SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details of Starz’s season 2 finale Blind point.
Season 2 of blind point came to a close on Friday with a cathartic episode where the characters finally addressed some of the tensions that have been brewing since Miles [Rafael Casal] went to prison
The episode follows the aftermath of Miles’ unexpected homecoming. Ashley [Jasmine Cephas Jones] he has been sleeping on Nancy’s couch ever since Miles walked in and saw her explaining to her friends and family why she had kissed another man. After a spectacularly early release of San Quentin, Miles had decided to surprise everyone at Meat Fest (an annual party Rainey throws to beat up her cheating ex). Phones are not allowed at Meat Fest, so he couldn’t call anyway.
“It’s a very sad way for him to find out when it should be the happy time to come home and surprise everyone. We’ve all waited for this moment so it’s really sad and I feel bad for her,” Cephas Jones told Deadline.
Ashley certainly harbors more guilt than ever, given that Miles went to prison on New Year’s Eve on drug possession charges as a cover for his brother. Now it’s New Year’s Eve again. Miles and Ashley haven’t spoken to each other since, but the final episode makes it clear that they’re both desperately looking for a way to get back together.
And it’s not just Miles that Ashley needs to patch things up with. She and her mom Rainey have been having a conversation all season. After a cathartic discussion with Rainey in the cemetery, standing at the grave of her birth mother, Ashley finds the strength to finally reach out to Miles.
He finds her sitting upstairs on his bed holding the two bottles of champagne they were supposed to share the night he was arrested, and the couple quietly reconcile as fireworks light up Oakland.
Cephas Jones spoke to Deadline about the blind point Season 2 finale, that cathartic scene with Helen Hunt and her hopes for Ashley and Miles to move on in the interview below.
DEADLINE: I was really surprised when Miles shows up at the end of Episode 7. Did you know he was like that before we started filming Season 2? Or how did you find out?
JASMINE CEFAS JONES: Yes, I knew it was coming out. [of prison]. I did not get all the drafts of all [the scripts] for season 2, so I didn’t know in detail how it was going to happen. But he knew that this was going to happen, and he also knew that Ashley was going to do something bad.
DEADLINE: So when you finally read the script and realized he was talking to her about why she kissed another man, what was your reaction?
CEPHAS JONES: Well, I think he was very sad. Even from Episode 5, that’s where the pivot happens. I feel really bad for her, because I think she’s in a lot of pain and has denied her feelings all season. I think when she has that verse in episode 5, she’s finally unleashing how angry she is and how she feels that she has to do all of this alone, and how much pain she’s going through. Even that monologue that she does in Episode 7, she’s being very honest with everyone. And it’s so unfortunate, the way it all falls apart in her face. She just doesn’t get a chance to really sit down with Miles and confront him about it. She’s very caught off guard. It’s a very sad way for him to find out when it should be the happy time to come home and surprise everyone. We’ve all waited for this moment, so it’s very sad and I feel bad for her.
DEADLINE: At the time, I was very frustrated for both of them, because a lot of their tension throughout the season, and honestly everyone’s tensions, comes from the fact that they think Miles is going to be in prison for five years. If only they had known that it would be much shorter.
CEPHAS JONES: I think they feel like they have all this time. It’s like, how can I raise my son with all his time without him? How am I going to cope with five years without him? Who I am? I need to come back to myself. Ashley has this pressure. She keeps saying at the beginning, “I’m funny.” It’s like now she has to show everyone that she’s not a depressed person. It’s all these feelings that she’s having, and she’s not dealing with them in a very healthy way. She thinks that she has so much free time [from Miles]. And then it appears, which should be this happy moment, but it’s not.
DEADLINE: I also wanted to ask you about filming that scene with Helen Hunt in the graveyard, where Rainey and Ashley are fighting. It seems like a very cathartic moment for both of them. How did you approach that scene with Helen?
