It’s been a long wait for Graceland fans to find out whether or not Mike Warren (Aaron Tveit) was saved after Sid killed the agent in the Season 2 finale. The situation was further complicated since it was Mike’s partner and girlfriend that gave him up to Sid in the first place.
The Graceland Season 3 premiere played with viewers’ emotions for a bit by showing a gravesite scene, as well as, mentioning Mike was dead only to reveal that Mike was very much alive. Injured and recovering, but Mike Warren was saved. Well, he’s alive at least.
BuddyTV spoke with Executive Producer Jeff Eastin about Mike’s death and how those six minutes when he was clinically dead will forever change the agent and will influence him going forward.
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On what’s next for Mike
Eastin: What happens to Mike in those six minutes that he’s clinical dead ends up defining his case this year. You get into it in the first few episodes where Mike knows he saw something and believes he was sent back with a purpose. I would say whether you’re a spiritual person or not that the answer at the end of the day will be surprising and hopefully very satisfying.
Did you ever consider killing Mike?
We gave it a minute’s thought. Mike is such an integral part of the show that really killing him was always sort of a non-starter, but as a big fan of Six-Feet Under, the idea of somebody like Mike who is very driven, a very Type-A kinda guy, who has gone through an experience like that.
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On real-life inspiration and Mike’s journey
A lot of this came out of conversations we had with real agents and a couple of them who had gone through a real near-death experience who believed they were– it died during this. One woman we talked to had been shot and in the few minutes she was clinically dead, she saw a dog who had been owned by a neighbor of hers. She became obsessed with the dog. When she was revived and came back, she really believed the dog had something to tell her.
Taking that into account and trying to say what would a guy like Mike whose world is very by-the-book, he’s a guy who doesn’t spend a lot of time on spiritual matters, suddenly has this thrust upon him. What does he do with this information?
At one point in one of the episodes, he says, “I feel like I’ve been given all the answers, I just don’t know what the questions are.” Mike’s pursuit of that really gives him his drive this year and hopefully it ends in a very satisfying way that I don’t think anyone will guess.
Graceland airs Thursdays at 10pm ET on USA.
(Image courtesy of USA.)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
