‘Fire’ & ‘Sheriff Country’s Max Thieriot & Matt Lauria Preview Crossover Danger

Bode Leone and Nathan Boone are the duo we didn’t know we — and Edgewater — need. Max Thieriot and Matt Lauria are fun together, both in and promoting the Sheriff Country and Fire Country crossover on Friday, April 3.

The action kicks off on the spinoff, with “The Finest,” in which nine students go missing after a mysterious school bus explosion. Stepsisters Sheriff Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin) and Cal Fire Division Chief Sharon Leone (Diane Farr) must put aside their personal conflict to work the case. Then, it concludes with “The Bravest,” which sees Bode and Boone risking it all to save lives.

Below, Max Thieriot (who’s also a co-creator and executive producer on both series) and Matt Lauria preview the crossover.

Max, we’ve been seeing smaller crossovers throughout the seasons leading up to this big one. So what can you share about the discussions about what you wanted to do with this big two show event?

Max Thieriot: I think one of the big things is just get to feel these two departments in this town, these two units work together on something was a big task and something that we put our heads together to try and figure out what felt like the right incident. But the other thing was really making it feel like one big seamless episode where we really embedded ourselves in Edgewater. So really getting to live in the world and feel these two shows existing in the same town, I think, was big. And I think considering we also filmed the episodes some in Toronto, some in Vancouver, I think we were able to accomplish that really well.

Sergei Bachlakov/CBS

Bode and Boone together, that’s just fun. How would each of you describe their dynamic, and then describe each other’s character from your character’s perspective?

Matt Lauria: Contentious, I think initially. I think that protocol and procedure are sort of elementary values for Boone. And Bode, the first part of the story, in Boone’s estimation is rushing in and is not thinking things through and not going through the protocol and the procedure. And in Boone’s world, that is very dangerous because I’ve had people break the rules and get really hurt or die. And so I could not be more a fish out of water in his presence or more uncomfortable with his choices.

Lauria: Yeah, I think the dudes are so … It’s the old classic opposites attract. I think they couldn’t be more different. And so to get to see the two of them and their approach, I think that Bode honestly feels the same about Boone. It’s like, sometimes, you got to just go for it. “What are we standing here waiting around for? It’s time to shoot. Come on.” And so I think we get to see them really that fraught male relationship in the beginning, and then you watch these two guys come together. It’s really a classic stepbrothers moment, I think. In the beginning, I’m going to fill a pillowcase full of bars of soap and you know what out of him. And then by the end, we’re best friends.

What can you tease about which characters end up in the most danger during these two hours, and how?

Thieriot: I kind of think every character is in danger in some way at some point in the episode. Clearly, Boone and Bode find themselves in a pretty awfully precarious situation where they might be in danger the longest and in a dangerous setting and situation for a lot of different reasons.

Lauria: And then over the span of the Episode 2, it’s a longer form of storytelling of these two episodes in a row. And so I feel like they just keep up in the ante. The danger just keeps increasing and then this happens and then this, but then that. And so like Max said, everyone ends up in really, really dangerous, really unpredictable, perilous situations.

Then there’s also some tension between Sharon and Mickey in this episode. It seems like it might always be a bit of that two steps forward, one step back with the sisters. What can you say about the cause of that this time?

Lauria: Sharon’s fault.

Thieriot: I think when family’s involved, there’s just that added tension and things can get emotional. I think that it’s hard to set that aside and put away your emotions and feelings over what’s unfolding with somebody that you love and purely do the job. And so I think they kind of have to check each other a few times because they’re each sort of dealing with that in their own way in the episode.

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Lauria: I mean, really, it’s just the Leones. You know what I mean? It’s the Leones. I think the root of the problem, it always goes back to … You know what I mean? It’s not Mickey and Boone.

Thieriot: Look, we’re like the original Edgewater cowboys. We do things our own way. This is a Wild West out here.

Lauria: Totally.

There have been some moments where it feels like something could happen between Mickey and Boone, especially as of late, as both their relationships have fallen apart. So Matt, what can you say about the possibility of that? And Max, how would Bode feel about Boone with his aunt?

Lauria: Oh, snap. I hadn’t thought about that. Woof. Sorry, Max. Sorry, buddy.

Thieriot: We can sidebar after this, Meredith, if you want to. [Both laugh]

Lauria: Gosh, what can we say about that? Look, I think here’s the thing. Here’s what I’ll say. There is a level of trust and intimacy that is a really unique dynamic that develops between two partners in law enforcement who are riding around in a car together for two years and your life is in their hands and you know this is the person who’s going to have my back no matter what, and probably knows just about all your stuff and definitely knows how you work, how you’re going to react and be able to anticipate it. In other words, we’re pretty lockstep, Mickey and Boone, and there’s a real shorthand and a real love there. So yeah, I don’t know. You tell me if that is fertile ground for something, but I do know that it is dangerous territory upon which to tread, if it ever starts to lean in that direction, that’s also, there’s a lot at stake. How’s that for a vague kind of answer?

But Max, how would Bode feel about that?

Lauria: He’d be lucky to have a Boone in the family.

Thieriot: He’s always hoped for a brother. [Lauria laughs] It’s kind of like a step-buncle. He’s this brother uncle.

Lauria: Dude, that’s Boone’s new name, Buncle.

Thieriot: That’s Boone My Buncle. Who better than to go fishing on the weekends with than a guy that’s not really related to you? And even less so if they were to get married, but you can have a good time with him and trust that he’s hopefully not going to tell your step-aunt anything.

Lauria: That’s so good.

Sheriff Country & Fire Country Crossover, Friday, April 3, 8/7c, CBS