Matt Lauria on Boone and Mickey’s Relationship, Conflict in Season 2 (Exclusive)

After putting himself out there just a couple episodes ago, is Boone (Matt Lauria) going to move on from Mickey (Morena Baccarin) after the Sheriff Country finale? Well, given the events of the episode, there’s a lot for those two to unpack going forward. TV Insider spoke with Lauria about that and more. Warning: Spoilers for the Sheriff Country Season 1 finale ahead!

After Mickey realizes that her love interest, Alec (Wes Chatham), isn’t what he appears — the DEA agent is dirty and working for Miranda (Kelli O’Hara) — she keeps it to herself, going so far as to shoot down every lead that Boone brings up that goes against what Alec suggests. When Boone suggests that Alec is dirty, however, Mickey reads him in. Together, they work with Alec’s boss, the DEA’s Eva Santos (Rachel Ticotin), to get a confession and bring him in, but that goes sideways. Alec is killed, but not before he shoots Boone, who’s distracted checking on Mickey after thinking the danger is over.

In the hospital, Mickey sits, holding Boone’s hand, until she goes to leave and he wakes. She sees letting down her walls as mistake, but he insists it wasn’t and that next time, she’ll find someone who deserves her. But then Emmy (Jenny Raven), the ME who is clearly interested in Boone, interrupts, and Mickey leaves them to it … and looks back at them.

Steve Wilkie/CBS

Below, Matt Lauria breaks down Boone and Mickey and looks ahead to Season 2. (Plus, read what showrunner Matt Lopez had to say about what’s next here.)

We have to start with the good news that Boone is alive, especially after getting shot. But you could also argue that him turning his back to Alec to check on Mickey wasn’t the smartest move by a deputy.

Matt Lauria: OK. Now, hold on a second. Whose side are you on?

I’m on Boone’s side. That’s why I was worried about him.

He seemed pretty dead and I disarmed him. And look, what can I say? This woman is the most important person to me and she was in a compromised position and I made the choice that was my priority.

You can understand that. Speaking of, how does Boone feel about everything that happened with Alec and the way Mickey initially went about it, not reading him in until he confronted her?

I mean, it’s not good. I think there’s a lot to work through there and I really hope that we get the opportunity and the writing to explore that in Season 2 because in this type of relationship, in any relationship, trust is paramount. And obviously in law enforcement, when your lives are in one another’s hands, that trust is even more critical. And so to be keeping me out on the outside is not our relationship anyway. And then also, I mean, she invited me to the family birthday party. We’re as close as close can be. And I mean, maybe not as close as close can be, but we’re getting there. We’re close. We’re close. And she kept me in the dark. Not only that, really it kind of degraded me in front of him. The like, “No, that’s not a good idea, Boone. I like his idea.” And in front of a guy who is — you got two alphas and this is a guy who’s competition and it was a bitter pill to swallow.

You could also argue that maybe she was protecting him. She was trying to protect Boone from getting on Alex’s radar.

Me? Boone needs protecting? You may be right about that. I don’t want to admit that.

Speaking of, because we did see Boone put himself out there with Mickey and that didn’t exactly work out. Does he regret doing so at all? Because it doesn’t seem to hurt their relationship though, which is good to see.

You’re so right. I mean, that’s such a testament to the miles that they’ve traveled together and the real deep bond that they share, to be able to both go, “Hey.” I mean, that’s also a really admirable quality about Boone that I think is pretty inspiring because I don’t know that I have the same ability that he does in this regard, which is for his ability to take these knocks on the chin and just kind of go, “All right, onward, what are you going to do? She said no. All right, what are you going to throw a fit about it? Move on.”

But I also think he regrets it for sure because not so much as he shouldn’t have … Boone probably doesn’t live by regrets, but I would say in that scene that we saw in the evidence lockup, Boone is like, “Look, I shouldn’t have burdened you with that, and that was unfair.” And I think if he could have done it differently, it wouldn’t have come out the way it did emotionally. Boone is very measured. And to come out emotionally in an eruption like that in her office at the exact worst time at work, no, I think Boone is really embarrassed about that.

How does he feel about Mickey at the end of the season? Because it also looks like he could maybe be moving forward with Emmy.

Oh, 100% moving on. I mean, what else is there to do? Mickey said no. She made it very clear. She made it very clear and then chose the other guy. And even if the guy was a bad dude, Boone’s like, “All right, if not the better man, the other man won.” And so I think Boone is respectful enough and has enough character to say, “All right, that’s that onto the next.”

But this is also perfect setup for Mickey to be jealous now to possibly be on the other side of things going forward. So if she were to express interest though, would he be right back there or would he continue to try to move forward with Emmy?

I don’t know, Meredith. First of all, I don’t know about the jealousy thing that I can’t speak for her character. And I will say this though, Emmy’s got a little something, doesn’t she? She’s a little spicy, she’s brilliant, and she’s quirky and she loves law enforcement and she loves dating law enforcement. There’s a lot of great things there. They’ve got a really kind of interesting chemistry and dynamic, Boone and Emmy. I can’t speak to Mickey’s jealousy, but I don’t know.

Look, there was a real wedge put in the Boone and Mickey relationship that resulted in me getting shot. I really hope that we don’t gloss over that in Season 2. I was right about this dude the whole time and then ended up taking a bullet at his hands. I think there’s some ground to recover. I think what I love about the end of the season is that it’s complicated and you know, you’ve seen the bombshell. We’re not cruising into the second season like sunshine and rainbows. It is a freaking mess and shards are shattered on the floor and how do we go about putting it all back together?

I do know this. Boone loves Mickey with all his heart. Boone would take a bullet for her any day of the week and again next week and the XO crew are Boone’s family. We’re all each other’s family.

At the end of the season, Mickey, Cassidy (Michele Weaver), and Travis (Christopher Gorham) all have new focuses looking ahead to next season. Where do you want to see Boone look to when it comes to something professional?

He’s Mickey’s lieutenant, he’s her number two, and he takes that job very, very seriously. And there’s times where his number one job is to back her while she leads. And there’s been other times throughout the season and there may be times this coming season where it’s less about backing her as she leads and more about like, oh, she’s in a tough spot, how do we fill in for these challenging times? There’s been a couple times throughout the first season where Boone had to fill in and back her up because of what she was going through. It’ll be interesting. I guess I don’t know the answer. I’ve only read the first two scripts, but what I do know is that Boone takes supporting Mickey extremely seriously. And personally, I’d like to find more out about Boone. Who is this guy? Let’s find out more.

Eric Milner/CBS

Which Fire Country characters are you hoping to interact with more next season? Because I mean, the Boone and Bode (Max Thieriot) stuff, of course, was so, so fun in the crossover.

It’s too much. I have so much fun with Max on set and we did press together in LA a handful of weeks ago and it’s a fun dynamic.

I think it would be really fun to act with Kevin Alejandro. I mean, they’re all so good. Diane [Farr] and Jules [Latimer]. I think that would be really, really fun. I think there would be some really fun stuff between Diane and me. And then, I don’t know, Jules is so cool. She’s got such a cool character. I interacted briefly with Jordan [Calloway] on the Fire Country crossover, but not really and not really Kevin. Obviously, we know Kevin well from directing on our show. I don’t know. They’d all be pretty fun.

Sheriff Country, Season 2, Fall 2026, Fridays, 8/7c, CBS