Yvonne Strahovski & Scott Speedman are a pair of accomplished actors that have appeared in some iconic franchises in their career. Currently, they star as Maggie and James Chenowith in the new Peacock series, Teacup, and we here at NTG had the distinct honor of sitting down with both of them to discuss their new series.
 
John Betancourt: First and foremost, I would love to know, what it was that attracted each of you to be a part of this series.
 
Yvonne Strahovski: This is not your typical horror series. I think that's definitely what attracted me to it, is that has an amazingly strong emotional arc. There's this huge family storyline. It's certainly how I leaned into it as an actor, and it really was an incredible challenge to perform some of these scenes that we had to do at the end of the show, which is always a bonus. That's always what I'm looking for, for projects that I'm a part of.
 
Scott Speedman: Yeah, for me, honestly, very similar. I, you know, I'd heard Ian was doing the showrunner/writer role, was doing something in this genre space or whatever, and I knew his writing from other things. So, I was very excited to see what he'd do in that world. And look, I mean, for lack of a better way to say it, it was just really good, I mean, and what made it good was there was this whole world that he created with this family on this isolated farm. I just really felt immediately invested in those people. And I thought, wow, these scenes leading up to this crazy circumstances that are coming down the pike, these scenes alone are going to be really fun to do. And if that's fun for me, I just, I just thought, wow, an audience is really going to go on the ride with us. And I knew Yvonne was doing the show, and that was really exciting to me. Once I knew Yvonne was doing the show with that character and what we had to do together, I was excited, because I really had a feeling we'd work well together, and that was true. So, all those elements really came together for us.
 
John Betancourt: I'm curious kind of what you hope, from a messaging standpoint, the audience takes away when they've had a chance to digest all the horror that they got here.
 
Scott Speedman: Yeah, you know, for me, I don't have a really good answer for you, because I don't know if that's how I, maybe Yvonne is the same way as how I look at pieces, especially like this, what I want them to take away is not so much a message, is if we were able to have them go on the ride with this family. And, you know, we start this story in a really fraught place with me and Yvonne as our family is crumbling, and the kids don't know yet, our marriage is crumbling, and through the series, I'm hoping they come on the ride with this meeting. I hope they, you know, fall in love with the family, and I think a lot of people are going to tune into a horror show and see what that is. But by the end, I mean, what blows my mind is how emotional these scripts got and how challenged both of us were as actors and as parents, doing these scenes we got going here towards the end of the show, so I hope that they find a measure of depth they weren't expecting, and I think that's really what's going to be a good jumping off point for hopefully seasons to come. So messaging, I'm not sure, it's a good question for Ian, but I don't know.
 
Yvonne Strahovski: I mean, I think echo what you say, you put it so beautifully, is to come on that emotional ride with us, and hopefully we've done our jobs well, and they do. And it's really unexpected, because, yeah, I agree. It's incredibly unexpected how emotional and complex it is at the end, and with the setup we have, with this rocky marriage that we enter into it really makes for a complex ending, given what we have to do at the end of this show. So yeah, I just hope people are really, really invested in it in a way that they never thought they would be.
 
John Betancourt: No, I appreciate that candor, and that you really want everyone to go on a ride. The last question that I have for each of you today, because you both turn in some amazing work over the course of this of the season. What are you each most proud of when it comes to your work on this?
 
Yvonne Strahovski: I mean, I'd say, I'd say, probably the ending… it's really challenging. I remember reading it and thinking, gosh, I always get really excited when I think, wow, how are, how am I going to pull this off? That's always a really good indicator that that it has the potential to be really gripping and fun. So, it provides such a fun challenge of sort of puzzle piecing, this emotional melody in this arc of how we going to keep the audience in in our world, and how the whole thing is going to pay off in a really great way at the end.
 
Scott Speedman: I mean, not to beat a dead horse here, but yeah, just the challenges for me were not only what we had to do physically, but just how emotional things got towards the end. And you know, by that point on the shooting, we were getting closer and closer as actors, with the whole family, with Emilie and Caleb as well. And you know, it had a summer camp vibe, and we were able to go to work. And you know, you were doing crazy stuff the day before, and crazy stuff that day, and it was just this onslaught of just craziness, which was really, really, really challenging, exhausting, but honestly, really fun. And I think at this point in my career, at least I'm most excited that, you know, I'm excited for people to actually see it. A lot of times you're doing stuff that you’re involved in, but you know, we'll see how it goes. I really think with this thing, this could be really cool, and I think people are really going to like it, so I'm excited for people to check it out.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Ian McCulloch is an accomplished writer and producer that has worked on such shows as Chicago Fire and Yellowstone. Currently he serves as the Showrunner/Executive Producer of the new Peacock series, Teacup, and we had the honor of sitting down with Ian to discuss his new show.
 
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what inspired you to create this absolutely chilling series.
 
Ian McCulloch: Well, James Wan and his company Atomic Monster came to me with the book, and I read the book, and they said, “How would you feel about adapting it?” And I said, “I'd love to, but what I'd like to do is I'd like to turn it on its head. I like to take everything that’s big, make it small. Like to take lots of characters and make it very few characters.” And I wanted to do something where, where we really dug deep into the horror of isolation and not knowing who to trust. And that's what excited me about it, the core ideas from the book, and taking those and really running with them.
 
John Betancourt: I do want to dive deep into a lot of the creation process today, because I was very impressed with that isolation, because you definitely have some George Romero, Night of the Living Dead vibes there that I love. But what stunned me was just the sheer sense of dread that just hangs over every single episode, that only obviously gets worse as the series progresses. But I'm curious what inspired the decision to go so hard on the terror aspect of it, because horror sometimes pulls back. You did not.
 
Ian McCulloch: Yeah, what I wanted to do was, you know, save our moments. And then when horrific things happen, they're more affecting and effective when you've held back for a little while. And then, so it's not just jump scare after jump scare after you close the refrigerator door, there's somebody behind it, etc, etc. It's much more effective when you lead up to it with what you were talking about, that sense of tension and dread, raises, raises, raises, and then it has to break, it has to give, and then you can build it up again. And the idea was to save those moments so that you're winding your way through a story, and you come upon them, and they feel unexpected, which, you know, we've all seen so many movies and TV series and read so many books and comics that we're used to these things, and it's very it's challenging to surprise an audience. So the big thing was, how do I make it something that's surprising and not just very, very familiar.
 
John Betancourt: That leads me right to my next question, because I do want to know -- you mentioned the fact that obviously you took something grandiose and scaled it down to something intimate. And obviously there’s the challenge of making sure that a modern horror audience will find terror. What were those challenges then, in assembling such an ambitious horror feature?
 
