Scott Speedman Talks R.J. and Emi’s Future (Exclusive)

Well, the good news is we can see a future for RJ (Scott Speedman) and Emi (Jaina Lee Ortiz). The bad news is that the events at the end of the RJ Decker Season 1 finale have to affect them going forward. TV Insider spoke with Speedman about that and more. Warning: Spoilers for the RJ Decker Season 1 finale ahead!

After hooking up against in Episode 8, RJ and Emi work together in the finale — with help from his ex-wife Catherine (Adelaide Clemens), her wife Mel (Bevin Bru), and his former cellmate wish (Kevin Rankin) — to take down her corrupt father, Victor (David Zayas). They’re successful, somewhat, with him briefly behind bars but he’s out by night’s end as everyone celebrates. In the final moments, as RJ and Emi put off discussing their relationship to another day, Victor is killed.

Below, Scott Speedman breaks down the Season 1 finale and looks ahead to a Season 2, should it be renewed.

At the end of the finale, RJ is left in a pretty good place, especially considering he just dealt with the threat of being sent back to prison. How is he feeling? How is he feeling at the end of the finale?

Scott Speedman: I think he’s feeling really good. I mean, there’s information that comes to light at the end of that episode that he’s not aware of. But other than that, I think him and Emi are in a good place. Obviously, just not having to go back to prison, getting that threat taken off the board with the help of his friends and family was huge for him. So in general, I think he’s super optimistic and super excited about where his life is going. For the first time, maybe all season really, he feels more secure than ever.

Disney/John Merrick

You brought up Emi and their future seems promising. Things aren’t resolved, but they seem to be on the right track by the end of the finale. So how does he feel about her and where they are right now?

I think he’s feeling really good. I mean, I think he’s sort of mystified and sort of amused by the fact that he’s so attracted to this person that had a huge hand in getting him sent to prison for that long. But I think that’s part of the attraction, that there’s an attraction there that can go through some of the craziness of their relationship and continues on. And I think wherever they are now, they seem to be talking more than ever. Not about work, but they’re connecting. And I think it’s exciting things to come for RJ and Emi, for sure.

So what does he think the future could hold for them?

I don’t know if RJ thinks like that so much. I think it’s a really in-the-moment guy who … We obviously don’t see him in a lot of different kinds of relationships. I think coming out of jail and coming out of his life that he is now, I think he’s probably a little gun-shy about jumping into a relationship, but I think he feels like this is a real relationship and one that will continue.

But Victor’s death could change everything. Who would be at the top of RJ’s suspect list?

I think the scary part for him when he finds out is he’s going to be at the top of the suspect list. So, he’ll have to deal with that when the time comes. But I mean, in terms of rolling into a Season 2 here, I think anybody’s game: certain political opponents could be, his daughter could be, he could be, wish could be, Mel could be. So it’s wide open. I think that’s what makes it such an interesting murder for the cliffhanger of our show, is it really does open up a lot of stories and kind of takes the show in, not a different direction, but in a really exciting direction.

I agree. Before that, though, we got that great RJ and Victor scene in the cell. Talk about filming that with David.

Well, so I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. I saw him in a play years ago, decades ago, in New York. When I heard some of the names that they were banding around for that role, I was most excited about his. And then when he showed up on set, it was everything I wanted it to be. And I’m a pretty prepared actor, but on those days I was working with him, I was extra prepared just to kind of go in and do battle with him. It was super fun. I mean, obviously, he’s such a really great, nice guy, but between action and cut, it’s pretty tense. And that was a pretty tense scene, but those are the scenes I love to shoot. They’re so fun. The whole crew sort of engaged in a different kind of way. So it’s a fun atmosphere.

How worried was RJ about that warning from Victor that it wasn’t over when he left him in that cell?

I don’t know if he’s that worried about that because I think RJ at that point is sort of a poker player. And I feel like RJ knows he’s holding the cards. I think he knows that Victor’s not done. Victor’s not going to stop fighting. So he knows it’s not over at that point. He knows that this story isn’t over, but it’s over for today, like he says. So I think that part of it is just sort of this ongoing story. Like he says, he didn’t win the war, but he did win the battle. And the battle is of the utmost importance for RJ’s life right now.

