The premiere of Sheriff Country, led by Morena Baccarin, has arrived, and the premiere of the Fire Country spinoff reveals potential – however the sequence has work to do if it needs to faucet into it. Baccarin performs interim sheriff Mickey Fox, an uptight and very by-the-book officer of the legislation; not like the hotheaded and rule-breaking Leone household, to whom Mickey is said by means of her step-sister, Sharon (Diane Farr), Mickey is buttoned up, with each “t” crossed and “i” dotted.
Sadly for Mickey, the individuals in her life check that self-control. Her daughter, Skye (Amanda Arcuri), is a recovering teen addict with a penchant for making dangerous choices. Her father, Wes (W. Earl Brown), is a former convict and pot grower. Her ex, Travis (Christopher Gorham), is testing her endurance.
And, as at all times, there appears to be extra crime than the tiny city of Edgewater can fairly maintain. Sheriff Nation‘s premiere is heavy on the “inform, do not present,” however sadly, what it is telling us is not precisely supported by what our eyes see, and if the premiere is any indication, that would be the potential weak point of the spinoff.
Sheriff Nation Struggles To Resolve Between Tying Itself To Hearth Nation Or Standing On Its Personal
Sheriff Nation is so clearly a present that desires to remind its viewers that it’s a spinoff of Hearth Nation, takes place in the same town of Edgewater as Fire Country, and is aware of all the identical characters as Hearth Nation. The issue, nonetheless, is that, apart from a clunky look by Max Thieriot as Bode Leone, there are completely no different connections to its predecessor.
As an alternative of Smokey’s, the enduring bar and grill of Hearth Nation, Sheriff Nation has an unnamed diner that’s model new to the universe. Whereas that diner is packed stuffed with Edgewater residents, none of them have ever appeared on Hearth Nation. Because the exhibits preserve telling us, Edgewater is a tiny city the place everybody is aware of everybody. The issue is that there isn’t any actual connective tissue to make us imagine it.
It is made extra awkward by one particular factor that Sheriff Nation does not join. Even though Mickey and her daughter, Skye, as Bode’s aunt and cousin, would completely know that Vince has died, he is not talked about even in passing within the episode. Nor does Skye mention him when she meets briefly with Bode. It is a evident omission, and one which hardly appears pure.
Sadly, apart from that look by Bode, which felt much less prefer it was vital to the general story and extra prefer it was simply there to remind us that, once more, this can be a spinoff of Hearth Nation, it is unlikely that we’ll get many extra ties between the 2 sequence. Hearth Nation and Sheriff Nation are filmed on reverse sides of Canada, making any common character or setting crossover extraordinarily unlikely.
Sheriff Nation might need been higher served if it hadn’t tried to set itself in the identical city as Hearth Nation and will have centered on standing wholly by itself. Because it stands, it should have a tough time justifying the dearth of overlap between two exhibits that supposedly exist in the identical few sq. miles.
Sheriff Nation Has Potential, However Is Dragged Down By Clunky Writing
The plot of the Sheriff Nation pilot is unusually each formulaic and rote, but additionally complicated. It is not absolutely clear why the criminals of the week–on this case, a seemingly loving couple who’re, nonetheless, abusing one in all their daughters by beating her and locking her in a closet. Their motivations aren’t absolutely defined, however the writers additionally make it clear it is not vital. As an alternative, the pilot treats the plot like an annoying obligation to examine off with a view to get to the compelled melodrama.
As for that melodrama, it is clunky. There’s a subplot involving one other deputy and Mickey’s companion, Boone (Matt Lauria), betraying her by placing his title within the ring to be the everlasting sheriff, a job he is aware of she’s gunning for. The risk does not final lengthy; by the top of the episode, it is clear the plot was solely there to offer Mickey a motive to offer a heartfelt speech to the city that wins the hearts and minds of everybody.
There’s extra betrayal. Because it seems, one other 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 job is Mickey’s, he fingers in his resignation letter, implying that he cannot work below her, although it is not clear why. Probably a former fling? He cannot see her as a frontrunner? Mickey ought to most likely spend much less time lobbying for sheriff and extra time determining why her deputies do not appear to respect her.
Nonetheless, there’s potential in Sheriff Nation. Morena Baccarin is a proficient veteran actor, and she will be able to definitely convey depth to the function as Mickey Fox is fleshed out. The writing, nonetheless, just isn’t doing her any favors. It wants to enhance with a quickness with a view to give her and the to this point two-dimensional supporting forged something actual to work with, or else sputter and die shortly out of the beginning gate.
New episodes of Sheriff Nation air Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
- Launch Date
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October 17, 2025
- Showrunner
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Matt Lopez
