[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Season 2 of Found.]
TheNBCseriesFoundfollows Gabi Mosely (Shanola Hampton), a kidnapping survivor turned advocate for the missing who had been keeping the monster that haunted her nightmares chained in her basement until his escape. Since walking free again, Sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) has spent Season 2 not only threatening Gabi, but tormenting the entire team of M&A, raising the tension between them to an all-time high. Somehow, they have managed to remain focused on their larger goal of finding and bringing home those that have largely been forgotten and overlooked, all while Detective Mark Trent (Brett Dalton) has continued to compile a case against Gabi for taking matters into her own hands.
After screening episode 211, entitled “Missing While Misunderstood,” about a missing Black neurodivergent boy whose family wants to get him home before he suffers from an emotional breakdown, Collider got the opportunity to chat one-on-one with showrunnerNkechi Okoro Carrollabout how the episode was inspired by her own sons, connecting with viewers on an emotional and human level, casting the talented young actors, the moment they wanted to take great care to shoot, and how fulfilling it is to have such strong support for the stories they want to tell. She also talked about just how much Sir is unraveling, that they’re now heading into round two of the cat-and-mouse game between Gabi and Sir, how Sir and Trent have been waiting to face each other, the questions about Christian (Michael Cassidy), whether we should be suspicious of Heather (Danielle Savre), and whether that really is Jamie that’s stepped back into Margaret’s (Kelli Williams) life.
‘Found’ Showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll Was Inspired by Her Own Sons for the Latest Episode
Collider: This week’s episode not only provides representation that we don’t often get to see, but it can also teach viewers something. Unless you have a connection to someone who is neurodivergent, it can be a hard thing to explain and understand, especially because there’s such a spectrum to it. With this episode being inspired by your own life, how long had you been thinking about exploring something like this? How do you figure out what you wanted to include when it’s only one episode?
NKECHI OKORO CARROLL: Our cases are so often inspired, for the entire writers’ room, by these personal stories. That means so much to us. At the start of every season, I always have a handful of cases where I’m like, “Oh, if it feels right in the theme and the storyline that I’m telling, I wanna make sure we do a case about this, or I wanna make sure we do a case about that.”My sons are always at the forefront of everything I do and part of my goal in life is to make sure they grow up in a world where they feel worthy of being the A-storyand where they know that their lives are worth the A-story. And so, it was just that everything perfectly aligned for me to be able to tell a story about neurodivergent children and specifically a neurodivergent Black boy. As soon as it all came together, I was like, “This is the perfect time to do that case.” I was excited and just wrote from the heart. With everything that I was trying to do in that episode, I was able to really personalize this case for our viewers.
It’s so well done because you really get such an understanding of it in a way that connects emotionally, even if you don’t fully understand the definition.
CARROLL: At the end of the day, that’s what all these stories we’re trying to tell are about. We just wanna connect with our audience on an emotional and human level, even if they don’t know anyone like that, or they don’t understand all the terminology. Just on a human heart-to-heart, soul to soul level, you connect with them, and we’ve been so grateful to be able to do that.
‘Found’ Star Teases More Backstory for Each Character in Season 2: “You’re Going to See All Sorts of Things”
‘Found’ returns on Thursday, January 16 on NBC.
I love the dynamic between the brothers when they meet. There’s something so beautiful about watching two people connect in that way. What was it like to find the right actors for those roles and to really see them bring that to life?
CARROLL: Both of those kids, and I call them kids because one of them was under 18 and the other one is older, reminded me so much of so many kids. I’ve come across so many phenomenally talented young actors, and they just had that thing that you’re able to’t put your finger on. When their audition tapes came across my desk, we all stopped watching an audition and we were all just caught up in the story, even though I knew the words and they were sides that I’ve written. It was a moment where we all paused because we were just so caught up in the performances, and that’s when you know. My casting director had to be like, “Are you still there?” And I was like, “Oh, my God, yes. Sorry. I got caught up watching it all unfold.” That’s when we knew we had the right people for it, who weren’t trying to act. They were just honestly giving an honest portrayal of how they emotionally connected to both of those roles, and it was a really beautiful thing.
The scene with the cops arresting TJ was gut-wrenching. What was that scene like to figure out?
