Teen World

In the first season, we defined the two worlds of 'Big Love': the compound and suburbia. But then something kicked in, and we had an idea to establish a third world, a teen world that was a little separate tonally - a teenager's reality.

So this is part of working Rhonda into this separate reality, this teen world, which kind of has its own rules. Plot-wise, it puts Sarah between a rock and a hard place; Rhonda can't stay at Jordan's house, but Sarah doesn't want her back at her house. And it's kind of a turning point about whether Sarah's going to reveal to Scott, her boyfriend, the real truth about her family and the compound, which she sees as sort of horrible and reprehensible and embarrassing.

Whiskey and Cigarettes

I don't know if it's just because I have arrested development, but I really remember what being a teenager was like. I find I have pretty easy access to it. When I was about thirteen or fourteen my parents went away and I had to stay with a friend of mine, who was a couple of years ahead of me in school and running with a new pack of girls.

When I went over to her house, these girls seemed so sophisticated to me. They had this kind of wryness about them, and this kind of sophisticated sense of humor and worldliness. And that's what I was thinking about when I wrote this scene. That's what Donna and Jordan remind me of - it's as if they're going to stay up all night smoking Marlboros and drinking whiskey.

A Sociopath with Lip Gloss

Rhonda definitely goes back and forth. In the first season, she's putting on lip gloss, which is sort of contraband in the compound. She's really drawn to the secular world, and she wants to be a singer. But once she's out in it, she's a little thrown.

She's a bit of a sociopath -- she is drawn to the money and glamour and sexiness, but in a really limited way. She really is sheltered, so her fantasies come up against reality.

The New Pet

We liked the idea of the girls taking Rhonda over as a kind of pet, you know. Jordan right away puts heavy eye make-up on her and teases her hair and puts her in shorts. She's just kind of a play thing for them that they would soon get tired of.

But I also like Donna's assertion that they can't return her to the compound, the American Taliban. She's kind of this awful girl, but oddly principled.

A Dangerous Place

Part of what interests me about this scene is this relationship between Sarah and Heather, and how it gets compromised, and the ways in which Heather is devoted to Sarah, and the ways Sarah takes her for granted. Heather being a misfit, and the ways in which Rhonda is going to eventually manipulate her were interesting to me. But mostly I think it's that adolescent experience of feeling out of place, and that the world can be a little bit ferocious and a little bit dangerous.

I probably identify most with Heather. Even though Rhonda feels misplaced, I think Heather feels the most misplaced and the most uncertain. I think Heather is my emotional tie-in to the scene.

Your Friend Can't Stay for Dinner

It's so much fun just to have these actresses around. I really enjoy them so much. One of the things that happened in this scene is I wanted Jordan's mother yelling in Vietnamese. In the script, I just wrote, "in Vietnamese," I didn't actually bother to fill it in. So then the day before we were going to shoot I was like, "Oh, my god. How are we going to get this in Vietnamese?" Somebody said they thought the set-dresser was dating a guy who might be Vietnamese. So I called him - he was so nice, he sort of phonetically translated it for me over the phone. Then Doan shows up, and I'm like, "OK, I have this phonetically." And she says, "I'm fluent in Vietnamese." She'd ad lib things and I'd be like, what are you saying? She was screaming all these things at her mother.

We Were Friends Once

I think all of us in the writers' room kind of relate to the relationship between Sarah and Rhonda.

When you're younger and things are simpler, you can just sort of play together. I think she's kind of dealing with her incredible dislike and distaste for Rhonda, but also her guilt over the fact that it's sort of a "there but by the grace of god" situation. Rhonda got born in the fundamentalist compound, and I think Sarah sees that they could have been her life, and that she's very lucky. And Rhonda's always pulling that card, too, saying you and I once were friends.

That felt very familiar to me, that idea that you were friends with someone as a kid - a cousin or someone - and then, as you get older, that bond that you had no longer exists. A very uncomfortable feeling.