The Dead Zone, Season 2

Dead Zone Has A Secret

Shawn Piller, co-creator of USA Network’s original series The Dead Zone, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming second season of the hit series will raise storytelling and character arcs to a new level. “There’s the big secret brewing,” Piller said in an interview. “I don’t think that we handled it the way I think a traditional show would handle it.”

Last season’s cliffhanger complicated the lives of the main characters when Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall) had a romantic encounter with his married ex-fiancée, Sarah (Nicole de Boer).”Everyone was a little nervous about it,” Piller said. “I know the actors were. Chris Bruno [who plays Sarah's husband, Walt], in particular, didn’t want to be perceived as the guy who would let that happen or take it, and he was just bummed out. We talked to him about what our plans were for his character, and then he got really excited and trusted us and went down the road. And the same with Nicole de Boer. Michael Hall is down for anything and loves a challenge, and I think it was a little bit easier for him.”

Piller admitted they could have dragged out the romantic set up longer before Johnny and Sarah hit the sheets, but the writers didn’t want to. “We didn’t want to make it such a serialized, soap-opera type thing,” he said. “And although we could have milked it longer, I think what we’re doing now will evolve the characters in a way that makes everybody stand on their own. I think we were a little worried that Sarah was becoming too much of a homemaker, and I know she wanted to be more proactive. When we talked to her originally about doing the show, we really wanted to find stuff for her to do that was challenging. We have, and I think we need to keep doing that.”

Season two kicks off Jan. 5 with the episode “Valley of the Shadow,” a story about a kidnapped child. The episode will also touch on the “big secret,” as well as the apocalyptic premonition Johnny had in the first-season finale, when he met Greg Stillson (Sean Patrick Flanery), a character who was prominent in the original Stephen King novel. “It’s going to be a continuing Greg Stillson arc,” Piller said. “We’ll be getting more into what’s going on with the guy who may or may not be responsible for the end of the world. … He is an evil, evil guy, but at the same time, he doesn’t think he’s evil, which makes him really scary. He’s addicted to fame, and he’s addicted to power. He’s just very angry, and he’s just got some dark stuff going on.” The second season begins at 10 p.m. ET/PT Jan. 5.