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Spoilers below for theCasualseries finale.
We havent seen each other in way too long, Dewey explains.
But physical proximity aside, it doesnt sound like theres much distance between them.
On more than one occasion, their sentences and laughter overlap.
When Dewey accidentally gets disconnected during our interview not once, but twice Watkins immediately senses it.
Just in a less dysfunctional sense.
They actually became neighbors.
You said you havent talked to each other in a while.
When did you shoot the last season?Michaela Watkins: I think it was late April.
And then, we cried a lot.
And then, we were like, Bye-eee.
Are you serious?TD:Yeah, in L.A.
But she hasnt been here, so we havent gotten to hang out.
Lets talk about the show.
Before you got the scripts, did you know about the time jump?
People seem to have forgotten that the show started as a commentary on tech and online dating.
Its obviously moved far away from that as we progressed, which is a good thing.
MW: I dont think I knew until I got the first script.
I dont know why I missed that conversation.
I was probably on my phone.
[Watkins and Dewey laugh.
She dabbled in a few things, but nothing really happened.
She sees the way her nearest and dearest have blossomed into these new people and new lives.
And shes like, What the hell have I done?
What am I doing?
TD: I like glacial people.
MW: But nothing happens.
All the reviews will be like, Its too slow.
Needs to pick up the pace.MW: And then Norway will be like: Hit!
Technology, as you mentioned, was more front and center in the first season.
But it was still a thread that ran through the whole series.
I know Zander and company went to great pains to talk to tech people.
They wanted to at least say, Could this happen in four years?
I dont need a guarantee, but am I being crazy to think Ova could be this omniscient?
They were assured that, no, these technologies are on the way.
Driverless cars Im totally onboard with.
I dont like the idea of someone just listening to me at all times.
Im a pass on Ova.
PancakeBot [a 3-D food printer] already exists.
MW: The fallout of having virtual relationships was the one that was bone-chilling to me.
That, and the pop-up ads.
That made my skin feel real crawly and dead.
I loved that story line because I just thought it was so creepy and sad and lonely.
But its probably a thing, right?
Thats the one technology Im like, Bring it.
But on the assumption that it works?
Oh man, thats such a game changer.
We almost had to throw that PancakeBot off a bridge.
Was it not working?MW: It took like ten minutes to work.
Did we lose Tommy?
I feel like we did.
Hes never been this quiet in his whole life.
Aww, poor Tommy.
Yeah, the PancakeBot was really funny.
When we were shooting that, we were just like, Thats so cool.
And then it took like
TD: Hey, guys.
Speaking of tech …
MW: Hi, we didnt notice.
TD:Thank you for giving a long-winded answer while I tried to dial back in.
TD: Yes, that is the most inefficient machine in existence.
MW: It was like, Heres your cold pancake that looks like a dinosaur.
Ive never really wanted anything that Val has had before.
Ive not wanted to trade my life with hers.
Theres a scene that was cut that was all about her buying a couch.
Im sure it was riveting, but [pause] … Tommy, you still there?
Did we lose him?MW: Thats wild.
I just could tell.
you’re free to feel his absence.MW:I can sense it.
Its like a twin, you know?
Im wondering if this is just what Tommy does when youre not asking him the question.
TD: Hey, guys.
I dont know what is happening.
MW:I always know when youve dropped off.
Im like, I feel like hes not here.
And then Im like: … Tommy?
And then theres silence.
Im like, How do I sense his absence?
TD:That is special, thank you.
MW:Anyway, I was talking about opening the wine store.
Tommy, Im also curious about this: Do you think Alex really was in love with Rae?
TD:I think his feelings are always a little mixed-up.
Val points out that, you know, he likes to chase shiny objects.
Whenever something seems difficult, he wants to control the situation in his favor.
But actually, I think a particular kind of heartbreak is that he is in love with her.
I think its going to be a true, unrequited love.
But maybe Im telling myself that as Tommy because that helps me play it.
