Did you lift your jaw off the floor?
FROM Season 3 begins with a decisive and devastating moment as the town attempts to recover from its recent pain and despair, only to be thrust back into a new, horrifying nightmare.
This ending will be talked about throughout the season because it changed the landscape of the show forever. We got to talk all about it with series star Harold Perrineau.
Boyd Stevens continues to serve as the town’s leader, stepping up when possible and remaining calm in an increasingly frustrating and hostile environment.
It looks like another season of creepiness, terror, and fascination as old, reliable threats and new ones emerge.
The talented, effortlessly charming Perino breaks down the episode for us and previews what we can expect in this rich, engaging conversation.
Check out the interview below!
After everything that happened in Season 2, what is Boyd’s mental state like when we meet him in Season 3?
So, at the end of season two, Boyd is in a place; you see, he’s still stressed out. He’s still stuck in a small town, but he feels like he’s achieved at least a little victory, or maybe two.
He knows now that he can influence the monsters and kill them in a way, he destroys this music box and it just laughs at them and everything in their sleep. So we’ll be streaming Season 3 directly after that. He felt like I was getting one. I don’t think he was throwing a party, but he felt the success of the party.
When I watched the end of Season 2 and then again in the premiere, I wrote in my notes, “What’s Boyd’s turning point? Is there a breaking point for Boyd? Because there’s a lot about this Discussion, especially among monsters.
So now when I’m talking to you, I’m like, “Let me ask Harold.” Do you think Boyd has a breaking point?
I will tell you, I think Boyd was as invested in this conflict as he was in the military. Usually, in those places, either I win or you win, but that’s the way it is. Either I die, or you die. I don’t know if there’s a breaking point, but I know they’re pushing for this. I know he will keep fighting.
That being said, I also know our writer John Griffin is crazy. So, he could write something and I say, “Oh, yeah, yeah, that’s going to break him. That’s going to break him. But I don’t think there’s a breaking point where they actually have to eliminate him. That’s what I think.
I tend to agree. I think if he had, he might have reached it by now, so I feel the same way; what would happen unless he wasn’t there?
Especially after the first episode, I mean, literally, technically, that should be enough. That should be enough, “You know what? You guys win. I’m just going to get out. But he doesn’t.”
Time is a very nebulous concept in this world, but what do you think Boyd in Season 1 will think of Boyd in Season 3? Having been through seasons one and two, how does he feel about where he is now and everything that’s happened and where things might be going?
What’s really interesting is that you’re right, network time is really blurry. We don’t talk about it. But it actually didn’t take that long. The family shows up, Tabitha and Jim show up, and everything goes crazy. They have been without incident for more than a hundred days.
It hasn’t stopped since that family came along.
So, I think Season 1 Boyd was like, for Season 3 Boyd was like, “Oh my gosh, is this still going on? Are we going to get another break? Because this is crazy. We had a break before and now we have nothing.
So I think in season three, Boyd was frustrated. He was literally about to explode. It exploded into a pile of bones and blood, splattering on the floor. It’s full. I don’t think he was full in season one, but he’s full now.
Yes.
That’s what I think.
Father Carter continued to appear. I love when Boyd asks, “I see this version of Abby, but it’s not her, so who are you?” He’s asking deep and pertinent questions, but will he continue to grapple with Father Catri and him asking questions that he might not dare ask himself?
Yes, I think so. He keeps asking a lot of questions, which are ultimately problems that he must solve using his compassion and humanity. There are some questions he has to answer this season. This season he has to do something he has never done before.
So the answer is these things are going to keep coming up. Yes, the answer is that he’s going to have to keep answering these questions because of what’s going to happen…no one should have to make these choices.
I see.
But they do.
Now that you’ve played Boyd for a while, you’ve seen different versions of him. I like to think that as the character continues to grow, as an actor you continue to get more into the character. What did you learn about Boyd this season that you didn’t know before?
let’s see. I didn’t know he was so resilient. He was already shocked. He was trapped in a cave, slashed and mentally tortured. Although I thought he was strong, I had no idea he was this strong.
