Warning: The following contains spoilers for Thursday Good problems premiere. Proceed at your own risk!
The shot that rang out Good problems hit someone very important to Mariana, it was revealed during the Season 5 premiere.
While fleeing the area, Evan was hit by a bullet, which landed him in a coma at the hospital. The devastating course left Mariana shaken, her hands shaking as she washed Evan’s blood off them. As she sat vigil by his bedside, Evan’s lawyer informed Mariana that the tech giant had made Mariana his proxy, meaning she was now the acting CEO of Speckulate. Between the pressure and her guilt, Mariana practically crumbled in her sister’s arms when she discovered that Callie (former series regular Maia Mitchell) had returned in her distress.
Below, showrunner Joanna Johnson details Evans’ fate, Mariana’s new role at Speckulate, and Callie’s return.
TV LINE | This premiere felt like the most emotional Mariana story we’ve ever seen on the show. Talk to me about what she’s going through and how she’s going to process it this season.
Guilt is such a very, very strong emotion, and for her, she feels completely responsible for Evan getting shot, and until you can kind of forgive yourself, you can’t really let go of the guilt. For her, this season becomes the process where it eats away at her and will she let the guilt consume her or will she find a way to forgive herself and let that part of it go? In addition, she also has really strong feelings for him, which the thought of almost losing him awakens even more strongly. So she will have to deal with that as well.
TV LINE | You leave Evan in this middle of, shall he live or shall he die? So what can you tell about his fate and how long will he stand on the edge of survival or not?
We’ll mull it over for a while before coming to a conclusion. There are complications with his injury and Mariana also has to take care of his company while he is recovering and doesn’t know what decisions to make because he is in a coma and she can’t ask him. We’re going to spend some time on the interesting dynamic of what do you do in a situation like that? How do you kind of try to figure out what Evan wants, especially when there are forces at work that don’t support you or necessarily Evan’s vision for the company?
TV LINE | With Mariana as acting CEO of Speckulate, what does this mean for her and Bulk Beauty? Does it affect the story at all?
She will be taking a leave of absence while running Speckulate. So it’s hard for her, to be away from the girls, and hard for the girls to lose her again, essentially, to the Evan that they felt they had before. So it causes some problems.
TV LINE | This whole situation that Mariana is in now is very much tied to her feelings for Evan and Joaquin, and her desire to help Joaquin. So how will this experience affect her relationship with Joaquin, especially given what it has resulted in for Evan? Does she feel like she needs to keep her distance from Joaquin, or is it something that brings them together more?
That’s a good question, because I think both things happen. In some ways, she feels she has to distance herself from Joaquin because of her guilt towards Evan and just wants to take care of Evan. So any feelings that she also has left for Joaquin, she pushes down because her love for Evan is growing stronger at the moment. But he also understands what she went through, he was there and they live in the Coterie together and they tend to trust each other. So she’s kind of torn about how much to trust him, how much to lean on him. So it’s complicated. It’s an interesting feature. It creates a lot of dimensions (to) the triangle that makes it one of my favorite stories this season, just because it’s so complex.
TV LINE | Considering everything she’s going through, Mariana needs her sister, and we now know why Callie is coming back. Can you talk about the story between the sisters in Episode 2 and what fans can expect?
We are happy to have Maia back. It’s been hard for Mariana since Callie left because Callie was her tombstone, the person who grounded her, and her best friend, as well as her sister. So Mariana has kind of floundered without it, trying to find her own center (while) not having Callie there to say, “Stop doing that impulsive thing,” or (be) her shoulder to cry on. I love that moment in the first episode when she comes home and Callie is in the attic. It’s such an amazing moment, so emotional that she came to be there for her sister and she’s trying to support her. Their dynamic will just be what it always is: they really are best friends. We hope to see more of Callie.
Good problems fans, what did you think of the season opener? Rate it below, then hit the comments!