Did you check out the first episode of Resurrection on ABC last Sunday at 9/8c? If not, you’re going to want to do so today before episode 2 airs tonight. I know because while I was in LA this week, I had the chance to watch episode 2 and it was good! So good, that it left me anxiously waiting for episode 3.
Not only did I get to watch the 2nd episode but I also had the opportunity to interview Resurrection Executive Producers Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas. After having had watched both episodes we of course had a lot of questions but there was only so much they could share without dishing out any spoilers.
Here’s what they had to say (or what they could say):
How are these people were brought back?
That’s one of the central questions of the entire series. As writers, one of the things we try to do is try to answer some questions, but like anything when you get 1 answer, it kind of makes you have more questions. In some ways, it’s almost besides the point because they’re back now…it is something that Marty and Maggie are investigating and trying to figure out.
Why is this happening?
Why is it happening is a question, but that’s not the central theme of every single episode.
These people are still here. Much of the drama comes from, “What do you do now that you have this 8-year-old boy? How do you deal with that?” Henry’s got a very complicated reaction to this. He feels like “If I embrace this boy as my son, am I betraying the memory of the child that I lost.”
Will we get answers as the season progresses?
There are some answers but we don’t answer everything. We still want to have an investigative drive. Do we know yet? The way we pitched this is… there are several questions. Why here? Why Arcadia? Why is it happening? How is it happening?
Are more people coming back?
I think it’s safe to say “yes”.
Just in that town?
We focus on just Arcadia for these 8 episodes (It’s 8 episodes including the pilot). We have certainly planned more and there’s a cliffhanger at the end of the season that hopefully makes people want to come back for the second season.
Jacob’s like a stone that’s thrown into a pond and the kind of ripple effects he has upon his return and how it affects Fred and Maggie’s relationship upon his return. These characters are all affected by his return in different ways, some good and some bad.
Why only 8 episodes?
I feel very strongly that this show shouldn’t be more than 13 episodes a season, because my favorite seasons of LOST were the shorter seasons because they could be so much more.
When you’re building these continuous storyline episodes, you can’t jump around, you have to sort of build them in order. And if you change something back here, it sort of affects this. So that’s why we really liked having a smaller number of episodes, so you can really craft it and be smart about it. Versus just kind of filling space.
As more return, we kind of multiply it.
Was the show LOST an influence?
Absolutely.
*But the show is actually based on the book The Returned by Jason Mott but don’t look to it for answers because they don’t really follow the story.
Do you ultimately know where the story goes?
When we pitched the season to ABC, we pitched them the last scene of the last episode of the series. So we know where we want to go.
About the Resurrection Cast
ABC’s “Resurrection” stars Mark Hildreth as Pastor Tom Hale, Kurtwood Smith as Henry Langston, Landon Gimenez as Jacob Langston, Frances Fisher as Lucille Langston, Omar Epps as J. Martin Bellamy, Devin Kelley as Maggie Langston, Matt Craven as Fred Langston, Samaire Armstrong as Elaine Richards and Sam Hazeldine as Caleb Richards. (ABC/Bob D’Amico)
About Resurrection
The people of Arcadia, Missouri are forever changed when their deceased loved ones suddenly start to reappear…Bellamy, an outsider in the town, joins forces with Maggie to figure out why the unexplainable is happening in Arcadia. As their investigation plays out, Maggie learns some unsettling truths about her own past. Will they be able to solve the mystery of Arcadia before the rest of the world catches on to events there? And will they be able to protect Jacob from forces beyond their control?
If you need to watch the first episode before tonight, it is available on the ABC website.
I am loving this show, I can’t wait to see what happens next.
me too…tuning into to episode 3 tomorrow 🙂