When NBC’s Midnight, Texas returns this Friday for its long-awaited return, fans will have plenty to look forward to. Earlier this year, OMFGTV sat down with co-showrunners Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder (Both of whom worked on The CW’s ‘Supernatural’ and created the Sarah Michelle Gellar thriller ‘Ringer’), where they previewed some of what’s to come on the supernatural series’ second season.
When we spoke with the dynamic duo this past summer, production was almost complete on episode 4. On those four episodes, Charmelo & Snyder share that they are “really exciting!” In addition to being “sexy, soapy and salacious,” Charmelo says “There’s a lot of action; there’s a lot of scares.” And yes, there will be a lot of murder. “The body count is out of control this season,” he says. “It’s going to be fun, and no one is off limits. We’re trying to create this tone, this unease. It’s fun!”
One character who cheated death last season was Olivia Charity (Arielle Kebbel). The hitwoman/assassin drank her partner Lemuel Bridger’s (Peter Mensah) blood to survive, and Snyder shares that that moment established a psychic connection between the two. “Lem can feel her needs, desires and fear before she even does. At first, it’s incredible. It puts them really in sync and it prolongs their honeymoon phase — until it doesn’t. Eventually that connection becomes overwhelming to Olivia who always took care of herself, only depended on herself, and it ends up being very suffocating, which causes a lot of problems in their marriage.”
One character who did die, and seemingly died again (in the afterlife) was Manfred’s free-spirited grandmother, Xylda (Joanne Camp), who we absolutely loved. Her departure from the show in Season 1 left us with tears, and we believed we’d seen the last of her — until we saw the sizzle reel for Season 2. “We love her, too,” Charmelo gushes. “She’s fantastic. She comes back in a really, really fun way. Not in a way where you would see it coming or where you would expect it.”
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Earlier this year, it was reported that Yul Vazquez, who plays Rev. Emilio Sheehan, was among two in the ensemble who would not be returning as series regulars for the new season. Charmelo tells us that he’s not out of the picture and that the Rev will be seen in two episodes. “He gets a fantastic, emotional sendoff,” Charmelo says. “He’s great and we’re doing him justice. I think the fans are really going to love seeing his backstory.”
Rev. Sheehan’s sendoff means we won’t get to see the ferocious, feline side of him again, but worry not. There will be so much more supernatural creatures to haunt and taunt the Midnight gang. “We really just want to expand our supernatural world,” Snyder says. “We have iterations of all different stock characters. We’ll see new vampires, some other were-tigers.” She also reveals that one recurring villain — one we’ll see twice this season — is a purple-haired banshee! “We wanted another bad-ass female supernatural entity, and she’s terrifying!”
There are lots of fun supernatural beings coming into Season 2, and with the hotel opening up in Midnight, a lot of new long-staying inhabitants will now call the small town home. But with all the new characters showing up and their stories to explore, Charmelo & Snyder want to assure you that they have not forgotten about the characters we’ve come to know and love. Their history will be explored as well!
If you’re curious as much as we are about Madonna’s (Kellee Stewart) history and her involvement with Olivia’s father, Charmelo reveals we are “100%” going to get those answers. Adds Snyder, “[Madonna’s story] is super fun!,” And the waitress is not the only one we’ll get to know much more about. “You’re going to learn a lot of people’s backstories this season,” Charmelo says. “It’s going to be really fun to see how these people were birthed of sorts.”
While the sophomore series has a shortened season of just nine episodes (down from 10 from Season 1), both Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder excitedly exclaim that there is no shortage of shocking moments that will keep you tuning in. “There’s a lot of reveals,” Charmelo previews. “Everything is very layered and there’s a lot of twists and turns with dual motives and double crosses. Just when you think you’ve kind of figured out where the season’s going, we kind of ratchet in a new direction and keep the audience guessing. It’s going to be a fun ride.”
Midnight, Texas Season 2 premieres tonight at 9pm on NBC.