Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for Sheriff Country season 1 finale
Entering late into the first season of Sheriff Country, DEA agent Alec Kane (Wes Chatham) quickly turned up the heat in several ways. First, he and Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin) got hot and heavy when Alec was undercover in a gang and picked up when he returned to Edgewater. Second, Alec aided Mickey in investigating a local drug gang with ties to Miranda (Kelli O’Hara) and her plans to take over a large tract of land for her lumber business.
Things took a wild turn when Mickey’s daughter Skye (Amanda Arcuri) seemingly overdosed. She was really poisoned by Miranda’s son, Rick (Matthew Finlan), in a desperate attempt to curry favor with his mom. In a shocking turn, Rick was met in secret by Alec, who turned out to be Miranda’s enforcer, behind several of the murders that had happened throughout the season. He then murdered Rick and pinned it on local dealers.
Boone (Matt Lauria) was suspicious, although Mickey seemed to ignore his warnings. In reality, Mickey was already onto Alec, having seen him and Miranda arguing to realize the connection. She, Boone, and Alec’s boss Eva Santos (Rachel Ticotin) came up with a brilliant sting. They made Alec believe Mickey was about to be arrested for stealing drug money. Alec raced to Mickey to offer to help her escape the country.
At an airport hangar, Alec realized Mickey knew the truth as they drew guns on each other, Alec explaining he was tired of spending years putting his life on the line for nothing. The police arrived with Mickey shooting Alec. The man shot Boone and ended up being shot dead himself by Santos.
Speaking to TV Insider, showrunner Matt Lopez confessed the producers had been tempted to let Alec live thanks to how engaging Chatham was in the role.
“We did consider letting him live. There were times on set, I’m like, “Damn, this Wes Chatham is so charming, and he’s so good on screen with Morena.” There were times where I was very, very tempted, but it felt like the right conclusion for the story.”
It would have been interesting to see Alec survive. It’s possible he’d be a recurring face now and then, with Mickey seeing him in prison and wanting to know how much of their relationship was real or not. He could have become an informant and perhaps, in a twisted way, try to win Mickey back.
Lopez explained that in his view, Alec was always being honest about his love for Mickey despite his dark side.
“I think I take Alec at his word, and Wes and I and Morena and I would have long discussions about this. He does love her. He loves her so much. He was willing to commit murder to help her family, to help her daughter. And that’s what he tells her. “I’m the only one who was looking out for you.” I mean, it’s really crazy, but it kind of makes sense at the same time. So I think he genuinely loved her, and I think Mickey loved him.”
Of course, that didn’t stop Alec from meeting his end. His being shot by Eva is notable given how the last scene revealed Santos is really Mickey’s believed-dead mother, so Eva was saving her daughter to cap off an intriguing character arc. It’s a shame to bump off such a compelling character, but it also shows how Alec’s fall was only going to meet one end.
Sheriff Country is streaming on Paramount+.
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