(Courtesy of ABC/Giovanni Rufino)
Before airing on a special new night, Villain Media has an exclusive interview with executive producer Chris Fedak discussing ABC’s newest crime/magic drama, Deception, starring Jack Cutmore-Scott and Ilfenesh Hadera. Find out how the creator/showrunner was able to stop crime and use magic with the help of magician Cameron Black (Scott) and FBI agent Kay Daniels (Hadera).
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, entitled Sacrifice 99 To Fool One, airs on a special Tuesday night at 10pm, showrunner Chris Fedak discusses how the previous installment, Black Art, came together. Find out how Cameron’s magic and Kay’s FBI team were able to pull off a major rescue and catch the bad guy in return!
JUSTIN CHON, LENORA CRICHLOW, VINNIE JONES
[Spoilers: In case you haven’t seen the episode, please read our recap and watch the sixth installment on ABC.GO.com. From this point-on, we’re diving deep into the plot.]
In Black Art, we follow the FBI and Magic team as they end up working side-by-side on the same case. During the rescue mission, I laughed out loud seeing how Gunter Gustafsen (Vinnie Jones) and Dina Clark (Lenora Crichlow) are afraid of FBI agent Deakins (Laila Robins), who’s technically their boss.
I ask, “Was that the fun part? Putting all these different personalities together and having them work together?”
Fedak responds, “You’re absolutely right! That was something we wanted to get to when working on the show. How much of the magic team can we bring into it?”
The sixth episode starts with the magic team working hard to distract Cameron (Scott) from reading the morning’s newspaper, which features his former girlfriend on the cover. Though Jordan (Justin Chon) was able to throw the newspaper into the trash, the magic team groans and sighs after Kay Daniels (Hadera) mentions she is investigating the break-in to an apartment of a famous supermodel. Waving their hands in the air, they’re too late to stop her when Kay asks about Cameron’s former girlfriend, bringing back the bad memories.
Not only does this scene demonstrate the charisma behind the FBI and magic team, it shows how the ensemble cast has nailed their comedic timing together.
Fedak continues, “I think we quickly learned as we were shooting episode 2. We love the magic team! They were fantastic! They were so much fun! Maybe we can bring them into the show more!”
In episode 2, Forced Perspective, Fedak refers to how the magic and FBI team were working together on an elaborate stunt to fool a gangster. In the sequence, Mikhail witnesses Cameron die while the magician really slips out from under the covers and a cadaver slides into his place. Kay and her partner, Mike Alvarez (Amaury Nokasco) then march in and grab Mikhail’s confession.
Fedak explains, “And so, as we get into episode six, Black Art, I really wanted to show the audience how the team works. We see Gunter at the crime scene with Cameron. We have a moment with Gunter and Jordan when they are out meeting with our mad scientist type of character, who talks about how the black art technology works.”
At the climax, we see Cameron pull off an incredible stunt as he jumps on top of a speeding car. During the rescue, Jordan guides Cameron as breaks into the car’s dashboard and crosses the wires. Cameron yanks the wires just before the car is about to crash, stopping to an abrupt halt.
Fedak continues, “That’s a great way for us to build up the show through the characters. It shows how much fun it is! It’s a blast seeing Jordan sittinging there in the middle of the night, with the FBI, looking at their computer. For me, I like having the show where the fun world of illusion is mixed in with the grounded world of the FBI. That’s the Deception group!”
Now that the magic and FBI team have worked together, they will really need to work at their best when The Femme Fatale strikes. Making a major discovery, Jonathan Black (Scott) discovers that his brother, Cameron, is her next target.
AMAURY NOLASCO, ILFENESH HADERA, LAILA ROBINS, JACK CUTMORE-SCOTT
In episode 7, Sacrifice 99 To Fool One, airing April 24th, 2018, the Mystery Woman aka the Femme Fatale (Stephanie Corneliussen) has suddenly kidnapped Cameron.The FBI reluctantly calls on convict/magician Jonathan Black (Scott) to help find his missing brother. Will Kay and Jonathan be able to stop the Mystery Woman from committing her next crime?
[Writer’s Note: Links are highlighted in bold. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]
A special Deception episode airs Tuesday, April 24th, 2018 at 10pm, before another all-new installment makes its way on its regular Sunday night, April 29th, and time at 10pm.