Ian McCulloch: I think the challenge was the characters and living as those characters. As you write something, you have to kind of be every character as they go through their journey. And it's being on the ground level with those people, how do they react? What do they do? And it's not just what would I do in this situation, it's what would that character do? And as you go along, the challenge is to get to know those characters and to embody them enough as you're writing it that it becomes second nature, and you don't have to think about what their reaction will be, and that's… it's challenging, because it takes, you're kind of casting a spell on yourself, and that takes some work and some time and some effort.
 
John Betancourt: I'm curious what underlying messages you hope audiences take away when they've walked away from this utterly scary series?
 
Ian McCulloch: Well, the first thing I want is, I want it to be escapism. You know, I want it to be horror, but I don't want it to be so horrific that you don't want to watch it. I want people to be able to put their lives aside and for a half an hour, or if they get to watch a few episodes, they can just live in that world. So escapism first and foremost, but the some of the themes, I would say the most important theme in it is control and lack of control, and what it's like to lose control, and how do you react to that, whether it's control of where you can go, control of where your loved ones are, what they're doing, control over who you can trust. The list goes on, as you'll see in the series, but control was definitely something that was always coming back up in conversations and on set and in production.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to what you've assembled here?
 
Ian McCulloch: That's a really hard question. I mean, it changes every day, like right now today, I'm most proud of the publicity people and the marketing people, because they are going above and beyond and doing such a great job. During production, it was the actors, the directors, the cinematographers. In post-production, the editors. I mean, there's just, it's a rare thing when you can tell people are all really excited about doing what they're doing, and it's not just a job or another paycheck. And the fact that so many people felt inspired by this story, this process, with everyone else involved, that's, you know, it's hard. It's like someone was saying, Who's your favorite character? And I'm like, they're all my favorite characters. You know what I mean?
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Celine Held and Logan George are a talented writing/directing duo that have worked on cutting edge shows such as Servant. Their most recent project, Caddo Lake, is available to stream on Max right now and we had the distinct honor of sitting down with them to discuss the depth they injected into this incredible feature.
 
John Betancourt: I'm curious to start with what it was that inspired the two of you to come together and create this complex story.
 
Logan George: Yeah, well, we… it was summer of 2020, and so we were kind of holed up in our 200 square foot apartment in Brooklyn. We were on Reddit a lot, and Celine just stumbled upon this photo of Caddo Lake itself. And it had this uncanny, like arresting quality to it. Just looked like something out of, you know, science fiction. It was so unreal and beautiful, and we decided to go down and see it for ourselves, because we found it to be this, like, inherently cinematic location. I think we're really driven as filmmakers by a location as a sort of a really inspiring set piece, in a way, to sort of get that foot in the door of something that you've never seen before.
 
Celine Held: Yeah, we got lost a lot on the lake ourselves. And when we went out with people who knew the lake very well, they told us stories about how everybody gets lost. And that was something that kind of like really stuck with us, this idea that they actually found people who were forced to stay out on the lake overnight because they couldn't find their way back. And at the same time, we were talking a lot about death, with the pandemic, and so in our parents, and it all kind of got wrapped up into the movie.
 
John Betancourt: Now, you filmed this on the water, you've got an incredibly complex story with all kinds of movie pieces. What kinds of challenges went into crafting something so ambitious and so intricate?
 
Logan George: Yeah, boat work. You just have to have safety, you know, above everything. So, there's a certain pace that you have to move at to make sure that everybody's being safe. You're stepping onto and off of boats, and Caddo Lake itself is quite shallow, so we had to have these very small boats, ultimately, only a couple crew members. You had to be really calculated about how much equipment you were bringing on and off of the boats and stuff. So, it became this very intimate experience a lot of the time when we would take only a handful of crew members out to go film something, you know, 15-minute drives into the water, away from everything we did, a lot of walking around in mud, like wearing waders for, you know, hours and hours on end, getting very, very dirty.
 
Celine Held: There's also the fact that for this story in particular, it can't rain because it will mean something else. So anytime it was raining, we had to, like, pivot and or that also the sun started setting earlier, because we began shooting, beginning of October. So then with the sun setting. So, it got a little bit hairy there for a bit. And to be as exact as we wanted to be with the knot of this story, we wanted to make sure things made sense, that you weren't able to say, like, “Oh, this happened at a different time of day. So, this has to be XYZ,” so to not spoil anything. Yeah, it got complicated.
 
John Betancourt: I do want to talk a little bit about there are a lot of layers to this story, which I really appreciated. And I want to talk a bit about some of those. I mean, we talked a little bit brief about the inspiration of family and death and those kinds of things, but I'm very curious what went into the inspiration of crafting such a beautiful tapestry about loss, about trauma and all the other elements that go into the story.
 
Logan George: Yeah. Well, my mom had passed away in 2019 and Celine had mentioned these conversations that she'd had with my mom where she was describing these memories from her life, and the stories I hadn't even heard some of them before. And so like, it didn't even sound like my mom in so many ways, and it was fascinating to me, and it sort of prompted this question for us of how well you really know your parents, because they lived this life, you know, before you were born. And so, in sort of imbuing that into the story, when we were crafting Paris and the loss that he goes through, we were trying to sort of maximize that sense of conflict, and, you know, guilt within him over the death of his mom, that happens in the story. And for Ellie, when she loses someone really close to her, how can we make that sort of the most, sort of dramatic and guilt inducing part of it as possible? Because we felt like guilt was like a really, really strong motivator for the characters, but also something that feels like it's so hyper connected to the way that we process grief and loss in our lives.
 
Celine Held: We also think the final scene of the film are when Ellie says… a line that we worked really hard on, because for us, it, the whole film is kind of this exploration of death in a lot of ways, of like the idea of what it is to… well, I can't wait for the movie to come out so we can talk about it plainly, because you don't want to spoil anything, But it is something that was a little near and dear to our hearts. And maybe most sci fi movies.
 
John Betancourt: But I do want to ask too, I mean, without any spoilers there as well. Obviously, when you put a story out that's cathartic. When you put a story out that has so much to it, there's something, obviously, you're hoping to kind of accomplish for the audience. And I'm curious what deeper meaning each of you hope the audience takes away from Caddo Lake.
 
Celine Held: I think we want you to, it would be cool if you wanted to call your mom. There's something you know, I think that maybe calling your mom, calling your dad, or, like, thinking about them in a different way, is something that I want you to hopefully pull away. But also, we hope you watch this movie with a friend where you can, like, start to dissect, like, what is actually happening, and that maybe you both saw something slightly different, and a rewatch would be worth it.
 