CARROLL: It was gut-wrenching to write. That was a very tough scene to write. It was a very tough scene to crack. It was a very tough scene to shoot. It was a lot, for all of us. All the actors were so fantastic and so beautiful and so careful with each other. But it is such a visceral image that after every take, we would all stop and be like, “Everyone is okay, right?” And everyone would give each other a hug. There was no rolling through takes and just shooting it.There was an emotional check-in with everybody on the crew and in the cast, every time we shot a take or a different angle of that scene, because even if you’re not a parent and even just as a regular human walking through the world, there’s no way that seeing something like that doesn’t affect you. We had our young actor’s mother on set, who was just phenomenal. She was like, “We’re good. You guys are so sweet.” And I was like, “No child is getting emotionally damaged on my set. While he’s here, he has a second mom in me.” She was so floored by how careful we were all being. But I was like, “He’s given us the gift of giving us a truthful performance. The least we can do is to make sure that everyone is as safe and okay emotionally okay while we’re doing something like that.”
It must have been especially hard for the actors playing the cops in that scene.
CARROLL: Literally after every take, one of the cops would be like, “Oh, my God, I love you. I’m so sorry.” This episode was directed by David McWhirter, who has directed on a lot of my shows and is really just a beautiful director and beautifully empathetic human being. Even for him, he was like, “We are not shooting one more take that we need.” He was so careful about how he crafted the scene with our stunt coordinators and how it all came together, and making sure the actors, crew and everyone felt safe doing that. When you have a work family that has come together and is so emotionally invested in telling the story, and your all working together with the same emotional heart, that’s when we get to work like this and know that it has an impact.
And then, you go and bury the kid in a box.
CARROLL: Which, by the way, no matter the thing we think up in the room where we’re like, ‘Okay, this is the minute we’ve gone too far, this would never happen,” one of our phenomenal assistants will come back with research and be like, “Well, actually, a version of this happened.” Every time we think we have thought of the worst thing someone could do, someone trumps us and we’re like, “Oh, this is why we have to keep telling these stories People should be shocked by it. People should be paying close attention to these situations to make sure that cases like this don’t keep happening.”
I know it’s a character on television, but I just thought, “Please just let him have a happy life, after the end of this episode.”
CARROLL: In my imagination, he’s living a beautifully wonderful life with his father and his two dads and all the people who love him.
Everyone Who Makes ‘Found," From the Studio to the Network to the Cast and Crew, Are on the Same Page With the Story They’re Telling
The moment with these two grown adult Black men getting emotional and hugging their families just made me want to ugly cry. What does it mean to you to do a TV series that can have a moment like that in it?
CARROLL: I’m just so grateful. I’m grateful for Warner Bros. I’m grateful for NBC. I’m grateful for all of my producers. Everyone is so on board.These aren’t storylines I have to fight for.Those aren’t images I have to fight for. I don’t have to go in there and be like, “Look, it’s really important that we see two Black men so emotional, working together to save their Black son. Everyone is on board, and that just makes the notes call and conference calls when we’re all talking through themes so amazing because we’re already on the same page. So now, it’s all about everyone contributing to the best story, the best visuals, the best way to get all of this across. And so, for what was a very emotional episode to write, it truly was such a fulfilling experience because everyone from the network to the studio, all the way down through the crew and the cast, everyone was just onboard for telling this story.
Throughout the first season, it felt like Sir was holding so much in and was so measured in everything that he did. But this season, he definitely feels a bit unhinged.
CARROLL: Unhinged is my favorite word. In Season 2, he’s unhinged. He just is.
‘Found’s Shanola Hampton Trusts the Plan for This Rollercoaster of a Show: “Our Showrunner Already Has Five Seasons in Her Mind”
“On a personal level, I miss not being in scenes with Mark-Paul Gosselaar,” says Hampton, of having less moments with Gabi and Sir in the same room.
What’s it like to figure out who that character is as he unravels?
