(dramatic strings playing)
This episode switches perspective
from our central trio of Charles, Oliver, and Mabel
to Theo Dimas.
John pitched me the episode
as this silent episode
entirely from the point of view of the deaf character.
One of the things we were really adamant about was this
was not just a gimmick.
The person driving the episode is a central,
emotional component of the overall season.
I had the great privilege of meeting James Caverly
who plays Theo early on in prep.
And it was great to meet him because he asked me some great questions
and one of those questions was,
how will the deaf audience know the difference
between Theo's storyline and the storyline of the hearing characters.
It's great to inform the way in which I wanted to shoot the episode.
We did a lot of point-of-view shots
and we were really, really committed to
whatever Theo sees, that's what we're shooting.
We're really grounding it in his subjective point of view.
JOHN HOFFMAN: My favorite scene is the crux of the episode
where Theo and Zoe are on the rooftop.
CHERIEN DABIS: This is the moment that we've been waiting for the entire series
where we finally get to find out what happened 10 years ago.
I just felt stunned by the level of performance
from Olivia and James.
Working with James was so much fun
in a way I've never experienced before.
We met on Zoom for some rehearsal because I had realized that
I wouldn't know what my cues were because his lines were also in sign.
Nathan and Olivia learned ASL for this
and did such a remarkable job.
It's very challenging but Doug coached me through the whole thing.
And of course James Caverly was very supportive
of me trying to speak his language.
He's an extraordinary young actor
and his ability to do something that was very difficult and very emotional
take after take after take,
I was so proud of him.
It was just one of those moments where you get goosebumps
and remember how much you love your job
because you're like the first audience of something.
DABIS: As an Arab-American woman,
I feel like so much of my career has been about representing
the underrepresented,
and to be able to do that now in the deaf community,
I just was so honored.
OLIVIA REIS: I think it opens up a broader world
for what we expect from television.
I think the bar is being raised because we're seeing
that this works really, really well.
♪ ♪