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We thought there was an opportunity to create more mystery, Tigelaar says.
Why tell the audience who did it at the beginning?
Tigelaar:At first I wondered,Who burns it down?
But then as we all talked about it as producers we were like, But is that even believable?
So we kept thinking would it be Lexie?
Would it be Moody?And I couldnt buy it as any of them.
How could that feel at the end if they finished what Izzy started?
She feels as though she caused all of this to happen.
So we earn it with Elena without her having to commit arson and burn down her own house.
Once we started crafting the story toward the ending, it all started to fall into place.
You get the sense that everyone has been changed by this.
They all see things differently than they did at the very beginning.
And their taking action in that way shows their lives are going to be changed by this, too.
Not just Izzys, not just Elenas, but everybody in the family.
So, for the show that they built up, I thought it felt exactly right.
Thats how I felt about this ending.
Their intention is not to kill their mother.
I thought that was a really genius way of doing it.
We see that the kids changed because they set the fire and they put themselves on Izzys side.
Elenas changed, too.
Shes recognizing maybe for the first time that she has been responsible for so much of whats gone on.
Shes taking responsibility for all of it.
Before, she was always trying to blame it on somebody else and picture herself as the righteous person.
Shes maybe recognizing something about herself that she hasnt throughout the whole rest of the show.
Tigelaar: In the book, Mia is much more connected to the Richardson kids.
Theres class disparity but there isnt race to deal with in terms of their relationships.
That felt like it would be potentially leaning into a trope of how black women care for white children.
It just didnt feel authentic to me.
She really came up with that idea and presented it to us and then we expanded it.
It melds really well with them setting a fire to the lives theyve been trapped in.
A second season?
We talked a lot in the room about how were supposed to feel at the end about Izzy.
How can we not be worried for her?
So, yes, I do think there are stories to tell.
But thats more of a spinoff than a second season.
Ng:You never say never, right?
Im thinking aboutFleabag,which is a show I loved last year.
She was like, Nope, thats it.
And then three years later, Actually, I have one more idea.
And it was great!
Im so glad she did it, right?
And I think thats how Liz is feeling about it, too, from having talked to her.
But you never know.
These characters may come back to me with an idea about more story that needs to be told.
