Glen Mazzara Talks Damien’s Season Finale and What’s Next!
Steve Barton
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Season 1 of “Damien” has drawn to a close so we caught up with showrunner Glen Mazzara to get the scoop on his parting thoughts, the fans of the franchise, what he’s taken away from the experience, and where Damien is headed next.
Be warned… if you’re not completely caught up with the show, there are MANY spoilers below.
Related Stories: Glen Mazzara Talks Resurrecting The Beast in Damien and Glen Mazzara Talks Mid-Season Scares for Damien
“We had that scene figured out from the get-go,” says Mazzara of the last frame of his series “Damien” – a moment which echoed the original film’s final seconds. “That’s what we were driving to. We knew that at the end Damien was going to have to make a Faustian bargain by promising his soul to the Devil to save Simone (Megalyn Echikunwoke).”
“Originally we were slated to do just six episodes. We knew the ending we wanted to have, but to effectively ramp up to that ending in just a few episodes was going to be difficult. When the network then asked us for four more episodes, we were like, ‘GREAT!’ Now we could build out the world, we could introduce the character of Sister Greta (Robin Weigert), which we weren’t going to have before because we didn’t have a place for her within the original episode order. With ten episodes there was a lot more breathing room, and we could put characters together that we may not have like Greta and Ann Rutledge (Barbara Hershey) or Lyons (Scott Wilson) and Amani (Omid Abtahi). Thankfully everything fell into place, and that finale, man… all the pieces were there. It was just a matter of digging in and giving our cast the stage. It was such a great experience for me… an honor.”
On Jennifer Lynch, who directed “Damien’s” penultimate episode…
“She was fantastic. Sometimes people are harder on their evaluation of bringing in a female director… I think that Bronwen Hughes’ work in Episode 4 and Jen’s in Episode 9 prove that anything derogatory you can say about women directors just because they are directors, that’s all bullshit. These two women elevated the show. Jen did a PHENOMENAL job of staying true to the story and using imagery that only she could conjure. The scene with the faces pushing out of the grave… those were just people with nylons stretched over their faces. She hired dancers who could do any type of movement and had them lean through this contraption she had built. That was all practical and creepy as hell. Her use of the headlamp… one of the best shots in the entire series… the way she shot that scene was just amazing. It was tremendous. It’s important to me that we push the envelope as far as the series’ horror goes. That’s very important to me. I didn’t just want to have nods to other movies. I wanted to do something fresh. The studio loved the idea of performing an exorcism on the Antichrist, but how do you avoid all the tropes that go along with that? We spent a lot of time researching real exorcisms, and we found that binding people and lowering them into a grave is actually something that people do. So we took that and paired it with what’s going on in modern exorcism rituals to produce something new. Episode 9 could have been a finale in and of itself! The beast was loose. That would have worked, but we wanted to go even farther. We wanted to see Damien (Bradley James) have to willingly make a choice whether or not to sacrifice himself.
Mazzara continues, “I think a lot of people thought this show was gonna be somewhat cartoony with a mustache-twirling villain, but you can see with the way we kept twisting and tightening the noose, we had other plans. That’s what I think horror does more than any other genre. It just keeps you in a state of suspense, agitation, and fear of the unknown. It doesn’t let you settle… I think with ‘Damien’ we really focused on the horror as well as the character aspects. I am so grateful for the fans online who got it… who stuck with us.”
“Even though this was incredibly dark material, it was a joyous experience,” says Glen of working on “Damien.” “It was the first show that I really got to create in a way that I wanted to. It was the first show that I was running in which I was the creator of the vision of the show. I got to tell a story that was meaningful for me. I’m blessed to have been joined by all these wondrously talented people whom I surrounded myself with. It really was like a family. This experience has helped me grow as an artist, and I think I’m a better person now for doing this. There was just so much collaboration, love, and support. I don’t take that lightly. I also feel vindicated in myself because I really wanted to push the art form a little bit. There are a lot of shows that just want to create a product and draw an audience. Just like film has a high level of artistry which results in great cinema… I wanted to do that on TV. This is one of those shows that really embraces filmmaking and has deep themes and a distinct message. I wanted to take on questions of suffering and evil and explore them with these character dynamics. Some people would think maybe you should have thrown it right down the plate instead of striving for that but that’s not what I wanted to do and that’s not who I am as a writer.”
“Whether or not we get a second season, I feel that this show connected with an audience; and that makes me feel good about myself as an artist. I’m pleased that people were emotionally moved, and that’s really all I could have ever asked for. I feel like we genuinely made that connection, and that makes me genuinely want to do it again. I know where the storyline can lead for a second season, and I hope we get the chance to do it. With Season 1 the story started small in the sense that we had a small number of characters, and it was about them each trying to find out where they stood in the bigger picture. They all see themselves as part of history and a part of Damien’s story. They’re all orbiting around him, and now that Damien has this dark church kneeling before him, he steps out onto a new grander world stage. He’s not just a guy behind the camera like he was when we met him at the beginning. Now he’s a leader… and he’s out there… that’s just gonna expand the scope of the story. He has power. Power that’s been previously unknown in this world. People are going to be jockeying for different positions around him. The story is going to get more complicated with more layers. We have more players… I mean, we have a Vatican Death Squad out there,” Mazzara says with a laugh. “Anything can happen, and just like going into Season 1, I do have very specific thoughts about another season, and I hope we get the opportunity to continue telling this story.”
We hope so too! Maybe we’ll get some good news from A&E soon about Season 2 – stay tuned!
About “Damien”:
“Damien” follows the adult life of Damien Thorn, the mysterious child from the 1976 horror film The Omen, who has grown up seemingly unaware of the satanic forces around him. Haunted by his past, Damien must now come to terms with his true destiny — that he is the Antichrist. The saga begins when Damien, an acclaimed war photographer, returns home to New York after experiencing a traumatic event while on assignment in Syria. Strange occurrences and flashbacks plague him, and he is then forced to confront his true identity.
“Damien” stars Bradley James (“Merlin,” “Homeland”) along with Oscar® nominee Barbara Hershey (“Once Upon a Time”), Omid Abtahi (“Better Call Saul”), Megalyn E.K. (“House of Lies”), Scott Wilson (“The Walking Dead”), David Meunier (“Justified”), and Robin Weigert (“Sons of Anarchy”).
“Damien” is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios for A&E Network. Glen Mazzara (“The Walking Dead,” “The Shield”) serves as writer and executive producer via his 44 Strong Productions. Ross Fineman, who developed the project alongside Mazzara, executive produces through his company, Fineman Entertainment. Pancho Mansfield also serves as executive producer.
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