Remedy, Global’s medical series returns for its second season on Monday, March 23, picking up nine months since the first season family with each member of the Conner family pulled out of their comfort zones.
Mel (Sarah Canning) is now co-parenting Sandy’s (Sarah Allen) baby Maya while Griffin (Dillon Casey) seems to finally has his life on track now that things have gotten serious between him and Zoe (Genelle Williams) and is planning on returning to medical school but his dark past continues to haunt him. Meanwhile, Allen (Enciro Colantoni) must re-adjust following his demotion as Chief-of-Staff and the closing of Beth-H’s infectious disease unit.
We had a chance to speak with Enrico Colantoni about the explosive season premiere, the Conner family’s addictions and who’s a better father: Allen Conner or Keith Mars.
The season premiere is pretty explosive!
I agree. Literally. I like the metaphor of it because they’ve been so complacent for nine months. It’s been business as usual and then boom! It propels them into ten new episodes where you watching this family try to hang on. The dysfunction virtually handicaps them into dealing with addiction and they’re just not equipped to do it. They don’t know how to deal with or even know what to do. They’re such isolationists – they don’t want anybody’s help.
Do you feel that the one trait they all have in common is that they isolate themselves?
Yes. They think that they can do it all by themselves. They are too smart to have anybody’s help.
The season premiere deals with job cuts at the hospital. Unfortunately, that’s a very relatable situation these days, no matter the industry.
It’ll be good drama. It affects Allen directly. His department is cut out. What he loves to do doesn’t exist anymore. It started with him being fired as Chief-of-Staff but then his mobile clinic and his department are taken away. The hospital doesn’t even have an infectious disease department anymore.
All things will work out for him because he’ll rediscover his passion for medicine.
He’ll be heading back to the ER.
Right – he heads back into the ER and starts off as a fish out of water but he quickly rediscovers his passion to help people. He brings integrity back into the ER. At the same time, he becomes dexterity that he develops in dealing with people quickly and having fun. He just has so much more fun in the ER than he did upstairs.
The ER is also Mel’s place. We’re used to conflict between Griffin and Allen but could we see some drama between Allen and Mel now that they are working so close? Allen’s relationship with his daughters is much different than the one with his son.
Not some much. I think the common element is Griffin and they’re inability to work together [on him] is what happens. They function well together in a professional sense. Allen respects Mel as a doctor and vice versa. But whenever they talk about family life, that’s when it crumbles. Everybody is so invested in how to raise Maya and making sure that Sandy is okay and they all worry that Griffin will relapse. The blinders are on and it’s a strong indicator as to how the family enables addiction than actually dealing with the addiction.
Addiction is really a family problem. That’s something that [executive producer] Greg Spottiswood touches on this season. Even though Griffin may have the symptoms of an addict, it’s how everybody in the family that deals with it or supports it in some way.
How has Allen changed now that he’s a grandfather?
He certainly loves it. The baby is adorable! So, it’s easy to love that baby. He’s busier now. He’s not going to win any grandfather awards – that’s for sure. The same way he never on a ‘Best Father’ award.
The ex-wife is a high functioning alcoholic, the son’s a drug addict. One of the daughters is a workaholic and the other daughter is a total enabler. That’s what the show is about at the core. Yet, they all function. They’re all high functioning and are good at what they do but they just can’t get it right at home.
What would Allen’s addiction be?
Well, he goes back and forth between enabling his kids and living in complete denial. He won’t accept the reality of things and he’ll distract himself with his work or some kind of delusion towards Griffin.
Is Allen going to get some help? Perhaps in the form of a love interest?
Not this season! [Laughs] His romantic issues are with the ER.
Who’s the better father? Allen Conner or Keith Mars?
Keith Mars is the greatest dad. Especially when dealing with a younger teenager because he completely empowered Veronica. He was Veronica’s biggest fan, yet he offered guidance. He taught her everything that he knew and she just grew from there.
Meanwhile, Allen is stalking to adults as if they were children.
Any news on sequel to last year’s movie?
I don’t know, but Rob Thomas has been writing novels [about Veronica Mars]. I think any sequel may be tied into those novels. I think he just released the second post-movie novel and these books pick up where the movie left off.
You’ve been pretty busy since the Veronica Mars TV series ended. First with Flashpoint and now then Remedy, but what was it like playing Keith Mars again?
It was the easiest thing in the world because Rob Thomas wrote it. Your muscle memory kicks back in, even after so many years, because the writing and the people are the same. Those characters haven’t changed. At the core, they’re still the same people. You don’t have another writer coming in and trying to make stuff up. The integrity is in tact. By just putting on a crappy tie and cheap sports coat, I’m Keith Mars again!
I hope that we do get to see Keith Mars again.
I do too, but the urgency isn’t there anymore. You know what I mean? They’ve done the movie and they’ve given the fans closure – which was important. It was necessary for closure to happen. Now it’s going to need some big studio to cough up $20 million to make the next one.
Remedy airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global.
