SPOILER ALERT! This story contains details from the series finale of Somebody, Somewhere on HBO.
The Peabody-winning comedy about a Kansas gal who finds out there’s no place like home ended its too-short run on HBO Sunday. Here, star and executive producer Bridget Everett — together with creators Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen — break down the final episode, and explain why it was important that Everett’s Sam not seem like she suddenly has it all together.
DEADLINE When you started in season one, did you know where you’re going and more importantly, how you wanted it all to end?
PAUL THUREEN We knew that it was going to be a central love story of Sam and Joel [Jeff Hiller]. For us, this being a real first time thing for us, that first season was about finding the rhythm, trusting that the way we were telling the story was enough. When you work with incredible actors, you learn who you want to write for. I think especially that first season, HBO was really pushing us to spend more time with the family, and I think that was a really great way to go.
HANNAH BOS Also, the more we made the show, the more story we had. I feel like we unlocked all these relationships, both on set and off, and we saw the potential of everything in this world. I felt like it just kept creating story.
DEADLINE Bridget, what kind of reaction were you getting when the show first came out?
BRIDGET EVERETT I go on walks in NYC’s Riverside Park a lot, and I was getting stopped, but with purpose and for thoughtful conversation. It just wasn’t something I was expecting. I was seeing it from the perspective of making it and being inside of it and not really thinking about how it was affecting people. I was just like, ‘is anybody going to watch this?’ It wasn’t snarky, it wasn’t, like, a cool show and I was really worried that it wasn’t going to find its way.
DEADLINE Can we start with the title music? The use of the French horn? What were you looking for when trying to come up with a sound?
EVERETT Originally I thought it should be all scored by piano. It would feel sort of spare and pretty. And then in my recollection, [Executive Producer] Carolyn Strauss thought about horns and then we heard composer Amanda Delores’ pitch and we all responded to it and were really excited by it. So I’ll just say I was dead wrong.
THUREEN I wish I remember the references that Carolyn said, but I think she was spot on with the horn. There’s a little bit of a bounce to it that pushes against the TTC, a touch too cutie. It’s sort of like the horn is both melancholy but also funny. Amanda is just incredible and just gets that tone just right and now I can’t imagine it any other way.
EVERETT Series wide, we were always thinking about ways to cut the sweet, just anything to sort of cut the cutie, cut the sweet, just find a balance.
DEADLINE Bridget, what most surprised you about being a star of your own series?
EVERETT I mean, all of it still doesn’t feel real. Whenever I watch the show mostly by myself, I don’t want any distractions and I want to try to really appreciate that I’m on HBO and that we did this together. I think when I’m away from everybody, that’s when it’s going to really hit and I can reflect back and be proud of what we’ve done. But I don’t know. I don’t really know the right answer.
DEADLINE When did you all start the discussion about the third season would be your final one?
THUREEN We didn’t know it was going to be the final one when we started the season. We just never thought anything would happen. So even when we were writing the pilot, we were like, ‘well, we just have to write the best pilot we can because it’s not going to get made.’ And then when the pilot got made, we were like, ‘this is great, but it’s not going to be a series and get the green light.’ I think we always knew a show like this was about finding the audience, and then when it did, I think we were just getting a second season and then a third season. So we didn’t set out to write this season to say this is going to be the last. We wrote every season thinking it could be the last season.
BOS I mean, we’re really happy with how everything’s landing. To us, these characters are alive. So we ended every season the way we start a season, which is there is time in between and you’re sort of picking up what you didn’t see in the previous season. That’s sort of the way our seasons usually end. We do that on purpose. We sort of float people into the future.
THUREEN We didn’t know it was going to be end when we were writing it. And in a weird way, that sort of fits the feeling of the show. As Hannah says, these characters move on. We didn’t go back and recut it or change it because we knew it was going to be the end. It left in a place where they’re in a new place, but we see a springboard potential for where Sam and Joel are going to go and where that relationship’s going to go. So we decided not to go back and sort of futz with it. Who knows, maybe there will be a Somebody Somewhere movie in two years or something like that. If we would’ve gone back and written the perfect ending, then we wouldn’t have had that.
DEADLINE But when you started the season, did you have specific goals? Like, this is the season that Sam finds a love interest?
EVERETT No, I think things come out in the room as we’re discussing things. I mean, there was a point where early on, Carolyn said she’d been watching this series with this Iceland actor, and I was, ‘oh, Olafur Darri Ólafsson, that’s my friend.’ I was like, ‘it’s so weird you brought him up. Because I thought if Sam were to have a love interest, it would be him.’ It could only be him. And then we all got on board with the idea, not even knowing if he could or would be able to do the show. And to me, he is just as awkward as Sam is in these kind of moments. I think it’s a great way to reflect what her growth is because it forces her to look at herself in a different way. She’s very comfortable with her relationship with Joel. And so what’s it going to be like if you bring in a new figure? But for me, I want to be very clear that the goal of the show is not to be like, Sam is fixed. Now she is okay to be in a romantic relationship. That is one thing that is very important to me. The purpose of Iceland is to force Sam to grow. She’s been given a set of tools by Joel and now it’s her job to use them and to apply them — as painful and scary as that is for her.
