Residents grapple with variety of demons in Season 2 of 'Midnight, Texas'
With the demon Colconnar vanquished, it appears life will go back to normal for the denizens of "Midnight, Texas" in Season 2 of the NBC supernatural drama. But really, in a town inhabited by, among others, a vampire, a witch, a fallen angel and a shape-shifter, what exactly is normal?
"Well, here's the thing," says Peter Mensah, who plays vampire Lemuel. "Can you ever really beat the demons back entirely? I mean, what would be the point if they were completely gone? So there's always going to be something to work with."
As the new season opens Friday, Oct. 26, the residents are faced with a new set of challenges, headed by the arrival of newcomers Kai and Patience (Nestor Carbonell, Jaime Ray Newman), two New Agers who have transformed the old hotel in town into a spa and resort, and thus have raised suspicions. Witch Fiji and human Bobo's (Parisa Fitz-Henley, Dylan Bruce) amorous escapades continue full speed ahead after their tryst at the end of last season. And newlywed Lem and his hit woman bride, Olivia (Arielle Kebbel), find the psychic connection that resulted from him giving her blood in the Season 1 finale has given them a case of TMI.
"Lem discovers what it's like to really be married," Mensah explains. "It's not as easy as you would think, especially if you're a vampire and your wife happens to be human. And the particular human he married is quite complex, so in getting to know his wife and her background a little bit more, especially in the heightened world of Midnight, I think Lem finds himself a little bit out of his depth from time to time, which I think a lot of marrieds have gone through. ..."
"If you're suddenly slammed into knowing everything about each other, what do you do?" he continues. "And as much as you might love someone, I think we know as adults that sometimes the best relationships often give each other privacy, and when you don't have that it can be quite difficult."
Also having their problems are Manfred and Creek (Francois Arnaud, Sarah Ramos) - he because he's still suffering repercussions from his demonic possession in Season 1, and she because she's dealt with nutty behavior in her own family and she just doesn't have the patience.
"She has very little tolerance for Manfred's antics," Arnaud says of Creek, who becomes a recurring character this season. "And Manfred's ... still oozing black goo out of his ears and having these horrible nightmares where he's hurting the ones he loves, and are they dreams or reality? So Creek has had enough and I think she finds it difficult to cope with."
In the end, the good folk of Midnight may realize the enemy may be a very familiar party.
"I think it's always been a part of Midnight," Arnaud says. "It's always been about controlling our inner demons and our evil impulses, whether it's the vampire or the weretiger or someone who's possessed by evil energy. I think there's parallels to be drawn with regular humans, who are tempted or faced with difficult decisions to make at some point, whether it's just to do good or evil. So I think the threat has always been among the Midnighters themselves."
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"Midnight, Texas"
Returns at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, on NBC