The second season of the Freeform television series Beyond premieres tonight (January 18) at 8PM ET/PT with an episode called “Two Zero One.” In anticipation of the season premiere, we spoke with series star Burkely Duffield who plays Holden Matthews on the series.
If you haven’t seen Season 1, you should get on that; even so, the Season 2 premiere is enough of a jumping on point that audiences will not be confused. Photos from the Beyond season premiere can be found here.
KSITETV’s CRAIG BYRNE: Going into Season 2, what makes Beyond different from anything else that’s on TV right now?
BURKELY DUFFIELD: I would say that I’m excited for a couple of things for this season. One being that I think the relationships that we have on our show are really unique. I mean, you have Holden character who is still growing up and living these aspects of life that he hasn’t dealt with before, as well as I think our show is really cool in connecting people with the brotherly relationship and the family dynamic. What it means to be in a relationship between friends, between people who love each other. So I’m really excited about that, which I think is unique to our show, and as well, I think our writers and our creators have done a really good job of integrating these sci-fi aspects into a real world in an individualistic kind of a way. How Holden has these struggles with his abilities, as well as the antagonists you’ll see this season, are really cool and unique. I’m excited for fans to see what we have in store.
Where is Holden’s life as Season 2 begins?
Holden’s life is sort of in a little bit of a calmer state as we pick up from Episode 10 of last season. You see his life has mellowed out a little bit. It’s been a couple months since the big, dramatic end of the first season, and you see him trying to put together what bits he can have to just live a normal life. He has put the Realm and these abilities behind him, and he’s got a job with his dad. He’s trying to move forward with a real world relationship with Willa. So, you see him in more of a chilled-out, for the lack of a better term, state, just trying to navigate life as a young adult.
How chilled out will he remain when you have new characters like his coworker “Steven” causing drama?
Definitely not as chilled out as he would like. Even with the Realm and the people that were being pricks in his side last year, now he’s got a bully at work who is definitely pressing his buttons, and there’s definitely some danger lurking around the corners of Season 2 as well. Unfortunately, that normal life that he strives for, he’s not going to quite be able to obtain for very long in Season 2.
It seems like a lot of people are checking up on those closest to Holden. Should we worry about them, and that they might not all b what they came to be?
Absolutely is the short answer. There’s a lot of people with alternative motives that are checking in on Holden and looking out for Holden in different ways. Holden is definitely still a very special individual, and that is not lost on organizations and people who may be wondering what Holden can do. So, I would advise that Holden should be very careful of who he’s trusting, once again, this season, because not all of his friends may be his friends.
How are Holden’s parents getting along this season?
You see the Matthews family at the beginning being in a mish-mash kind of a place, but in Season 2 they come together a lot more as a family, and their parents are getting along a lot more. I think they lost that thing that unified them over the years, but with Holden being back and this unknown and mysterious element that they both feel that’s happening in the family, you see the parents getting along a lot better this season, and with that unifying factor pushing them forward together.
Can you talk about the dreams that Holden is still having, and what is he doing to keep himself from waking up in the middle of the forest again?
He’s having these recurring dreams with these weird ideas. They are definitely threatening danger to his life and to others. He is trying to life what he has of a normal life, and he is trying to tie himself to his bed frame in order to keep himself from wandering around and sleepwalking into the woods, which was a good idea, actually. I’ve got to give that to Holden. But unfortunately, it’s not as easily thwarted as he would have thought, so he is once again back to the drawing board with how he’s going to keep himself immobilized while he sleeps.
Is Holden disappointed when Willa just dismisses those things as “just dreams?”
He is. He is confiding in Willa, and she is really ready, as he was, to put everything behind them and move forward with just them, but Holden is plagued with these dreams of danger and fire and hurt, so is he is hurt when Willa doesn’t acknowledge that what he’s saying is true. She doesn’t share the same feelings. Once again, they seem to be on a different page. So, yeah. He was kind of hurt when Willa said that, and unfortunately he’s not really good at communicating how he feels and how to move forward in problems. I’m hoping moving forward, they’re going to be able solve the problem together.
Would you say that Holden is still emotionally a lot younger than 25?
Yeah. I would definitely say that. I think that he definitely matured a lot through Season 1, but you definitely will continue to see him mature through Season 2 and hopefully moving forward. He has definitely matured from being the adolescent in Season 1, but he is definitely learning new things about life now. He’s never been in a relationship. He’s never had a job before. He’s never just navigated through, even to any sort of young adult day to day life. You will continue to see him struggle through what it means to be a young adult and just a person living in the world that we are today.
What can you tease about what’s coming up for Charlie?
Charlie is definitely back this season, I can say. As you saw in Season 1, she comes in and has a strong attachment and similarities to Holden. I can’t say too much more, but I will say that since they were left in such an abrupt moment in Season 1, that perhaps that connection between characters will come back, and they might put Holden in a bit of a complicated situation, having to choose between the strong similarities that he feels with Charlie compared to that amazing relationship and feelings that he has for Willa. So that love triangle is definitely coming back to put Holden in a tough situation this year!
Beyond Season 2 airs Thursdays on Freeform. Take a look at a trailer for Season 2 below!
