TVLINE | It was established in the season 2 opener that Baez and Elena now live with Danny. Then, in episode 2, Elena’s biological grandmother arrives and wants to form a relationship with her. How much does this complicate things for Baez going forward?
MARGOLIS | Enormously.
TVLINE | Continue….
SONNER | We’ve said before that our show works best when we play on two levels, when it’s a police procedural and also a family drama. And when both things happen at the same time, the show really sings. And we can say that this scenario will sing a plot.
TVLINE | Last time we spoke in conjunction with TVLine’s fall preview, you mentioned that we’ll see Baez again around the midseason finale. Is this where this thread picks up?
MARGOLIS | We’re building to a pretty incredible climax for our midseason finale, and then we’ll premiere it in the spring. This story with Elena and Baez is at the heart of it.
TVLINE | Danny mentions that his apartment is terribly cramped now, and we talked about this at the end of last season – part of his motivation for accepting the promotion was to make more money to afford a bigger house. Are we going to see Danny and Baez looking for a place to live this season?
SONNER | We’re going to see them in a new place. I don’t know how much fun the house hunting part is, but it’s going to be fun when we see them together.
TVLINE | We are therefore not cross paths with “House Hunters” at some point?
SONNER | Look, I love the Property Brothers as much as the next person, but I think the juicy things happen once they’re roommates.
TVLINE | Brian responds to Sarah’s refusal to clear him by taking the DEA job and heading to DC, but Lena sees this as running away from her demons and ends their relationship. Why was separating them the right decision at this point in Lena’s story?
SONNER | At this point in Lena’s story, it’s the right decision because, as she recognized in the first two episodes, she needs to get back on her feet — literally, physically, and emotionally — after recovering from her injuries, but also build a new relationship with her father and sister, and embrace a new family.
She’s on a journey of self-discovery, self-realization, and she can see that Rogers isn’t dealing with her own personal problems. It’s best for her to press pause at that point to really focus on herself and hope that he can get to a position where – you know, she’s offered to walk this road with him, but not if he doesn’t face it.
TVLINE | Brian makes a point of telling Lena before interrupting things that the move is only temporary – that the DEA has a field office in Boston. Should the audience understand that this is goodbye for now rather than goodbye for good?
MARGOLIS | It’s goodbye for now. We love this character and we are interested in what happens to them (as a couple). With some time apart, they can re-evaluate, and we can potentially put them on a collision course at a very dramatic moment later in the season.
TVLINE | Now that the DEA has taken over the investigation into the Followers of Cain, does that end this story, or will it be revisited later this season?
MARGOLIS | It will (will be) revisited.
SONNER | We certainly leave some loose threads in this story that need to be picked up and addressed, as well as the emotional component. We indicate that Rogers is going to join the DEA, and we indicate that the DEA is handling this case, so it is very likely that we will return to it.
TVLINE | Mae and Lena have a very cathartic exchange where Mae apologizes for keeping Chris away from her, and Lena accepts her mother’s apology. Does this open the door to a mix of both sides of Lena’s family?
MARGOLIS | As for opening the door to family reunification, I think that despite Lena’s enthusiasm to learn who her father is, Mae and Chris’ relationship is of a completely different energy. While that’s not to say they won’t collide, I think Lena’s version of their mix would be very different from the one Mae would prefer. But it’s something we’re going to explore throughout the season.
TVLINE | And when could we see Lena’s half-sister, Kristina by Alisha Wainwright, again?
MARGOLIS | We see Kristina around the middle of the season. She will come back.
TVLINE | Mae and Thad make a deal to leave their respective families out of their political battle. Mae mentions that she has some kind of filth that can kill him if he goes after Lena. How long can this truce realistically last?
SONNER | I mean, how long would you trust Thad?
MARGOLIS | Do you want the exact episode number? (Laughter)
TVLINE | You know how I feel about characters named Thad, so I don’t trust him for a second.
MARGOLIS | We may have mentioned you! Danny may have quoted you in 201. He said, “I can’t trust a guy named Thad.”
TVLINE | I timed this! I was like, “Either I really beat this drum in our previous conversations, or I’m not the only journalist to hear you mention the name Thad Longfellow…”
SONNER | (Laughter) Relaxation doesn’t last very long. We can say it. It certainly comes up in a big way.
TVLINE | Jonah appears increasingly frustrated with Sean’s tactics and warns that he doesn’t want them to be known as an “untrustworthy, undisciplined, unmanageable” patrol duo within the department. To what extent will we see Sean repeat some of his father’s mistakes – and will these choices eventually catch up with him?
MARGOLIS | I think it’s less about mistakes for us and more about an enthusiastic point of view that his partner may not share. In episode 1, their sergeant tells them that second year is the year you decide what kind of cop you want to be.
We would never want to separate Sean and Jonah. We love them together. But we liked exploring the idea of: what if they had different answers to the question of what kind of cops they want to be? Can a partnership survive different priorities, different points of view, different approaches? That’s a theme between them that we’re going to explore a lot this season, and (we’ll see) what parts of the work they gravitate toward as individuals. But we love when, even when there’s a different point of view, it’s about finding common ground that makes a team a superpower. And that’s what we’re going to explore with these guys.
TVLINE | Did I detect some chemistry between Sean and his new commanding officer, Sergeant Bettina Ryan?
SONNER | Here’s what we’ll say: Sean is still dating Penny.
TVLINE | ALL RIGHT….
SONNER | So, a relationship with your boss would present many problems.
Gn entert