And then, the last scene where you two are standing in the empty house.
Can you talk about the scene where Alex says hes afraid to be away from Val?
How was that to shoot?TD: We couldnt actually read the scene without crying.
MW:We couldnt even rehearse it or block it.
TD:Youre right that it dovetails with our experience of the show.
Those emotions link up in that way and you certainly want to use them if theyre there.
But also I think the writing in that last episode is so beautiful.
We got to read the episode with all the executives there and we just started crying.
We couldnt even get through the damn table read!
MW: And then, we looked up and they were all crying, too.
TD:When its that rich, you want to leave it alone.
I was like, I dont want to see this scene again until we shoot it.
Then we started the scene and it was a train wreck in the best way!
It was so emotional.
Then Tommys like, I dont want to know.
I dont want to know whats going to happen!
Then he showed up to this scene a hot mess.
TD: [Laughs.]
I had to take a break and get a protein bar.
MW: He cried himself into a migraine headache.
Am I the older sister being strong for him, or is it that we both have a breakdown?
It was so emotional, for the first time ever, we were just avoiding each other.
Because, I dont know, its almost embarrassing.
Oh, this is too sad.
Once we got a few takes in, I realized that I need that.
Because its the joking around Im going to miss.
Its the brotherly/sisterly relationship, its the familiarity, its that shorthand.
So I felt in this scene that I needed to connect while we were shooting.
At one point, we sat down on the couch and started laughing.
And then we hit the scene and I was a fuckin mess.
I was inconsolable and couldnt come back.
And Tommy was like, Were not on me.
No, Im kidding.
TD:I was eating a sandwich.
MW:It was just so funny that I had to have that thing that we do.
TD: Which was adorable.
It was an incredibly fulfilling day.
MW: I felt like the script just earned it.
TD: Its the act of saying the words that bring up the floodgates.
Thats the experience of leaving a physical space, which I personally hate.
And theyre like, Sorry, kid.
I mean, youre not paying the mortgage.
Thats somewhere else on the emotional spectrum that also pulls at your heart.
Also, just fun fact, that is the last scene we shot.
We closed the door behind us knowing that we were one take closer to the end of the series.
We heard Jason say cut now Im getting emotional he said it so softly and we all just died.
The crew and everybody just stood in the middle of that empty room and all hugged each other.
Its just like, I love you, but I have to go be me now.
TD:I think it is the right thing, but I dont like it.
You know, the upside of tech, some would argue is that its this great connector.
But I just dont think theres any replacing physical proximity.
I feel that with my family.
I live a long way away from them theres no amount of FaceTiming that can cure that.
We played with a physical distance in this thing.
MW: Im about to find out when I land in his pool in five weeks.
I really like that you bought a house near her.TD:I really do, too!
You know who lives two blocks the other way?
Creator of the show Zander Lehmann.
Are you serious?MW: Yeah.
Were within four blocks of each other.
Did you choose that location for that reason?MW: Yeah.
TD: Listen, I lived in Venice Beach for a very long time.
I opened my search because there were better houses available in the Los Feliz/Silver Lake area.
MW: I was the first in that neighborhood, and then Zander, and then we got Tommy.
TD: It certainly contributed to the decision.
Im very excited about it.
And then Michaela left the country for two months.
TD: I certainly hope so.
MW:I recently visited Tommys childhood home, where he grew up.
I went on the Alabama tour when I was there.
TD: This was actually a great coping mechanism.
It was a really nice thing.
Heres the trick how long do we have to wait before someone lets us work together again?
That was my next question.TD: Ill do it tomorrow.
MW: Yeah, me too.
I certainly would like to see you work together again.TD: Well, thank you.
MW: Would you like us to be superheroes?
Im tired of superheroes.MW: Me neither.
Unless that was your idea, then Im all for it.TD:Like low-key dramedy superheroes.
Not working too hard.
You know, just here in Los Feliz.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
