Note: This story contains spoilers from “Sterling Point” Season 1, Episode 8.
By the end of Megan Park’s “Sterling Point,” audiences are planted right back where the YA series started, in Annie’s luxurious NYC bedroom. But this time it’s not Annie (Ella Rubin) that’s waking up in the city; it’s Ramona (Amélie Hoeferle).
As Ramona takes the time to get to know the dad she never had in Jay Duplass’ Steven, Annie decides to stay in the Canadian island town as she continues connecting with memories of her mother, ending the season with a jump into the water by the cabin. “It’s a pretty bold choice for both of them,” Park told TheWrap of the sister swap, which she always envisioned the eight-episode series leaving off on.
“What’s interesting is they both arrive at this place not feeling that they’ve been defined by the death of their mother [and] throughout the eight episodes, realizing that’s the thing that’s defined them both the most,” Park said, noting the added layer of Annie and Ramona’s differing relationship to Sterling Point as it relates to their feelings on selling the island.
“It kind of also comes down to a conversation of money and class and privilege, and kind of what that means to both of them and what this place has come to represent for both of them,” Park said. “It becomes a pretty heated debate between them, but I hope that people can kind of understand both sides of it.”
While Annie had initially promised to go along with whatever Ramona wanted in regard to selling or holding onto Sterling Point — though that was when Ramona was set on preserving it, rather than using its sale to grant her financial freedom — a moment in the finale makes Annie sure she needs more time there.
Though Annie had recalled a memory she wasn’t sure was real of cuddling with her mother before she passed, she wakes up during her last night in the cabin to realize the memory was not only real, but happened when her mom was pregnant with Ramona. What follows is a sequence of Annie grieving what could’ve been as she cycles through childhood, adolescence and adulthood with her mother by her side.
“It just kind of solidifies her idea that … ‘I can’t let go of this place, it just means too much to me. It’s my only memory,’” Park said, noting she hopes the emotional sequence resonates with those who have experienced similar loss. “Not only does she have all of the past moments that she missed out on with her mom to grieve, but a whole lifetime of monumental moments ahead that are she has to grieve, which I think is something people forget about grief — it’s not just mourning the past; it’s mourning all the moments you’re going to miss in the future … it changes shape and form.”
For Annie, staying in Sterling Point — at least for now — also means more time with Ellis (Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie), whose slow burn with Annie stole her heart over former classmate and fellow member of the 1% Rory (Daniel Quinn Toye).
“It’s so classic Canada boy — that’s such a trope that we actually did lean into,” Park said, noting the typical Canadian guy is “stoic and quiet but sweet.” “I love that Ellis is somebody that kind of slows Annie down in a way that no one else has been able to, in a way that I think she really needs in this moment.”
While Annie and Ellis have cemented their connection by the finale, Ramona and Oona (Bo Bragason) couldn’t leave off further apart in a reality Park called “heartbreaking.” “They’re so good together. They’re so young, and it’s just also heated,” Park said. “At that age … a breakup could totally catapult Ramona into being like, ‘f–k this place, I’m out’ … that really feels so, so visceral when you’re 16.”
Park notes that both Ramona and Oona are quite confident in their queerness, contrasting with “My Old Ass,” which sees Maisy Stella’s Elliot grappling with her orientation. “That might be a great Season 2 thing with a new character,” Park said.
“Sterling Point” marks Park’s first foray into TV after her poignant coming-of-age films “The Fallout” and “My Old Ass,” which prompted Amazon to gauge the filmmaker’s interest on tackling the YA genre in a TV series.
“I know a lot of filmmakers are like, ‘I want to do something totally different … but I was sort of like, ‘Yeah, I like this space,’” Park said. “It’s a fun challenge to try to keep things authentic and real and grounded. I really enjoyed that part of ‘My Old Ass’ and and also ‘The Fallout,’ and so I was like, ‘yeah, let’s try it.’”
While Park spent much of her young adulthood on a TV set as a cast member on “The Secret of the American Teenager” — which she said helped her understand how a TV show runs “at the bare bones” — she admitted she knew nothing about running a writers’ room or a show prior to “Sterling Point.” Luckily, she was paired with YA veterans Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (“The O.C.,” “Gossip Girl”), who serve as executive producers on “Sterling Point.” “I was again being guided by the best of the best,” Park said. “I was trying to soak it all up and learn.”
“Sterling Point” sits within Prime Video’s slate of YA series, which, this summer alone, has included hockey romance hit “Off Campus,” “Legally Blonde” prequel series “Elle” and romance adaptation “Every Year After.” Park’s take on YA includes all its hallmarks — a coming-of-age story, love triangle, family growing pains — but in her own way, with Park noting Prime Video encouraged her to keep it “voicey.”
“There is a formula to crafting a TV season, and there there are things that you do need to set up story and mystery and have it pay off in the in the right way, and Josh and Stephanie are of course geniuses at that,” Park said. “I was being led always by the emotional stories that I wanted to tell, and Josh and Stephanie were so great at interpreting that and teaching me how to practically put that at play within a series.”
Switching to TV enabled Park to create even more lived-in characters, as well as allow for discovery within her cast. She revealed that Rubin and Hoeferle would braid each other’s hair on set, an aspect of their friendship Park pulled into the show.
With several cliffhangers set up by the Season 1 finale — including Connor (Keen Ruffalo) locating his and Annie’s birth parents — Park noted there’s “lots to mine” and “lots more characters” she would like to introduce into the world should “Sterling Point” receive a Season 2 green light, though she and the team haven’t mapped out what it would look like quite yet.
“I think obviously you want to find out how Ramona’s been changed since living in New York, and how Annie’s changed having gotten further in the experiment of living on this island than her mom even ever got to be, and where she’s at with Ellis,” Park said. “People will have to … like it and watch it.”
That may or may not include a time jump, with Park joking she has to call up Schwartz and Savage to ask them what the “smartest move” would be. “It’s such a great summer show — it’d be fun to pick it up like the following summer and kind of see … what these young women have gone through in the past year,” she said.
But for now, Park just hopes “Sterling Point” is refreshing for viewers, and that it stands as “the most authentic YA show they’ve seen in a while.”
“I hope people are like … ‘this feels like me,’ or ‘this feels like how I would react in this way,’ or ‘this seems like what my friends and I are like when we hang out,’” Park said. “I just want them to feel represented and seen.”
“Sterling Point” is now streaming on Prime Video.
The post ‘Sterling Point’ Creator Megan Park Unpacks Emotional Finale and That ‘Bold Choice,’ Hopes for Season 2 appeared first on TheWrap.
