TVLINE | There’s not one, but at least three major cliffhangers in the finale. Was that always the plan, even before the show was renewed?
Yes. In fact, it’s been the plan for a long time. When we offered [Robert Buckley] the role of Major, he called me and said, “Listen, I just want to make sure that I’m not just going to be the boy that Liv pines for, that I’m going to have something to do,” and I pitched him the exact ending of the show. I said, “It’s going to end like Taxi Driver. You going into the zombie headquarters and mowing people down. You will have gone through this horrible journey. You will have this moment where you get to take out all these enemies.” So we were always building to that.
And probably around midseason, we had some ideas on how we wanted to reset for Season 2. We announce our big Season 2 storyline right there in the finale. Vaughan, the head of Max Rager, says, “We’re going to take out all the zombies.” So that will be a big part of Season 2, and it will make Liv and Blaine strange bedfellows. One of the things that was rough in Season 1 was we loved those two actors on screen together, but part of the season arc was Liv searching for Blaine. We couldn’t play them on screen. Next season, you’ll see a lot more of them on screen, at the same time, with a common enemy.
TVLINE | How changed is Major going to be in Season 2?
He has now killed a bunch of people. It has changed him. We wanted to paint him as a good a guy as you could ever want to meet, like the perfect guy. Lovely, sweet, charming, funny. And then just put him through a ringer and see who came out on the other side. I do think it has affected him. He is less innocent, and he probably has a darker view of the world. As we pick up Season 2, he is reeling.
TVLINE | That action sequence was like Major’s hero moment. How did that all come together? Did you have any inspirations from film?
The thing that was an inspiration when I originally asked [Robert] to do the show was Taxi Driver, when [Robert] De Niro goes to rescue teenage Jodie Foster. He’s having to move through rooms, and it would be very violent. It [is] tough to look at the two things as a direct comparison, as we’re doing broadcast network television and can’t be quite as violent. We knew we were going to push the limit as far as we could on this finale.
Yes. In fact, it’s been the plan for a long time. When we offered [Robert Buckley] the role of Major, he called me and said, “Listen, I just want to make sure that I’m not just going to be the boy that Liv pines for, that I’m going to have something to do,” and I pitched him the exact ending of the show. I said, “It’s going to end like Taxi Driver. You going into the zombie headquarters and mowing people down. You will have gone through this horrible journey. You will have this moment where you get to take out all these enemies.” So we were always building to that.
And probably around midseason, we had some ideas on how we wanted to reset for Season 2. We announce our big Season 2 storyline right there in the finale. Vaughan, the head of Max Rager, says, “We’re going to take out all the zombies.” So that will be a big part of Season 2, and it will make Liv and Blaine strange bedfellows. One of the things that was rough in Season 1 was we loved those two actors on screen together, but part of the season arc was Liv searching for Blaine. We couldn’t play them on screen. Next season, you’ll see a lot more of them on screen, at the same time, with a common enemy.
TVLINE | How changed is Major going to be in Season 2?
He has now killed a bunch of people. It has changed him. We wanted to paint him as a good a guy as you could ever want to meet, like the perfect guy. Lovely, sweet, charming, funny. And then just put him through a ringer and see who came out on the other side. I do think it has affected him. He is less innocent, and he probably has a darker view of the world. As we pick up Season 2, he is reeling.
TVLINE | That action sequence was like Major’s hero moment. How did that all come together? Did you have any inspirations from film?
The thing that was an inspiration when I originally asked [Robert] to do the show was Taxi Driver, when [Robert] De Niro goes to rescue teenage Jodie Foster. He’s having to move through rooms, and it would be very violent. It [is] tough to look at the two things as a direct comparison, as we’re doing broadcast network television and can’t be quite as violent. We knew we were going to push the limit as far as we could on this finale.
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Episode 12 ended with Peyton finding out Liv’s secret, causing her to leave the apartment with no one knowing where she went. We don’t really hear about Peyton in the finale. What was the decision behind not mentioning where she goes?
We decided to leave it open because Aly Michalka had booked a pilot [ABC's Chevy] and because she’s not one of our series regulars, we weren’t sure if we could get her back or when we could get her back and so we didn’t want to pin ourselves into a corner. We just needed an excuse for her to bolt and probably the way we answered that was going to be determined by whether or not her pilot went to series. Her pilot did not go to series, so we are hopeful we can bring her back next season.
In the finale, Liv injected this untested cure in both Blaine and Major. Can we expect side effects from her actions?
Yes. I would say expect side effects. They took a very untested drug and it will definitely have repercussions. They have not perfected a cure yet and both Blaine and Major will enter season two as non-zombies, as fully human.
Ravi had a quiet few episodes coming into the end of the season, what with him working on the cure. What can you tell us about what’s in store for him?
He will be questing for more tainted utopium; it’s the secret ingredient that he needs in order to recreate the cure and that will become his great white whale of season two, finding that and perfecting the cure. That quest will put him out in the field more; it’s not like he’ll be tinkering with that formula back at the morgue. He’ll be out in the world trying to track this down. We want to get him out of the morgue more.
Is it a full order of 22 or 13 with a possible back 9?
13 with a possible back 9.
How are you writers tackling the 13-episode order? Are you just writing 13 now and then planning on writing the back nine later or are you going in with a full 22 order in mind?
Well, we certainly want 22 and in the room we’re sort of planning on 22, but if we don’t get 22, you will see some really jam-packed episodes around [episode] 10, 11, 12, 13.
Will Clive (Malcolm Goodwin) become more suspicious about the zombie situation next season?
It’s funny. I will reference my Twitter feed again: If I left it to my Twitter feed, Liv would’ve told everyone in episode 2. I like that there are secrets Liv is keeping. Somehow Clark Kent managed to keep it from Lois and Jimmy that he’s not Superman for 50 years. I’m hoping we can pull it off for two seasons with someone. That’s a different question than, “Will Clive ever land on zombies?” We’re breaking the first half of season 2 right now. It’s not on the board right now. At a certain point he may be presented with too much evidence. I never want to make him look dopey for not figuring it out. But right now there are no plans on it. We haven’t put it on the board yet.
It’s funny. I will reference my Twitter feed again: If I left it to my Twitter feed, Liv would’ve told everyone in episode 2. I like that there are secrets Liv is keeping. Somehow Clark Kent managed to keep it from Lois and Jimmy that he’s not Superman for 50 years. I’m hoping we can pull it off for two seasons with someone. That’s a different question than, “Will Clive ever land on zombies?” We’re breaking the first half of season 2 right now. It’s not on the board right now. At a certain point he may be presented with too much evidence. I never want to make him look dopey for not figuring it out. But right now there are no plans on it. We haven’t put it on the board yet.
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