The hour takes an unexpected turn when, in the final moments, we learn that Jack (Charlie Barnett, “Russian Doll,” “Chicago Fire”) — the Hollingsworth child we’d been led to believe was no longer among the living — is reveled to be alive… and a killer who was pretending to be Clare’s boyfriend’s neighbor?
“So I’m not who I said I was,” Jack says, surprising Logan just before he offs him. “But neither are you, Agent Anderson.” The plot thickens!
We immediately got on Zoom with showrunner Joshua Safran to get everything we could about the big twist (and when we can expect to get more answers). Read on to see what he said, then make sure to grade the episode!
TVLINE | Your show has consultants from the various branches of federal law enforcement where your characters work. Were there any things you came to them with, and they were like, “No, you can’t do that”?
JOSHUA SAFRAN | It’s funny. We actually tend to write it and then share it with them, like during the outlining phase when we talk to them, but we don’t talk to them when we come up with the plots because honestly, the plots are pretty realistic. They’re not ripped from the headlines. We’re not doing SVU, but we do a lot of research. Every writer was assigned a different arena. Like, three writers took Secret Service, three writers took DOJ, and then from that they did their own research. However, [the consultants] will often look at an outline, and especially a script, and be like, “We wouldn’t say that” or “We wouldn’t go there.” It’s not usually plot-related.
And then Steve, our Secret Service consultant who was Barbara Bush’s — Jenna’s twin sister — Secret Service agent, and the Obamas and Hilary [Clinton], he’s often like, “They would never say ‘Madam Marshall’ about Jane’s character… You would just say “Marshal Hollingsworth.” But we need the audience to understand that she is actually a federally appointed U.S. Marshal, which is above and in charge of the other marshals. So, you need that designation.
… They tell us such great things that we would never know. Like, when they are in their offices, they take their jackets off, because they’re just so restricted in their suits all the time. So there’s been fun things like that. But no, so far, not a plot-killer yet.