If anything, this all showed RJ how far his friends are willing to go for him. How does he feel about Wish saying that if RJ went back to prison, he’d make sure he went back, too, to watch his back?

Hey, look, I think that’s probably written in without that are being said that Wish is that type of friend to RJ and will have his back no matter what. RJ doesn’t want him to go that far. RJ’s his protector as well, but no, Wish is beyond a great friend. And as we go on here, too, we’re going to see how great a friend he is. I mean, what a character. I love that character. I love that actor.

You’ve said it was a challenge for RJ to have everyone in his life together in this episode. So as they’re all hanging out at the end, how does he feel like it went?

Well, I think the mood was quite buoyant at the end, very optimistic, very fun atmosphere. They haven’t had a chance to sort of take a deep breath individually or as a group and as sort of a makeshift family, which we are. So it was amazing. It was my favorite episode, probably for that reason, is we engaged everybody at the top of the episode, sort of invited them into the mystery to help solve the mystery together, and at the end, we’re really able to celebrate. And that’s kind of great. We don’t get to do that a lot on this show, so it was kind of fun to do.

How would RJ feel about Emi getting close like Catherine and Mel? Because that could just make his life so complicated.

Well, look, I think the powers would be and for story, I think we’re always going to try to make RJ’s life a bit complicated, but I don’t know. We’ll see how complicated it gets with those two. I mean, I think there’ll be interesting storylines there, but I think they went through the weeds of going through that together where there was some animosity, but I think all three women came out the other side sort of feeling a bit differently about each other.

So Lucas (Maximo Salas) says that he saw it in RJ’s eyes that night that if he didn’t go away, he was going to kill someone. Was he right?

I don’t know if he was right about that. That’s an intense — that’s great that made it into the final cut. I love that. I think the important part is that RJ was going down really the wrong path and used that episode to get out all this feeling he wasn’t able to deal with. So if it wasn’t that moment, it might’ve been something else. It might’ve been some other tragedy that was waiting to unfold. So I think that’s what Lucas was talking about. I do think he was right in essence, though, that he was headed for something very dangerous and it just happened to be that.

RJ needed a wake-up call.

He needed a wake-up call. Yeah, he really did. Yeah, he did.

I love that the episode kicks off with that flashback scene because it’s that moment that we’d heard so much about, but only now do we see part of that incident. How is filming that?

It was cool. It’s always interesting when you’re in the midst of a show to try to go back two or three years or four years or whatever it is and having to sort of recreate that. But we were running, gunning down in Fort Lauderdale, and it was a huge crowd watching, and it was kind of fun. It was great to just be in that spot pre-wake-up call, like we were just talking about, where he’s sort of lost in the sauce, and that’s the beginning of his story, or at least the story we’re going to watch. So it was really fun to be able to do that. It’s helpful for me as an actor, but I think it’s fun to shoot, but it’s also great for an audience to check out.

So who do you think RJ is going to be in a Season 2 and what are you hoping to explore with him going forward?

I want to keep getting to know RJ as much as possible. I think we did a really good job of that in Season 1, but I think there’s many, many different facets of RJ to explore — his past world and past life as a photographer, his potential family that we don’t know about. There’s potential ex-criminals he’s friends with. There’s a whole lot of things I would love to explore with RJ that I think we’ll get to know him more and more and more with more episodes.

And of course, the family drama with Emi and Victor is going to play out for sure, that being sort of maybe one of our overall stories we have as a through line. But then just keeping to having these mysteries be as Florida weird as possible and really leading into the fun aspect of shooting in Florida and telling Florida stories and keeping that as the main identity of the show, I think is really important.

Where do you think he’s going to park his RV in Season 2?

I don’t know. [Laughs] I love the RV. I love that as a character thing. I hope he continues to have his RV. I think it’s a really interesting part of the show.

RJ Decker, Streaming Now, Hulu