DEADLINE Why did you take her to the doctor?
EVERETT Because Joel was like, ‘why haven’t you been to the doctor?’ She’s basically, why bother? I think she doesn’t think to care for herself. She doesn’t think if something were to happen to her, would it matter. So this is her trying to start caring about herself and trying to face what needs to be worked on. She’s trying to face a lot of stuff in season three that she just couldn’t face in season one or season two. As simple as it may seem or not a big deal, going to the doctor and having a gown that doesn’t fit and the indignity of having to sit there when you’re already in such a panicked state of mind … I dunno. I think they’re small things, but to me they feel heavy.
DEADLINE A couple of specifics about the last few episodes. Where did you find those X-rated fridge magnets that Sam gave to Joel?
BOS Those were handmade by our prop designer friend.
THUREEN The funny thing is that those refrigerators aren’t magnetic, so they had to attach them to the stainless steel refrigerator. That’s for the popup video.
BOS The fun of the show is also having conversations about stick figure sexual positions.
THUREEN I already saw online that somebody recreated them.
DEADLINE You had Joel listening to the We Can Do Hard Things podcast!
EVERETT We just thought it would be the perfect podcast for Joel.
THUREEN And they were so gracious when we reached out to them. They are fans in the show.
BOS It’s the perfect thing to be listening to while backing up into an elderly person.
DEADLINE I was really worried where some things were going this year. I was afraid maybe Fred [Murray Hill] was going to get sick or something.
EVERETT I’ve been checking more of my DMs, which I don’t typically like to do. Somebody was like, ‘I was so afraid you were going to kill Fred!’ I’m like, why do people think we’re going to kill Fred?
DEADLINE He was watching his diet.
EVERETT Oh, right. Yeah. I guess that’s pretty obvious. I should have caught onto that, too. There was already so much grief in season one.
THUREEN There’s this amazing podcast called Taking It Down. It’s these four guys in Alabama and they talk about TV. I was listening to them talk about the show, and they were talking about that very thing. They said that TV trains us to expect the worst. It’s hard to shut that off, that ‘oh, if somebody’s going to the doctor, we’re going to expect this.’ We’ve always sort of liked the unexpected way that there is darkness and there is challenge in life, but it doesn’t go the way that you expect. We always just look at it as these are real people and these are how things could unfold. We’re not trying to grab on to dramatic moments just for drama.
DEADLINE Can you talk about how decided to handle the death of Mike Hagerty, who played Sam’s dad in the first season?
EVERETT Well, we had to think pretty quickly because we were headed to Chicago to start pre-production when it happened. My pitch was that it was okay to really deal with his death because my sister and dad died a year apart. It’s like real life. But Carolyn was like, ‘we’ve already had so much grief.’ And then she came up with the idea of him being on a boat. I had to sleep on it. But it was another case of where she was so right. It is a metaphor, but it’s also just so we could still have him with us, and we’ve really tried to bring him along the entire time, whether it’s just his truck in a scene or a phone call or whatever. He was such a major part of the foundation of the show, and it just felt essential to have him as much of him as possible.
DEADLINE Bridget, why did you choose Miley Cyrus’ It’s the Climb for your final performance?
EVERETT Because it’s one of the great songs of our time. Why wouldn’t I? Honestly, I’ve been covering that song for a number of years, and every time I sing it, it’s a lot of fun for the audience, and it’s just as much fun for me. I never get tired of it. The message is probably a little on the nose maybe, but it’s also perfect for Sam. We never debated it.
DEADLINE Tricia [Mary Catherine Garrison] had this great line that feels like it wrapped up the whole show … you make things so hard for yourself.
EVERETT I think you’re right. Anytime a character in the show says something that sort of cuts to the bone …. like in the episode 306, when Sam said about Iceland, ‘I just don’t know what he would see in me. How could he want this?’ And Joel was like, ‘how could he not?’ Those moments are so direct, and really forced Sam to take a look at herself. Or like when she’s on the date with Iceland, and he was like, ‘I don’t like it when you put yourself down.’
THUREEN Sam obviously makes a joke right afterwards, because it’s fun, but then sits with it.
DEADLINE You end with a very nice, sweet moment. You could see Sam putting her head on Iceland’s shoulder and then it goes to black. Did you talk a lot about how you wanted that episode to wrap?
EVERETT Well, that just sort of happened. I went over to him and that was impromptu.
THUREEN There was only one take of that.
EVERETT But in previous drafts, we talked about Sam getting up and singing, and then you see him pull into the parking lot. He doesn’t come inside. So we talked about all different versions of it. It’s a moment of growth for Sam. It’s not an ending of where she is now. It’s another step of growth, and that’s what it’s meant for me.
THUREEN I love the way it’s played and the way we cut it together, because if you watch, you can see him entering in the background. But still, that last scene to me is so much about Sam and her friends and family. The fact that Joel was there on the keys … it does feel like we are ending with a Sam and Joel moment.
BOS And she orchestrated that whole song. We start this series with Joel pulling her on stage. In this final scene, she pulls everyone on stage. She is in control. Again, it’s small growth, but in our world, that’s huge.
