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Inside the Episode
With Executive Producer Cynthia Mort
The May Scene
I think people are going to be surprised, and I hope quite taken, seeing people in their sixties having sex.
You have two things going on with May: She is a pivot point for all of our couples, and, of course, she has her own life and her relationship. I think that there's a difference between observing people and knowing what's good for them and living through it yourself, and making your own decisions that are as wise and as thoughtful. And I think that's interesting.
She's been with her husband for 43 years; she's smart, she's very human, and she's aware. And I think you need that in a show where there are so many missed opportunities and so many things unspoken. You need someone like May. She's on the other side of it, there's no question about that. She's not in the middle of the same kind of struggle as Katie and Dave or Carolyn and Palek or, obviously, Jamie and Hugo.
But there are parallels that we are going to start seeing. The Jamie/Hugo/Nick story should kind of parallel the John/Arthur/May story. Of course, nobody knows exactly how it parallels, and that's good.
Dave and Katie's Discovery
Dave and Katie's therapy session is a big scene. The one in episode four is about Dave exploding and us hearing what he's about. Here, both of them are acknowledging where they are at the same time. It's a tough scene. But it's an important scene, because their passion is starting to come alive.
They're in shock by what they're discovering. It's a process of discovery. But that's why I think it's a hopeful show. Because as long as you're looking and discovering and searching and discovering, I think you are in love.
And Now, Back to Reality
I guess if you're super-rich and you don't have to work and you don't have kids and you're f**ked up, you can go to therapy and then spend the day wallowing in it. But most people can't. Most of us don't have an intense therapy session in the middle of the day and then sit around saying, what am I going to do?
Real people have to walk out of therapy and take the kids to the Hair Faeries. They have to find moments to talk about it while the family's eating pizza. That's how we live.
A lot of TV shows push that aside. But I think if we did that, we'd lose a very large part of who these characters are.
Palek Gets Rough
His admission to Carolyn that he doesn't want kids is simply Palek finding who he is in that relationship. When the umbrella of trying to get pregnant is removed and he says, look I don't think I ever wanted to have kids, he kind of stands up differently -- not to Carolyn, but to the world, to himself, and I find it really interesting to see who he is.
I think that as Palek becomes a bit stronger and rougher and surprises us, Carolyn becomes more vulnerable. And that often happens in a relationship, that kind of shifting dynamic. It's just kind of the rhythm of men and women.
Humor
As I've said a million times, I think there's a lot of humor in the show. The cast is really funny, and they bring out their humor in a lot of little ways. They're funny people. Hopefully we'll have the opportunity see a little more of that next season.
The End
The ending between Carolyn and Jamie wasn't originally there; it ended differently with Jamie alone. But something was missing.
We added that moment between them, when she says, "What does that mean?" and Jamie says "Heal." I really love that scene. I was hesitant about it -- I was afraid it was a little too much. But the way they play it and the way it looks, I think really works.
On one level they have nothing in common. Carolyn looks at Jamie, and she's, in some ways, resentful. And Jamie looks at her and says uh, here's a life I'm never going to live. Carolyn doesn't know what Jamie's doing there and Jamie's offended that Carolyn thinks she doesn't belong there. And all of that comes out. And yet, I think they see similarities.
I think they see who they were and who they could be. And hopefully, all that can come out in that moment. Now, that's asking a lot of two or three minutes. But when you're writing it, those are the things you're thinking about.
Viewer Question
Question:
Palek's standing there holding Carolyn's hand while a woman doctor inseminates her. And as Dave points out, a sixty-something childless therapist tells Dave and Katie to put a lock on their door. What are you saying about couples needing help with these things that everyone used to have to do by themselves: procreate, communicate. --lucy212
CM:
That's a really good question. I think in a way, I'm just illuminating that we do need help, that people do need help, and it's ok. I could tell these stories differently, but it's not the story I want to tell, it's not the drama I want to do. I think when you see people reaching, when you see people trying, when you see people needing help, you get to say things that you wouldn't get to say otherwise.
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