CARROLL: Truthfully, when I first pitched the show and NBC gave us the pickup and I turned in the Bible, I’d had the first few years planned out. So, this was always Sir and it was always buried underneath there. I always knew that this side of him was gonna come out once you took the chain off his ankle and took the bars away. Now, we’re getting a glimpse of that. It’s been so fun because Mark-Paul [Gosselaar] is so gifted. It’s just been a dream to watch him take these storylines and take these words and bring them to life. It’s one of my most favorite parts, to sit there watching the dailies and be like, “Okay, I wanna see where Mark-Paul goes with this.” There was a version in my head, and then he just elevates it and unleashes this other side of Sir that’s so great. But that was always intentional.
It’s the same way Gabi was lulled by the fact that there was a chain around his ankle. I wanted the audience to feel like, “We know who Sir is.” Maybe we did too good a job of that becauseI wasn’t expecting everyone to ‘ship them so hard. I’m like, “Ladies, let’s raise our bar. I know he’s really focused and pays a lot of attention, but let’s go ahead and raise that bar for what we’re looking for in a man.” So, that was the way to lull everyone the way Gabi was, into this false sense of security when it came to, “We know Sir, we know how far he’ll go. We know how to contain him.” And then, to realize, at the end of Season 1 and as you’re watching it unfold in Season 2, that we were mistaken and he was actually just laying in wait. He was dormant and now we get to see this, which is not even the full breadth of this. There’s more to come in the back half of the season. We’re getting a taste of what Sir out in the wild looks like.
Gabi Might Have Won Round One in Her Cat-and-Mouse Game With Sir, But Round Two Is Only Just Beginning
I loved the twist in this episode, with Gabi figuring out what he’s up to and setting him up so that Trent could bring him in. Did you spend a lot of time thinking about that moment and how and when it would happen? Was it also important to find a way for Gabi to be the one to best him?
CARROLL: It had to be her.This cat-and-mouse game between them isn’t over.Round one of Season 2 goes to Gabi, and we’re about to start round two. But it had to be her, in this moment. Sir is not someone who goes down swinging, so what does he have up his sleeve? That will be very quickly answered in episode 12. We’re not gonna make the audience wait long to see how round two starts out.
It’s so interesting to watch Sir and Trent both circling around Gabi. Trent clearly feels a certain way about her, and Sir doesn’t like that he feels a certain way about her. What can you say about bringing the two of them face to face with each other when they probably just really hate each other?
CARROLL: That’s the beauty of how episode 11 ends and what we’ve been building to in the season. For the most part, Sir has been Gabi’s personal monster for a season and a half. He’s definitely also Lacey’s monster, which she rightfully reminds Gabi that she doesn’t have a monopoly on. Sir destroyed her life. But now, the rest of the team are getting tastes of what it’s like to be under Sir’s watchful eye and what it’s like to be the focus of his attention, which is not a place you wanna be. And now, it’s Trent’s turn in a very real way. Some of that, Sir was using as a way to try to get Gabi in line, implying he has information about Trent’s family and his father and his legacy and stuff that’s gonna uproot his life. Trent has been waiting for this moment to defend Gabi and also to defend everything he morally feels is right. AndSir has been waiting for this moment because Heavy Boots is the bane of his existence. So, in episode 12, we’re gonna get those moments with Trent and Sir, which is gonna be very exciting to watch. It’s what we’ve all been, quite frankly, waiting for.
It also feels like there are still so many questions about Christian. Are we going to get some answers there soon?
CARROLL: Oh, for sure. And with each answer is gonna come more questions. You know how this show goes. So, yes, we will be answering those, as we open the door to so many others and realize that this is quite the web that Sir has woven.
‘Found’ Star Danielle Savre Teases “Undeniable” Chemistry With Trent
‘Found’ resumes on January 16.
There also seems to be so much more going on with Danielle Savre’s character and the fact that she’s now in Trent’s life. She clearly has some thoughts and feelings about Gabi, as well.
CARROLL: Trent loves brilliantly smart, strong women, and that’s what Heather, Danielle’s character, is. Danielle is such a joy to have on the show. As hopefully Trent has learned, part of what makes these women so brilliant are also the things that complicate them. And man, is he gonna find himself caught between both of these women, and yet another woman that has a complicated past but still has genuine feelings for him. He’ll have to reconcile for himself where his line is in the sand.
‘Found’ Showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll Wants Viewers To Be Suspicious of the Characters
Have you seen the fan theory that she’s actually Sir’s sister? Do you feel like you’ve just conditioned the audience to be suspicious of everyone?
