I came in to the ReMade writers room when it was about halfway through writing the first season as a guest--one who was made to feel very welcome. “Put your feet up,” everyone said. “Which character are you interested in? What do you want to do?”Having read the story bible and some background materials, including a list of episodes but not actual episodes yet, I wasn’t sure. Other than that I wanted to bring some feeeeeelings to the forefront. So I picked Seyah based on a description of her as a “star without a stage.” I love writing ambitious girls fighting against impossible odds. What’s more impossible than wanting to be a star and ending up in the post-apocalypse instead? Seyah was in the pilot, after all, but hadn’t had an episode alloted yet. The thumbs up was given, and then I started to read some of the episode drafts to decide what I would do with her story.I picked up on what I felt was a lack of chemistry between her and Holden (which, poor guy, he didn’t seem to notice) and then this crackling lightning bolt of intensity came along in the form of Inez and . . . I did feel chemistry there. Also, Seyah felt to me like a character being judged a little harshly through the eyes of some of the others characters, like they were failing to see beyond her looks and lack of romantic interest in Holden. What did Seyah want? And so when I wrote my outline, I proposed the episode you guys just read, and I did so a little nervously. I wasn’t sure if there was a long relationship arc already planned for Seyah and Holden and I was messing it up by proposing Seyah being into Inez. But I felt it was right. It just felt right. I was convinced enough to risk getting shot down, despite the warm welcome.But true to their word, no one in the writers room batted an eyelash. “Yes,” they said, enthusiastically. “We weren’t planning this, but we like it! It feels right to us too.”Whew. Because other ideas? I had none.And I wanted to give the group a little breather, a place where we could get some space for some feels and to process every horrible thing they’ve been through so far. I wanted a caretaker with some strange modifications, and I wanted to explore Seyah’s background through a symbolic connection between the two. Seyah’s voice and perspective came easily (not always the case). She felt real to me from the second I started writing her, and there’s nothing more exciting than a character who is going to have to evolve and find a new goal. I hope this episode is her first step toward discovering what that will be.