Logan George: You know your family, chosen or otherwise, this is a really very specific intimate relationships in your life, and our characters are sort of pushing these people away in so many respects at the beginning of the film, and come to have like a newfound understanding and appreciation of these relationships that are in their life. And I think that's something that as we've gotten older and we've started to create a family of our own, you have a real full circle moment of understanding just how important your parents, the people that raised you, were to, like, your whole sense of self and your place in the world. So, we're sort of just trying to cast a light on that in a very like, propulsive and exciting and fun way.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously I can tell now, since it's been a project since, you know, kind of the pandemic that you've been working on, and I hear the passion your voices about the work that went into it. What does it mean to you now to be literally days away from having this out to the world?
 
Celine Held: It's weird. It's so weird. There's part of me that's it's felt safe to have it not released. Like, I'm like, “No,” you know? But I'm so excited for people to see it. I also, I think we both feel like different filmmakers. Now it's been a minute. You know, the strike delayed it, and like Logan alluded to, we have, we had a baby girl, and actually just gave birth again. So, we have another baby, and now we're done, but, and so, I feel like a changed person in a lot of ways. And the new pieces we're working on now, we realize don't involve any children, and it feels like that's a… every -- the next piece of work that you work on is just an answer to, or like a response to what you did before. So, you know, there are obviously, we're never trying to make a perfect film. We're trying to do a swing. We're trying to do something that feels like, you know, you can be passionate about it. You're not going to sit back and watch it and let it pass by. So, we hope you know, it's exciting for people to have, hopefully, what will be passionate responses to it, that they can see themselves in the characters. And, yeah, I think it'll feel… it's exciting. It's exciting across the board.
 
Logan George: I mean, I share Celine’s sentiment that, like, in a lot of ways, we've, you know, moved on, you know, creatively from this project, because we made it so long ago, but sort of having interviews about it now, and sort of like bringing back up all the memories, like the community that we built around it and all the cast and crew, it's been incredibly cathartic for us, like, on an artistic level, to sort of get to relive something that was ultimately, like, a very joyous experience. We've met so many people that we feel like are lifelong collaborators now, and to get to celebrate the film like this now and have a release is something special.
 
John Betancourt: Last question for you today, what are you each most proud of when it comes to this project?
 
Logan George: Well, I'm certainly, proud of the production itself, in that, like everything that we asked of the crew, which felt like really impossible asks sometimes, they delivered. So, there wasn't something that we couldn't accomplish, you know, budgetarily or execution wise. And we're talking about, you know, tons of boat work, a huge amount of stunts, sort of really challenging VFX work, and the fact that all of it exists now in the film and is executed so well, it's a testament to our crew, and it's just like, ultimately, something I'm so proud of that, like, on an execution level, the film is presented exactly as we want to.
 
Celine Held: I'm proud of the way we captured the lake in the community. Yeah, that’s, what you see, what you get like, truly, we there's no like, major VFX of the lake at all, and there's so many members of the community who are actually in the film or helped behind the scenes. And we just had the premiere a couple days ago here in New York, and we had some people from the lake, like one of the, our very first boat tour captains, fly up with his wife, and he watched it, and his review, where he was just like “You got our lake,” that felt like the biggest win. So, I'm… I'm proud of that.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Gabrielle Nevaeh is a rising star in Hollywood that is popping up in everything from music videos to NFL games. Currently she stars as Pandora Vanderhouven in Curses! on Apple TV+, and to further celebrate the season two release of the show, we sat down with Gabrielle to discuss her experiences on the show thus far.
 
John Betancourt:  I'd love to start by getting to know what it means to you as an actor to be back for a second season.
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: I feel very blessed to be back for a second season, because, as we know, all shows don't get that opportunity. So, I'm thrilled that we get to explore more Curses! and see more Pandora.
 
John Betancourt:  I love talking to actors that do voice work, just because it's such interesting preparation process, everybody seems to have a different style to it. And I'm curious how you prepare to play Pandora every season.
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: There isn't much preparation that goes into playing Pandora. I kind of just jump into it, as far as developing her character, I remember very early on, I kind of had to find the placement in my throat of, yes, it's still my natural speaking voice, but it's a little heightened, and it's just, you know, it's me when I'm excited. Because, yes, it is an adventure comedy. It's an adventure horror comedy. So, things are very heightened, and things are very tense oftentimes, so that puts a different strain on your voice. So, I think just vocal health in general is how I really prepare for Pandora. But as far as like specific character action, her vocal print is very pinched and very tense. So just taking care of taking care of my voice, with all the screams and all the stress that comes with playing her is the most important part.
 
John Betancourt: To follow up on that I’m curious how you as an actor capture the essence of her, because everybody stands out so well as characters in this show, and obviously that that is a tribute to your work.
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: Pandora has a lot of childlike wonder. And when I started playing Pandora, I was about 16 or 17, so I wasn't too far off. It's not, you know, I wasn't completely out of that ballpark. But as far as capturing her humor and her essence, that came from a lot of improv, you know, and permission from the producers of saying, “Hey, it's okay for you to have some fun with this,” because I didn't want to come into Curses! with layering it with so much comedy, because it wasn't presented as so much of a comedy. It was more of a horror animation style. So, finding the balance of realism with comedy was really an instrumental part of the process, and instrumental part of finding her charisma and her overall character identity.
 
John Betancourt: I’m also curious, what it was that attracted you to the character in general, and the project.
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: I loved her look on life. You know, I liked that. It was a fun character. It's set in a horror setting. So, I think that's what really drew me to the project, was Pandora's overall personality. The way that they wrote her was very punchy, very spunky. You know, she's got her skateboard, she's in the house, and she's breaking rules, but she also has a lot of heart, and she also cares for the greater good and always tries to do the right thing, even if she falters a little bit. And I think that's what really drew me to Curses! in general and drew me to the character was her heart and her spirit. And another layer on top of that. It's a biracial family, right? And it's not a plot point per se, but it's representation in the sense of they're just on screen, and it doesn't have to be a big deal. It doesn't have to be made a talking point. It can just simply exist. And I think that's something that drew me to Pandora, was that the fact that she was a biracial kid, and you're telling this story from that perspective.
 
John Betancourt: In addition to being able to put so much of that on the screen and have that representation and the heart, what else do you love the most about playing this character?
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: I just love the opportunity to work on a horror project, you know, because it's a little different than what I'm used to doing. I have a comedy background. But when I sit back and watch the full episode, and I get to see the final product, getting to finally see Pandora in action, and what she looks like and her attire and the things that she -- her action, you know, because when I'm acting, you know, I have an image of Pandora in my head of what I think that she's doing. And then, of course, the animators and the producers have a different idea, or sometimes, it's in a line, but usually it's a different idea. So, what I love most about playing Pandora is getting to see the final product of, you know, everyone's ideas kind of melted into what we see on screen. So, I love getting to finally see the final product of Pandora and see how everybody's creative ideas came together, too.
 
