Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Catfights, cokeheads, and actual murder: This is just a taste of what the first season of Lifetime’s groundbreaking drama UnREAL gave us. The Peabody Award-winning series was inspired by creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro’s actual experiences working behind-the-scenes on ABC’s reality juggernaut, The Bachelor and now UnREAL is at the front and center of Lifetime’s network rebrand. The first season mixed scathing social satire with truly progressive storytelling, putting ambitious women front-and-center of all the drama. Season two debuted earlier this week and introduced a new controversial element: Everlasting, the fictional reality show within the show, is welcoming its first black suitor.
Series creator, writer, and EP Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, writer and EP Stacy Rukeyser, and actors Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (Jay) and Genevieve Buechner (Madison) appeared at a panel at the ATX Festival earlier today and they discussed what’s next in season two. Here were some of the juiciest revelations of the event.
We Got To See The Next Episode Early!
Sorry, UnREAL fans! ATX Festival attendees were treated to a sneak peek at this Monday’s all-new episode (penned by Rukeyser). The good news is that it’s bursting with almost nuclear energy. The bad news is that we are sworn to secrecy about what happens.
Here’s what we can reveal: It’s way more like the very first episode of UnREAL than last week’s. This is the first time we see the new season of Everlasting in full production, meaning that this is almost a reboot of the entire season.
Okay, one spoiler alert: YES, WE SEE THE CONFEDERATE FLAG BIKINI AGAIN.
Sarah Gertrude Shapiro Compares Tackling Season Two To Being LeBron James
Season One of UnREAL was such a smash hit that it’s understandable that quite a lot of pressure has been foisted upon Sarah Gertrude Shapiro’s shoulders. When asked how she manages it all, she decided to make a sports reference — “Even though I don’t know anything about sports!” she said.
Apparently, Shapiro has only ever worked with one athlete and that would be LeBron James. The two did a shoot together and Shapiro recalls his attitude of being, “Whatever, I’m just LeBron.” Meaning: Forget the lovers and the haters and just keep doing your job, in a way that’s true to yourself.
It’s also a pretty baller comparison.
The Scene Where Rachel Was Like A "Child Molester"
In season one, Madison was presented as kind of a loser ditz, but in one breath-taking scene in the season two premiere, she emerges as a character to watch. We are, of course, referring to the scene where Rachel coaches Madison through an earpiece. An emotional Madison is able to use Rachel’s coaching to manipulate Chantal and by the end of it seems wrecked. Instead, Madison gets off on it.
Sarah Gertrude Shapiro told the crowd that the scene has an even darker subtext. Shiri Appleby asked Shapiro, “Okay, what is this scene?” And Shapiro said: “You’re a child molester and she’s a child….there’s a really creepy part where she’s like, ‘Gooooood, Madison.'”
Shapiro elaborated by saying, “I think the idea of abuse and molestation and grooming people is really how we think about this world.”
Why No Shia?
Almost all of the crew characters from Season One of UnREAL have made it back for Season Two — with one big exception. Shia, Rachel’s main rival, was cut from the show last season after her meddling led to Mary’s eventual mental unraveling and shocking suicide.
A fan of the show asked the panel during the Q&A if Shia would be back and Shapiro explained that the character was cut because of plot concerns. “That was one of the heartbreakers for me, having to tell [the actress] that we’re doing something else this season. It literally was because we thought Rachel needed a new love interest more than a nemesis.”
That’s right: Rachel is getting ANOTHER hot new love interest this season (and we think we met him in episode 2).
The Women Of 'UnREAL' Don't Care If You Don't Like Them
Another savvy fan at the panel — who just so happened to be a former Teen Mom producer — asked Shapiro and Rukeyser if they ever feel the weight of making sure that their female characters are likable in spite of their ambition. “Well, we don’t have those conversations because we don’t think ambition means that you’re unlikable,” said Rukeyser. She later added that a mentor of hers said that when “people say ‘unlikable’ about women, the way to fix that is to add vulnerability.”
Shapiro also added that “We kind of put a ban on the word ‘likability.’ She said, “That’s not a note that we respond to.”
Season Two of UnREAL is now airing Monday nights on Lifetime. You can catch Season One on Hulu.
