'The Responder's Martin Freeman & Tony Schumacher Explain Chris & Franny's 'Mirror' Relationship
Martin Freeman as Chris Carson in 'The Responder' Season 2
BritBox
The Responder fans got a little taste of Franny (Adam Nagaitis) in the Season 2 premiere episodes, but Chris (Martin Freeman) and the audience are going to get to know the plasterer and international drug lord a bit more in Season 2. Chris just wants to get a day job at the police station so he can live a healthier life, make better decisions, and continue having a relationship with his daughter. That becomes even more difficult as he gets more entrenched with Franny's operation and antagonizes the short-tempered drug dealer. In this new exclusive The Responder featurette, Freeman and the show's creator dig into what makes this relationship so explosive.
Warning: Spoilers for The Responder Season 2 follow.
"He’s a very likable fella who will get people killed if it gets in the way of his business interests," Martin Freeman explains in a new TellyVisions exclusive The Responder Season 2 featurette.
Series creator Tony Schumacher explains that the two have a lot more in common than Chris Carson would ever admit, even though they are working on opposite sides of the law.
"Franny is Chris’ nemesis," Schumacher describes. "Franny is Chris’ mirror in many ways. He sees Chris, and Chris finds that deeply uncomfortable as a man who has hidden himself for so long."
In the new episodes, which premiered Thursday, we see that Franny is also a loving father but a cruel cartel leader. He contains multitudes. As the stress of trying to land this day job and avoiding Franny's goons gets to Chris, we see that he isn't exactly a paradigm of being a good man either.
"I like that mixture he has of being quite chaotic and falling apart, but also, you do see him at times in the job where he is doing, you know, a good job. He’s doing it right, and he’s actually helping people. After all, that’s what you want the police to be doing," Freeman continues. "[Tilly] has a bit of a bust-up with Chris in this one; she bites back a bit. It just reminds him that all of this stuff can’t just be one way."
That gray area where both Chris and Franny live is where Schumacher enjoys examining his characters the most. He elaborates at the beginning of the featurette that The Responder isn't about cops and criminals or good guys and bad guys. It's about all the layers between the extremes.
"In the way that The Sopranos wasn’t about gangsters, this show isn’t about cops," the producer says. "It’s about people. It’s about relationships, and it’s about the spaces between these people, what pulls them together and pushes them apart."
The Responder Season 2 debuted on BritBox with two episodes on Thursday, July 11, 2024, and two more on Thursday, July 18. The final two episodes of the season will premiere next Thursday, June 25, 2024.