John Betancourt: Why do you think the show resonates so well with everyone?
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: I think that there's a lot of versatility with our show. I mean, just speaking on, to the way that the show physically looks, it has a vintage feel to it, but it's also fresh and new. I've never seen the show that looks quite like it, so I think that is an aspect that really resonates with audiences. Again, we have the biracial aspect of it, that's representation of people, making people feel seen, and definitely made me feel seen as a biracial actor. And then on top of it, we have different cultures being explored. We have different artifacts that are being returned to different countries. So, you're you have an educational aspect, you have a horror aspect, and you also have a comedy aspect. So, I think that's something that is very relatable for audiences, and I think that lends to why we came back for season two.
 
John Betancourt: I also love the fact that this show has so many different layers to it, and I'm curious what you hope this season audiences take away from this show.
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: This season, I hope audiences take away the aspect of family, right? And family isn't always who you’re blood related to, right? Debbie is 1,000,000% a part of the family. Margie is 1,000,000% a part of the family, just as much as Russ or Alex is. And I think that's something that I hope viewers take away, is that family isn't always who your blood relatives are. You can create your own family. And people that you call family are, you know, can be friends. They can be, you know, they can be, really anybody. And I think that's something that we showcase in our show.
 
John Betancourt: From a general perspective, what are you excited for audiences to enjoy here in season two?
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: From a general perspective, things are just bigger, and they're more heightened because we have the added layer of, yes, we're returning artifacts, yes, we're still cursed, and yes, dad is back home, but everything isn't quite settled with dad. So, the added layer of what's happening with Alex on top of, “Oh my gosh, we're running away from a scary monster.” I think that's something that viewers are really going to enjoy in season two, and that's something that I've really enjoyed telling the story of. I liked the added layer of everything that's happening with Alex, and I think that adds a fun aspect for viewers at home.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of so far when it comes to your work on this show?
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: I think I'm proud to be able to impact families at home. I think I'm proud to be a part of a project that is hopefully a gateway to the horror genre for kids, because we're scary. Curses! is scary, but it's not too scary that it's going to turn off young audiences. So, I think that I'm most proud to be, hopefully an introduction to the horror genre. Hopefully kids grow up and be like, “Yeah, Curses! was my favorite horror animation. It scared me out of my mind when I was a kid, but I just couldn't turn away.” Because for me, that was Gravity Falls growing up where it creeped me out, but I couldn't… I just couldn't look away. So, I hope to be that for a kid at home, you know? And that's what I'm most proud of.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
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Season two of Curses! is available to stream on Apple TV+ right now, and to properly celebrate the show’s return, we sat down with the show’s executive producers, Jeff Dixon and Jim Cooper, to discuss this season’s dynamic storytelling!
 
John Betancourt: I'm very curious to start with what it means to each of you be back for a second season.
 
Jeff Dixon: I mean, I will just say, honestly, the easiest answer for that is… is going to sound super cheese ball and kind of stupid, but we, our crew and everybody worked on the show, got really, really close, like, more so than a normal show, I think, like, we would go out for happy hours and stuff like, all the time, and it was just meant more time with the people you really wanted to be with, and not just from a personal point of view, but from a creative point of view. Like, we just thought these were the best artists, these are the best writers, these are the best, and it's like, the fact that you get to do more of that just was special.
 
Jim Cooper: Yeah, you know, and it's, well, the greatest compliment we received in that regard was there was, like, one of the higher ups at the studio that joked they were, like, “We were actually a little bit concerned that this was a cult, because we would see you guys together all the time,” and you're like, “That is so nice. Thank you.” (Laughs) But, like, it was fun to go into a second season too, because the first season, so much of it was trying to figure out this vision, the tone, would it work, you know? And then once you kind of go, “Oh, okay, you've established it, and know what's working, let's go nuts.” So that was, it was sort of like the freedom of not having to prove that we're not insane, literally show we’re insane, and that we’re not a cult.
 
Jeff Dixon: Well, we didn’t say THAT. (Laugher from all)
 
John Betancourt: Well, played. And obviously I have to ask the million-dollar question. I mean, you guys, you guys landed Robert Englund. I mean, how cool is that? And I'd love to know what the process was to get him into Season Two.
 
Jeff Dixon: I mean, he was excited… he's one of my idols. So, for me, it was like, you know, they always say, “Don't, never meet your idols.” I always say, “Never meet your idols unless its Robert Englund,” because he was better and more awesome than we could have ever imagined. And he loves horror movies, by the way, so he'll just chat horror movies for hours. Like, from a really, like, smart point of view, like, not just a, “Hey, I like this. I like that.” Like, he's got an actual solid knowledge about everything, and he's just the nicest person in the world,
 
Jim Cooper: Yeah, and, I mean, he really came to, like, work and had really great ideas thematically, he was very into it. And it was just, it was awesome.
 
John Betancourt: I'm gonna circle back a bit, because you brought up a good point that the show is established. You guys have kind of the groundwork of what you want for this particular show. And that did make me notice that you kind of started integrating some more modern horror elements into it this year. Since, you know, everything's not peachy keen with the family, there's some elevated horror. And I'm curious what went into the decision then to kind of just go for broke and really bring so much into this.
 
Jeff Dixon: I'll just say the one thing that I think honestly really lended itself is a bit of a comfort level, a comfort level from all sides. I think a lot of the first season was not just laying a lot of pipe, as far as the foundation for what we can go with, but also we were all doing something kind of new, not just us, but also the studios and the production companies. And it's like everybody felt like they were doing something new. So, whenever you're starting out, there's a little bit of trepidation of, Is this too much? Is it not enough? Is it whatever? So, then we found, after, I think we get in a season under our belt, we had that sweet spot, and everyone's like, “Oh, people seem to really like the scares and the horror. It's not too much. Let's push.” Definitely, I mean, from Coop and I’s point of view, we're always trying to push. I mean, let's be honest. But like, they were also very, very open to pushing some of the scares a little bit more as well.
 
