcuri, the recurring cast features Caroline Rhea (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) as Gina, Sheriff Fox's deadpan and efficient assistant and the face of the Edgewater County Sheriff's Office.
EXPANDING EDGEWATER | Fire Country's Bode (Max Thierot) will appear in the Season 1 premiere, while Rater revealed that Sharon (Diane Farr) will be "in an episode or two." The EPs also teased that they're "making every effort" to produce a two-hour crossover event where the two series converge for one story. And remember, Sheriff Country and Fire Country now exist in the same town. Per Phelan, that means that people, places and events will be referenced in both shows. "If we do our jobs right, Edgewater will increasingly feel more and more like a major character in both shows," he added.
MIXING BUSINESS AND PLEASURE | Though Mickey's focus is on enforcing the law, she still has time for extracurriculars. "She often talks about having a firewall between her personal life and her job," Phelan said. "And I think one of the interesting things about the character is seeing those moments when the wall begins to crack a little bit." And crack it did in that trailer! We see her have a steamy shower makeout session with a man who may have looked a bit like her partner, Nathan Boone. But was it? "I would not jump to that assumption," Phelan warned, adding another layer of mystery to the crime drama.
DEVIL IN A SMALL TOWN | It's hard not to notice Maren Morris' new song "Beat the Devil" in the trailer. Its lyrics allude to some kind of battle with the devil, explicitly stating "ain't no holy in the water" and "there's going to be a reckoning." How might this relate to the story of the show? We know Edgewater is facing a fundamental economic and cultural change, now that marijuana has been legalized. Per Phelan, the town "has gotten more dangerous, more violent [and] cartels have moved in, as well as Big Pharma." So who — or what — exactly is the devil that needs to be beat in this small town? "I think that the devil is not who you think it's gonna be," Rater teased.
Will you be heading to Sheriff Country this fall? Hit the comments with your thoughts!