The premiere of Country Sheriffled by Morena Baccarin, has arrived, and the premiere of the Fire Country spinoff reveals potential – but the series has work to do if it wants to tap into it. Baccarin plays interim sheriff Mickey Fox, an uptight and extremely by-the-book officer of the law; unlike the hotheaded and rule-breaking Leone family, to whom Mickey is related through her step-sister, Sharon (Diane Farr), Mickey is buttoned up, with every “t” crossed and “i” dotted.
Unfortunately for Mickey, the people in her life test that self-control. Her daughter, Skye (Amanda Arcuri), is a recovering teen addict with a penchant for making bad decisions. Her father, Wes (W. Earl Brown), is a former convict and pot grower. Her ex, Travis (Christopher Gorham), is testing her patience.
And, as always, there seems to be more crime than the tiny town of Edgewater can reasonably hold. Country Sheriff‘s premiere is heavy on the “tell, don’t show,” but unfortunately, what it’s telling us isn’t exactly supported by what our eyes see, and if the premiere is any indication, that will be the potential weakness of the spinoff.
Sheriff Country Struggles To Decide Between Tying Itself To Fire Country Or Standing On Its Own
Country Sheriff is so clearly a show that wants to remind its audience that it is a spinoff of Fire Countrytakes place in the same town of Edgewater as Fire Countryand knows all the same characters as Fire Country. The problem, however, is that, aside from a clunky appearance by Max Thieriot as Bode Leone, there are absolutely no other connections to its predecessor.
Instead of Smokey’s, the iconic bar and grill of Fire Country, Country Sheriff has an unnamed diner that is brand new to the universe. While that diner is packed full of Edgewater residents, none of them have ever appeared on Fire Country. As the shows keep telling us, Edgewater is a tiny town where everyone knows everyone. The problem is that there is no real connective tissue to make us believe it.
It’s made more awkward by one specific thing that Country Sheriff doesn’t connect. Despite the fact that Mickey and her daughter, Skye, as well as Bode’s aunt and cousin, would absolutely know that Vince has died, he is not mentioned even in passing in the episode. Nor does Skye mention him when she meets briefly with Bode. It’s a glaring omission, and one that hardly seems natural.
Sadly, aside from that appearance by Bode, which felt less like it was important to the overall story and more like it was just there to remind us that, again, this is a spinoff of Fire Countryit’s unlikely that we’ll get many more ties between the two series. Fire Country and Country Sheriff are filmed on opposite sides of Canada, making any regular character or setting crossover extremely unlikely.
Country Sheriff might have been better served if it hadn’t tried to set itself in the same town as Fire Country and could have focused on standing entirely on its own. As it stands, it will have a hard time justifying the lack of overlap between two shows that supposedly exist in the same few square miles.
Sheriff Country Has Potential, But Is Dragged Down By Clunky Writing
The plot of the Country Sheriff pilot is strangely both formulaic and rote, yet also confusing. It’s not fully clear why the criminals of the week–in this case, a seemingly loving couple who are, nevertheless, abusing one of their daughters by beating her and locking her in a closet. Their motivations aren’t fully explained, but the writers also make it clear it’s not important. Instead, the pilot treats the plot like an annoying obligation to check off in order to get to the forced melodrama.
Nor for that melodrama, it’s clunky. There is a subplot involving another deputy and Mickey’s partner, Boone (Matt Lauria), betraying her by putting his name in the ring to be the permanent sheriff, a role he knows she’s gunning for. The threat doesn’t last long; by the end of the episode, it’s clear the plot was only there to give Mickey a reason to give a heartfelt speech to the town that wins the hearts and minds of everyone.
There’s more betrayal. As it turns out, another deputy and Mickey’s protégé, Cassidy (Michele Weaver), is sleeping with Mickey’s ex-husband and has been hiding it from Mickey. And even after Boone concedes the sheriff’s job is Mickey’s, he hands in his resignation letter, implying that he can’t work under her, although it’s not clear why. Possibly a former fling? He can’t see her as a leader? Mickey should probably spend less time lobbying for sheriff and more time figuring out why her deputies don’t seem to respect her.
Still, there is potential in Country Sheriff. Morena Baccarin is a talented veteran actor, and she can certainly bring depth to the role as Mickey Fox is fleshed out. The writing, however, is not doing her any favors. It needs to improve with a quickness in order to give her and the thus far two-dimensional supporting cast anything real to work with, or else sputter and die shortly out of the starting gate.
New episodes of Country Sheriff air Fridays at 8 pm ET/PT on CBS.
- Release Date
- October 17, 2025
- Showrunner
- Matt Lopez
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