Jim Cooper: And when we were sitting there, like coming up with the episodes and the season arc, we really were actively kind of going, “Okay, what did we do last season? Let's not do that. What are different directions we can go?” And we would look at something like, “Okay, can we do a monster? Can we do a Kaiju? Can we do something that's more psychological? Can we do something within the house,” you know? So, it was literally like trying to really think about, how could you do different things each time. And then, of course, you kind of go, “Oh, how has it been done? Elsewhere, you know, in a movie or in a story, how can we put a twist on it? How would that fit into the framework of our show?” So that was actually a lot of fun.
 
John Betancourt: Now without any spoilers, I mean, obviously it's a grander season. It's a very established season. What are you most excited for audiences to experience this year?
 
Jim Cooper: I would actually argue it's the variety of the episodes, because people go like, “Oh, what's your favorite episode of the season?” And I can honestly say it kind of depends, you know? I really like this one, but I also really like, but I like what we did with that one.
 
Jeff Dixon:Yeah. And one of the things that I was really partial in this season is we, we leaned into letting each of the side characters kind of get more of a focus in an individual episode. So, it was like, Stanley kind of has a focused episode, Larry has a focused episode. Margie has a focused episode. So, we did, like bringing some of the more kind of side characters more of the forefront of their own kind of episode. And that was kind of exciting. And just like introducing new characters like we got, we're able to introduce a couple new characters, that was exciting. So anytime you can build the universe or build a little bit more flourish to the established universe, is just exciting.
 
John Betancourt: It is. It is definitely a much bigger universe this year, and I appreciate it. And speaking of writing stuff, and once I saw zombies, I'm like, “Oh, I'm a very happy man.”
 
Jeff Dixon: That's why we start the season with them.
 
John Betancourt: Start big. I love it. Obviously, this has been a passion project for both of you. Horror is something you both love, what has been the most gratifying aspect of working on the second season for each of you?
 
Jeff Dixon: I mean, I will say this. I don't know about working on the second season, but one of the most gratifying things from seeing the first season, which leans into the second season, is one of our favorite things, was getting, like, photographs from friends or executives or whatever, that they'd be watching it with, like their kids, and their kids would be watching it behind a blanket, or they'd be nestled in close to them, and they would take pictures and send them to us. And that was unbelievably satisfying, because it wasn't too much. I mean, they weren't like traumatized. It was… we were always trying to get that balance, and that was the balance we were hitting. And so by, I think keeping that in the back of our heads, you know, the second season was like, “Okay, we're not going too hard. They actually enjoy this.” You know, this is gratifying to be able to push the horror and know that they're enjoying it.
 
Jim Cooper: And I think, for me, like, what was so nice about the second season was really allowing, you know, the other writers in the writer's room --- we're going, “What do you want to do? Let's do something that would be very hard to get made in another situation,” you know. So, like having stories that you're like, “Oh, that's on an animated family show. Wow, that's crazy.” And you're like, “Yeah, we did that. Where else are you going to see that?” And so that was always like, a lot of fun to be able to do things like that.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

After weeks of staying under the radar and using her knowledge as a political lobbyist to help her game, a strategic win on Nima’s part led to Bismah Ahmed’s exit during this week’s episode of The Anonymous on USA Network. And to properly bid her farewell, we sat down with Bismah to discuss her time on the show.
​
John Betancourt: I'd love to start by asking the same question I've asked all of your cohorts on the show, because you guys have such a diverse group of competitors, how you came to be involved in the show?
 
Bismad Ahmed: You know, casting reached out to me, and I essentially didn't know what this was. I've never done reality before, and so kind of got intrigued with the concept. And I was like, “You know what? This is something that I could see myself doing, especially since I work in politics, my job is extremely stressful, and I thrive under stress.” It's just unfortunately, the way I work. And so, I was kind of like, “Ah, they should just hand me the check. I've got this, you know.” So, I was like, “Okay, this sounds great. Sign me up”. Um, but, yeah, I didn't expect to do reality,
 
John Betancourt: I'm curious now, because some of you had that background of skills that you could really use to your advantage here. So how much did your time in Washington, play into your strategy?
 
Bismah Ahmed: You know what, it played, but it didn't play, right? So, for me, it was like in Washington, you're not as blatant with your rumors. You can't trace back your rumors quite as easily. So, for me, I'm also very observant. As a lobbyist, your reputation is everything, if you don't have a good reputation, I mean, and that's very easy to have, people just don't trust you. You don't even want to be in the same room. You don't want to be, you know, known to be working together. It's just very… it's a volatile environment, right? And so, for me, I did take that into the house. I didn't want to be as open with certain people that I knew that were backstabbing their alliances, and it was pretty obvious going in. And so, I took the tactic of being more of an observer and listening more than talking, because I knew that when people were talking too much, that information was going around, and I did not want to be a part of that. We saw that with Jack and Nina. We saw that with Dillian. You know, it just didn't, it wasn't working out great.
 
John Betancourt: Now coming from that environment, and obviously getting into what was a very challenging show, what was the most challenging aspect of doing this series?
 
Bismah Ahmed: The most challenging aspect of this was creating alliances, but then backstabbing them in the chat. I mean, it was, it was tough. I mean, at the end of the day, I really grew fond of Marcel, but I was targeting them in the chat. It was tough. And if I had gotten The Anonymous, you know, maybe shocking to say, and maybe people wouldn't believe it, but I would not have gotten Marcel out. And you know, so it's a really multi-dimensional concept and game, because you have to deceive on so many levels. And so, I would have done a lot of things differently, but I do think that this is a, this is one of the toughest games that I've even heard of. If I'm being honest, there's so many layers.
 
John Betancourt: Speaking of doing things differently, since you’ve had time to reflect, let’s expand on that.  
 
Bismah Ahmed: Oh my gosh, I listen. I always hope that the Women's Alliance will work out and all of this stuff. Because listen, I don't watch a lot of competition reality, but I do think that in this game, when I came in, I saw four women that were eliminated, and I'm like, “This narrative works to my interest and all of the women's interest,” right? So unfortunately, I did not realize that people were playing their own game at that point. But like on a just strategic level, I thought that would have worked, but it didn't. And so, I think I wouldn't have played so hard into that. And not only that, I think I would have created more of a closer bond with a few people and played into Nina's game of spreading a couple rumors here and there. I didn't do that. I took in the information. There's a lot I could have told but I just decided to keep it in and not draw attention. But then at the end of the day, the people who were creating the rumors, of course, they're going to draw attention to you. So, it was something that watching back, I see the strengths and weaknesses, yeah, and then, you know, hopefully I'll play next game, and I would play it very differently. I think I would be a little bit more savage in person versus the chat.
 
John Betancourt: Now you were saying loudly to whomever was to become The Anonymous that you wanted to say, and you clearly enjoyed playing the game. So, how tough was it to leave the game?
 
