The world of Edgewater is expanding to Sheriff Country and delving into the character of Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin), first introduced on Fire Country as Sharon’s (Diane Farr) stepsister, starting with the October 17 premiere. And as part of exploring that character more is getting to know those around her — including, as the newly released trailer reveals, a love interest!

There’s also her complicated relationship with her estranged father, Wes (W. Earl Brown), due to his illegal weed activities, but he’s planning on going legit — and Mickey asks him to move in with her to help with her daughter, Skye (Amanda Arcuri), whose troubles were revealed on Fire Country. We’ve wanted to see her and Bode (Fire Country‘s Max Thieriot, also an exec producer on the spinoff) interact since those mentions, and the trailer shows we’ll be getting just that. Farr will also crossover for a sisterly visit.

Watch the trailer above, then read on for insight into what’s coming up from executive producers Tony Phelan and Joan Rater.

In a way, the sheriff’s department can’t exactly be as friendly with the community as the fire department because the fire department, they’re coming in, they’re saving people. Yes, the sheriff department can come in and help, but they’re also usually coming in to arrest someone, which is a whole other side of it. So what makes the balance of showcasing the community of Edgewater different in this crime drama setting for you?

Tony Phelan: Well, I think the big thing is that Mickey knows everybody. So she’s walking into these situations, her first instinct isn’t to arrest, it’s to de-escalate and to deal with the people because she knows them, and if she doesn’t know them, she knows their mother.

Joan Rater: And in her own personal life, she knows she’s got a daughter who’s dealing with addiction and a father who’s growing illegal weed. And so she knows you can do bad things, but it doesn’t make you a bad person. So, the fact that she grew up here and she knows these people is definitely central to the show.

Phelan: And it leads us to different stories than a typical police procedural. And that’s what excited us about it, is to see this character, who is a product of this place, try and save her community in a world in which increasingly we are isolated and on our own screens. And to see somebody who is really committed to the idea that collectively we can live a better life is refreshing.

The trailer shows that Wes is going legit, and Mickey invites him to move in with her, but she can’t just forget the years and everything that made the relationship what we’ve seen it to be, and he clearly does not like the idea of moving into town. Who has the harder time adjusting?

[Both laugh.]

Rater: Well, look, it was really important to us that we don’t tame Wes. He is untamable.

Phelan: It’s kind of like inviting a wild animal into your home.

Rater: There’s so much fun, you will die. You will love the family dynamic over at their house. Something that we’ve come to love is the dynamic between Wes and Skye. It’s really nice. And so, that’s the thing that makes him go, “Goddamn it, I got to really try to go legit. If I’m going to have a relationship, my granddaughter, I got to do this.”

But what about the Mickey and Wes relationship as they’re living under the same house?

Rater: You’re not going to believe where this story goes. That’s all I got to say.

Phelan: It’s difficult, but one of Mickey’s advantages as sheriff is she grew up in that outlaw community. So, in the second episode, you see that she knows how to deal with those people, and that gives her a huge advantage over somebody like Boone [Matt Lauria], who is a very strict, law and order guy, but does not understand how this whole subculture works.

The trailer offers a look at Mickey in the shower with someone, can’t really tell who it is. What can you say about who that is and what that relationship means to Mickey?

Rater: We can’t say who it is, but what can we say? There’s going to be some amazing surprises that you’re not going to believe about, she’s a woman who’s trying to get her family together, have a personal life, struggling with all of that. I think it’ll be fun to watch her struggle. She’s always going to be really good at her job, but her life can get messy at times.

Phelan: But at the same time, she’s dealing with so much as a divorced woman, we didn’t want to neglect any element of her life.

What can you see about how serious this relationship is?

Phelan: It’s going to become more serious as the season progresses.

Rater: It’s a major, central part of the season.

Phelan: But I think the audience will be surprised in terms of who it is.

At one point, we see “Time to sell” written in a house. Is that part of a recurring storyline this season that’s something that brings Edgewater together or divides them?

Rater: It is.

Phelan: One of the things that we discovered when we were doing research for the show was we were up in Northern California and in the Emerald Triangle up there, the weed business is a big part of the culture of the place. And since legalization, there has been more violence. There has been cartels that have moved in as well as big pharma and how that’s going to shake —

Rater: It’s like the gold rush. There’s money to be made here. Everybody comes in with an angle. And so we have a big, beautiful, insane long arc story that deals with that, with the sort of people trying to grab up what they think is theirs.

Brooke Palmer/CBS

We see Bode with Skye and Sharon with Mickey. How are they going to be helping them?

Phelan: I think that Bode, because of his past, can speak to Skye as she goes through what she’s going through. And obviously as we saw on the Fire Country episodes that Mickey appeared, her relationship with Sharon is something that she really treasures, and when things get bad, she is able to reach out to Sharon. And I think both of those women desire a family, even though it’s a family that they’re not related by blood, they share a love for each other, and they can lean on each other, and we’ll see Sheriff people appear on Fire. We’ll see Fire people appear on Sheriff, and then there will be a big crossover event coming up this season.

There seems to be this tension between Mickey and Boone with him arguing she’s too close to the town, which keeps her from seeing things clearly. Does she think that he might be right? And does that impact the dynamic because she doesn’t want to hear that?

Rater: Yeah, there’s a real point in the season where she is like, “Oh, shoot, he’s right,” and she’s really back on her heels. I think that is a concern, but ultimately, it’s what makes her so special.

Phelan: And I think she comes to appreciate that he contributes something and that, as a team, they are really good. And the dynamic that they now have to negotiate is they’ve been partners for two years, and now all of a sudden she’s above him. And so, can they maintain the relationship between them that makes them so effective in law enforcement while she is technically his boss?

We’ve heard a little bit about Mickey and Skye’s relationship from the Fire Country episodes, but now that we’re going to see what it’s like day to day, what can you say about that? And does having Wes around make it easier or harder on Mickey when it comes to Skye? Because you talk about the Wes and Skye dynamic, but then what does that mean for Mickey?

Phelan: Well, there are all sorts of questions that come up in terms of parenting, especially parenting somebody who’s in crisis and in dealing with, Skye’s an addict. And so Skye is quite comfortable lying, and how do you deal with that? When do you trust her? When do you not trust her? And Mickey and Wes are going to have very different ideas about that, so it’s going to be a source of support and

As Mickey’s job is evolving, how does that affect her dynamic with Cassidy (Michele Weaver)?

Rater: Look, Cassidy kind of worships Mickey, Cassidy wants to be Mickey, and Cassidy has to figure out how to be herself. That’s Cassidy’s story. She can’t just be Mickey, she’s not Mickey, and she has to stand on her own two feet. And Mickey has to deal with her feelings about all the things Cassidy does, and that’ll be interesting to see, I think for people, women working together, a mentor and a mentee supporting one another, helping one another at times, disappointing one another, not giving up on one another.

What’s Cassidy and Boone’s dynamic like?

Rater: That’s a pairing that turns out to be really fun. Boone’s like a guy who’s not used to sharing a lot about himself, and Cassidy pokes at that.

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