Skylar Astin on What Makes Margaret and Todd Such a Dynamic Duo on 'So Help Me Todd'

Skylar Astin

There are a lot of changes percolating on So Help Me Todd when the series returns for its sophomore season on CBS tonight, starting with the fact that Todd (Skylar Astin) has had his PI license restored and Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden) has finally obtained the partnership she worked so many years to earn.

But that brings us to the old cliché: Be careful what you wish for because you just may get it, and both Todd and Margaret discover that nothing turns out as they expected.

“I like to compare season 2 of So Help Me Todd to act two of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods,” Astin tells Parade in this interview. “Spoiler alert for those who don’t know Into the Woods: At the very end of act one, they live happily ever after and everyone gets their wish. Then in act two, it basically starts with, now what? I got my wish and now what?”

So Todd and Margaret are dealing with the reality of getting their wishes: He has his license, she’s a partner, but each comes with problems they hadn’t foreseen.

“She has to take on the issues with the firm, she has to have new motivation and new issues on her agenda,” Astin continues. “Todd has his license but now he has to legitimize himself further from his former reputation, he has to come out of the shell of his former self from being dormant for years as being a detective and start over in a way, too. So, it’s a bit of a new beginning for everyone. It’s definitely not the finish line.”

It's far from that, which is a relief because there’d be no show without some conflict. Yes, Todd is thrilled he has his PI license. He sees it as redemption for his past mistakes and his goal now is to become legitimized and Portland’s best detective ever. Move over Sherlock Holmes, not that Holmes ever visited Portland.

“I tend to think that he is absolutely skilled and very savvy,” Astin says when asked how much is ability and how much is luck when it comes to Todd's solving cases. “And yes, while certainly timing plays into it, Todd has wonderful instincts and tends to follow them ad nauseam. And sometimes when he’s least expecting it, just by nature of putting himself in the right place, he does find what he’s looking for.”

In the season premiere, Margaret and Todd tackle a case involving a murder on a live local morning news show and, in the process, must rethink their working relationship after Todd decides to open his own PI business but not yet leave the law office.

“He really does believe that Margaret and Todd are a dynamic duo,” Astin says. “He might always believe that his way is best, and that will probably always remain between Todd and Margaret. But I think something that Marcia and I made sure of last year was that there was a groundwork of a ton of love, care, and affection underneath all the bickering, and that these two really do need each other at the heart of the story.”

Also during our chat, Astin went into more detail as to how he and Harden built their mother-son relationship and what can be expected from several of the other characters including his sister Allison (Madeline Wise), his brother Lawrence (Matthew Wilkas) and his co-workers Susan (Inga Schlingmann) and Lyle (Tristen J. Winger).

We would have no story if Todd left his mother’s law firm and went out on his own, so story-wise he decides to stay. Why do you think he does that? Is part of it because the cases that he’s worked on with his mother have been really challenging and he might not get them on his own?

That might be the case, but maybe that’s deeper in his subconscious. I think the literal reason is because before he can truly get on his feet and develop a client base, he’s going to keep his steady job. If he’s learned anything from season 1, it is the value of not only a paycheck but consistency, and that’s part of his evolution into a grownup.

Do you think there’s any Margaret in Todd? She’s this really bright woman, obviously she’s a little more organized than he is, but he seems to have good instincts.

Right, and so does she. Yeah, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree there. I think they’re drastically different in practice and in method, but yes, deep at heart, they have a relentless spirit for justice and truth. And that is something that definitely both share. I just think they go about it in slightly different ways.

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You mentioned that Marcia and you decided that there needed to be love underneath the bickering, right? That’s the key relationship in the series. Did you and Marcia hit it off initially? How did you make it work?

We hit it off from the jump. It was so clear. Scott Prendergast, our creator, his words, even the way that he notates the script and punctuates the script, it’s like music. And so, I think the banter and the rhythm was there, but then it was finding two people that fit the bill for Todd and Margaret. And then us adding a little nuance and even sometimes a little bit of improvisation before and after or during is what makes those magical moments between Todd and Margaret soar.

Will Todd still be as competitive with Lyle as he has in the past? And what’s up with Lyle? He’s a whole new man.

Lyle is definitely lovestruck and it’s really fun how we explore that in season 2. He’s a bit smitten, but at the heart of that relationship too, Todd and Lyle, it’s always baby steps between them. They will always be competitive, they will always disagree with the other person’s method, and that relationship is not lost at all.

