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HBO MaxsStation Eleventhreads a very small needle.
It is a series about a global pandemic, produced bothbefore and during an actual pandemic.
ButStation Elevens most painstaking balancing act is one of adaptation.
But it was really a question of how to get tothat hug.
Theres something about that moment.
I made a big deal about how hard it is to find a person without phones or the internet.
How did you find someone?
They were putting peoples faces on milk cartons and having special announcements at the end ofUnsolved Mysteries.
You lost a person and you cant find them again.
We had already made the choice to put them in the apartment together.
Where did that come from?Its just good TV.
We needed to make an episode about Jeevan in Chicago on the day it happened.
And you cant do that on TV.
You need someone to talk to.
It couldve been Frank, Jeevans brother.But Frank is the destination.
Its veryAdventures in Babysitting theres the Lake Point Tower that we just need to get to.
Thats good TV, too.
Hes got a place to go; hes got early information.
Right at the beginning, one of our writers, Nick Cuse, suggested it.
Nick was like, Two brothers stuck in an apartment is interesting, sure.
But you know whats more interesting?
Two brothers and a little kid they dont know.
And I was like, Absolutely.
So that becomes a waypoint.
So then, Kirsten and Jeevan: What if they dont split up?
What if it was kind of funny, their dynamic?
What if you want to bolt on this kid?
Whats that O. Henry story about the kidnapping?
Its probably an inappropriate title.
Its aracist title, I think.Yeah.
So I was remembering a bit of that too.
She knows exactly who she wants to be, and he doesnt know anything!
There was so much good stuff there, both for this episode and the whole story.
So where did the hug come from?I honestly cant remember which came first.
In the novel, Jeevan survives.
Very early, we thought, Lets doan episodewith Jeevan likeThe Revenant.
Its a man who would never leave this girl … but he kind of wants to.
Morally he cant, but emotionally hes going underwater.
And instantly, theyre fighting.
Im the problem in that situation!
You cant leave, though.
I think when Frank says, What are you doing?
Where are you going?
in the woods, Jeevan is considering leaving.
That was the trick of the episode.
Its sort of like this, emotionally, and well fix it later.
So that became, Do they reunite, or is Jeevan dead?
Those were big questions.
In the early conversations, its tough, because you dont want Kirstens drive to be find Jeevan.
She needs to be further away from the loss, or it would sabotage every Traveling Symphony story.
Itd become, Hi, I love Shakespeare, but wheres Jeevan?
That became a very tough question, sitting there in episode nine.
But the answer, this miscommunication, felt like such a pandemic answer to me.
And I said, I dont know how were going to get here, but thats where were going.
Thats our North Star.
Kirsten and Jeevan feel like one significant adaptation choice for the series.
Arthurs son Tyler and the Museum of Civilization feels like the other one.
The first time you hear about the Museum of Civilization, its framed as a place where cannibals are.
At the same time, you hear that the Prophets dog is namedLuli.
Emily is giving it to you very early.
Its a masterful sleight of hand in the novel, and I wanted to keep it but reconstruct it.
Part of it is the parent in me, and part is the storyteller.
Its not just a thing you say as a parent; its actually true.
They just have different circumstances.
And I wanted Elizabeth to not die.
Our version of her is a little different than in that cocktail-party scenein the novel.
Shes young, but shes not dumb.
Elizabeth and Arthur are not having an affair.
Shes not doing nefarious things.
Shes just happy to be there, and a little naive about her invasion.
We wanted to leave more space for that character to grow.
The parent in me wanted that.
The storyteller in me was coming fromThe Leftovers, a show where theres a very interesting cult.
Lets do Tyler as a human who is also part of the wreckage of Arthurs life.
Thats not a great moment to be leading from in day 12.
Im curious about timelines in storytelling.
But here, that back-and-forth rhythm works so well.
Do you have a guide for how to think about screwing with chronology?
Its not like youve been cheated.
I think we were successful because we had concurrent experiences of the before and the after.
Thats what the book did!
Then the book, at page 70, says thats not the now, thats the before.
I came fromThe Leftovers; David Eisenberg, our editor, came fromWatchmen.
Were both Damon Lindeloftrained storytellers.
Weve both seen with intentionality how this can be a very powerful thing.
Its two competing, simultaneous nows.
Which is more to me what it feels like to remember traumatic moments.
They feel like now.
They exist simultaneously in your life, and you live them over and over again in a circle.
Thats why I think its fair inStation Eleven.
The Leftoverswas for HBO, andStation Elevenaired on HBO Max.
Do they feel like different entities?
Much like different kinds of Greek gods.
Some intervene, some never show up, some cause a ruckus, some come and save you.
The stakes are high.
Peoples careers are always on the line when the scale is this giant.
Everyones trying to make the show great, and everyone has different ways of doing that.
Where did you land?I dont believe in ghosts, but ghosts are real.
Weve broken it out into this literal thing, but …
I see my dad every day, because I remember him.
But he also advises, as my friend.
That stuff is real.
You were dreaming, or you had a carbon monoxide overexposure.
Its like Nora Durst popping peoples balloons at baseball games.
Who wants that job?
No one wants that job.
I dont want that job, either.
It took her to the end ofThe Leftoversto say, Its real.
Its because stories are real.
If we collectively believe in a thing, like money, then its real.
No ones saying money isnt real, but it has the same status as ghosts, for me.
However, your emotional experience that you had that night is valuable.
Theres a way for us to talk about these things without popping each others bubbles.
What was it aboutStation Eleventhat helped you articulate that?Its that thing we were talking about before.
The past is not the past.
The future doesnt exist.
Its a made-up idea.
Every mapping that we do of the future is a fabrication of our imagination.
I was drawn to it in ways I didnt really understand.
I found some things I needed to reckon with in my life in the experience of makingStation Eleven.