Bismah Ahmed: It was tough. I will say it was extremely tough for me. I just wanted an explanation, because after Dillian's outburst, I almost felt extremely confident, right? First of all, I wasn't really up for elimination. I just happened to get the wrong box. So, for me, I was like, “Give me an explanation of why I'm out right now. Okay? Because what I've been doing is has been working, right? I'm not drawing in a lot of attention to myself. I am not spreading it in rumors.” I feel like I was playing a good game. Had it not been for that Face-Off, I would have still been in the game. And look at Andy, he’s flying under the radar. I think he's playing a phenomenal game. Okay, that would have been me, had I kept going a little bit further on. Nobody was putting me up for elimination that day. So, it is a game of luck in some circumstances.
 
John Betancourt: So, what are you going to miss the most about being on the show?
 
Bismah Ahmed: You know, we all wanted to win. I think there's so many lovable personalities on this show. I've met so many incredible people, like in Washington, I'm not going to meet a professional gamer or a Big Brother winner, right? Like, it's very cool to have met these very accomplished individuals in their own respects, right? Like, I just don't meet these kind of people, and so it's the people for me, I will really just cherish this experience for that reason in itself.
 
John Betancourt: We all kind of learn something when we do very unique and new things we haven't done before. What did you learn about yourself in going through this game?
 
Bismah Ahmed: I learned that I can be very nice and very empathetic, and I have to tone that down a little bit in a game like this. So, if you see me on another game, you're going to see a different version of me, because I don't think that worked out great. Um, let me be a little bit more savage in person, versus virtual. So that's what I've learned about myself. I'm going to tone down the niceness, but I do think that I connect with people easily. It's just that when I know that you're blatantly being fake, because I'm very observant, and so if I feel like I sense that, I just back away. So, I saw it on the screen. And you know that can be a weakness in a game like this, but all of this you take in, and you can change going forward.
 
John Betancourt: Alright, so everybody, watch out. Bismah’s coming for everyone in the next round.
 
Bismah Ahmed: I'm coming for you. (Laughter)
 
John Betancourt: Last question, what does it mean to you, to be part of the show that is this new and this unique.
 
Bismah Ahmed: It's so exciting because it really is a compilation of different aspects of different -- um, I mean, The Traitors and The Circle combined. I mean, that's the ultimate game, this game. I even think watching it back on TV, like, it's way harder in person. And I will say that this is a very, very hard strategic game, and I don't know if the viewers could see it watching that, but like, I mean, this was the coolest, hardest, craziest experience of my life. And on so many levels, you have to mentally be aware, socially be aware, you know, physically be able to do the challenges. And if you don't stack up on any of those, your target -- and then, not to mention your background, I don't regret not telling anybody that I was a lobbyist, because that would have been an extra, you know, target, I had on my back and so for no reason, but maybe for a little reason, but I'm glad I did it.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Season two of The Ark on SYFY has come to a close and well, it’s safe to say that Arkaholics everywhere are still buzzing about it. After all, we saw a major character death with a twist and also… aliens. So, what brought about such powerhouse storytelling decisions? Well, we sat down with Executive Producers/Co-Showrunners Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner to discuss this bold second season.
 
John Betancourt: I would love to start by learning more about what influenced the decision to give Reece Ritchie a new role to play.
 
Jonathan Glassner: Um, you know, we felt like we had sort of resolved his story last season, you know, he went from being the naysayer who said, you know, “Why are you in command?” And “That'll never work,” and, you know, to being a hero who ended up saving them in the end. And when we came back to the writers’ room this season, we sat, sat down and said, “What are we gonna—” we always start at the beginning, saying, “What are we gonna do with each character this season?” And when it came to Lane, we were like, you know, everything we came up with just felt like we just had already done it with him last season. So, then we decided that the best thing to do was what we did, which was we didn't want to lose Reece, so we wanted to give him a new character to play, and along the way, Lane, unfortunately dies.
 
Dean Devlin: I, you know, I always find it interesting. I don't know if you ever watch any of these shows where people are given their DNA, you know, where you'll meet these people, and they're absolute racists, and they hate some race, and then they find out that they are that race, right? And so for me to have Lane be this guy who was so sure he knew everything in the beginning and he hated clones, to realize that the world was not the way he had it in his head, and that in fact, he is a clone, really was a wonderful resolve of that character and a perfect time to pass that torch to a different version of Lane, who actually may be a kinder, more gentler version.
 
John Betancourt: Another great thing that you all do this season, that I really appreciated, was this is almost kind of like… a greatest hits of sci fi, because you have the grittiness in those first episodes. I love “The Inner Light” tribute with that episode with Ian and Garnet, you know, in their in their own special life, and I'm kind of curious what went into the decision to offer up this, this grand celebration of sci fi over 12 episodes.
 
Dean Devlin: Well, you know, season one was really, to some degree, disaster of the week. You know, what else goes wrong each week? And while that was fun to kick us off, it really… we didn't feel was sustainable. So, we thought, going into season two, let's really start embracing some broader science fiction concepts, and, you know, and that led us to the alternate universe, that led us to the fever dream. So, you know, it opened up storytelling. And then Jonathan and his amazing team of writers, I mean, they just kept, week after week, surprising me and coming up with incredible ideas. And this really has become the show that I always hoped it could be, which is a giant love letter to the type of science fiction shows that Jonathan and I grew up watching,
 
John Betancourt: Now, speaking of the classics, there's always been a hint of a little Battlestar Galactica in this from the from the get-go, which is wonderful. But I did also want to talk about the fact that you guys made another bold decision in getting to Trappist-1D now. Because this is something that could have definitely been drawn out, and I’m curious what led to the decision to bring them to their new home, now.
 
Dean Devlin: Well before we started season two, Jonathan, and I had this conversation, and we said, what if all of season one and all of season two was the pilot for what The Ark is about. And if you think of it that way, you really see that at the end of the season finale, we set up what the series of The Ark really is about, and it's about a search and rescue mission.
 
Jonathan Glassner:  Well, it's also, you can't be headed somewhere for, you know, for 24 episodes and never get there. You know, it's just gonna start to get really old. And so, it was always the plan. First time Dean and I sat down and met, was that we'll actually get there at the end of season two, and that's what we did.
 
John Betancourt: I loved it. I thought it was a great, bold decision, as was, of course, that surprise at the end, which obviously fans now have questions about. But I know that’s likely a season three exploration, but to satisfy the fans now… what can you say about that wild discovery?
 
Jonathan Glassner: Nothing without major spoilers.
 
John Betancourt: Fair enough.
 
Jonathan Glassner: But, I mean, I think that both of those things that you're referring to set up another season or more, in a very good way, an exciting way.
 
