‘Sheriff Country’: Christopher Gorham Talks Travis’ Fate & Relationship With Mickey

Edgewater’s sheriff station is under siege when the Fire Country spinoff returns with its midseason premiere on Friday, February 27, and let’s just say that Mickey (Morena Baccarin) is the right person to try to establish and maintain order amidst all the chaos.

When Sheriff Country left off, Mickey, Boone (Matt Lauria), and Cassidy (Michele Weaver) were dealing with the fallout of the feds intervening and forcing them to hold Enoch Barlo (Michael Gaston) by arresting him for tax evasion (they couldn’t get him on the weapons stockpiled on his property). For the Edgewater police, however, it had only been a custody matter up to that point; Enoch wanted his grandson back, while the boy’s father wanted his kid away from the lawless ranch. Enoch’s daughter and the kid’s mom, Ruth (Jacqueline Emerson), led the attack on the station, and in the process, Mickey’s ex-husband, Travis (Christopher Gorham), was shot. Does he survive? TV Insider spoke with Christopher Gorham about his fate and more in “Crucible, Part 2.” Warning: Spoilers for Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 10 ahead!

The good news: Travis is going to live, but it’s touch and go for a while, to the point that Cassidy must make the hard call and let Enoch help, even though it means uncuffing him. While they’re hiding, Mickey and Boone lead the charge in fighting back, with the latter getting shot as well. Both men do survive, and it’s Mickey who ultimately deescalates the situation as she had been doing before the feds’ intervention in the fall finale. She’s the one who talks Enoch into getting his people to stand down, reminding him he says he’s a man of peace.

Before the siege, Mickey and Travis had seemed on the verge of getting back together; he let her know he was interested in more than just a one-time thing. And before the EMTs take him away, she kisses him, indicating that she’s on board.

Below, Christopher Gorham discusses Travis’ recovery, what’s ahead for him and Mickey, hopes for Fire Country crossovers, and more.

Did you always know that Travis was going to survive or was there a moment where you wondered?

Christopher Gorham: Well, the only moment that I was unsure was when Tony Phelan first sat me down while we were shooting the first episode and gave me a heads up that that’s what was coming. So I was only nervous for a moment, but he was very quick to tell me that Travis was going to make it through. But that’s not the only big life-changing fight that’s ahead of him.

Yeah, because now there’s the matter of his recovery. So, what can you say about what his recovery looks like? Because it’s not just physically, it’s also psychologically, too.

For sure. I would say that Travis gets very little time to rest before he’s thrust into an equally but different challenging fight.

So when the next episode picks up, has time passed?

Some time has passed, yeah. He’s still recovering physically and certainly emotionally.

Before everything, Travis did tell Mickey he was ready to fight for her at that point. What made him so certain that they can work now?

Oh, it was really interesting. I think he has some regrets. I think the fact that he was the one that left that relationship at the end of the day, I mean, it was complicated, like divorces are. But when you boil it down to its essence, he’s the one that left. And I think her bringing him back in, literally and figuratively, triggered something for him and I do think reminded him of some of the reasons why he loves her so much anyway. And I think one of the favorite things that — he’s always loved them to together as a family unit. And so I think the idea that, hey, let’s take another shot at this because I think it was genuine. I think he genuinely felt like this could work if they were ready to put in the kind of work that would be necessary. So yeah, I think it was unexpected. I don’t think before that day he was thinking that could be a possibility, but Mickey’s a tough nut to crack and she just opened herself wide open out of nowhere to him, and at the end of the day, he still loves her. So yeah, I think he wanted to make a genuine effort to make it work.

And I think he probably would’ve brought it up if he hadn’t before and then seen how impressive she was throughout the entire situation at the sheriff’s station.

Yeah, exactly. What goes down in Episode 10 is a lot and shows a lot of what he loves about her, that she’s very skilled and she’s very capable and she’s brave and she’s strong and he loves all those things about her.

At the end of the midseason premiere, as he’s taken off by the EMTs, Mickey kisses him. But this is also all in the heat of the moment, and it feels like they need to have a conversation about what this really means for them going forward.

Yes, I would say it’s a really good point. I don’t know what Mickey’s answer would’ve been to what Travis is proposing without what happened and without that siege. I don’t know if she would’ve made the same choice. I think she might have. But I think having gone through what they went through that night, which is hugely traumatic, it’s a perfectly understandable reaction to embrace a safe space. And I think Travis is that for her.

What are we going to see from them as they’re navigating what this means for them? There is all the history, there is Skye (Amanda Arcuri) to consider as well.

Yeah, absolutely. You’re going to immediately see what happens in the next episode. I think the events of the siege have affected both of them deeply, physically and emotionally. I think that has an immediate effect on what happens next in their relationship for both of them, and we get to see it. There’s some really great stuff coming up in the next episode.

What can you say about any family scenes that we’re going to see? Because this family has been through a lot in just half a season.

It’s like immediately there’s a big emotional consequence that comes very, just really quickly in the next episode. We’re going to see how all of this has affected them and changed them and maybe changed people’s priorities.

So given what happened during the siege, being shot and everything, at any point did Travis regret any of his actions leading up to that? Whether it was stopping in to talk to Mickey, because if he had left, he could have been out of there before the siege happened, or even trying to talk to Ruth like he did, which then led to him being shot.