CEPHAS JONES: I remember that it was very, very cold that day. Helen is an amazing actress. I love acting with Helen. We really love each other. So when we have this real tension and these fight scenes, it’s okay for us to deal with each other that way. We’re going for each other’s throats. Ashley is a mother and she doesn’t have her mother. To add to the pain of this person that he’s been leaning on, who’s his partner, who’s gone, he’s at his mother’s grave, and he’s like, ‘I don’t know what to do, and I don’t have my mother. who to lean on At that point, Rainey might forget for a second that she needs to be Ashley’s mom and Ashley needs her. They need each other. At the end of the day, they need each other’s love. They need to lean on each other. And I think it’s such a beautiful scene, because they get so honest. They fight and she says, ‘Fuck you.’ He is so honest and so angry. But then it’s like, ‘What are we doing? We love each other, and we need to love each other. Once they get to that place, it’s so beautiful. Ashley just cries in Rainey’s arms. Rainey has been a mother figure to Ashley her entire life. I think this tragedy, this sadness has gotten in the way of how they can address this as a family. Ashley’s blind spot most of the time is that she feels like she has to do everything herself… And there’s this pride. I think a lot of it has to do [with the idea] that she lost her mother. So there’s a lot of backstory, a lot of deep trauma in these characters. But I think at the end of the day, they only need each other, and they always show each other, even at all times they have the tension that they have. I love that scene. I loved filming that scene with Helen. I think the good thing about us in those kinds of scenes is that we just dive in. We don’t, we don’t stop. I think we’re very comfortable with each other and we love each other anyway, that gives us space to do that and be really free in those moments. So you really get these raw, honest performances that we have between us, and they’re some of my favorite scenes to do. I love coming face to face with Helen. It’s so fun.
DEADLINE: Rafael and Daveed seem like very helpful people. Do you often seek feedback on Ashley and how often do you seek feedback on your trip?
CEPHAS JONES: My contribution has always been there, from the beginning. They know Ashley very well, and so do I. I have been involved with blind point ever since the movie, and all the visits to each other’s houses and the texts and the calls… we’ve been going back and forth about Ashley and who she is [for years]. It even started with a Pinterest board where Rafa and I started like, what are you wearing? I’ve been involved from the very beginning, which I think makes it a really unique experience for me. So I’m very lucky, because my voice is always heard. And if I don’t agree with something, or something doesn’t feel right, I’ll say it, and I’ll have the floor, and I’ll have the space to be heard. But as far as creating it, we’ve been creating it for a couple of years.
DEADLINE: The show also pushes many creative limits. Do you feel that at this point you are prepared for whatever they throw at you?
CEPHAS JONES: Hell yes. When do I get the western that takes place in the mind of my son Sean? Or can I take a tennis racket and break the fourth wall and enhance the verse on camera? I mean, I’ve never seen that on TV before. Starz allows us to be really creative, and that’s really cool. I think, at the end of the day, it’s about trying things out. It’s all about being creative and going outside of the box. But how can you tell if things are working? How can you do things that have never been done before, if you don’t have the space and acceptance of these ideas? So for me, as an actor and as a creator, I’m up for anything, because I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance to play a role like this and push the boundaries the way the show does. . And in that way, it’s one of the most creative and fulfilling experiences I’ve had as an artist. I walk away from the show and I’m a better artist because of it.
DEADLINE: Glad you mentioned the western episode. It’s a lot of fun, and Atticus Woodward really shines, as I think he does all season. He seems so grown up, and it’s very evident in his acting. What has it been like working with him on Season 2?
CEPHAS JONES: OMG Atticus is amazing. You’re right. In season 2, he really brings it, and he’s grown into an amazing little actor. He’s so wild when you’re working with a child actor, because you’re watching him grow into an older human being, and he’s still a kid, and yet he still has the ability to get to work. And Atticus has done a beautiful job this season and I’m very, very proud of him.
DEADLINE: Now that Miles and Ashley have reconciled, what’s the way forward for them?
CEPHAS JONES: I can’t tell you that.
DEADLINE: Correct, no spoilers. But what do you expect from them?
CEPHAS JONES: I hope you have a little break. He’s out, so the next challenge would be what happens to people when they get out of prison and back into the real world. That will probably be another challenge for both of them. But I’m excited to see them together. I love Ashley and Miles. I love who they are as parents. They are great characters. You really have to see who they are as parents and who they are as a couple in Episode 3. We’ve never really seen that, how they are together. And I’d love to see that more in Season 3. And I think we’ll be able to see that, if we get to Season 3.