Dean Devlin: Yeah, I mean, if you think of our show, almost like an onion that just slowly gets peeled and it just gets more and more fragrant. So, you know, we started off as one thing, and then we opened it up to more sci fi concepts in season two, but now season three, between the New World and the surprises on that world and being able to go anywhere in the galaxy to try and rescue humanity. Literally every science fiction concept that we've ever loved, we can explore on the show now.
 
John Betancourt: I think that will do. Let’s people know there’s some big stuff on the horizon. Now we've talked a lot about Greatest Hits today, things that you guys loved, and I'm curious what the most fulfilling aspect was for each of you as writers, in putting together this season,
 
Jonathan Glassner: I would say it's the cast. You cast a show, and you never know what you're going to get, you know, you hope that you did it right and we nailed it. I mean, I think our whole cast, every last one of them, are amazing, and they always bring -- they always take a mediocre line of dialogue and make it a masterpiece, and they're just very good at expanding their characters and making them three dimensional. I just… couldn't be more thankful.
 
Dean Devlin: Absolutely, same point. I love being surprised with the way an actor performs a bit or a scene or takes something that I thought was supposed to be funny, and they played it very sincere, or the opposite, something I thought was gonna be sincere, and they played hilarious. And then often, the things they're doing will inform us on where we want to take the show. We'll see a look between two actors and go, “Oh, what was… what was that?” And then suddenly, now we're exploring storylines. So yeah, I have to say what the writers’ room and the writers are brilliant, and it's so much fun, but watching it actually come to life, that's where the real surprises happen.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for you today, what are you each most proud of when it comes to your work on season two?
 
Dean Devlin: That we’re still alive. François Truffaut once said that filmmaking is much like the settlers coming from the east and going out west. They leave with the idea of great riches and a new life. And when they arrive, they're just happy, they're still alive.
 
Jonathan Glassner: I'm always, I'm always happy when I feel like I've entertained an audience for 12 episodes. And you know, from everything I read from the fans, I think we did. And so, you know, that always is very satisfying to me.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Midnight Family truly is a unique series on Apple TV+. Since it blends together fiction and real world elements to tell a harrowing tale of a family of paramedics that are struggling to get by and struggling to save lives and to further explore the wonder of this series, we sat down with cast members, Renata Vaca, Diego Calva and Joaquín Cosío to discuss this incredible new series.

Natalia Beristáin is a highly accomplished director and writer, and currently… she serves as the showrunner of the new Apple TV+ series, Midnight Family. And to celebrate the first season of this show, we sat down with Natalia to discuss all things Midnight Family.
​
John Betancourt I would like to start by getting to know what inspired you to come on as the showrunner of this series. 
 
Natalia Beristáin: Well, the invitation I got by the Fabula team. They had the rights for the documentary, but that was it, at the moment, and I was doing a show with them, and they asked if I wanted to develop it with them and think how this idea can become a fiction show. So having that opportunity like to develop it from scratch, or with this amazing promise that the documentary had, but making it our own and portraying my city, portraying what I live and hate and love every day in the city as a local, and with a local team as well, like local creative team, it was hard to pass. 
 
John Betancourt: You bring up a really good point about taking this in a very expansive direction, because I was very impressed with the fact that this series is, at times, it feels very much like a very scripted drama, but also it feels like a documentary, and it also feels very, very real and very raw, which I really appreciated. As a showrunner, what went into the decision to add such depth and add such realism to this particular story. Because this isn't something that medical shows tend to do. 
 
Natalia Beristáin: See I think it, I mean, we know these medical shows that have been going on for so many years, and there, obviously there's a formula there that works. But we wanted to take what we thought worked from that formula and make it our own and not try to make like a generic show, but a very specific show on not only the Mexican health issue context, but also, like, the way we live, our city and our like our Latin-ity and like, embrace that and be proud of that and portray that to the world. 
 
John Betancourt: Obviously, this is there's a lot of depth just when it comes to the human experience here. And as you just said, you know the situation in Mexico City when it comes to the to the medical setup there, ideally, what do you hope the audience takes away when they watch this show? 
 
Natalia Beristáin: See, totally I mean, for me, I mean, you have the medical drama, but it's about the human drama. And I think that it doesn't really matter where you're from or where you live. You can connect with that. You can connect with the fact that you're trying to pay the rent, you're trying to figure out who you are, in the middle of working, and you're falling in love for the first time. You're leaving your child because, not because you want to, but because you have to go and work and make money and all of that. That's the human drama, and that for me, is the core of our show, with the particularity that these characters live in an ambulance and have this adrenaline and rush and deal with life and death, but again, they just want to come to their house and take a bath. And, yeah, chill.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously, this is a very ambitious tale as well. Just it's so grand and so sweeping as well. I love that too. What were some of the big challenges you encountered as a showrunner in assembling something so grand.
 
Natalia Beristáin: Every single thing that you can think of. I mean, shooting nights. We had a very long 25-week shooting, and of course, just by the name you know, you know that you're going to have a lot of shooting nights. Assembling this amazing cast, which I'm so proud of, but it took a while to make it happen, having a scope of a show that could compete with any show out there, but that still doesn't lose its local flavor, if, and doesn't lose sight of what mattered to us, which, again, it's a character driven piece, so having all those layers happening at the same time, it was definitely not easy, But I'm proud of the job accomplished. 
 
John Betancourt: Obviously, this is something that, you know, that you put a lot of work into. You very deeply care about. I can tell them in how you speak about it. What does it mean to you now to have it out to the world?
 
Natalia Beristáin: I'm just thrilled that it's out there. Finally. I'm thrilled that not only my work, but the team's work is going to be portrayed there, and the people worldwide can have a different look at what Mexico is, because usually at least the shows that happen on a bigger scale that portrayed Mexico or Latin American countries, they usually get, like, directors from outside to come and narrate our stories, which is fine, but this has that local point of view, and that, for me, is like something I'm really proud of. 
 
John Betancourt: Outside of that depth, we discussed, what else are you most excited for audiences to experience without giving any spoilers away?
 
Natalia Beristáin: Well, it's going to be a little window to Mexico City or to the different cities that Mexico City has. It also, I think, it opens questions about, “How does the public health system work in my community? Do I know how it works?” There are also social like narratives that we're touching without making a big political thing out of it. But I think the Latino creative minds behind it, behind and on camera… I am so proud of the scope of our show. I'm so proud of the actors and actresses that are portrayed there. Story wise, the fact that we're telling a story that doesn't necessarily -- it's new characters. I think it's refreshing to see Latino characters that are not Narcos or criminals. It's another part of our society and that I'm proud of as well. 
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity

After skipping an elimination during last week’s episode of The Anonymous on USA Network, they resumed with a vengeance during last night’s episode. For Jack, the loveable gamer that invented some amazing strategies during his time on the show, was sent home by Victoria. And to properly bid farewell to Jack, we sat down with him to discuss his experiences on the show. 
 
