Plus, where the Delaneys and Savannah go from here.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for theApples Never Fallseason 1 finale, “Joy.”
But when Joy learns of the hurricane back home, she insists on leaving.
Annette Bening as Joy Delaney in ‘Apples Never Fall’.Jasin Boland/PEACOCK
Ahead, EW speaks with showrunner Melanie Marnich to answer our burning questions about all of it.
MELANIE MARNICH:Liane was great.
She’s incredibly supportive.
Conor Merrigan-Turner as Logan, Essie Randles as Brooke, Jake Lacy as Troy, Alison Brie as Amy in ‘Apples Never Fall’.Jasin Boland/PEACOCK
What can you tell me about crafting that moment specifically?
That came about in a drastic rewrite right at the end.
Yeah, we went on strike, and everything went away.
I rewrote a lot of it.
What did I sacrifice for?
And she had felt she was a woman who had reached a breaking point.
She felt unseen, unloved, unappreciated, and she made it to this point in her life.
She finally retired, and she was like, okay, great.
All this sacrifice will pay off in these incredible relationships with my family.
And then suddenly they’re not there.
And she feels bereft and furious.
And it just sort of came out.
It just felt like it was needed and it was honest.
What other parts of the finale had that radical change whenever you got back to making the show?
It’s a completely different end than I originally had.
Can you share what you had in mind initially?
And true to Joy Delaney.
Did you ever think about completely deviating from the book and killing off Joy?
No, I never ever wanted that.
The circumstances just happened to look a lot like murder.
We never considered her dying or being actually killed because it wasn’t about that, per se.
And that is a brutal indictment of his character, and that is what he has to face.
Savannah is the only central character who doesn’t get her own episode.
Tell me about that choice.
In doing an adaptation, you make some brutal choices.
And in the course of the writer’s room, there was stuff that we explored with Savannah.
The whole journey of making a show was so humbling because you learn every step of the way.
There were these great moments.
It felt like the essential motor was the Delaneys.
And that Savannah information, when it came out, had to be a part ofthatstory.
What do you think happens to Savannah?
Will the Delaneys see her again?
Does the law catch up with her?
Oh, she’s a nimble one.
I think she’s going to land on her feet.
I think she’s going to lay low for a little bit.
I do think this experience with the Delaneys was transformative.
And I think those words will go with her and maybe soften her a little bit.
But I do think, a leopard can’t change her spots.
I think there’s something about her that is going to always be troubling.
What about the Delaneys?
Where do they go from here?
I mean, that’s a really good question.
And I think it’s going to transform the relationships, obviously with their mom and dad.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
All episodes ofApples Never Fallare now streaming on Peacock.
