Fire Country spinoff Sheriff Country is coming to CBS this fall. !nd Fire Country Season 3, Episode 16, “Dirty Money,” gave fans a preview of what to expect — and it looks like it’s going to be fun!
The episode swaps out Fire Country’s firefighter thrills for cop action, while the family drama comes from the complicated relationship between Sheriff Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin) and her outlaw father Wes (W. Earl Brown), an affable outlaw who runs an illegal marijuana-growing operation. The episode, written by Fire Country and Sheriff Country co-creators Joan Rater and Tony Phelan, introduces Wes, lets us get to know Mickey better, and handles some important Fire Country business, too.
Here’s our spoiler-filled recap of what happened in the Sheriff Country backdoor pilot on Fire Country tonight.
Mickey is Sharon Leone’s (Diane Farr) ex-stepsister. Sharon’s mom was married to Wes when the girls were teenagers. Mickey and Sharon lost touch over the years, but they’re still sisters, and they’re making an effort to reconnect. That’s why Mickey is at Sharon’s house when Ozzie, Wes’ right-hand man, shows up and tells Sharon that Wes wants to see her. The actual location of Wes’ mountainside compound is a secret, so they have to ride up in the back of a van. Once they get there, Wes tries to give Sharon $50k to help with her father-in-law’s medical care and to say sorry for not maintaining a relationship with her. Of course, she does not accept the money.
Wes’ money and how he earns it is a big source of conflict between Mickey and Wes. The sheriff is not comfortable looking the other way when it comes to her father’s business, but she does it because she doesn’t want him to go to jail. She can’t look the other way, though, with him influencing her daughter Sky, who’s back in rehab after a relapse. Wes has a tendency to badmouth Mickey to Sky and make her out to be the bad guy, which Mickey, of course, does not appreciate. She doesn’t want Sky to follow Wes’ path. Wes does want Sky to follow his path, and even plans to change his will to leave his land to Sky someday. (Sky has not been cast yet, but she will surely be an important part of Sheriff Country.)
Bode’s shady friend
Bode, meanwhile, has been earning some extra cash clearing brush on Wes’ property, in violation of his parole, which forbids him from associating with criminals. As his parole officer makes very clear, “You keep working for Wes Fox, you’re going back to prison.”
Bode tells Wes that he can’t work for him anymore, and tries to give back the cash Wes paid him. “You think that’s dirty money?” Wes says. Wes makes the case that he pays his employees fairly and treats them well, much better than most legit businesses do. Then, he opens his toolbox, and a rattlesnake springs out and bites him. There was no warning because someone cut the snake’s rattle off.
“I think someone was trying to kill you, Wes,” Bode says.
Related: Everything to Know About Fire Country Season 3
Aunt and nephew detectives
Someone took the antivenom from the first aid kid, so Bode rushes Wes to the firehouse, because Wes doesn’t want to go to the hospital and have to explain anything to the authorities. Unfortunately for him, Mickey already knows what happened, and shows up at the firehouse demanding answers. He tells her he thinks Mojave Sutton (Nick Gomez), a rival grower who appeared way back in the third-ever episode of Fire Country, was behind it.
Mickey and Bode meet with Mojave, who doesn’t like Wes but has nothing to do with trying to kill him. While that matter is settled, it seems like Mojave and Wes’ rivalry seems like it could be something that plays out on Sheriff Country. Mickey realizes that Wes tricked her, getting her to waste her time with Mojave while he found the real killer himself.
Before they go up to Wes’ compound, Bode advises Mickey that she shouldn’t be so hard on Wes. He was in Sky’s shoes not that long ago, and knows how important family support is in staying clean. He regrets missing out on time with his own grandfather when he was locked up. And besides, Wes really isn’t a bad guy. Mickey is a little defensive, but she hears him. And even though she doesn’t want to involve Bode in her detective work, she doesn’t actually know where Wes’ house is, and he does, so he needs to ride with her.
When they arrive, they see Wes and Ozzie fighting. It turns out that Wes had previously promised Ozzie that he would inherit his land. So when Ozzie heard Wes say he was leaving it to his granddaughter, he tried to kill Wes before he could change his will. Ozzie blows up the growhouse with Wes inside of it and takes off into the woods on an ATV. Later, Mickey and Jake (Jordan Calloway) chase down Ozzie and arrest him.
Sheriff Country’s conflict
Bode and Mickey save Wes as the fire spreads to the woods, and the firefighters arrive. Wes tells Mickey that he lied to her because he just wanted to talk to Ozzie and try to sort it out himself without getting the law involved. Mickey sees that Wes really isn’t a bad guy. Even though he breaks the law, he is kind and well-meaning. They may be on opposite sides of the law, but they do care about each other. They may not be the family they chose, but they’re the family they’ve got.
But that doesn’t mean everything’s good. Sharon comes home and finds Mickey on her couch, crying, because she went to visit Wes in the hospital and told him that if he wants to have a relationship with her, he’ll have to go legit. And he said no.
The emotional story of Sheriff Country appears to be taking shape. Mickey will have to learn to be less rigid and judgemental, while Wes will have to learn how to respect his daughter and meet her halfway.
Three Rock saved
In the other half of the episode, there are major developments in the coverup storyline, where a chemical company called Oxalta accidentally poisoned Three Rock’s water supply and is trying to avoid taking responsibility for it, even after Burch died and Manny (Kevin Alejandro) got very sick.
Three Rock is currently closed, with all the residents shipped out except Manny, who is sticking around for a meeting with Oxalta’s lawyers, and will then be sent back to prison. Violet (Nesta Cooper), Jake’s new girlfriend, just started working as an attorney for Oxalta, and comes to the meeting where Sharon and Oxalta’s lead attorney negotiate terms of a settlement. Oxalta will make a “charitable donation” to Three Rock and not admit any wrongdoing. Violet lets slip that there’s a crack in Three Rock’s well — something Eve (Jules Latimer) revealed herself while she was hanging out with Jake and Violet. That puts the whole deal in jeopardy, as Oxalta could claim that the contamination was due to Three Rock’s negligence.
Eve already didn’t like Violet, and now she’s really mad. But Violet is sorry. She really likes Jake, and isn’t even sure if she wants this job anymore, now that she sees what it really is. She “accidentally-on-purpose” leaves her phone on the table so Eve can read the attorneys’ report and get an edge in the negotiation.
And Sharon crushes the negotiation. She reveals that they knew about the crack in the well 11 months ago, and didn’t have to fix it because the water wasn’t contaminated. It only got contaminated after Oxalta came to town. In the end, she gets Oxalta to pay for the cleanup and negotiates parole for Manny, as long as he signs an NDA and promises to not sue Oxalta.
To most, this would be a happy ending, but Bode is angry at Sharon for letting Oxalta get away with it. They’ll just move on and poison some other town, and he wants to fight them. He’s disgusted that Manny had his voice taken away. He accuses her of taking money that’s much dirtier than any money he earned from Wes. Wes didn’t kill anyone. This story is not over.
Overall, while there was a lot of stuff in the episode that didn’t totally make sense — what does Manny getting parole have to do with a legal case between the fire department and a chemical company? — “Dirty Money” was an entertaining episode that builds anticipation for whenever Sheriff Country arrives on our screens in full.