John Betancourt: I’d love to start by asking what I’ve asked all of your competitors, how you came to be involved in the show. 
 
Jack Usher: It’s actually a fun background story. My friends and I during Covid, during lockdown, we had nothing to do. Nobody could go to work or anything. So, to pass the time and stay connected, we got really hooked on the board game Settlers of Catan, and we played, you know, addictively. The joke was, we were the best players in the world, but we only played against each other. And then when Covid started letting up, and there were actually --we found there were in person tournaments. And we were like, “Let's see if we're actually any good,” you know, we go to the tournaments. One of my buddies wins the first tournament, qualifies for the US Nationals.
 
I then, I'm like, I want to play in nationals. Go to five more tournaments. Six of us end up qualifying for nationals. I make semis, get knocked out by my friend. He then goes on to win the US Nationals. He then goes on to play in Worlds, comes in second place in the world. So, in a sense, we are some of the best players in the world. As ridiculous as that is, and casting reached out to him. They figured a Catan player might be good at this game. He's an actor, so he, you know, doesn't want to be pegged as the reality TV guy by casting, for, you know, actual traditional stuff, but he sent him my way, which I'm very appreciative of. Shout out to Eric Freeman, incredible Catan player, great friend, and that's how I got on the show. As ridiculous as that is.
 
John Betancourt: Yeah, no, I love that. That's, that's quite the journey. But obbviously, I have to go right to the million-dollar question… that was an emotional goodbye. That was, definitely, I think, the most emotional goodbye of anybody to date on the show. How hard was it to go home?
 
Jack Usher: For me, it was really tough. And I think it was maybe the toughest for me for a few reasons. One is that I was doing really well, and so I felt like I really started to feel like I could win the whole thing at the beginning of the show. You know, it's not even real yet. It's all ridiculous, and then you start really doing well, and then you can, kind of, like, taste it. There's also another element for me, where, you know, I'm the gamer, I'm the games guy. This is sort of my whole identity, in a way. And so, I was trying to, essentially, like, realize my own identity by winning and but in a sense, losing is… that is such a central part of gaming. It's like, if you're a gamer, you've lost, and I've lost. The thing that I tell people when I beat them at games, and they're like, “I'll never be as good as you,” or “How are you so good?” is I've lost more times than you've played. And so, you gotta ultimately, you know, losing is a good friend of mine, and there's as many lessons to be learned from losing, if not more than winning. So yeah, it was super tough, and I really wanted it. I don't know if anyone else there wanted it quite like how I did, but hey, that's, that's the game, and I was super lucky to play at all. 
 
John Betancourt: You also had some of the best strategies out there. I think really, you and Xavier probably had the two best strategies to go with. And I'm kind of curious how you came up with the amazing strategies that you came up with. Because, I mean, you won The Anonymous multiple times, I think, more than anybody else in the game, and you just kept figuring out ways to do it.
 
Jack Usher: Yeah. So, it's so interesting. It's the first iteration of this show. And so, I basically came in and was just trying stuff. I'd like hypothesize an idea and then try it. And sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't, but some of them were very successful. So, my initial idea was I wanted to double bluff as a woman pretending to be a man, and so I thought the football handle was the most, in my opinion, gendered handle towards being a man. And I threw in some language about, oh, dudes, you know, I don't think they aired one, but people started making, like, puns on their own handles, like, “I'm just here eating my popcorn,” and I said something like, “Well, I think this conversation's been a touchdown,” which, to me, is so like, you know, someone who doesn't know anything about football really would say that, like, it doesn't really even make sense. So that was my try, that, in addition to putting Andy at risk, who, by the way, I had no intention of sending home, but I thought that that was probably my best chance, and it really worked. And then afterwards, on the second handle, I had to try something different, and I stumbled upon the Xavier strategy of pretending to be Lilly or Bismah.
 
So, I was just trying stuff, and some of it really worked, and there were parts that didn't totally work, uh, I would definitely, if I were to do it again, I think my big error was being a little too vocal. Ultimately, towards the end, I think as I like, got closer to the end of the game, I started, like, doing too much, but I think I did pretty well in Anonymous mode. I don't think anybody at any point was had me locked in and pegged as a handle like how I think people did for a lot of people.
 
John Betancourt: Now you kind of mentioned some of what you would do a little differently, maybe being a little less vocal. What else would you have done, strategy wise, differently now that you’ve had time to kind of reflect on this
 
Jack Usher: Interesting yeah, what would I have done? I would not have partnered with Xavier for the partner challenge.
 
John Betancourt: I wonder why, that was a tad messy. Stacking those boxes. 
 
Jack Usher: Oh, yeah, totally. I… that was, that was a brutal challenge. It was also so windy. I don't know if youcould tell that, but also because, we were already sitting there talking, and DANI announced the challenge and said, “You’ve got to partner up with someone.” And he was right there, pick someone now, and it was like, “Okay, we're here. Let's go.” In retrospect, I wasn't playing for safety in that challenge because I had just gotten safety, and I didn't want to be the guy who's always safe, because I wanted to lower my threat level. But I think by partnering with Xavier, you know, some of his shine, you know, rubbed off on me, and he was always going to be the most threatening player to anyone in the game at every stage. So, I think I had to get in with Xavier, but also maintain a little bit of a distance from him, which I think I failed to do, especially by partnering with him. 
 
John Betancourt: Now in staying with time to reflect, I'm very curious what you're going to miss the most about being on this show. 
 
Jack Usher: Wow. What am I going to miss the most? You know, it's a dumb answer, but the people. I really think the other players were super special people who I don't -- they're not necessarily the type of people I get to interact with every day. And I think as sometimes, as you get older, your pool of connections sort of whittles down. And so just getting to get out there and meet all these different characters, um, was really special, that… that was a really special element of the game. Um, so that's like, the lame answer, which is true, though, but maybe also just getting to be, like, unabashedly, like, underhanded. I think that that is fun. I don't… I'm very, you know, straight up in real life. And part of why I love to play games is because it's an arena where everybody knows the thing. Everyone knows you're playing to win, and lying is and deceit is totally part of the game. And so, I think having an arena to do that where it's totally acceptable, I will miss that, but I also have other games, so I'll get other chances.
 
This Interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.