With just four episodes into NBC’s Midnight, Texas, fans of the books on which the series is based, will notice right off the bat the breakneck speed at which the story is moving along. “We’ve amped up the pace from the books because the books have this sort of small-town pace, and we’re just really fast moving,” Showrunner & Executive Producer Monica Owusu-Breen told OMFGTV in a previous interview.
Because the supernatural series’ first season is just 10 episodes, the creative team had to narrow their focus, which meant cutting a couple characters from the story as well as increasing the flow of the narrative. So the extremely fast pacing is understandable, and we’d have it no other way!
One of the examples of the amped-up pacing is the relationship between Manfred (François Arnaud) and Creek (Sarah Ramos). While it took forever for the pair to even kiss in the first book of the Charlaine Harris series, on the TV adaptation, the two already done did it in the opening scene of episode three, “Lemuel, Unchained.”
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Earlier this year OMFGTV sat down with Arnaud and Ramos, where they discussed other differences between the books and their TV counterparts, as well as what’s to come for their relationship.
“I think [TV] Manfred still has from the book the rebellious personality and some of the piercings,” Arnaud tells us. “I like the self-deprecating attitude of Manfred. He uses humor to rise above the awful situations that he’s put through every week.”
As for Creek, Sarah says the aspiring writer is “a little more different” in the show than in the book. “I listened to the book on audio tape, and when the woman did the voice for Creek, it was always very kind of timid and very sweet, and that’s still a part of the character,” she says. “She’s a loving older sister and loves everyone in town, but in the show she gets to be a little bit sassier and have a dry sense of humor.”
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“I like that throughout the season that Creek will definitely be faced with some challenges,” Ramos continues. “She grows from being a daughter and a sister into being an independent woman.”
Aside from her overprotective father (douchey much?), Manfred and Creek’s (Manfreek?) relationship appears to be going strong. But with all the crazy sh*t going down at Midnight and the challenges of their past, how long will that hold?
“One thing I can say about that is that it seems that it’s all very sweet from the get-go and it is,” Arnaud says. “But what will definitely seal their bond will be the challenges that they face together and how they help each other overcome their past struggles and how they react to when they learn about each other’s darker sides.”
“Mmhmm,” Ramos chimes in. “And they accept each other.”
“And they accept — well do they?” adds Arnaud.
“Do they?”
In an upcoming episode of Midnight, Texas, titled, “Unearthed,” relationships will be threatened, including that of Manfred and Creek’s, so it’s a bumpy road ahead.
“It’s not going to be a smooth ride,” Ramos previews. “But maybe we’ll make it through, I don’t know. You’re going to have to watch and see.”
Midnight, Texas airs Mondays at 10pm on NBC.
