Executive producer Chris Fedak talks to ET about the biggest revelations from Sunday's episode.
Warning: Spoiler alert! Do not proceed if you have not watched Sunday's episode of Deception.
Did the Mystery Woman make a huge mistake?
On Sunday's conclusion of Deception's twisty (and twin-tastic!) two-part arc, the Mystery Woman (Stephanie Corneliussen) discovers that she may have made the ultimate error when she framed Jonathan Black for murder, which may threaten to derail her mysterious grand plan. In the final moments of the episode, the pieces started to come together for the Mystery Woman. First there was the Reykjavík clue. Then there was the nugget that Jonathan (Jack Cutmore-Scott) was the only Black brother to make it to the Icelandic town, while an ill Cameron remained in Glasgow. Followed by a flashback that put all the pieces together.
Here's what the revealing flashback entailed: A poster presenting the Black brothers' father, Sebastian's, magic act 20 years ago flashes across the screen, with Reykjavik emblazoned on it. The bottom of the poster reads "With the talented young Cameron Black." A young girl, revealed to be the Mystery Woman, sees a boy looking out at the sunset, wrongly assuming it's Cameron. “Aren’t you Cameron Black, shouldn’t you be downstairs?” she asks. The boy, who we now know is Jonathan, never confirms his identity. "They don’t need me for this part," Jonathan says, before pointing to the stunning aurora borealis. “He never told me his name,” the Mystery Woman says in the present day, her colleague stating the obvious now as the episode fades to black: "You chose the wrong brother.”
So why does it matter that she was supposed to frame Cameron and not Jonathan? Though he was coy about details, creator Chris Fedak said that the moment is extremely significant for several reasons. “That is an epic thing for her to realize in that moment," Fedak tells ET. "If you take into account that she’s got a plan, which you can, and that things have happened, which they did, and the fact that she thought one person was another person, it’s a super huge moment for her."
"In a show where you have a character [like] MW or Mystery Woman, we wanted to actually explore this character and we’re going do that," he continues. "You’re going to see in the second half of the season, especially as we head into the finale, we’re going to learn more about her. She’s a magician in her own right, even though she uses her skills of deception to commit crime. I’ve found that people who are magicians always have a story.”
At the end of the episode, Jonathan goes back to prison, but Fedak hinted that viewers should "absolutely" root for him to get out -- eventually.
“The whole point of this show and what Cameron’s trying to do is to get his brother out of prison. Just from a storytelling perspective in 2018, the audience should know that we’re willing to push this story," Fedak says. "It’s not going to be seven seasons of chasing the one-armed man. No one should think that this will be the show for the next five years, and maybe Johnny will get out at the end [of the series].
In short term, Fedak promises that while opportunities for Jonathan to be out in the field with the rest of the team may be limited (you know, being behind bars and all), the show will peel back the curtain on his prison world a little bit more. “You’re definitely going to do see more of him as the season goes on," he confirms. "We’re going to have prison stories that build out his character and what’s going on with him, but he’s definitely going to be a big part of what’s happening with the Mystery Woman and the serialized part of the show. Jonathan and Cameron [together] are a big part [of the story]."
There were also remnants of a blossoming love triangle between Jonathan, Dina (Lenora Crichlow) and Mike (Amaury Nolasco). That aspect of Jonathan's story is about to heat up, not cool down. “We’re leaning into it. If you like that, there’s more," Fedak hints. "And like everything we do, it’s twisty.”
But there's one other looming question about the Mystery Woman: What is her real name and will we find out?
“The question will be asked," Fedak teases. "We do not know her name and for a good portion of the season, some people don’t even think she exists. But, she does. I kind of like calling her Mystery Woman; it’s kind of crazy, but it’s also fun.”
Deception airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
RELATED CONTENT:
