STALKER: Kevin Williamson Previews Beth’s Battle with Ray

STALKER has been off the air since February, but the series returns on Monday, April 27th, with a big hour: the resolution to Beth’s kidnapping (at the hand of her long-time, just-released-from-jail stalker, Ray).

“It’s interesting, because this is a show that’s gone through so many transformations, from the first idea years ago, ’til now,” STALKER creator Kevin Williamson admitted about waiting out the show’s (planned) hiatus. “It’s been hard. It’s been…a little nerve-wracking to not know when we were going to air. They did a bit of a shuffle. I really hope the audience can find it on the 27th. At least our core audience — I do want to satisfy the core audience we do have, and make sure they see it; it’s the climax to our season-long Ray/Perry/Beth storyline.”

Though most shows might have waited until the final episodes of the season to truly dive into Beth’s stalkers — and her fight against them — the STALKER writers opted to have her face Ray head-on with a few episodes to go in season 1.

“It was a little calculated. We could have done it another way and had [what happens in episodes] 17/18 be 19/20,” Williamson noted. “But we knew we were going to have a hiatus at 17…so we thought, ‘Why not leave the audience wanting more, and really give them a cliffhanger?’ Because if there’s on thing I love, it’s cliffhangers. I really thought, ‘Let’s treat it as if it’s the winter finale, or something [like that]. Let’s use the hiatus and give them a cliffhanger so you make people really want to see what happens.’ We left Beth in a trunk. Hopefully we can generate some interest in what happens next. Hopefully when people see it in the [television] guide, they’ll be like, ‘Yeah, I need to see what happens to Beth.'”

As for what does happen to Beth, Williamson previewed that the show’s heroine is well-equipped to handle what is thrown at her.

“Beth, who has been dealing with this one stalker [Perry], and then, of course, now [adding] in her life-long stalker [Ray], her past has come into her life,” Williamson said. “To watch her go to battle with [Ray], through her wits, her psychology, her smarts, her kick-ass, badass self. She comes after him in every possible [way]. It was a fun episode to write. I was waiting for Beth to battle this guy, and she takes him on in every way possible.”

“I always wanted the show to have a really strong female at the core [of the series] who was such an advocate,” he continued. “And now she has to use everything she knows for herself. This is a ghost from her past that has really come back to get her. The thing I love about Maggie Q’s portrayal of Beth is she always keeps her cool. [Now] she’s really started to unravel a bit, and to watch the nice emotional turn for her as she battles her emotions and keep her cool.”

And though this is a big hour for STALKER, there’s still more to come. “[The finale] is not without its flair,” Williamson laughed. “We have another little cliffhanger happening in 20.”

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STALKER airs Mondays at 9 PM on CBS.

Related:

STALKER Exclusive Clip: How Far Will Perry and Ray Go to Scare Beth?
STALKER Exclusive Clip: Kerr Smith’s Anchorman Gets Disturbing Texts
STALKER: Maggie Q and Dylan McDermott Tease Their Characters’ Complicated Dynamic

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