CARROLL: It’s so funny, it’s not just that, it’s literally people in our office. When the script goes out, I’ll get a call from people in the office that are like, “What does that mean? You’ve conditioned me to be suspicious. I don’t believe that that’s just that.” And I’m like, “I love that I’ve got everyone looking over their shoulder.” That’s what we want. That’s what makes for a good thriller at the heart of this really beautiful story about saving people that the world has forgotten. The fact that we’ve got this thriller that has everyone looking over their shoulders, the way Gabi and everyone at M&A looks over their shoulder, as a writer and as a creator, it’s the reaction I love the most.I see all the fan theories. I enjoy that everyone has gotten so creative with them.It wasn’t my intention to make everyone so suspicious. If Dhan so much as picks up a pen with the other hand, they’re like, “That’s a sign he’s about to do something. Something is about to happen." I’m like, “Oh, I love this. They’re so invested.”
I read a quote from you in an interview about this season where you said that the writers’ room is writing every episode like it’s a midseason finale, which sounds like a lot to tackle. And on top of that, you’ve got almost double the episodes, with 22 this season. Has that been a lot to keep up with? Do you feel like the additional episodes and doing a full network TV season actually worked to your advantage because you can do so much story in that time?
CARROLL: It absolutely worked to our advantage. That’s the network TV that I grew up with. I grew up onBonesandRosewoodandThe Resident. There were times when we shot 24 episodes to bank two for the next season.Getting back to old school network TV full season orders of 22, I was so excited.Truthfully, at the start of every season, when you’re looking at that blank whiteboard, whether it’s for 13 episodes or 16 or 20 or 22, there’s always a moment, as a showrunner, when your heart stops because you’re like, “I have to fill that.” And you have to fill it with brilliance and keep the audience interested and invested and coming back. And then, you take that fear, you put it in your pocket, and you dive in with passion and the season unfolds. Thankfully, I came up under some of the most phenomenal, gifted showrunners, who taught me how to do that. I came up doing 22 shows under people like Hart Hanson and Todd Harthan and Stephen Nathan. I just had to dig back in and find that muscle again.
At the end of this episode, Jamie walks back into Margaret’s life or at least claims to. My immediate reaction was to question whether it was even really Jamie. Will there be a DNA test? I have questions.
CARROLL: You’re supposed to have questions. Jamie has been such a focal point for not just Margaret, but for all of M&A. It’s the ultimate cold case for them because, even though they didn’t know Jamie personally because they weren’t around, they love Margaret and it has been a permanent hole in her heart.I’m so excited for this chapter of the show to begin and for the audience to actually really start to dig into Margaret’s past and her relationship with Jamie, and for us to finally get into his case of what really happened that day and the fallout of his return. And I cannot say enough good things about Parker, the actor who plays Jamie. He is so talented and truly has been a joy. We’re so lucky with our guest cast this season. Our recurring guest cast has been incredible. This is my dream come true.
It makes you feel protective of Margaret, who you don’t want to be taken advantage of.
CARROLL: We know how desperately Margaret wants it, and we desperately want it for Margaret, but sometimes desperately wanting something can make you turn an eye to red flags. You’ll see all of that unfold over the back half of the season. Viewers are just gonna have to keep watching to see if it’s really him.
Memories Haunt Kelli Williams in a ‘Found’ Season 2 Sneak Peek [Exclusive]
The next episode of the hit NBC series airs this Thursday.
Is there anyone else in the cast, particularly with the next handful of episodes, that has a really juicy storyline that will allow us to see some more of them?
CARROLL: Oh, absolutely, all of them. Even though each season or each half of the season has its focal point for the backstories – and earlier this season it was Lacey and now it’s gonna be Margaret – we’re constantly peeling back layers, intentionally, on all of our characters and their pasts. We’re setting our audience up with answers, and then more questions, in anticipation of digging into their backstories.There is definitely gonna be stuff for Dhan and stuff for Zeke that comes up this season, that hopefully will answer some of the questions people have about their pasts, but also present a hundred more questions. All of a sudden, you’ll realize things weren’t what we thought, as we move towards their backstories as well.
Foundairs on NBC and is available to stream on Peacock. Check out the Season 2 blooper reel:
