SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Sheriff Country Season 1, Episode 5.

Sheriff Country Season 1, Episode 5 is a sneaky smart way of introducing plenty of information that CBS viewers need in order to get to know the characters and their arcs better. It also happens to have some of the best action in the show to date and another Fire Country cameo. But “Expecting Trouble” is, at its core, about the problems between ex-partners Mickey Fox and Nathan Boone.

The series put itself into a corner at the end of the Sheriff Country premiere, when Boone turned in his resignation letter. With Matt Lauria being a series regular—and also being too good of an actor to jettison so early—the writers have to come up with a reason to keep Boone in or around Edgewater. They sort of do that in “Expecting Trouble.” Boone still takes the other job in Alameda County, but the relationship he has with his ex-partner Mickey grows by leaps and bounds.

The script utilizes its main guest character, witness Valerie “Val” Fulton (perfectly played by actor Emma Sofia), as a pick between Mickey and Boone. Val literally acts as the voice of the audience, asking pointed questions about their relationship, their history and what they really think of each other. This could easily turn into a heavy-handed road trip movie, but Sheriff Country allows the dialogue between Mickey and Boone to breathe enough that it digs beyond surface-level arguments. The balance between those moments and the case is pretty solid, too; they’re never bickering amongst themselves when they should be paying attention to their witness.

The end result is that Mickey and Boone are able to resolve the issues that have existed since the pilot; he apologizes to her, and she realizes how much she needs him (and Wes and Skye, too). They come to these conclusions in a reasonable way. Audiences also learn a little bit more about each of them, like the fact that Boone has checked in on the kids from the pilot episode. That one line, seemingly a throwaway, says a lot about his character and reinforces the series’ underlying idea of focus on the community. The only aspect that rings hollow is the final scene: Boone introduces Mickey to his wife Nora, played by The Americans star Susan Misner. Considering that Mickey and Boone were partners for two years prior to the events of Sheriff Country, how has Mickey never heard of Nora at all?

“Expecting Trouble” also shows viewers how Cassidy Campbell is going to be developed beyond her dating Mickey’s ex-husband. Left in charge of the sheriff’s office when Mickey and Boone leave, Cassidy winds up dealing with a bathroom fire—which was set by a woman attempting to get away from her abusive husband. Sheriff Country fans are already aware of Cassidy’s tragic past, but this is putting it front and center. Michele Weaver likewise gives a great performance. There have been numerous references already to how Mickey’s history helps her to be a better sheriff, but she’s not the only one. Here viewers are seeing how Cassidy’s history also makes her unique.

This story does include a quick cameo by Kevin Alejandro as his Fire Country character Manny, which was no doubt easy to pull off since Alejandro has already directed two episodes of Sheriff Country. Manny deals with the fire and then gives Cassidy a pep talk. It’s fun to see him, but this is the third Fire Country cameo in five episodes; the writers have to be careful not to overload the spinoff with guest appearances, or to just do them for the sake of having them. Sheriff Country has to be able to stand on its own, and it certainly has enough to offer to be great on its own.

That’s particularly reinforced with the third plot between Wes and Skye. These are the two sort of tertiary characters in the show, as they’re not part of the Sheriff’s Office where all the action is, and in this case they spend the whole episode at home. Family characters on many TV shows struggle to add anything to the plot; most of their development comes either in relation to the main character they’re connected to, or when they inevitably get in trouble (as Skye has already done). But Sheriff Country makes their asides matter. It explores, albeit briefly, what Skye is supposed to do after being arrested for murder. It proves, to Mickey and to fans, Wes’s relevance to the series beyond being comic relief.

“Expecting Trouble” has some exciting stunts and a relatively fast-paced main story about witness protection. But its true value is how much it develops all of Sheriff Country‘s main characters between all that. This episode has set the table for the whole rest of the season character-wise. Now the only hurdle is how the creative team is going to resolve the drama of Boone’s surprise wife, because when Chicago PD tried that idea, it went very badly. Here’s hoping Boone’s future gets clearer relatively quickly.

Sheriff Country airs Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.