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to from, The beginning of the end is… well, the beginning.
MGM+ has been renewed from, Supernatural thriller series starring geese and lost alum harold perrineau, For the fifth and final season, Hollywood Reporter can exclusively confirm.
It was filmed on location in Halifax, Canada in what the production refers to as “the city” (an actual city built from the ground up specifically for the show). from It’s centered in a nightmarish city with no clear way in or out. Monsters roam the streets at night, spiders, cicadas, and worse stalk the surrounding forest, and existential terror spreads through all the city dwellers trapped inside. What is this place? Why Is this the place? Is there really any way to escape? With more puzzles than you can comfortably fit in a box, from Fans (known as “Fromily” within the fandom) are finally ready to receive those answers, starting with Season 4, which premieres on April 19.
As the most-watched show on Amazon-owned MGM+, the decision has been made to wrap up from It doesn’t come lightly. In fact, according to creator John Griffin, there was some temptation to extend the narrative into season six.
“There was a fair amount of soul-searching,” he says. THR. “But we all realized that if we did this sixth season, it would be ours, because it’s so hard to say goodbye.”
The long goodbye has already begun, as the writers’ room is currently open for the final season, with production expected to begin this summer. As that work began, THR I reached out to the three creative forces behind the filming of everything from the city: creator and executive producer Griffin, executive producer Jeff Pinkner, and executive producer and director Jack Bender. In the future, they are considering the offering decision from For a break, what fans can expect from the upcoming fourth season, and more.
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John, why now is a good time to rest from?
John Griffin: In all transparency, the goal was always five seasons, but we always wanted to let the story tell us when it was time to end. When we reached the end of Season 3 and the death of Jim (Eion Bailey), it felt like we had reached the end of the beginning. Likewise, it’s only natural that Season 4 feels like the beginning of the end. We had the opportunity to tell this story from the beginning the way we wanted to tell it, with the full support of Michael Wright and everyone at MGM. It’s rare to tell this kind of story and give it the life you feel it needs, letting the story decide when it’s time to end.
Jeff, you’ve worked on some of the most popular mythology-based TV shows: Alias, lost, marginbut not limited to. With this experience in mind, what perspective do you bring to it? from home?
Jeff Pinkner: A very smart friend of mine said to me, very early in my career: “TV is about making the audience fall in love with characters, and then watching them suffer.” I think she was right. It’s the foundation of this story, and a lot of mythology-centric TV shows that I’ve been really fortunate to work on. There’s always a balance between what the plot is, what the questions and answers the audience is asking and looking for, and what the questions and answers the audience is asking and looking for. Characters they ask, and then there are the emotional journeys the characters endure. What I’ve learned is that as much as the audience is watching the answers to these questions, if the show is built around just that, there will ultimately be dissatisfaction. Either the answers were too far-fetched and too frustrating for the audience, or they were too obvious. In the end, these shows largely succeed or fail in making you fall in love with the characters and where their journeys end. We designed it from To force these characters to suffer, and they do, and whether they will end up victorious — who will live, who will die, and in what way they will live or die — I’m incredibly grateful that the audience stuck with us to the point that we could tell this tale to its end.
Similar question for you, Jack. You had your boots on the ground in pioneering Hawaii lostAnd your shoes are on the ground in Halifax where you’re filming from. When you look back at your time on this show, can you pinpoint what made it creatively satisfying for you?
Jack Bender: I remember my first phone call with John and Jeff, when they asked me to join this party. I asked them, “Well, what’s the story of this city?” And Mr. Griffin, who I haven’t met yet, began with a description that made me say, “Oh my God, the amount of specificity in his head as to what and how and why…” There was one point about 30 minutes into his really smart, sustained monologue, where I said, “Okay, this is my job. I know we’re going to go on this journey, and everything will be revealed, and we have all this resolve to build on. My job is to make sure that we have characters that we care about, that we’re deeply afraid of. And we end up doing that. I think that’s one of the reasons people care so much about this Types of shows, going back to what Jeff said.
Before the show ends, we’ll get ten new episodes here in season four. What can you say about what’s coming?
