If you can’t get enough of A&E’s Damien, then you’re in luck! Hypable recently caught up with showrunner Glen Mazzara to get his thoughts on some of the most pivotal parts of the first half of the season, and to get the scoop on what we can expect leading up to season 1’s big finale!
Having sympathy for the devil is an emotion that fans of pop culture know all too well, but there’s something about A&E’s Damien that brings a fresh take to that emotion. If fan reactions on Twitter are anything to go by, the series is definitely hitting all the right notes with its audience, and the fact that it consistently keeps us on our toes is a huge reason why we keep coming back for more each week. For his part, showrunner Glen Mazzara explained to Hypable that proving to viewers that Damien is a show with heart is one of the things he’s most proud of thus far.
“TV is really about the characters. People gain such a connection to the characters. We watch a horror show for the creepiness and for the scares, but when it really works, you can get heartbreak in it and you do that by really being emotionally connected to these people,” said Mazzara. “You can’t manipulate the audience — you really have to earn it. I’m happy to say that at this point in our series, I think we’ve proved that we’re a show with heart. We’re not just throwing horrific images at the audience and trying to freak them out. We’re really trying to tell an emotionally charged story.”
Building that emotional tie between an audience and the people they meet on screen is an art that starts first and foremost in the writer’s room. So what does that ambiance look like for Damien? According to Mazzara, it involves loads and loads of research. Research, he says, plays a pivotal role in bringing the series to life. Thus far, Mazzara and his team have done a great job of weaving real life issues into the plot. For example, the series opens with Damien on assignment covering Syrian refugees before the peaceful camp is shaken up by military officials. Additionally, in episode 5, Damien found himself taking a deeper look at one veteran’s gritty journey after he comes back from war. Choosing to incorporate these storylines makes sense given that Damien is a war photographer, but even so, it’s something the showrunner says is a bit unconventional and even risky considering they’re simultaneously trying to do the original source material of The Omem justice. It’s a gamble, however, that Mazzara says he’s wholeheartedly willing to take.
“It’s a risk because it’s supposed to be a horror show based on The Omen and then suddenly, we’re going into really poignant, socially relevant stories,” explained Mazzara. “That’s what I want the show to be. I don’t want it to solely be a horror entertainment. I want it to be about real issues. That’s really important to us throughout the life of the series.”
Of course, a great script would be nothing without a stellar cast to bring it to life. At the heart of the show are actors Bradley James and Barbara Hershey, tasked at bringing the complex relationship of Damien Thorne and the mysterious Ann Rutledge to life. For as much as Damien is tempted to trust Hershey’s Rutledge, understandably, it’s hard for both him and the audience to know if they can actually trust the woman tasked with making sure the antichrist fulfills his destiny. When we spoke with Mazzara, he expertly explained their relationship as two story arcs who happen to be growing as a result of each other.
“As Damien arcs toward evil and embracing the evil nature of himself, he has to move away from his humanity. But Ann is now dealing with him on a daily basis and he’s actually humanizing her and that’s confusing to her,” revealed Mazzara.
Additionally, Mazzara broke down that charged scene in episode 7 where Ann is willing to kill Damien with the dagger if that’s what he really wants.
“She’s genuinely emotionally tied to him. She’s willing to do that because she loves him, essentially, more than the mission — even if she thinks the mission is right,” said Mazzara. “I really want to commend Bradley and Barbara for doing such a beautiful job with that scene. I think it’s really a surprising, interesting, emotionally complex scene and they did a great job with it. I was really, really honored that they did that for our show.”
As for what’s next for our budding antichrist, Mazzara teased that as the series inches closer to its big season finale, fans can expect to see Damien start to push back even more than he already has.
“I think he is approaching the tipping point. I think we’ve really spent a lot of time examining this character’s humanity and examining his inner conflict,” said Mazzara. “You’re going to see Damien start to push back. There’s been an arc for this character — he’s been running and denying things his whole life. When he wakes up at the end of episode 6, he’s actually trapped in hell — that’s going to drive a person insane. That’s going to drive them to be angry, and lash out, and that’s what we’re going to see in this back part of the season.”
Finally, fans can expect to see more of Sister Greta (Robin Weigert) — a character Mazzara told us he originally didn’t intend to flesh out until later on in the series. In fact, it was a bit of a blessing that A&E extended their first season run to 10 episodes instead of six because it allowed Mazzara and his writers to introduce Sister Greta earlier in the story. According to the showrunner, they went back and shot her scenes in episode 2, where she’s first introduced, and in episode 5, and as a result realized it was a great way to activate the character of Simone (Megalyn Echikunwoke).
“[Sister Greta’s] kind of just creeped up on you in a way. She really has a significant storyline and really kind of takes Simone from being a side character to being one of the central characters of the story, so I’m glad the way that story plays out,” said Mazzara of their loose alliance. “It’s not as clean as they’re just united. Sister Greta may not have the cleanest agenda and so that could put Simone in a bind at some point.”
So what can we expect from Sister Greta when she and Damien finally meet face to face? Mazzara didn’t want to give too much away, but he did leave us with this:
“We know Sister Greta performs exorcisms, so an exorcism on the antichrist may or may not go well,” teased Mazzara. “I don’t think any horror movie has done that — it’s going to be fun!”