Peter Ocko and Jim Gavin, executive producers of AMC's Lodge 49, talk about what mysteries will unfold in the second season of the show and what new characters to look for. 

Q: What did you learn from making the first season and how has that played into the storytelling in Season 2?

Jim Gavin: I would say that the fun of Season 2 was knowing who our cast were. We were excited to see Wyatt, Brent, Sonya, David, Linda and Eric, and to bring their stories to them as a cast. That was a major difference. The first season, we wrote most of the season not knowing who our cast was. This season, there was more momentum and more cohesion. I think audiences know the characters more. We started on a dead run and in a new way. That was a lot of fun.

Peter Ocko: Right. We have an audience now who knows the show and what to expect in terms of pace and style. That’s a gift – to be able to write for people who already know the characters and who are excited. And for people who are just joining, our hope is that they catch up… and come into Season 2 having experienced Season 1.

Q: While the shark attack gave Dud hope that his dad didn’t kill himself, what’s the fallout from him almost dying…again?

PO: Well, I’d say the initial fallout is a giant gaping infected wound! [Laughs]

JG: Dud does see it as a gift in the beginning of the season. He sees it only as a positive sign from the universe, but the damages and effects of it do catch up with him in a slightly horrifying way.

PO: In our mythological world, it’s like he battled a dragon.

JG: Yeah, it confirms for him that he’s on the right path.

Q: How do you think the lodge will change with Scott now in charge as Sovereign Protector?

JG: Eric is unbelievable as Scott this season. It’s a very fun, zigzag storyline. It’s a story of a well-intentioned man who is just not meant for the role he always thought he deserved or was entitled to. That inner conflict and unwillingness to take a look at himself infects the whole lodge. It’s a story of a man who has a different destiny than the throne, but he can’t quite see that. It causes major problems.

PO: Like most of us, I think as he starts to feel like he’s losing control, he tries to hang on to the little bit that he can have.

Q: There was a lot of secrecy surrounding Connie’s illness and the love triangle with Ernie and Scott. With everything out in the open, how will the absence of Connie impact them both?

PO: We enjoyed that triangle last season and we wanted to take it to a new place this year. For us, we’re focused not only on Scott readjusting to the new Connie, but Ernie also has a new road to travel this year. Some things in his past are bubbling up to the surface that he has to deal with in order to move forward.

Q: What about Connie? What road is she traveling this year?

JG: Connie also has a big run. She carries the whole storyline in London, where she goes down the rabbit hole. She helps us open up the larger story about the lodge and its history and its strange workings. She comes back from London, changed. Her reentering the lodge is a big moment in our season. She brings with her this strange plot thickening to everyone around her. She is a keeper of secrets.

Q: Liz finally has no debt! How does this impact or change her journey this season?

PO: In a way, I think it’s just as crippling for Liz to be at zero as it was to be massively in debt. Obviously, it’s a completely different thing and she’s out from under the shadow of her debt, but moving forward, she now has to have an existential battle and figure out what her destiny is.

JG: Her dad gave her a very tangible thing to fight against. In some ways, that protected her from her grief and not knowing who she is. Once that’s removed, she’s facing an abyss.

Q: What can you tell us about any new characters this season?

PO: We’re very excited that we have Mary Elizabeth Ellis joining our “satellite cast” as we’d call it. She’s coming into the lodge to help Dud with his legal trouble in suing the ocean for his shark bite. Cheech Marin [El Confidente] will return in the continuation of where we left that story last year. I can’t help but say there’s a super exciting guest – Paul Giamatti will be gracing our story! We’re very happy about that.

JG: We also have Pollyanna McIntosh, who plays a character that Connie meets in London. She’s well-known to AMC audiences. She has a really fun role as well.

Q: How will the mysteries of the lodge continue to unfold this season?

JG: That’s what Blaise carries. His journey through this season is as a man who’s convinced there is a door to another world and if he can unlock the secrets of alchemy, he can get there. In the process, he unlocks secrets about the history of the lodge and they connect to all our characters in the present moment. He’s kind of the conduit for that other philosophical and metaphysical storyline about the nature of reality. Blaise’s journey does drive him to the brink, I will say.

Q: What are you most excited for viewers to see this season?

PO: We want the viewers to feel like we do, which is excited to come back and spend time with these people in this place.

JG: I will tease: We do go on a quest. Our knights and squires and members of the kingdom do go on a journey to a foreign land – and that’s a fun destination.

Lodge 49 returns on Monday, August 12 at 10/9c. Watch a trailer of Season 2 now.

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