TVLINE | So we left Oliver in crisis, I would say. Is that overstating it?
MICHAEL GRASSI | No, I don’t think it’s overstating it. I think he’s dealing with a lot.
TVLINE | So let’s recap. He now kind of knows where his father, Noah, is. He learned that he ruined the life of someone — Charlie — who’s playing a very long game to ruin his life. As we come into the second half of the season, we know that there’s the Hudson Oaks of it all in the background. Talk to me about how quickly we go from where we left him in the midseason finale to “Oh my God, I need to be in a place that can help me.”
We are going to get answers about what Wolf is up to sooner rather than later, and a lot is going to unfold, and a lot will be revealed. And I would say that there are still some surprises, along the way, as we head to why Wolf is in Hudson Oaks.
TVLINE | I feel just a little bit bad about how much I wanted to punch Charlie at the beginning of the season… and kind of still do. He was pretty villainous since he showed up! So let’s talk about dropping his big reveal right before the break.
Yeah. Well, Charlie is somebody who has been holding on to something from a very long time. He lost his mom, then he lost his dad, and I think that that was the defining thing that has happened to him. It’s driven a lot of his life. We have been doing a lot of research and talking to people about the psychology and neuropsychology of this idea of revenge and how it can really drive you and how it can really take over your life.
A lot of the characters we introduce are struggling with something. We’ve seen some of our interns struggle with anxiety. We’ve seen Van has a condition called mirror touch, which is really challenging for him. A lot of what Charlie’s dealing with is this anger and this idea of revenge that’s consumed him. As we continue his storyline, we’re going to be peeling back more layers of Charlie, and he’s going to sort of start to understand all of the things that he’s been building towards. Is it going to satisfy him, or not? And what does that look like if it does or it doesn’t? It’s going to be a bit of a ride for him.
TVLINE | I want to come back to Noah. Oliver’s done a really good job of making it seem like he doesn’t care that his dad took off again. Clearly, that’s not the case. How much of a presence will Noah be in the back half of the season, whether it’s Mandy Patinkin on screen or just the idea of Oliver’s father and/or his absence? It’s interesting to me that Oliver never chose to look for his dad, but when Charlie hands him Noah’s address, he can’t stop himself from going.
One of the interesting things about when you’re struggling, it’s like, uou can still show up to work and like be an amazing doctor, and you can seem OK. But I think we’ve sort of started to hint at little things in Wolf’s physical life, and outside of work ,that are starting to show that he’s fraying a little bit, you know? His ferns are dead. He hasn’t been swimming in the Hudson. Some of his favorite things, his coping mechanisms, are sort of going away. His tools are maybe getting a little blunter. We see him lose his temper with Charlie. That’s not something we’ve never seen happen with before really.
A lot of this started, as you said, Kim, when his dad knocked on his door, when he came back. That kind of rewiring isn’t easy. Wolf is dealing with that, and I don’t think it’s something that happens overnight. We are going to see that play out, but in ways that I would say are unexpected and surprising — even to Wolf.