(Courtesy of ABC/Giovanni Rufino)
Continuing after its epic two-part mystery, Villain Media has an exclusive interview with Deception executive producer Chris Fedak discussing Getting Away Clean, starring Ilfenesh Hadera and Jack Cutmore-Scott. Take a trip to New York City to learn how magician Cameron Black (Scott) and FBI agent Kay Daniels (Hadera) fight crime through the art of magic.
As we previously mentioned, the career of superstar Las Vegas magician Cameron Black (Jack Cutmore-Scott) may have been ruined by scandal. But he’s found another place to put his skills of deception, influence, and illusion to use; the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As a consulting illusionist, Cameron uses every trick — even while inventing new ones as necessary — to help the government catch the world’s most elusive criminals and solve crimes that defy all explanation.
Before an all-new episode airs Sunday, May 13th, 2018, showrunner Chris Fedak and I will be dissecting the episode, Getting Away Clean, which featured magician Cameron Black (Scott) witnessing the consequences of his actions. We’ll also be talking about the inspiration behind the Alistair death trap and Jonathan (Scott)’s return to prison. So if you get a kick out of director’s commentaries as much as I do, you’re definitely going to love the behind-the-scenes trivia!
[Spoilers: In case you haven’t seen the episode, please read our recaps and watch the installment on ABC.Go.com. From this point-on, we’re diving deep into the episode.]
ADAM FERRARA, JACK CUTMORE-SCOTT
At the beginning of Getting Away Clean, a rift has been brewing between Cameron and Kay Daniels (Hadera) since the aftermath of Multiple Outs. There is also distrust within the magic team, especially since Jordan (Justin Chon) lied to them.
Villain Media: Getting Away Clean starts out with a rift between Cameron and the magic/FBI team. Was that what the Mystery Woman had planned all along? To have them divided?
Chris Fedak: No, I don’t think so. When Cameron asks Jordan to help him in Episode 8, he deceived the rest of the team. When Cameron tells the Mystery Woman he’s going to help her, these were things he wanted to do to help his brother. But when it didn’t work out, when he went back to Kay and the others, he had broken things a little bit. This episode is about him trying to mend it, trying to prove it can work again. I don’t think that was the Mystery Woman’s plan. That’s just the natural, emotional ramifications of what Cameron did. It’s more Cameron’s own making.
In Getting Away Clean, Cameron stumbles upon a case involving a street cop (Adam Ferrara). The police officer claims he witnessed a murder but there was no body to be found.
VM: Tell me about guest star Adam Ferrara, who was just excellent in Rescue Me! He made the transition very well from firefighter to police officer!
CF: I know! We got the chance to work with Adam; knowing what he had done in Nurse Jackie and Rescue Me. Also keep in mind, we were trying to make a New York story. There was no one more perfect than Adam. And so, I was stoked! This is great! We had a couple of moments in that episode, and there’s one where he had this speech, he just breaks your heart. That’s what a great comedy actor does! They can make you laugh, you feel for them. And I found they can also break your heart at the perfect time. He’s tremendous! It was a real gift for us and we were super excited!
Meanwhile, Gunter (Vinnie Jones) was searching for clues about the Black family history. In the the Alistair death trap, Gunter suddenly found himself being threatened by a voice beyond the grave. Cameron’s great grandfather warned death before his vinyl record burst into flames.
VM: Tell me about how the Alistair death trap came about.
CF: [Laughs] First off, working with Vinnie Jones and these really fun actors, I feel like you really need them stuck in the walls. I think something like that happened to me back in the day on Chuck. You know, it’d be really funny if Adam Baldwin got stuck in a wall! The more we we were trying to break that episode, even though we wanted to bring back emotionally the streets of New York, I didn’t want our audiences to forget about this mythology playing out. I didn’t want to lose that. I still what that to play out in this episode and follow that thread! And so, thinking of Vinnie being stuck in a wall, that seemed like a lot of fun.