In episode one, it takes a tiny bit of a backseat because Lyle’s in this blissed out mode since it’s soon after him first getting together with Alex (Vinessa Antoine), and Todd is very determined in his own plot. But as we get into the cases in some of the earlier episodes in season 2, we go right back into that Todd-Lyle competitiveness. And now Todd thinks he really knows better because not only is he working at the firm as a private investigator, but he’s got his own detective agency.

Will we see Todd go off on his own cases a lot?

I do kind of have an idea where it’s headed, but yeah, I really want Todd to have his own detective cases as well, and then they can cross pollinate with Margaret’s cases as a lawyer. I think that opens up a lot of opportunity for story and our journeys, and Todd and Margaret will always somehow end up on a stakeout together -- not even conveniently, sometimes in the most complex ways. So, I just think that broadens it and gives our own individual journey on top of our own journey as a pair.

While Todd and Margaret supposedly have their happily ever after, Allison is definitely falling apart. How fun it is for the characters to change places, where Todd’s now the one that has it together while his sister doesn’t?

It’s quite a role reversal there. She’s now crashing on his couch; he seems to have his act together. It has really been fun to play with that dynamic with Maddie. We learn halfway through the season where she’s coming from, why she’s so despondent, and why she’s making the active choice to stay on Todd’s couch. Because clearly as a resident doctor, she could get a place on her own. She can definitely afford rent, but maybe there’s something that’s keeping her from doing that.

Todd’s older brother, we see him in the first episode, but he didn’t have much to do in season 1. Will he play a bigger role in season 2?

I think with the 10-episode order, it’s tough. I think that Scott had a lot of ideas for our full season order, and then with the shortened order because of the strike, he had to condense a lot of storylines and has to save a lot of really fun episodes for season 3. I know there’s a big Lawrence episode midway through the season, and I believe he comes back at the end as well. He’s not in every episode but he’s definitely present, and there’s even an episode where he plays a big factor in the case.

What will it mean that Harry’s [Mark Moses] back?

Well, is he? In his own mind he’s back for good, but I think Margaret has a difference of opinion there. I don’t think Harry will ever be gone, but it was really nice at the end of episode one to see Margaret take a real stand, claim ownership of her new life and not resort back to an old dynamic. I think that’s a really big moment for Margaret.

And then there's Margaret’s new romance with Gus [Jeffrey Nordling], right?

Exactly, she’s got Gus there and she definitely doesn’t want to ruin that. That seems to always have some poor timing moments and I think she wants to clear the path for that.

So, Susan ran off to get married, is Todd going to be able to deal with that? Is he over her? And is he also over Veronica [Eliza Coupe]? Is Veronica gone for good?

I think Veronica’s always going to have a handle on Todd. That is totally his kind of abuser and his most traumatic relationship, and she has a way of manipulating him even when he seems bulletproof to that. So, that’s a fun area to play with in the future when Veronica does come back in whatever capacity.

But as far as Susan goes, a clear choice from Scott and from Todd is that he's going to let her go. She is married, he’s not somebody who wants to get in the way of someone’s marriage, and he respects that. In the scene with Allison in Todd’s apartment, he was crestfallen and heartbroken and had a bit of a realization.

And though we didn’t get to really see it, when he talks about it, he details the feeling of heartbreak into hopefulness when he looks down and sees his license in his hand and realizes that he has a big opportunity. A big part of Todd’s storyline in season 2 is to not be distracted and to not waste time on things that aren’t working out for him in his personal life because that would only cloud his determination with his career.

Might there be a musical episode? Are there enough cast members that can sing?

I don’t know. We kind of wink at the audience at one point in season 2, but it’s not in the way that you’re thinking, in regard to if Todd could sing. If he ever really opened his mouth, what that would sound like? And my opinion has always been that Todd could never have a good singing voice or else he’d be utilizing that to win cases all the time, and then we’d be watching a totally different show.

What I will say is that there are a lot of Easter eggs in season 2. There was one moment in season 1 where my own original music made a bit of a cameo in the background of certain scenes, and also this year, I’ve actually done two jingles so far. So, sometimes when a character’s watching TV and there’s a theme song for a news station or there is a jingle for an injury attorney, you might hear my voice layered several times over itself singing the jingle. So maybe you’ll hear me sing on So Help Me Todd after all, just maybe not in the way you’d expect.

Ally McBeal, which was set in a law office like Todd, did a musical episode, so it’s not impossible.

Totally. Never say never. Scrubs did a great job. There’s a lot of shows that have done a musical episode. I think we need to get a little bit deeper into the story to take a liberty like that or make a choice like that. But hey, if there’s a demand for it and there’s a good enough reason why we’re going to do it, I won’t be the one standing in its way.

So Help Me Todd premieres its second season tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

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