‘Rectify’ Series Finale Postmortem: Creator Ray McKinnon Talks About Planning That Satisfying Ending, Returning Cast, Romance, and Reunion Possibilities

Warning: This interview for the “All I’m Sayin’” series finale episode of Rectify contains spoilers.

Despite its deliberate pace, four seasons of Rectify flew by, culminating in a series finale that’s an instant classic for providing fans with both closure (Daniel almost certainly did not kill Hanna, and a reopened legal case might finally prove that; Teddy and Tawney both realized their marriage was meant to end; and Janet and Ted’s marriage rebounded, as they decided to sell the tire shop) and much hope for the future (Daniel’s desensitization therapy has him cautiously optimistic about having one; Amantha and Jon feel free enough to begin exploring their lives separate from Daniel’s case; and Hanna’s mom and brother get some comfort from their new belief that Daniel didn’t kill Hanna all those years ago).

Series creator Ray McKinnon talked to Yahoo TV about the journey he took with this excellent lineup of actors and characters, and shared the story that made a fourth and final season most interesting to him, the inspiration behind the story arc for one of the series’ best couples (J. Smith-Cameron’s Janet and Bruce McKinnon’s Ted Sr.), and why the series proves he might be a “closet optimist.”

Related: Ken Tucker Reviews the ‘Rectify’ Finale: So Good, It Hurt

Yahoo TV: Is this the way you always envisioned you would end the series?
Ray McKinnon: Some of the issues and the storylines I was interested in exploring from the beginning played out in ways that I had envisioned, and other storylines were — and they all were to some degree — informed by what I was seeing by the actors who inhabited the characters. It’s a symbiotic relationship with what has come before, as opposed to, “This is the way I’m going to do it no matter what.” That’s the way I approached the whole show. In some cases, in a macro way, I wanted to see, just like in real life, if someone has a role, or if they have a belief system, that is steadfast. In this case, “Daniel Holden killed my daughter”… over time, because of other different information, could Judy Dean change her mind about Daniel Holden? Could she do it in a way that we would believe? That was always a bigger macro plan that had to be built and set up. There were others that certainly had the more macro aspect of it, and then sometimes it’s like, I saw what happened to Teddy in Season 1 with Daniel, and how Clayne [Crawford] inhabited that character, and it informed me to look at Teddy in a deeper and more interesting way.

There’s very little ambiguity left in the last two episodes, which is incredibly satisfying. It is something that, as viewers, we’re not always granted in series finales. You were asked repeatedly throughout the series whether you would definitively answer the question of Daniel’s innocence or guilt, what would happen to him in a legal sense. Had you always planned to answer so many things and give us a sense of where the characters might be headed in the future?
The answer is yes and no. I’m glad for you there is no ambiguity. Maybe there is. I don’t know. As human beings, even despite overwhelming evidence that we’re all going to die, we somehow still remain optimists, for the most part. That’s a part of our nature and how our species goes on. You see it time and again where the human condition can be tragic and unjustifiable and inexplicable, and yet human beings continue to endure. That may have been one of the overriding themes of this story, which is really an exploration into the human condition. I think, as I went on this journey with these characters, with the actors who inhabited them, it just felt like, for the most part, here’s what you’ve been dealt, now what will you do with it? There’s the struggle, but also on the other side of the struggle is a hope and optimism. I suppose, deep down in the hidden light of my soul, maybe I’m a closeted optimist. Don’t tell anybody.

Maybe “a lack of ambiguity” is not the right phrase. I feel like you definitely thought about what viewers would want from these characters as we are saying goodbye to them. That we would want Daniel (Aden Young) and Teddy to have that chance to connect. That we would want Daniel and Tawney (Adelaide Clemens) to touch base with each other, let each other know they’re in different, more hopeful, places. That we would want Amantha (Abigail Spencer) and Jon (Luke Kirby) to have the chance to reconnect after they’ve both made these decisions about changing the directions of their lives. It really feels like, in both the final two episodes, it’s a literal realization of the title word of the series.
I’ve said this before, but after the first season, I started hearing feedback, from all kinds of different people, from professional reflectors to the person on my hometown street, that it no longer was just my story. It was a lot of people’s story. You do feel that. There is, I think on some level, if not an obligation to that, a recognition and honoring of that.

Also, at the end of it all, I have to do what I feel like is right in my own heart. I wanted to see if Daniel and Teddy, if Cain and Abel, if whatever archetypes these two brothers are, could get to a place where they could have that conversation that they had at the end of [the finale]. That was part of the construction of their arcs over this series. I certainly had that in my mind’s eye this season as we headed toward the end of it. The same thing with Tawney. You never know if it’s going to work. You hope if you build it in the right way… but you never know until you’re watching it on set, and you’re discussing it with the actors. For me, it did work. I’m glad to see that it’s working for others.

Delving a bit further into the relationships, specifically the romances, there were beautiful moments with Tawney and Teddy ending their marriage, and Daniel and Chloe (Caitlin FitzGerald) and that dance that’s hopefully just part of what will be their future. But I think one of the best moments of the whole season and series, ultimately, is that scene with Janet and Ted, when she’s washing his back in the bathtub. It’s romantic, and physically romantic, not just with words. They were on the verge, though, and certainly Ted seemed to think they were on the verge of breaking up, and she turned it all around with this one simple act, this one “I love you.” Every character, every actor and actress on the show, has been the hero of the series at some point. But Janet and Ted Sr. seemed to be a very special relationship to you as the writer.
There are a lot of people, a lot of couples, on this planet who endure through thick and thin, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. As we went further into it… we the writers and the actors and everyone else, we discussed the complexity of that relationship, and the dynamics of that relationship, the politics of marriage, being able to explore that in this way. Ultimately, any kind of long-term relationship is a series of slights, a series of forgivenesses, a series of new beginnings. We were able to explore that with Ted and Janet. They’re on the road for a new beginning, and that’s a beautiful thing to see. I think, yes, on some level, that’s what I’m saying, but one of the reasons I’m saying that is because of my observations of couples along the way. That’s a reflection of what is true, as well as people growing apart and divorcing and all those other things. We had an opportunity in a long-form storytelling avenue to explore that and to say that and to feel that. I feel very lucky to have been on that journey with them.