Gunter (Jones) knows The Archive of Illusion pretty well. It’s a mystery in its own right. It’a huge piece of property. It’s been in the Black family for years. There’s a lot of mysteries hidden inside that place. I wanted to explore the traps and the labyrinth that lives beneath it. This is our first glimpse of that. Having Vinnie do it was a lot of fun!
VM: Tell me about putting Vinnie Jones in a horror movie. He’s a tough dude and a football star! He sells the scene, especially when he has to show the skull to Jordan (Chon)!
CF: Vinnie is like one of the toughest people I know. He’s an amazing soccer star and tough as nails. If someone was going to be sucked down into the labyrinth, it had to be Vinnie! He had to find some really scary stuff down there. That was the challenge, Vinnie is also a great actor! Watching get his senses peeled away is really a testament to his skills as an actor!
Elsewhere, Mike Alvarez (Amaury Nolasco) has been continuing his romance with Dina (Lenora Crichlow). After having dinner together, Mike made good on his promise and introduced Dina to his two kids.
VM: Dina and Mike have these sweet, romantic moments. Is it more of a challenge to come up with ways to ship these characters because of Chuck?
CF: You know, I feel like when it comes to shipping, I didn’t know about shipping when I did Chuck. I didn’t know what that was a thing. As a storyteller/writer/producer on the show, when we saw the pilot back then, there was instant chemistry between Chuck and Sarah. That was definitely a big part of the show. It affected it in a big way.
For us, we found the chemistry between Mike and Dina. They’re really fun and charming. They also have a great chemistry. It’s something we really want to play out. It also throws from a writer’s perspective, it also does cause good complications. Dina had that kind of relationship with Jonathan, who she also has chemistry with. We really wanted to explore it. Let’s go down this road and see how this relationship plays out. This episode speaks of their chemistry. They’re having a nice romantic dinner while Gunter screams in the labyrinth! [Laughs] That’s a lot of fun!
Towards the conclusion, Kay managed to let go of her grudge against Cameron. She revealed how frightened she was seeing Cameron almost suffocate to death.
VM: Kay previously mentioned her sister’s death. She just saw Cameron almost suffocate to death. Is her past coming back to haunt her?
CF: I think it comes along more of the lines of, her relationship with Cameron is changing. This is a big moment. Literally watching Cameron almost die in episode 8, that was a huge moment for her. She’s registering her emotions. In this episode, Cameron hurt her. He betrayed her in a way. It affected her when she saw what happened here. It’s more about the fragility of the team and the dangerous things they do. Kay is an FBI agent, she knows there is going to be danger; she expect that. She needs him to know that what he did in the last episode affected her.
Getting Away Clean also featured Jonathan Black’s return to prison. Because the other prisoners think he’s a rat, all eyes are on Jonathan when the prison librarian is burnt to a crisp.
VM: Jonathan is back in prison, learning the hard truth; snitches get stitches.
CF: That prison is a dangerous place. We knew that Jonathan was getting a special room, working on the case, that was something that wasn’t going to be good for other people to find out. It’s a dark story happening for Jonathan. He didn’t succeed; he didn’t get out in episode 8. And now he’s back in there. Things are getting more dangerous. We’ll see over the next few episodes just how perilous that situation is.
Our illusionist is running out of time. Don’t miss Sunday’s new episode of #Deception! pic.twitter.com/fNbZqS4YrQ
— Deception (@DeceptionABC) May 4, 2018
VM: What can you say about the cliffhanger with Jonathan in trouble? After the two-part mystery, was it challenge to come up with or topping the previous cliffhangers?
CF: You know, it’s weird! I don’t see the end of episode 9 as a cliffhanger. I know it looks like a cliffhanger but it’s not like Cameron getting kidnaped. I don’t see it as every episode needs a cliffhanger. It’s funny but this is the first time I’m seeing it as a cliffhanger. We weren’t trying to top episode 7. We knew that was a huge cliffhanger, in the traditional sense of someone hanging from a cliff. You’re right! There is a fun tension, but I don’t think I was trying to up the ante.
Deception continues next Sunday night, May 13th, at 10pm.
By Jorge Solis