TVLINE | I must know, was the Darwin sweat on the actors real?
It was. If you imagine America reversed, north is south and south is north, that’s what Australia is. So, the northern part of Australia is super tropical, and when I was talking to my friends at the network, I said, “We should do an episode up in Darwin,” and they went, “Why would you go to Darwin?” I’m like, “Because it’s unlike any other place in the world.” It’s this weird frontier town, it’s beautiful, the color of the water is different, the color of the sky is different…. They’ve got more saltwater crocodiles than they do people! And it’s 40 degrees every day with 95% humidity. So yeah, the sweat is real.
TVLINE | Was your cast braced for it?
Look, we did our best to kind of prepare them, but I don’t think anything quite prepares you for that. It was a
lot, but I always feel like anything that changes the mood of the set makes it all the way through to TV, and you could sort of
feel it. You could feel the thickness of the atmosphere. You could feel the sweat.
TVLINE | Two-part question: What is Mackey thinking at the end there in the cab, and what is JD thinking there in the garage?
I promise you I’ll answer the question. I want to hear what
you think, though.
TVLINE | I think Mackey is feeling personally stung in the moment, by the whole Etienne thing, so she’s not thinking about JD. But I think JD’s thinking about her.
That’s a really interesting response. I think you’re bang on. Throughout the first two seasons of the show, Mackey has played her emotional cards really close to her chest — and it turns out, for good reason, because she may well be a terrible judge of romantic partner, as it turns out, as far as Etienne. To rub salt into the wound, JD has been telling her, from the moment he met Etienne, that this guy is no good. The question that we should ask ourselves is, is he saying that from his professional police perspective, or is he saying that from a more personal perspective? Or is it a bit of both?
They have an awkward goodbye at the airport, and I think Mackey is driving back to her apartment wondering whether opening herself up emotionally was the right thing to do, or if it’s ever the right thing to do, or if she ever will again. And I think JD is going back to his mate’s garage thinking, “How the hell did I end up here, sleeping in a friend’s garage amongst the stuff that doesn’t fit in his house. What’s happened to my life?” And, “Is emotional connection something that I should be open to?” And if he is, is it Mackey, or is that the world’s worst idea? It’s a complicated moment.
TVLINE | At this early point, what all do you want to say about Blue’s situation, who she just found inside her flat?
Again, I love speaking to people after they’ve watched that final episode to get their thoughts on who the woman is who’s sitting in her living room, with all that hair….
TVLINE | My best guess is that Blue used to run with a shady hacker gang.
Interesting…. I like that. I can neither confirm nor deny, but I will promise you that your questions will be answered early on in Season 3 in a big way, in a really significant way.
TVLINE | Will you at least say it’s bigger than, “It’s her mother! Who she doesn’t get along with!”?
Yeah, it’s
way bigger than that’s her mother she didn’t get along with. I promise you that. If you go back through Season 2 and concentrate on Blue’s character a little bit…
TVLINE | A lot of seeds were planted.
Yeah, a lot of little breadcrumbs dotted the way, and they kind of come to a head. In Episode 7 with Nova, we start to learn that Blue has some kind of profound understanding of this coercive controlled relationship between Nova and her father.
TVLINE | And she has all the locks on her door.
All the locks on the door. The fact that she doesn’t want to be photographed when she was going to the concert, the fact that she has no digital footprint, the fact that she asks Doc on the pier up in Darwin, when they get back to Sydney, whether he can take a look at some stuff for her in a professional way. There’s a lot of breadcrumbing when this happens, and obviously, this woman is, in some ways, the combination of all of those breadcrumbs. What happens next… I wish I could tell you, but it’s an absolute
cracking episode early on in Season 3 where all those questions are answered.
TVLINE | Will Season 3 pick up continuous there in Blue’s apartment, or is it going to be, like, “Three Months Later”?
It’s later on, but not
very much later on. It’s certainly not a continuous pickup like it was for Season 2.
TVLINE | Speaking of last season’s cliffhanger, is Rankin, like, 90% good guy at this point?
What do you think?
TVLINE | I think so.
Yeah. Look, he’s as much of a good guy as someone who works in the intelligence field can be. He’s instrumental in us cracking the case in the final episode, and we realized exactly why. Going all the way back to the [cold open], that sort of
Apocalypse Now moment in Dilly, you understand exactly what’s happened to this guy and how he’s been leveraged into behaving like he has. So, if the question is, “Is he a friend or foe?,” I would suggest that he’s more of a friend. But he’s only a friend that you can trust so far.
TVLINE | Heading into Season 3, we are overdue for either DeShawn or Evie to have some sort of romantic interest, and I’m not saying necessarily with each other. Do you have any plans?
Here’s the thing: When two people really vibe with each other, as Evie and DeShawn clearly do, the one thing that will almost certainly cause something to flare up is to insert, let’s say, a third person into that dynamic, and see what happens as a result. So, without giving too much away, that relationship between Evie and DeShawn will be tested by the arrival of another character in Season 3 who will really set the cat amongst the pigeons.
TVLINE | Ooh, that’s a good one — “set the cat amongst the pigeons.” You also taught us this season, “Take a Captain Cook at” and “Have a lend with.”
We’re like
Bluey. We’re trying to teach the world Australia.
TVLINE | Any last random tease for Season 3?
Anything I say is going to be a little bit too leading, but I promise you, from all the way down here, Season 3 is going to be way bigger than Season 2.
TVLINE | How many episodes are you doing?
I can’t tell you just yet — I think that’s under embargo — but certainly, in terms of the style of the episodes, it’s we’re swinging for the fences.
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