RJ Decker shocked viewers by killing off a major character in the season 1 finale, but how worried should fans be about the fates of others in season 2?
During Us’ visit to the RJ Decker set in Florida for their Dancing With the Stars crossover, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Kevin Rankin, Adelaide Clemens and Bevin Bru teased what is still to come after Victor (David Zayas) was murdered.
“The first couple episodes are really centered around trying to find who killed Victor. I will say that it’s going to be quite the reveal — to say the least,” said Bru, 35, who plays Mel. “RJ Decker really gets complicated.”
Bru hinted that the show “levels up” as a result, adding, “Also for Emi’s character, it’s very painful to have to be dealing with that and just how people are hounding her during this super vulnerable time.”
Clemens, 36, meanwhile, teased “family complications” stemming from the twist. Rankin, 50, added that season 2 is “a new time for the Scooby Gang.”
“We’re getting a little more organized. We’re becoming more of a team. It’s about starting anew,” he told Us. “RJ’s out in the world now. So we’re just trying to figure out what it’s like to be truly free.”
As for how Victor’s death affects the others, Clemens shared, “You also gotta be worried, because when someone that powerful is under, things get messy.”
Based on Carl Hiaasen‘s novel Double Whammy, RJ Decker focuses on a disgraced newspaper photographer and ex-con who “starts over as a private investigator in the colorful-if-crime-filled world of South Florida, tackling cases that range from slightly odd to outright bizarre, with the help of his journalist ex, her police detective wife and a shadowy new benefactor — a woman from his past who could be his greatest ally … or his one-way ticket back to prison,” per the synopsis.
When the ABC show’s first season ended in April, Emi’s (Ortiz) father was killed after being arrested for his crimes. Ortiz, 39, told Us that Emi will have to adjust to the new normal in her personal life next season.
“Emi’s journey for season 2 is quite the experience. She’s left off at the end of season 1 not knowing that her dad was murdered. So now she has to pick up the pieces of that and discover who she is, what her purpose is and what she’s meant to be and how she walks through the world without having her dad in the spotlight,” she told Us. “Luckily, RJ comes in to relieve some of that pain and that grief.”
She continued: “It’s interesting, because she and her dad had a contentious relationship and there’s no closure. There are a lot of unanswered questions and there’s a lot of just leftover feelings that don’t get to be placed anywhere. On top of just the lightness of the show, it has a blend of the levity and the emotional drama.”
Ortiz discussed how Emi’s life will change with her father out of the picture.
“We see Emi having lost her dad, but she is also in a weird space,” she told Us. “She has this mysterious stranger suddenly following her and you get to see how that’s uncovered. There are a lot of suspicious things happening.”
RJ Decker returns to ABC Tuesday, September 15, at 10 p.m. ET.
