This post contains details from the first two episodes ofBlindspottingSeason 2 onStarz.
Hes turning seven, and its the first birthday hes celebrating without his dad.
But, theres a beacon of hope, as Ashley and Seans first weekend visitation with Miles is approaching.
Jasmine Cephas Jones in ‘Blindspotting’Starz
Everyone keeps telling Ashley she should be happy, so why is she miserable?
RAFAEL CASAL:Yeah, absolutely.
So that was a learning experience of where he really thrives and excels.
So how she played Rainey fundamentally changed everything on the page.
We didnt realize how funny she was.
Once you get everyone together, you really see where the strength and the character dynamics are.
And these two characters are really interesting together.
And so then we dial that up.
Just being unafraid to let the show kind of teach us what it is a bit.
DAVEED DIGGS:Television is the only place where this relationship between actor and writer exists.
You get to watch somebody do something and react to that as a writer.
Its really very exciting.
Thats the most exciting thing about television.
DEADLINE: As you were talking about that, were there any specific moments you thought of?
CASAL:Season 2, I think overall, we just let Jaylen off the chain.
Shes so funny all the time.
Shes just got five jokes in the chamber.
We saw that she was doing all of this training and stuff outside of the show.
We were like, Oh, we got to use that.
I think Daveed and I both really like to lean into where peoples natural inclinations are.
You see that people are firing on all cylinders when theyre in their element.
Part of Season 1 was just getting to know these people.
But theres a Western episode in Season 2, thats episode six.
And Jaylen had done all this horseback riding onFree Reinon Netflix and she knows how to ride.
So just things like that.
You get to know people and you understand where their natural abilities shine.
DIGGS:That was exactly it.
That was exactly the design of the season.
We established that we are going to stay together.
This is not going to break us up.
Lets not just pick up where we left off.
Lets see, what are the struggles a year?
Where its not new anymore.
Like, this is your normal.
So what was that like?
Its a debate they could have over and over again Im his wife vs. Im his mother.
How do you find a consensus on that?
CASAL:Who knows if you ever do.
DIGGS:In any relationship.
Who gets this exclusivity?
A prison system designing a machination for families to stay together is fundamentally going to be flawed.
That is an inherently sweet program that doesnt exist in many other places.
It is more liberal than most prisons in the country.
However, even just by presenting that option, you present a number of new problems.
Which inmates get this privilege?
Is family a privilege or is it a necessity for rehabilitation?
Who gets to go?
What impact is this going to have on the people that get to go?
Should it be the new wife [who gets visitation]?
It presents a number of family tensions.
And thats before we even get into like, when does Trish get to go?
Does he ever get time just alone with his son?
Should they trade off?
This is the dilemma of families that are subjected to this when somebody goes to prison.
Is there actually a just way to go through this?
That felt like a good inciting incident for Season 2.
No one is ever happy when theyre telling you how happy you should be.
Or even Earls rap at the end of Season 1?
CASAL:We have rules for all the conventions of when they happen or when they dont.
This is why I made the choices I made.
When were talking about a justice system, this is their appeal to the court of public opinion.
Thats the beautiful thing about dance.
Dance is this expression of a feeling without the crutch of language.
DIGGS:Thats just making art.
Lets chop this down music video style.
Theres no way to predict that.
I mean, youd think there would be.
But it often slips by.
CASAL:Sometimes also, its just not needed.
You think that this is going to be a feeling that needs to be expressed.
You sit on somebodys face.
You know what theyre thinking.
They dont need to say anything.
So sometimes its about less.
Sometimes we plan a dance sequence for months.
And then we get there on the day and were like, Theres just no way this day finishes.
Not without being a 14 hour day.
Lets get rid of this dance scene.
We sit there as executive producers and we go Does it make or break the episode?
The story is everything.
Our job as creators of the show is the spine of the show.
Is the thing we set out to do coming across?
DIGGS:Its been a steep learning curve to get to that point in my life.
CASAL:The problem is that we also say, Shoot the cool man.
What are some of those moments in Season 2?
DIGGS:Oh, man, theres a ton.
Our days to shoot in the bay are so precious.
Theyre not many of them.
Whats something you could only get here?
So that was one of those, for me.
CASAL:Lukas Lounge was huge.
We kept it open for two months so we could shoot the exteriors there.
Sometimes its the double down on the localness.
We go down to the 10 people who are going to understand this.
What would actually happen?
That happens when were actually shooting in the Bay.
And then when were on set in LA, its like twice as heavy.
Because we know were not in the Bay.
We know that were in a warehouse.
So were going to double and triple down on everything, even if its just for Daveed and I.
