Debbie Is ‘Feeling Hopeful’ After Going Home and Reflects on Her ‘Golden Bachelor’ Journey

It’s impossible for Mickey (Morena Baccarin) to not make it personal when it’s her daughter, Skye (Amanda Arcuri), mixed up in the middle of a murder investigation on 

Sheriff Country.

The premiere ended with Skye telling her mom and grandfather, Wes (W. Earl Brown), that she found her boyfriend, Brandon, dead. Brandon’s mother and brothers zero in on Skye being brought in. She’s a 

witness, Wes stresses. But it can’t be Mickey leading this investigation, so it falls on Boone (Matt Lauria), who had just given his two-weeks notice after losing out on being sheriff to Mickey. But Skye does have her parents, Mickey and Travis (Christopher Gorham), in her corner, even if they struggle to agree on things such as bringing in a lawyer recommended by his sister (Mickey ultimately agrees when the murder weapon is reported to be missing), as well as her aunt, Sharon (Fire Country‘s Diane Farr, crossing over).

Below, showrunner Matt Lopez breaks down the episode, teases the reveal of Mickey’s romance, and more.

When Mickey, Wes, and Skye get home, Mickey sees that car parked down the street.

Matt Lopez: One of the things we love about Sheriff Country — and Fire Country for that matter — is, unlike so many other shows on television, it’s set in this small town, a town where everyone knows everyone, so everyone knows Skye, but everyone knew Brandon, too. And we will lean into that idea that there are members of the town who very much feel like justice needs to be done for Brandon, and is the sheriff compromised? Is she up to the job? Does she have a blind spot when it comes to her own daughter? And so all of that delicious kind of suspense and danger comes into play really in Episode 3; that really sort of moves from the back burner to the front burner.

Speaking of that, because things aren’t looking great when it comes to the case, but Travis did call in that lawyer after Mickey agreed to let him. What is next with the case, and how are both Travis and Mickey handling that?

Yeah, it’s a great storyline. Travis and Mickey grew up together. In subsequent episodes, we’ll find out, they have a very long history that precedes their marriage. They essentially were from the same town, and Travis is from a very well-to-do family, and Mickey is from a very different kind of family. And so one of the things we’ll play around with and explore is, they divorced several years ago, but now suddenly Skye, their only child, is, as you say, at least a person of interest, she’s implicated in her boyfriend’s murder. And that will throw Travis and Mickey back to each other’s orbits in a way that they have not been since they were married. And when that happens, sparks can fly. And by the way, all kinds of sparks like, “Oh, I just remembered why I hate you and why I left,” but also maybe, “Oh, this is what was so great about you,” and we have a lot of fun playing that.

And then this is complicated by the addition of Cassidy (Michele Weaver) because we know what that relationship is now, but then it’s like what Cassidy and Mickey mean to each other and the way they’re going about figuring out this whole new dynamic with the three of them.

Very much so. The Cassidy and Mickey relationship is a very special one. As we’re told in the pilot, Cassidy’s entire origin story as a sheriff’s deputy is very tied up with Mickey, and we will explore that in subsequent episodes. And so you’re absolutely right, Mickey — and at the end of Episode 1, Mickey and Cassidy are kind of like, “OK, we are going to do this. We’re going to be adults about it. And you’re in a relationship with my ex-husband, and I can’t stop you, but we’re going to be adults about it.” And as we know, there’s one thing to say it, there’s another thing to… the proof is in the pudding, as they say. And so that’ll be an ongoing source of drama for sure.

I love the way that Sharon makes her entrance, but was it wrong of Wes to call Sharon as she’s dealing with her own pain, her grief? Or was it what everyone involved, including Sharon, needed?

I think very much the latter. And in fact, Sharon’s got that great moment where she tells Mickey, “Honestly, it’s kind of been nice not to deal with my own mess right now.” And what we’ll unpack in subsequent episodes in both shows really is that the Wes and Sharon relationship is a very special one. Mickey’s father married Sharon’s mother, but Mickey and Sharon were teenagers when that happened. They don’t share any blood. It was a second marriage for both of their parents. And in a way that I think often happens in step-families is that Sharon is able to give Wes a bit of grace — and we saw this in 

Fire Country in the third season — that Mickey cannot yet give him. She’s got a real soft spot for Wes, and Diane and Earl Brown, their onscreen chemistry is fantastic.Continue reading