For a moment there, we were worried about Travis (Christopher Gorham) on this week’s Sheriff Country. Why did he have to stand between Cassidy and a gun? Did he realize that he was surrounded by people more qualified than him? But thankfully, by the end of the Sheriff Country midseason premiere, ‘Crucible, Part 2’, it looks like Travis is going to be alright.
But what about his relationship with Mickey (Morena Baccarin)? And what about the trauma that an experience such as this one is bound to dump in his lap? We talked to Gorham about all of that, the big ship moment, and yes, even what Travis was thinking as he tried to talk down an unstable person with a gun.
“I thought it was a real bonehead move by Travis. I understand why he did it, but it was not the correct thing to do. You have a professionally trained sheriff’s deputy telling you to get back. So, in a sense, he had it coming,” Gorham laughed.
But Travis’s bad decisions aside, Gorham was really proud of the hour, which feels like a nonstop action sequence from beginning to end. To say we were at the edge of our seats is an understatement. “It was really exciting,” he shared. “We were all really looking forward to it. Tony Phelan [Sheriff Country’s EP] had given me a heads up about where this was all going when we were shooting the first episode. So, we knew where we were headed. I knew what was going to happen to Travis. So, we were excited to finally get a chance to get it up on its feet and make it happen.”
Which doesn’t mean it was easy. “I was surprised at how physically and emotionally difficult it was, for me anyway.” Gorham shared. Because I’ve done shows where my character has been shot or almost died or sometimes died. But this long, drawn-out physical exertion, and then not being able to breathe for so long, really took it out of me; it was really difficult.”
For Gorham, playing the emotional beats was easier. But to our question of why, exactly, Travis kept making questionable romantic choices, he had some really good thoughts. “I would say, I think that he and Cassidy got together, because subconsciously, they both were trying to get closer to Mickey. Because Travis is still in love with Mickey, and Cassidy wants to be Mickey, because she’s her mentor. And so, I think they kind of fell together that way, unintentionally, but that’s why, really, if they look at it critically, they would see that’s why they got together.”
“And I think Cassidy, wisely, was the one who realized that’s what was going on and called off the relationship. In regard to Travis wanting to make another go at it with Mickey, I don’t think that would have happened absent what happened… them sleeping together again, you know. She opened that door, and the reality is, they do still love each other. Should they be together? I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. But when she opens that door, he takes the opportunity… he wants to take that opportunity and go through it and try again.”
What does that mean for the future of Travis and Mickey? Can they make it work? “I don’t think it’s a bad decision. I think that there’s nobility. And that’s like, “hey, let’s give it a try.” And then the whole world blows up, right? That’s not his fault. But everything blows up, and he almost dies. And because of that trauma, I think that’s why Mickey makes the choice that she makes at the end. Had all of that not happened… I still think there’s a world where she still makes that choice. But because of all that trauma, I think then that was the only choice that she was going to make.”
And Gorham promised this would be explored later on. “I can tell you that when we see them together in episode 11, you see why did they want to try again, because they’re great together, and they’re sweet, and they love each other, and they’re cute and all those things. But the consequences of the trauma that they went through, there’s a price to be paid, and it gets paid.”
The thing is, once the decision is made in a moment of heightened emotion, that’s the easy part. Then, they both have to put in the work. “I think what happened that night has changed both of them, in maybe some unexpected ways,” Gorham shared. And you’ll see… literally, episode 11 has one of my favorite scenes of the whole season. And it changes everything again.”
We were just getting used to not worrying!
But as Gorham and I discussed, “Crucible, Part 2” is basically Mickey and Travis in a capsule. And then the real world intrudes, including their daughter and Mickey’s father, Wes. “That’s the thing, right? And we get to see what everybody’s reaction to it is, particularly Skye. There’s a little bit of a jump in time between episodes 10 and 11. It’s been a few weeks in between. It’s like episode nine and 10 is the same day, but then when we pick up with episode 11, it’s a couple of weeks later.”
“And you get to see kind of how they’ve been working on this, how it’s been working. And then you get to see what the consequences of that trauma are in the next episode. And it’s not just Travis and Mickey that are dealing with the consequences of what happened. It’s everybody. There are consequences for everyone, including Wes, including Skye.”
This whole storyline—and a lot of what we’ve seen from Travis—has been about his family. But Gorham also teased we’re getting a Travis storyline “down the road.”
“Yes, we’ll get to see Travis’s world start to expand,” he promises.
For an actor, sometimes embodying a character means trying to understand them even when they do things that leave you shaking your head. Gorham, to the question of what advice he’d give his character, was very clear.
“I mean, for instance, when he shows up in the courtroom when Cassidy’s in court… I would be like, bro, don’t do that. What are you doing? No, no, absolutely not. Don’t do that. That’s a terrible idea.”
At least it wasn’t just us. “Certainly, there are things like that, but then also there are things… There are choices that he makes where the other characters in the show may not agree with his choices, but I back him up. I think he’s making the right choice.”
“Again, going to what happens in episode 11, Travis decides to really stand up for what he believes in, in a way that causes problems. And I think he’s right to do it, even though there are massive consequences. So yeah, there are definitely times where I think he’s wrong, like ignoring Cassidy and trying to defuse this very volatile situation with people with guns on his own. But then there are other times where I think he’s actually making the right choice, even though it’s the hard choice.”
If Gorham doesn’t defend him, who will? And we’re going to admit, he (and Travis) might have convinced us.
New episodes of Sheriff Country air Fridays on CBS.
