Major Twist Revealed: How the New ‘Fire Country’ Spinoff Will Stand Out

Sheriff Country is set in the same town as the CBS hit series, Fire Country. The spin-off centers on Sheriff Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin), Edgewater’s “straight shooting” sheriff. “It is very much a salute to small towns. One of the things we talk about is, I live in Los Angeles, and if I call the police and they come to my house, they don’t know me, and I don’t know them. It’s a very transactional sort of exchange,” showrunner Matt Lopez said in an interview, explaining how the new show continues the legacy of its predecessor. “So what is it like to police a community in which you know everyone and everyone knows you? In part, that’s Mickey’s superpower. But we’ll also see that it can be a little bit of a blind spot for her,” he added. However, Fire Country and Sheriff Country reveal different aspects of the town, and viewers will encounter another side of Edgewater that they’ve never seen before. Lopez explained, saying,

“I don’t discount the focus on community, but starting in Episode 2, one of the things we will do in Sheriff Country is show viewers some of the darker corners of Edgewater that [viewers] may not have seen before on Fire Country. It is a crime show, it is a police drama. In Fire Country, the enemy or the adversary, if you will, is the elements, right? It’s fire. It’s fire and nature in many ways. Here, it is human beings. And as soon as you enter that into the equation, it takes you to some very interesting places.”

‘Fire Country’ and ‘Sheriff Country’ Will Stage Crossovers

Viewers of the mothership have seen Mickey in the show, but with the spin-off launching this fall, fans should expect crossovers of different natures throughout the season. In fact, the Sheriff Country premiere features a cameo by Fire Country‘s Max Thieriot. Even though the shows don’t film in the same place, with Fire Country filming in Vancouver and Sheriff Country in Toronto, Lopez promises “some really fun crosses coming up.” The pilot episode features several cases as Mickey helps a young child who is a victim of child abuse. Elsewhere, she tries to de-escalate a situation between two brothers who have just buried their mother. And in her own life, she’s dealing with a strained relationship with her daughter and ex-husband.

Watch CBS on Fridays beginning this October to catch the new seasons of Fire Country and Sheriff Country. The latter premieres on Friday, October 17, at 9:00 p.m. ET, before moving to its regular time of 8:00 p.m. on Fridays, beginning October 24. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.