So, as an actor, it keeps making me ask questions like, “What makes someone so strong, as tenacious as you, that can’t break me? Where does that come from? What does he know? What does he do to me?” How much do I know that he will move on and I will move on?
It makes me ask these questions, because I, Harold, like I said, after the first episode, I’m like, “You all won. That’s enough. I don’t want to do this anymore. But Bo Ed is not that kind of person, so it makes me keep asking the question: “Who is this person? Who do you have to be? What’s the situation?”
I have to keep adding new things to him. John has been writing new things about his past and military service. So those things are there too. It’s really fun to keep asking.
As you mentioned, we have to talk about the ending of the episode. When I first saw it, I gasped because I didn’t expect it to happen. The monsters really seemed to be getting more vicious and powerful. Then, Tianchen was dismembered in front of Boyd.
Talk to me about the impact this will have on Boyd and the town. Obviously, no spoilers. But how would something like this, such a profound loss, affect an entire town?
Yes. I keep saying to people, both those who have seen it and those who haven’t, that this is heartbreaking. It was heavy and heartbreaking for Boyd and the entire town. We love Chen Tian. We love her. Heartbreak is everywhere.
They must endure the reverberating effects of the town until the next time something terrible happens.
Unfortunately, right?
This is truly wild work. You know what I mean? Like, “Oh, this is terrible. Wait, what’s going on? Yeah, this is a heartbreaking season. It’s dark.
Yes.
Innocence is really dark.
Yes. I wrote desolately in my notes. “Desolation. Everything is so bleak.
Dim is a great way to feel this way.
You’re just saying that because everything happened so fast, you guys didn’t even have much time to grieve these losses, which added to the stress and everything else.
Correct. Like I said, he’s flammable.
One thing I loved about the premiere was that we saw Boyd with different people. He’s with Donna, he’s with Ethan, he’s with Ellis. He’s everywhere. This is one of my favorite things about Boyd.
But how do you think he’s able to put on one hat and take off another because one moment he’s the Sheriff, he’s a father and the next he’s a friend? How could he do all this?
This is what I’ve said about Boyd from the beginning of the show: He’s a helpful guy. He really wants to help. He will stand up for you if he has to. But he was a man of service.
I think he just needs to continue to shift and find a way to say, “How do I find a way to talk to this kid who is so frustrated? So how do I go and talk to Donna, and when I’m frustrated, she’s frustrated too?” ? We are all a real force, so how do we find where we still need to work together?
How do I talk to my son, my de facto son, or whoever you have to talk to? We’ll see some new interactions from Boyd and even more hats. I think at the end of the day, it’s about service; he’s trying to serve in the best way he can.
He’s not always right; he’s not even always good at it. He dropped the ball a lot, but he kept trying.
One of my favorite relationships with Boyd is the one between Boyd and Ellis. How will that change now that he’s getting ready to be a father? Because their relationship has always been so up and down.
Yes. That’s all. He is about to become a father. Ellis felt the pressure, and so did everyone around him. So he and his father have to build a new relationship again. When you’re young, it’s just you and your parents; they’re on that pedestal. Like it or not, but they are there.
When you have kids, you’re like, “Oh, I don’t really have time right now,” because I have another person to deal with. I never had time to deal with your pedestal stuff in the first place.
So this is going to change their relationship a lot because Ellis, pardon my language, has a lot to do now. And he did.
Can you tell us, FROMily, what we should expect? What can we expect? What should we be excited to see?
I’m going to steal your words. We should expect season three to be bleak, but we should also expect it to be exciting and never-ending. We’re going to be together for ten weeks. I’ll be there, you guys. We’ll tweet and talk. It’s not going to be a quiet ten weeks, but we’re going to do it.
We’re going to do it together. This is what everyone should look forward to. I want to spend the next ten weeks with the audience, the cast, our crew, and everyone who watches the show as we sort through the crazy stuff that happens on FROM .
OK We will support each other. I like it. We’ll see you on Twitter. I will be there.
Excellent.
***This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You can watch FROM on Sundays at 9/8c on MGM+.
