‘Sheriff Country’ Boss Reveals How Vince’s Death Will Be Felt on ‘Fire’ Spinoff

Vince’s (Billy Burke) death will be greatly felt in the larger Fire Country world. That, of course, includes the upcoming spinoff, Sheriff Country, centered on his sister-in-law, Mickey (Morena Baccarin). Both series premiere on Friday, October 17, swapping time slots. (Fire Country moves back to its usual 9/8c slot the following week.)

“There will be crossovers going in both directions, with us sending characters to Fire Country, Fire Country sending characters to Sheriff Country, and it’s in some of those episodes that you’ll really be feeling [that loss with] those especially who knew Vince, so, Mickey, her dad [W. Earl Brown],” Sheriff Country showrunner Matt Lopez tells TV Insider.

The Fire Country Season 3 finale ended with Mickey’s sister Sharon (Diane Farr), Sharon’s husband Vince, and Vince’s father Walter (Jeff Fahey) in a building as it collapsed due to a fire that was consuming much of Edgewater. The Season 4 trailer revealed that Vince dies.

“We felt like coming into Season 4, we have a show about wildland firefighters, and we have the same cast that we had from the beginning. And to be truthful to the work that these people do, which is always our desire, we felt like it was time for the show and the characters to have a loss,” executive producer Tony Phelan told us. “We felt like the thing that was really going to shake up the show and shake up our characters in the best way possible and force them to really reassess where they were and what they were doing was this kind of loss. And so at the same time, we want to be very respectful of the character of Vince, of how important he is to the show, and how important Billy was as a presence on the show. So, the loss of Vince is going to echo through the entire season, and we are going to see our younger firefighters really have to begin to grapple with growing up and what is the next step for them.”

Related

'Sheriff Country' Bosses Preview Mickey's Romance, 'Fire Country' Crossovers & More

Added executive producer Joan Rater, “The reveal in the trailer was we care about our fans, and to play Vince’s death as a gimmick or a [gasp moment] didn’t feel right. It felt awful actually. So it’s like, prepare the fans and really get into Vince’s death early on and how is this going to impact us?”

What are you hoping to see from the Leone family across the two shows? Let us know in the comments section below.

Sheriff Country, Series Premiere, Friday, October 17, 9/8c, CBS