Below is part 6 of a series of blog posts that were written by Kelly Wheeler (writer and production assistant on ‘Terriers’) for the show. These were posted back in 2010 on the now defunct ‘Terriers’ site on FX.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 7, 2010
Episode #104 – Manifest Destiny
Directed by Rian Johnson
Written by Leslye Headland
This week, we were joined by feature director Rian Johnson, who helmed the show like… well, something that is helmed.
In some ways this episode is a “part duex” to episode 103, because not only do we get a bit of closure with the Lindus case (plus an awesome push-him-over-the-cliff-scene – see attached video of the stunt) but we also get a bit more insight into Steph’s condition.
The breaking of this episode’s story proved to be very challenging, because we knew we wanted to reveal the ‘Big Bad” – ZEITLIN! How do we make him scary? Intimidating? In control? Michael Gaston brought all those things to the role, and more. Also, look for my favorite scene, Hank in the elevator with Tan Suit guy. Classic.
Also, this episode was a season wrap on guest star Chris Cousins – because unlike many of the shows Shawn & Tim have worked on previously (Angel, Firefly, etc.) – Dead on “Terriers” means DEAD.
In addition, I checked in with Donal & Mikey about how living together is going – charmingly, I asked, ‘Have you guys cycled up yet?’ – to which Donal didn’t skip a beat, ‘Oh, yeah, we have totally cycled up. We are even on the same diet.’
Diet? Since when do normal-looking dudes diet? Mikey shrugged as he explained, ‘well, the writers keep writing scenes where I have to have my shirt off…’ So, just know that Mikey takes your entertainment very seriously.
That’s all the news from the Salty D (yeah, I’m really picking up the local San Diego lingo, right?)
— wheeler