Carlacia Grant: We have one take, one Twinkie.

Ria Ciuffo: One Twinkie.

Carlacia Grant: Six cameras lighted around you. Like, there's a certain step that I'm gonna make, and whenever I make that step, like, everything is going to blow up. 

[CLIP] The time where people do shit to us and we just sit back and take it is over!

[CLIP] Woo! That's my boy! 

[CLIP] I can't pretend like this isn't real.

[CLIP] Like, this didn't happen. I'm sorry, I

[CLIP] Shut up. 

Ria Ciuffo: In the iconic bridge scene in season one, with John B and Sarah, he professes his love for her. What do you think love meant for him at that age? Because we're talking about a 16-year-old.

[Chase] It's like, no art is new art. I firmly believe that. And it's the story of the Montagues versus the Capulets. It's Romeo and Juliet, and I think leaning into that for him, it is such an unobtainable reality for a girl from the other side of the tracks to actually be invested and interested in him. In life, we have these moments where we're like, this is my shot.

Yeah. Gotta take it.

This is my shot, gotta take it. And that was his mentality. Like, he met somebody that he really cared about who saw him as a human. I think even his friends think he's a little bit delusional at that point. They're like, "Your dad's gone. We don't want to say he's dead, but like, come on, dude, like, let's let it be." And so I think it was the first time that he didn't feel a sense of a weight of all of that, and that felt safe to him, he just committed to it. You lied to me!

What are you talking about? We're fine.

No, we're not fine! In season two, Sarah says to John B., "No, we are not fine," after he loses their money, almost gets them killed.

This happens a couple times.

[Madelyn] Mmhm.

You guys almost get killed a lot.

Yeah. But it's the first time she admits out loud what she has lost. Her father, her brother, her little sister. What do you think she's realizing in that moment with all of the loss? I think she's internalized, at that point, a lot of loss, and I think she's processing it real time, but also given her circumstances in that moment, it's hard to process when you're being chased. Right.

By bad guys.

Adrenaline is high. Adrenaline is high. There's really no time to just sit and think, so I think, you know, she's just giving him the basic rundown, and also she's saying, like, "Don't be reckless with my love and, you know, what I've lost, too." "I love you, I have sacrificed so much for you, and I just want you to just think for a second." I know we always think last,

act first.

Act first. It's a fair ask. Okay, well, you know what? I didn't do that! I got a hot tub… for my friends. There are so many iconic moments, pivotal moments of that first season

that us fans always go back to.

Yeah. One of them being the hot tub scene…

Yeah.

…in season one,

Kiara notices JJ's body.

[Madison] Sure.

[Ria] She notices the bruises. She's kind of connecting the dots

of what he's been through.

[Madison] Right. What do you think Kiara understands about JJ that nobody else does? That moment's not, like, necessarily, like, the first time she's seen it. It's just, like, we all kind of understand that our parents might not be our number one support system, but I think Kiara really understands it the most. Like, she's… loves her parents, but also understands that, like…

you are your own person at times, like…

Mmhm. …and I think she really understands the distance that he needs to create and just do his own thing, and I think they are in the same boat in that way of, like, get further away from your parents so you can be more you,

and I think that's where they bond.

Yeah. Exactly. You're your own person, we're our own people, and I feel like Kiara's passion and vulnerability really comes out during that, extremely compassionate

to her fellow Pogues.

Totally. The time where people do shit to us and we just sit back and take it is over!

[man] Whoo! That's my boy! With Pope, we described him in season one. We go into season two, I feel like there is a pivotal change there. He's fed up with the Kooks. He's like, "We're not taking this anymore." He actually says

"The time of us taking shit is over."

[Jonathan] Yeah. Fans lost their minds seeing that because we were like, my God,

Pope's cursing, like, oh!

[chuckles] What do you think it meant for Pope that moment, that big change? Yeah, I mean, I think it was just like him coming into himself a little bit, finding a little confidence, finding a little bit of that rebellious streak, and also, he just kind of had something to fight for that season. He found his… you know, Denmark Tanny was related to him, and he found his family's heritage, you know? I think a lot of, you know, young people can relate to trying to find a sense of, like, uh…

meaning and a sense of important.

Who they are. Like something to fight for, something to get behind. Right, and I feel like watching you guys, 16-year-olds in this show, it was important for kids to watch and be like, "I do want to find out who I am," and watching you guys was part of that.

[man] Cleo! One of her biggest acts of bravery we see is when she lights that Twinkie on fire. Which, by the way, I was like, I think John B is gonna have a heart attack.

He is gonna freak out watching this.

[laughing] Yeah. But it's so sick. She lights it on fire, Twinkie goes up in flames, she throws up the middle fingers, which I don't know if we're allowed to do.

There's fire. It's setting the scene.

[chuckling] Yeah. Do you remember what that feeling was like for you to do that? Yeah, I remember feeling like the world was moving slowly, because they were like, "We have one take of this." "We have one take, one Twinkie."

One Twinkie.

Six… Six cameras lighted around you. Like, there's a certain step that I'm gonna make, and whenever I make that step, like, everything is going to blow up. But make sure I make that step, and really make that step, because if I go backwards, I'm gonna catch on fire.

So I

Not funny, but… No, but like, I just remember feeling like so much pressure and so much just like, okay, okay, don't go backwards, stay forward. Don't… Do not… This is the one and only take, and then just really settling myself and settling in the moment of the character of just like, no, like, I would do anything to protect who I love. Saying a little prayer, like, please don't let me catch on fire.

That's how I feel now.

And… No, this is nothing, and then just going for it. Like, literally just like, full on action star. Let's just do it. Did you practice?

Like, in your trailer, outside?

Yeah. What was the prep for that? Darren, our director, that scene, spoke about how he wanted it to be like, man on fire. He showed me all these images of people in front of things on fire, and he was like, "This is sort of the energy I want to bring her as a character to the show, which is really fed up. Like, fed up of not getting what she wants and what she deserves. A bit of losing Terrance is in here, but this is just really her moment to say, "Fudge you" to everyone. [chuckling] F this. Yeah, F this, you know, to everyone and everything. So that was a lot of the feeling of walking away from the Twinkie and feeling the flames light up.

[ethereal music playing]