It was special to get to revisit the character of Kerwin (Johnny Ray Gill), via Daniel’s memory of their fantasy road trip, the freedom of that. It just tied so nicely into Daniel’s actual freedom now and him moving toward being able to really appreciate that. Was it tough bringing Kerwin back in, getting Johnny Ray back in the mix after all this time?
It’s all tough. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I had wonderful people that were all working to make that happen and to make a lot of things happen behind the scenes. My producers, they don’t get nearly enough credit for how much they put into making what’s behind the scenes disappear and us not think about it and just think about what’s happening in front of us. The thing with Kerwin, we’d discussed the possibility of him coming back over the years, and I don’t believe a decision was ever made. As I was well into shooting the final season and writing this episode, I just got selfish, and I said, “You know what, I want to see Kerwin. I want to see him one more time. I want to visit with him one more time.” Once I owned that and started writing it, it just happened. Johnny Ray was working on another show, but we made it happen. I think, maybe, we had to shoot that on a Saturday. He flew down and hadn’t been on the show in two years. Yet, once he and Aden got together, the magic happened. That was a great day. I think it was the same day we also shot Judy Dean and Janet in that dusty old warehouse in Griffin. That was a really good day.

Wow. And a very emotional day?
Yes, yes. They all got that way toward the end.

I bet. Did you get emotional toward the end?
Yes, sometimes, but you have to keep your eye on the ball. For the actors, because the main part of their journey was ending, it was more so. For me, I knew I had this big journey of taking all that raw material back to Los Angeles and beginning the process of editing with my host of talented editors. I kept that, usually, in check, but on occasions you’d feel it.

We also got to see Melvin (John Boyd West) again, another endearing fan-favorite character. It felt especially appropriate that he was with the family when they were watching the DA’s press conference about reopening the investigation, because he always saw Daniel as just his friend, not this convicted rapist and murderer.
Yes, he so believed in Daniel’s essence and in his goodness. I don’t think we had planned that in the writer’s room. I think, again, it felt like the right thing to do when I was down in Griffin. Suddenly he came in. Yes, it was another character that I wanted to visit with personally before I say goodbye to the characters.

Aside from being this thoughtful character study, Rectify covered a lot of real-world issues related to wrongful conviction and the effects of incarceration on the prisoner’s family, prisoner posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) once they’re released. Did that force you to become sort of an expert on those topics, by featuring them as a prominent part of the storyline?
I’m not an expert, but I’ve always been, for a good long time, interested. And certainly since DNA has become more of a tool used both in prosecution and exoneration, we have had to recognize that wrongful convictions happen, and have happened, and probably will continue to happen. It was part of the instigation of me wanting to explore this story, without question. In doing so, and further researching wrongful convictions and all the different ways and reasons that that can happen, I feel like I’ve gained some insight into that. It is a part of the zeitgeist in our society, and it should be. It should continue to be talked about, because we need to recognize this happens; we should not be in denial about that. It’s just a part of human beings trying to create a perfect society. It’ll never happen, but we have to continue to look at it and try to improve it.

Related: ‘Rectify’ makes Ken Tucker’s List of the Best Dramas of 2016

I’m thinking specifically of the opening scene of the penultimate episode, “Happy Unburdening,” when Daniel has finally agreed to go into therapy. That was fascinating just learning about this method of desensitizing him to the trauma he experienced in prison as a way of learning to cope with it. But in addition to informing us about that, it also was essential to getting that character to a place where he could feel hopeful about the future, or could even process thinking about the future.
Yes, that is one of the main reasons to do this final season, to take Daniel on this journey. What’s great about serial storytelling is we had the time to do it. It did not make it easy. It happened quickly. If you look into posttraumatic stress disorder at all, and you look into the prison experience, those two, I think, for so many prisoners, go hand in hand — certainly with someone who’s been [abused] as Daniel was. As we researched PTSD and what happens to prisoners under extreme conditions and solitary confinement, all the issues that Daniel had to deal with, the idea that Daniel could change his attitude, or somehow work harder, or all the things one could do to get better, it’s just not going to happen unless he’s got real professional help.

When we researched PTSD, this was one of the treatments. One of the people we talked to, it’s not the kind of treatment that she does, what we see with Daniel, but she said it doesn’t have to go on forever. It’s not about that. She likened it more to a broken bone that needs mending. In her experience, a lot of people show great recovery in using this technique [without] a huge amount of time. That was surprising. But hopefully that’s out in the world more now, and gives people the opportunity to discuss that aspect of trauma, in the prison system and the other kinds of trauma that human beings have to deal with.

The finale is done, it has aired… can you look at the show now, the stories that you’ve told, these characters, and envision a time when you would want to check in with them again in the future?
Check in how?

A movie? Another season?
No. I don’t know that those ever really go that well. I can see why people are intrigued by it, both as storytellers and, of course, as an audience, but I think the story had its time, and I think maybe it’s better to leave the characters in our imaginations than to raise them from the fictional dead.

Are you satisfied, then, that you got to tell all of the story that you set out to tell?
It’s a story about, on an elemental level, the human condition, and I got to tell, and explore for myself and with others, the human condition in a way far beyond what I could ever have imagined, really, until I imagined it. On that level, it’s more than I really have ever dreamed of. So, yes. I’d say, yes.

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