Yeah, we’re going to explore a little bit of his feelings about what happened that night in the next episode. I think part of what I can talk about is in a very crass way, he was kind of asking for it. He’s like, “No, no deputy, let me handle this as the man here in this room,” and immediately pays the price for just like, what is he doing? What is he doing? So I kind of enjoy that he immediately gets shot for putting himself in a place he does not belong. So does he regret going to see Mickey? No. I think does he regret not listening to Cassidy? Yes. But then he spends the rest of the episode literally fighting for his life and there’s so much on the line and I think he does have a moment where his life flashes before his eyes and he has thoughts about it, and there was the very quick discussion that he has with Mickey about, we have to make it through this because Skye needs us. And that was very real.

Cassidy calling out Travis on him and Mickey and then pointing out they dated for a few months and she broke up with him was great. I love the stuff that we got with Travis and Cassidy in this episode, and those moments in this episode show that they can actually be friends. There might be a little bit of awkwardness, but it does feel like these are two people who can go back to being friends.

I think so. I really love how they brought them back together and kind of dealt with it in what felt kind of like a grownup way. Cassidy, I think, is my favorite character on this show because of the arc that she’s gone on in this season because I think Cassidy and Travis getting into a relationship was not a mature, healthy, emotional decision for the two of them. I think the way that she ended that relationship was very much a mature, healthy grownup decision. And so seeing her evolve and really come of age in this job, and I just love her storyline, so I’m glad that they’re keeping Travis in that circle in a way that’s healthy and feels real. It’s like, you know what? We can admit that that was a mistake. That wasn’t going to work, and we’re both grownups and let’s figure out how to reset this because I think they both care about people. I think they both care about Mickey. And so I was really happy with that.

And he needed her to be the one to end, it really felt like for that relationship.

Yeah, he did. Well, I feel like they both got into the relationship subconsciously to feel closer to Mickey, and that’s no way to be in a relationship with someone. That’s just not going to work.

Cassidy also says she was always going to be in the middle of what Travis and Mickey had and asks if he really never saw that. He says he doesn’t know. Was it that he didn’t expect that he and Mickey would ever be able to make it work? Was he in denial about how much he had moved on?

Mickey and Travis had a conversation where they talked a bit about in this last episode about why they broke up. And Travis needed more from Mickey than Mickey was able to give at the time and was really trying. Mickey said, “I said I’d go to therapy,” and Travis is like, “Right, you did. But that was after I’d already left. I was trying to get you to go for two years. For two years. I was begging you to meet me halfway here.” And she wouldn’t or couldn’t. And so he did what he thought he had to do at the time, which was leave. But I mean, these are two people, they’ve been together since high school, they’ve grown up together and they were in love, and they have raised this amazing kid. And so the ties that bind them together are strong. And I’ve said many times, I think regardless of their relationship status, I think these are two people who are tied together. Whether that means they’re going to end up romantically together or not, I don’t know.

Cassidy trusts Enoch to help Travis when he can’t breathe and it works. Would Travis have made the same call if he’d been the one who had to make it with someone else’s life on the line?

Oh, I would like to think so. Yeah, I would like to think so. And it’s interesting because Travis has different hangups. I think those on the law enforcement side, I think, would have a harder time trusting somebody who’s in custody. But he’s a defense attorney. He’s always standing on the other side of the bench from the police department. And so I think it might have been an easier decision for him than it was for Cassidy.

Speaking of that, what are you going to see from when it comes to his work coming up?

More, I hope. Well, he has a really big case coming up that we’re going to have discussions about very soon. And I think what happens with that is going to send big Ripples through his relationship. I’m excited for you guys to see it.

I want to see more scenes of Travis with Boone and Wes (W. Earl Brown), I have to say. Are there any of those coming?

Later, yeah, later. And I agree with you. I’ve got all kinds of ideas for Travis and Boone stuff because I would love to develop a rivalry with those guys, but a rivalry that exists outside of Mickey’s affection. And I think it’s ripe for it because Travis is great, but Travis grew up in this town. Everybody knows Travis and Boone’s the new guy, so there’s some conflict potentially there. Boone is a cop. He’s like a big city cop, and Travis is the small-town defense attorney. So there’s potential conflict, professional conflict there. So yeah, we’ll see down the road. And then I think he has a natural connection with Wes as well because they’ve known each other for a long time. And so it’s really fun seeing those guys together.

Are we going to see you in the crossover? Because I, for one, need to see Travis and Sharon (Diane Farr) crossing paths now that he and Mickey are trying again.

Right? Yes, I know! We’ll see. I don’t want to give anything away, but I keep telling everyone, when is Bode [Max Thieriot] going to talk about his Uncle Travis?

There’s also that. Sharon’s reaction when she learned about Travis and Cassidy at the beginning of the season was so funny.

It was so good. And Diane improvised a bunch of that stuff, like her banging into the desk and then her like, I’m going to go kill your ex-husband. That was all Diane Farr. She’s brilliant.

So now to see what their relationship is would be great.

Yes, I agree, 100%.

Sheriff Country, Fridays, 8/7c, CBS