STALKER Post-Mortem: Kevin Williamson on Beth’s Big Hour, and Looking to the Future

[Warning: this post contains major spoilers for STALKER’s “The Woods” episode. Please do not read this interview until you’ve seen the hour.]

STALKER’s Beth has taken a massive step towards reclaiming her life.

“The Woods” showcased the fallout of Ray kidnapping his long-time target, Beth, and though he appeared to have the upper hand, Beth took him out. (And after Jack and Janice located them, a tussle with Jack led to Ray dying — appropriately enough — in a fire.)

“She takes him on by herself. It’s her,” STALKER creator Kevin Williamson gushed. “Jack and the team are searching for her, but you’re watching her take on her past, and she has to deal with it. I think she does a beautiful job as the past comes to the surface, and we see her put it to bed once and for all.”

With two more episodes left this season (the show is off next Monday, but returns on May 11th and 18th), the writers will get to play a bit of what Beth’s life will be without her personal constant fear.

“The reason it’s great to have this at 18 is she gets over it,” Williamson said. “She’s able to shut the door on her past, once and for all, and by doing that, she’s able, for the first time, to look to the future. And that future may include Jack.”

Yep, the show will be leaning into the chemistry between Maggie Q’s Beth and Dylan McDermott’s Jack in the next few episodes.

“First Jack comes in and he’s a cad, and he came in not the most heroic man of all time,” Williamson acknowledged. “He came in damaged and we weren’t sure of his true intentions when he first arrived. And then we watched as he became a better man by making things right with his ex and his child. And to the point where his ex let him in, and he’s building a relationship with his son, he’s become a man among man. So now he might be ready to be a viable option for someone. And it’s kind of interesting. And what’s great about Mira Sorvino’s character, Vicky, is that she zeroed in on it: they’re into each other. She knows, and she used it [to get the team to Beth]. And she knew he was going to defy her and go to hunt for [Beth]. And I think that’s the fun of the storyline. And we do lean into [a romance] in 19/20…it’s complicated. It’s where we’d go, I think, in season 2. We’d see the stop-start of that as they manage a workplace romance, as neither one had been in an honest or healthy relationship in years. How do these damaged people navigate those waters? I think it would be interesting [story] for the future. You could play serious, you could play fun…in 19 and 20, you get to see sides of Jack and Beth, and fumble and trip over themselves a little bit because their romance is out there. An unexpected lightness invades the show, which is a relief after a season of obsession.”

Professionally, Beth will have to take a temporary step back in light of what went down with Ray.

“As you see in 19 and 20, she has to go to Internal Affairs,” Williamson previewed. “After everything that went down, her anonymity gets complicated. She’s forced to take a sabbatical until she’s approved to come back to work, and that drives her a bit insane. Her entire life has been fighting for victims, so she doesn’t know quite what to do with herself when she’s pushed to the side. And of course, she can’t stay to the side. And of course…Vicky is there to navigate those waters with her. And now we have these two strong women at the core of the show, and their relationship, we get to watch that emerge and twist. We get to watch the show go in a different direction.”

One of the directions the show will go is learning more about Vicky, and why she really came to Los Angeles.

“She’s a consultant to the LAPD via the FBI,” Williamson said. “And she did run TAU in years past. She took this case to bring her back to LA, and we’ll learn it’s not just because she wanted to take the case: she came with a reason, she came with an agenda, she came with a case of her own. And it’s very personal. And that’s [episodes] 19/20. The way Vicky helps Beth, Beth returns the favor and helps her solve her case.”

As the show looks to a potential season 2, the writers are also looking to expand the types of cases the show tells.

“The thing about TAU [is] we’ve been doing typical stalking cases, but now, the other part of TAU is they handle all threats; they’re consultants to every division in the LAPD,” Williamson acknowledged. “So we’re starting to bridge out and show more of those cases like robber-homicide and major crimes, and how they’re consultants to all different divisions.”

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What did you think of Ray and Beth’s showdown?

Related:

STALKER Exclusive Clip: Beth Fights Back in ‘The Woods’
STALKER: Kevin Williamson Previews Beth’s Battle with Ray
STALKER Exclusive Clip: How Far Will Perry and Ray Go to Scare Beth?

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