Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 18 has federal raids, cartel accusations, murder investigations, and betrayals jam packed into the same hour, and somehow the show still kept getting messier by the minute.
The biggest problem in the episode starts with Wes Fox. After losing millions that belonged to illegal growers, he steals some money from the DEA to repay the growers.
The episode highlights how badly things have spiraled as the DEA helicopters storm the town, Mickey gets dragged into an investigation about corruption, and bodies connected to Emerald Eden start dropping down like flies.
By the end, Mickey is forced to arrest her own father.
Spoiler Warning for: Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 18.
Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 18 recap: Wes steals from the DEA after losing growers’ millions
Wes Fox makes one reckless decision after another
Wes spends most of Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 18 acting like someone who already knows that walls are closing in on him. At first, he’s lost the three million dollars that the illegal growers trusted him with, and instead of owning up to his mistakes, he steals the money from the DEA to repay the growers.
Obviously, this turns him into a target.
The situation gets worse because Wes clearly wants an out. He is done with all of the illegal business because he finally secured a legal growing license, and the timing could not have been any more worse. While everyone else is getting raided, Wes suddenly decides retirement sounds like a nice plan.
Mama Jo understands the how dangerous the situation is, and she wants herself and West to be gone before the DEA starts throwing people in prison. Wes agrees to leave with her and even talks about going to Alaska, but he has to tie up some loose ends first.
This includes trying to sell his land to the Bulgarians before he can leave.
Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 18 also let’s us see Wes struggling. He takes his heart related meds, and going to prison would probably destroy him.
Mickey gets pulled into a federal nightmare
In Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 18, Mickey hardly gets any time to process what Wes has been upto before the DEA storms Edgewater. Alec Kane leads the investigation, and let’s not forget there’s some history here with Mickey.
She is furious that the FEDs have invaded her town, but Alec makes it clear that the DEA believes a massive grow operation has been running under everyone’s noses.
The DEA thinks JoAnne Henshaw is the mastermind, while Mickey realizes her own father (Wes) is involved in the illegal operation. Suddenly Mickey is standing in the middle of an investigation that involves her arresting her own father and the stolen DEA money.
Then, when Mickey finds out that Luna wore her sheriff’s uniform during the robbery of the DEA cash, this revelation destroys any chance of keeping the department out of the scandal.
By the end of Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 18, DEA Deputy Director Santos starts to look into Mickey instead of only going after growers. Santos questions whether Mickey ignored what was happening or if she simply failed to control it.
Either way, Mickey becomes the easiest target.
Emerald Eden starts erasing everyone connected to it
While the DEA crackdown dominates the town, Mickey receives a wellness check request connected to Liman Ford, the man buying growers’ land for Emerald Eden LLC. Deputies go into his apartment, and they find his body hanging inside.
At first, they think it is a case of suicide. However, this theory is incorrect because the investigators realize that Ford was actually murdered. Before the deputies can even follow a proper lead, Frank Stokes also ends up dead.
This is when Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 18 makes it obvious that somebody inside Emerald Eden is cleaning house. Anyone who’s ever been connected to the operation is disposable.
The bad news is that the sheriff’s department still has no clue who actually controls the company.
Boone and Hank chase another lead through the Death Merchants motorcycle gang and track down Mack Maguire. Boone senses that Maguire is dangerous because the guy barely reacts to any kind of intimidation at all.
Later, the medical examiner confirms Maguire’s custom weapon left marks on Ford’s skull, tying him directly to the murder.
Unfortunately, the investigation crashes apart. When the deputies corner Maguire, he opens fire and forces them to shoot him. His death wipes out one of the only real clue they had to Emerald Eden.
Boone finally says what he feels about Mickey
Amid all the raids and murders, Sheriff Country Season 1 Episode 18 takes us back to Boone and Mickey. Boone spends most of the episode being jealous of Alec, especially after seeing how close Mickey still is with him.
Boone finally admits he is in love with Mickey. However, she simply rejects him because he is family to her and she is still technically his boss.
Boone handles the rejection surprisingly well and even apologizes to Alec after almost fighting him earlier on in the episode. Alec then returns the favor by helping Boone with information about the Death Merchants’ hideout.
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Edited by Deanne Dsilva