Midnight, Texas returns tonight at 9/8c on NBC following a Thanksgiving hiatus, so it’s time to share another entry in our Set Visit Diaries! Dylan Bruce discusses Bobo’s new business venture, the dangers of loving Fiji, and how the series has evolved since the first season.
If you want to read previous entries in our Midnight, Texas Set Visit Diaries, you can find them here.
There are some big changes for Bobo this season. Can you tell us a bit about those?
Bobo is the land baron of Midnight. He took out the Nazis and then he bought the bar from them and he turned it into Cheers. Joe’s one of his bartenders, and Lem’s a bouncer. It’s another place where we can go aside from Home Cooking just to unwind, but a lot of interesting things happen in that bar later on in the season. They built it in our back lot, and it’s always nice as an actor when they build you another set. You’re like, “Okay, I guess they’re not killing me this year. They spent some money on a new set for me.”
And [Bobo has] added responsibility as far as being in a relationship with Fiji. They’re just constantly going at it in the first two episodes, but the repercussions of them constantly going at it are large. We like to refer to it as “Final Destination: Bobo” because he almost keeps dying and we have to figure out why. He’s oblivious because he’s in the honeymoon stage with this girl that he loves, but Fiji is more in tune to the fact that it could be something supernatural happening. Their relationship could be causing some near-dire consequences for Bobo.
How has playing Bobo changed for you since the first season?
They’ve really expanded the character, and I feel like I’ve had a lot more fun this year. It’s a lot lighter for me. It was really nice for the first part of the season just to be in love with Fiji even though I’m almost dying at every twist and turn. [Parisa] is so wonderful to play with on set and so insightful.
Without giving away too much, what can’t you wait for fans of the show to see this season?
The very last scene this season. I’m looking forward to the fans seeing that. When I read it, I fell over on the floor and held my heart and was like, “No!” That’s all I can say. I asked [the writers], “When am I going to get my moment?” and they were like, ” Oh, just wait.” Nicole [Snyder] told me, and it literally hurt my heart. It’s a really, really crazy thing that happens, an interesting twist, and a very cool cliffhanger for Season 3.
It was fun last year, but this year it’s a whole new level. There are so many cool pop culture references. Our guest stars are great, like Nestor [Carbonnell] and Jaime [Ray Newman] and Trace [Lysette].
What would you say are some of the key differences in working on Season 2 versus Season 1?
We’re really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish this season. It almost feels like a different show. Our showrunners are great, and there’s some really great writing. It’s fast, and the scripts are tight. The stories are really interesting. It’s very character-driven, and the relationships are really important in this season. Last season, we had a lot of standalone episodes to introduce the characters, but this season we hit the ground running and it’s really fun.
We kind took a lot of the CGI that was unnecessary away. That’s why unfortunately the Rev’s not here anymore because we don’t have the weretiger. A lot of the “monster of the week” stuff is gone, so [this season], the monsters are [created with] practical [effects]. We have a talented woman in our SFX department doing all the creature faces and masks and all the blood nastiness. It looks terrifying when you see it. I think it looks so much better than the computer generated stuff.
Any final teases for viewers?
[This season] is like A Quiet Place. Just when you think you can breathe, something crazy happens. But then we’ll lighten it up with something really cute and sweet, like Lem coming to [Bobo] for marital advice. We’re really pleased, and I hope [fans] enjoy it.
Photo Courtesy of NBC
