Ben McKenzie joins wife Morena Baccarin in Sheriff Country Season 2
Ben McKenzie is reporting for duty opposite his real-life wife Morena Baccarin in Sheriff Country Season 2.
McKenzie plays Sheriff Jim Wade, a neighbouring sheriff who is called in to help Baccarin's Sheriff Mickey Fox. CBS had announced him as a guest star for the season premiere, which airs on 9 October, but Baccarin told reporters at a Season 2 press event that he is back for more, according to Deadline.
He is now locked in for two episodes, with further appearances likely. It is a reunion with history. McKenzie led Fox's Gotham, where he and Baccarin met, and the pair married after the show. On Sheriff Country, Baccarin is No. 1 on the call sheet, meaning her name sits at the top of the cast list as the series lead.
Sheriff Country is a spinoff of Fire Country, meaning it grew out of the parent firefighter drama into its own series on CBS. Baccarin first played Mickey Fox on Fire Country before fronting the new show.
Showrunner Matt Lopez used the press event to sketch where the two sheriffs stand. Mickey has only been sheriff for a couple of years, while Jim has worn the badge for 10. Jim is also godfather to Mickey's daughter Skye, and the two share a long personal history that Lopez said is not romantic.
That working relationship will get an early test. CBS has set a one-night, two-hour crossover event between Fire Country Season 5 and Sheriff Country Season 2, as reported by Deadline. A crossover simply means characters and storylines move across both shows in one evening.
Baccarin and Fire Country star Max Thieriot also teased a new franchise couple stretching across the two series. Baccarin appears as Mickey Fox in Fire Country, according to Radio Times, so viewers of both shows will already know her beat.
For fans, this means more family texture around Mickey. A trusted colleague with a decade in the job, plus a godfather link to her daughter, gives the second season a shorthand for trust and friction without a love triangle attached.