Pinkner: I think Season 4 is our strongest season in every way. From the storytelling, the performances, the direction, the presentation… we’re very proud of it. What I’ve noticed in broadcast television as a viewer is that when you’re watching a show that’s driven by storytelling, you’re very invested and then very afraid that this story that we love might get canceled or end prematurely. Now, letting our fans know that they’re going to get an ending will only make people enjoy Season 4 even more.
Griffin: This season brings our characters closer to the truth than ever before. In fact, it doesn’t bring them any closer. It brings them the truth. We see this place stepping back more than ever to direct them down the wrong path.
Let’s check out some of the biggest plot points right now. Season 3 ends by revealing that even if the characters manage to kill a monster, the monsters will find a way to come back to life. Boyd (Harold Perrineau) is a first-hand witness to this. Where does that leave him?
Griffin: Boyd must come to terms with the realization that he is no longer a peacetime leader. He’s now a wartime commander, because they’re at real war with this place, and coming home might require sacrifices he’s not quite ready to make, because he has to sacrifice not only himself, but also the people around him. That’s a struggle that comes with leadership, and it’s a struggle he’ll have to face this season like never before.
Season 3 also ended with a huge reveal: Two of the townspeople, Tabitha (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and Jed (David Alpay), were here before in a previous life, right up until the beginning. How does this reveal the narrative this season?
Griffin: Jade and Tabitha realize their central role in this place. They both feel a great deal of guilt and responsibility, and these feelings manifest in very different ways for both of them. We’ll see them trying to find a way to take this knowledge they’ve discovered, and put it to good use.
In the Season 3 finale, you killed off your biggest character yet, Jim, by introducing a new villain, the Man in Yellow (Douglas E. Hughes). What changes about from Now that you have a big bad number on the board?
Griffin: Over the course of three seasons, we wandered in the dark with our characters, wondering when the Bogeyman would reveal himself. For it to happen during such a crucial transition, where Jade and Tabitha discovered this knowledge, costing Jim’s life…the fact that the Man in Yellow steps out of the shadows at that moment not only provides us with a fascinating adversary, but also, mythologically speaking, gives us this question: Why did he choose? Which Moment to move forward? Why were those memories of Tabitha and Jade the catalyst for the arrival of the Man in Yellow? This season will answer that.
I’m lucky enough to spend some time on… from set, which is very immersive. Jeff, who do we need to talk to to keep the city open to visitors after you? E the offer?
Pinkner: Canadian Prime Minister.
Bandar: If we were a Disney show, you knew it would be there from land!
Pinkner: You know, this question assumes from The city will survive the fifth season…
High risk! Do you feel these risks yourself, as you prepare for this final stage of? from? Are there any questions you feel you should answer before time runs out?
Pinkner: We set a lot in motion in the first season. A lot of seasons four and five continue those things that we’ve set up, and a lot of it is obvious to the audience, and some of it isn’t. There are a lot of inevitabilities coming in Season 5. Our challenge is to make sure we tell those stories the best way we know how. Creating stories is intuitive, done as a team, where the best idea wins. It is a subjective matter. There is luck involved. There are things you end up leaving on the table. It will be imperfect, and we will certainly feel some regret at the end of the day. But our job is to do this as best we can, forgiving ourselves for having to be perfect. But I will say, based on the weeks we’ve already spent talking in the writers’ room, I feel very confident that the audience will feel proud and respected by the way these stories end. It feels sudden and inevitable, and we care deeply about the things that pique the audience’s curiosity and all the questions that need to be answered.
Griffin: We love this show. We love the questions our fans ask, because we ask the same questions ourselves. We’re as excited to answer them as you are to get the answers. So I don’t mean this as a policeman: I’m not worried about any particular revelation or answer. Ultimately, what I want to make sure is that you will miss these characters once they are gone. When I think about finals, I think about that Six feet under and Friday night lightsThese shows remain alive for you as a viewer after they end. There’s a moment in our show where Tian Chen (Elizabeth Moy) says, “We’ll never live these days again.” I think a lot about it. I want to make sure that the emotional experience of Season 5 isn’t just about “the end,” but about really saying goodbye to this show.
Bandar: This seems like a really good time, for all the reasons John explained. There is always a goodbye. Saying goodbye to the things you loved so much and worked on always comes as a blessing and a curse. I feel like we told a great story with an exceptional cast and crew. Now it’s time to tell another story.
The fourth and penultimate season of from Opens April 19 on MGM+.
