Fans got to see the Containment pilot in its entirety at New York Comic Con. Julie Plec, the creator of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, is known for giving fans a lot of emotions, including death, during episodes. She brought all sorts of emotions and death in this episode and she did it with no vampires. These ordinary people are coming to grips with this unknown virus and reacting in very human ways.
The series is based on a Belgium show called Cordon. Julie described the show in the best way possible: “It’s so powerful and it’s scary, but sad, but beautiful. Tension is everywhere but there’s this great, great human story and I just loved it and it kind of tapped into everything I’ve always loved as a reader, as a fan and everything I already do, trying to dig into sort of ordinary people and extraordinary circumstances.
Julie brought all of this and more to the pilot of her new show.
Your first look at the series shows that it’s very character driven.
“It’s kind of like a bird feed or a drip feed that every episode each person, each character, each relationship that were tracking, you just get this little juicy morsel. This little tidbit that keeps you going, because their lives are starting to open more and more,” Claudia Black said.
Claudia plays Dr. Sabine Lommers, a high-ranking medical official. She says that her character is very mysterious because her job is about managing information and she’s not very popular because of that.
Sabine has the weight of the world on her shoulders trying to get ahead of the virus. Claudia believes Sabine probably just wants someone to hold her and tell her everything is going to be okay.
David Gyasi, who plays Lex, hugged Claudia.
“It just happens, you just have to ask for it. Did we film that, is it usable?” Claudia said.
She adds: “It’s a very interesting dynamic with Lex, because she specifically chooses him because she knows people will trust him and she really needs him and what she’s going to ask of him and what’s being asked of her, is not the things that create a foundation for a lasting relationship, whether it be professional or otherwise.”
According to David, he’s going to struggle because he’s holding on to what he believes is the truth.
Chris Wood was very excited about his character, Jake Riley, from when he first read the script. He liked how completely different the character was from the one he played on The Vampire Dairies, and with the mention of Julie’s other show, the crowd screamed.
“Oh so you heard of it,” Chris replied to the crowd.
This wasn’t the only mention of Chris’ villain, Kai, during the panel. When David was asked about his character’s biggest struggle, first Chris said, not being as great as Jake. Then David followed that up with saying: “Not being as great as Kia.”
There was a hint of a romance brewing for Chris’ character during the pilot, but something you find out is that the characters are not allowed to touch. This makes it somewhat difficult, but not impossible, for the characters to fall for each other. Julie seemed to enjoy working with his dynamic.
“There’s something beautifully chaste and deeply emotionally intimate about building a dynamic between two people who can’t really [touch]. If they’re following the rule they can’t be within four feet of each other and are covered in layers of gloves and scarves,” Julie said.
While talking about the drama that’s coming fans way, the cast were able to have a little fun. Hanna Mangan Lawrence, who plays Teresa, pondered about how exciting it would be to give birth to an infected baby.
Claudia swung it around about how you have to always prepare for the big one, like how in LA you can’t hang framed photos over your bed, just in case. She says they get to explore something people don’t think will ever happen, but could.
Julie ended things on a more lighthearted note talking about the impending zombie apocalypse: “I sit around with my friends all the time and I’m not kidding. So when the zombie apocalypse happens, you’re not invited in my car. I love you but you will drag me down. I’m taking that guy.”
Containment will premiere midseason on The CW.
