It’s Midnight, Texas Friday, and that means another entry in our Set Visit Diaries! This week, Peter Mensah talks married life with Olivia, and Lem’s role as the observer in town.
If you haven’t read the other entries in our Set Visit Diaries yet, you can find them all here. And be sure to watch Midnight, Texas tonight at 9/8c on NBC.
In your opinion, how is Season 2 different from the first season?
One of the great things about the way this season is set up is it’s really character driven, so all the fantastical stuff is almost normalized. You’re actually familiar with a witch, an angel, a vampire. That’s not the issue. It’s their relationships, how they survive, and simple things like can you keep your wife happy.
Is marriage as difficult for a vampire as it is for a human?
(Laughs) Have you met my wife? Lem has been around for centuries. Part of [his evolution] is getting married. How do you deal with that? You see the evolution of [Lem and Olivia’s] relationship from the last time [you saw them]. The characters themselves are really what we explore, and the situations just sort of illustrate who they really are. There’s also the evolution of the relationships with the Midnighters. They solved one major issue … but did they really?
What is Lem’s reaction to the newcomers in Midnight?
Each Midnighter deals with the newcomers in very different ways. It’s the combination of the ways in which we do things that works. Lem has always been more cerebral. He tends to sit back and watch and as a result, he tends to actually see things that most people don’t. He’s not inherently suspicious, but you’re not really [a Midnighter] until you’ve proven [yourself]. That still maintains [with Kai and Patience], whereas Olivia just doesn’t like them. You’ll see that the evolution of their relationship depends on what they do, and as time goes on, trust and lack thereof starts to show. But initially, Lem doesn’t react much. He just watches.
Olivia doesn’t seem open to becoming a vampire whereas Lem would love nothing more than to have her with him forever. Does this cause any tension in their relationship?
There’s a fundamental difference in the approach to this relationship. I don’t think there’s an intention [to turn Olivia]. I think there’s a desire to have a relationship that will last forever. Their relationship has an end date, and that’s what he really doesn’t want. There’s no part of Lem that wants to do that without [Olivia’s] consent, because then what kind of relationship do you have? We’ll just have to see. It absolutely plays a role. The threads that were laid out in the books will be followed, but we’ve certainly expanded them beyond those parameters for sure.
Will we see some more of Lem’s flashbacks in Season 2?
There will be flashbacks, some not what you were expecting. Their purpose, as always, is to flesh out not just the character whose story you’re talking about, but flesh out why they affect the Midnighters the way they do. Flashbacks will not be just based on the Midnighters. They will also be about some of the new people introduced [in Season 2].
Can you tease something interesting or exciting thing that you’ve learned about Lem this season?
Oh, I can’t tell you! Just be aware. The last thing you could imagine happening happens fairly early into it. You’re going to sit there wondering, “How the hell is he going to get out of this?”
Photo Courtesy of NBC
