There are a lot of new shows out there that bring family drama and forget about the other characters, but Sheriff Country has proven that doesn’t have to happen.
From the very first episode, the series was leading to Skye being arrested for murder, and after the ending of Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 3, it wasn’t surprising to open with that in the fourth episode.
While we got to see Mickey break some of the rules to get the real answers, we also got to learn a little more about Cassidy, Boone, and some of the other people of Edgewater, showing just how you can balance character development.
Of course, there was also the end of the murder investigation in Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 4, giving us a breather before we moved on to Mickey’s next case.
No Character Left Behind
I always fear that a TV series will focus too much on the main family’s drama, especially when it’s just getting established, and that was certainly a risk Sheriff Country took.
From Episode 1, we learned that Skye’s boyfriend, Brandon, had been murdered, and naturally, the suspicions fell on Skye.
Isn’t it always the partner?
That’s what it seems to be, but Skye was adamant she didn’t do it, and I appreciate Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 4 opening with a bit of a flashback to make it clear it definitely wasn’t Skye.
Up to this point, we hadn’t come to know Skye well enough to completely rule her out, and it didn’t really matter what others said about her because we didn’t know them well enough either, so we needed to know she was innocent.
With that, we could put the focus on who did it, so that while the DA railroaded the investigation, we could work with Mickey to put the pieces together.
Yes, the DEA guy — who was called Dawson for most of the episode, but is actually called Havock — helped out with the case, because he just couldn’t help saving a damsel in distress.
Actually, I think he just grew some feelings for Mickey in the year that they’ve been together, and we didn’t need a long, drawn-out story to understand that, because Wes Chatham did a brilliant job showing us everything through facial expressions.
This better not be the last time we see Dawson/Havock/DEA guy — what are we calling him?
Sheriff Country could have focused solely on this investigation, built up the relationship between Dawson and Mickey, or even just added to the tension between Travis and Mickey.
Instead, we got to see more of Cassidy, not just as Travis’s girlfriend.
We saw how she genuinely cares about people and how she wants to make a difference as a cop.
A lot of cop shows have that one character who wants to see change but doesn’t know how to bring it about, and then they end up falling into patterns that make them just another cop.
Cassidy made it clear that she couldn’t just sit by and let things happen, even if it meant she wouldn’t be able to get the job done.
To be honest, maybe the job needs to change a little, because Cassidy showed what community really means.
As she tried to find shelter for a man and his son who were being evicted, she realized there might be someone in town who would want them around, and sure enough, the widow who came to the station with baked goods was just the person who answered that call.
If it wasn’t for Cassidy, the people in this episode wouldn’t have found each other, despite living in such a small town where it seems everyone knows everyone’s business — and that’s real police work.
Travis and Mickey’s Marriage Explained
Finally, we also get a little more about Travis and Mickey, and about why they broke up.
There have been a lot of questions about the two of them since Fire Country, such as whether it was Skye’s drug problem that caused them to break up, or whether it was their jobs clashing with each other.
In the end, it was just that the two of them didn’t work.
While Mickey was happy to blame Travis for not being there when things needed doing, Travis pointed out that Mickey wasn’t willing to let people do things for her.
They’re still playing the blame game, and it’s clear that there is still something between them, but I don’t really want to see them together.
I’m not sure if the series is angling for that to happen eventually, but I’m glad to know more about their backstory and the feelings between them, as this helps with character growth.
I am here to ship Mickey and Dawson, though, since it seems she did take some of Travis’s words to heart by asking Dawson for help.
And while Mickey has her flaws, so does Travis, considering how angry he was toward Cassidy for Skye’s arrest.
It’s not like Cassidy had a real choice in the arrest — Boone was the one who made that call, along with the DA! — and Travis should have understood that, but he couldn’t see past the uniform, and it’s likely something that affected his marriage to Mickey as well.
I love that Cassidy had the guts to stand up to Travis and call him out for his actions, but as Wes said, “I give them two months.”
What I will say is that we need to get to know Travis a little more as a person, rather than as Mickey’s ex-husband or Skye’s dad, and then I’ll be able to decide if he has the ability to make some changes to make the relationship with Cassidy work.
Sure, Cassidy will have some flaws and will need to make compromises here and there, but she doesn’t have to be spoken to in the way that she was, and I’m glad to see a female character on a TV show not settle for anything less than she deserves.
Boone Can Go
Now, I know that Boone is likely to stick around past the next couple of episodes, even though at the end of Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 4, he got a call from the Oakland PD offering him a position as Chief Deputy.
However, I’m not sure I need him to stick around.
There are a few inconsistencies in his character: in one episode, he’s willing to break the rules to get a warrant, but a week later, he’s unwilling to continue the search for the real murderer.
His saving grace was pretending that Mickey hadn’t been in the station when she had been ordered to stay away, showing that maybe he could be a good guy.
My issue with him is that he will still only look at the evidence, and he’s so focused on being a “good cop” that he forgets what it really means to serve his community.
I will give him credit for praising Cassidy for her work in finding the dad and son a place to stay, but these small acts don’t make up for the bigger flaws in his personality, and I wouldn’t mind if he just went off to Oakland and never returned.
The Murder Case Solved
Just four episodes into the series, the big murder case has now been solved, and it was all thanks to Mickey and Dawson.
Seeing the two bounce a couple of ideas off each other makes me want to see Mickey do that with the deputies in the department more.
A lot of police work is teamwork, and I could do with seeing that in future cases.
There have been hints of that being possible in the past, such as Mickey and Boone bouncing off the theories about the husband and wife, so it’s not out of the show writers’ abilities to give us this.
As much as I love Wes, he went a little too rogue in this episode, but it was fun to see him just brandish the knife in the middle of the press conference.
We do need some humor in the show, and he’s certainly going to bring plenty of that, but he might want to watch himself with the DA ready to snatch him whenever he can.
Overall, I am glad the murder search arc is over, as now we can focus on the department as a whole and get to know the characters better.
Sheriff Country has done a wonderful job so far of giving us the family drama without sacrificing the supporting characters.
Sheriff Country airs on Fridays at 8/7c on CBS.
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