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I decided to rent a different apartment in New York.
He had stayed in my apartment, and I had stayed in his apartment.
Without ever having met him, we had swapped homes over the course of one weekend.
It was the first seed ofStrangers.
And I really wanted to tell a story of a strong female friendship.
Celia, you produce the show and directed a couple of episodes, too.
Were you onboard before you guys met?Lidofsky: I had started writingStrangersbefore Celia and I got together.
She didnt start out being official in any capacity apart of the pilot.
So last year it was just you?Lidofsky: I wrote the pilot with Chad Hartigan.
Then I wrote episodes two through seven with Jim Strouse, whos really wonderful.
There were nine of us and a writers assistant.
There have been so many people to help me along the way.
Its just pure generosity of so many people Ive collaborated with.
All women and one man.
It was really diverse in terms of sexuality and race and cultural identity and where people were from.
I think that its so important to be seen authentically.
Thats something thats nice aboutStrangers.
Its a show about connection and humanity viewed from an empathic viewpoint.
Celia Rowlson-Hall: We joke that we want Mia to become the Nancy Myers of gay content.
I love its simplicity.
Its not trying to be more than it is.
We as queer people dont have to put on any more than we are.
Lidofsky: It is so important for me to see queer characters win onscreen.
Season two is all about second chances its a new city, its new love.
Its about the idea of youre never too old.
One of our favorite characters is a gentleman of a certain age.
Its expressed through music and the intercutting of Mari and Isobel.
To me, that scene was about two lovers who are in the wrong seats.
I felt like it was a real opportunity to allow the show and myself to grow up.
I wrote the pilot four years ago I was 27, I was single, Id never met Celia.
This season and this episode in particular allowed the show to enter its own version of adulthood.
She had a job, she then had a girlfriend, she had a home.
But this season, we take away her sense of stability.
People in season one enter into her world.
This year, she enters into other peoples worlds.
We have such a binary understanding of the universe.
What happens when you dont check these strict boxes?
Isobel has very intense love interests.
What was the casting process for Milo and Mari?
He represents this idea that she can no longer exist in.
Mari is this aspirational sense of womanhood, her beauty and elegance.
They really are these two opposite landscapes of her understanding of herself.
Also Meredith Hagner is so fantastic.
Such a transforming role for her.
I dont think anybody would really cast her this way and Im so happy that Mia did.
When youre bringing on new actors, you have more warming up to do.
Episode seven is a big turning point.
Its obviously through Isobel, but its definitely the creators story as well.
The show is changing in really exciting ways.
Everything becomes, by episode ten, so layered and so complex.
Isobel starts finding her power, claiming her power, and goes through a really complicated journey.
Why should people be watching?
Theres a sweetness to it all that I think is very needed right now.
Its about the colorful mess of life.
Its a show made with love and its a show that believes in love.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
