Note: This story contains spoilers from the “Teacup” Season 1 finale.

In the Season 1 finale of the Peacock sci-fi series, Yvonne Strahovski’s character Maggie and her husband James (Scott Speedman) are forced to make some truly heartbreaking decisions that will affect their entire family. “Teacup.”

TheWrap spoke with the actress about the “terrifying” day that unfolded as Maggie tried to determine which of the trapped humans had been captured by the enemy alien Assassin in order to protect her son Arlo (Caleb Dolden), who was the Assassin’s target. it is also home to the benign alien Harbinger.

In the final episode, the Assassin passes through many hosts and reaches Maggie’s daughter Meryl (Émilie Bierre). Maggie and James already know that the only way to defeat the Assassin is to drown the host and then try to revive him. They both wear gas masks to prevent the assassins from jumping on their bodies and attempting the gruesome task of strangling their daughter. The strangulation works and Meryl lives – but not before Assassin jumps next to James, meaning Maggie must now kill her husband.

TheWrap: It was a pretty traumatic finale. Did you shoot it all in one day?

Yvonne Strahovski: It’s very traumatic. The drowning scene in particular took several days. They built the bathroom separately from the original bathroom set so they could capture special overhead shots.

How emotionally draining was it to do this?

It was quite emotional… You invest everything in this moment, thinking about what it would be like to put everything into something as horrific and unimaginable as strangling your own daughter and then having to resuscitate her. So yeah, it was a pretty tough day. I think it went down in history as one of the heaviest days (in my career).

The finale is similar to the John Carpenter movie “The Thing,” where no one knows where the Assassin is and everyone suspects everyone else.

Yes. Definitely the theme of the series is not being able to trust anyone. I thought the premise that Maggie and James were already at odds and that Maggie didn’t trust him because he was unfaithful gave us a great starting point. It raised the stakes for all the other madness and horror that occurred throughout the season.

I wasn’t expecting that twist where the Assassin turns on James and James tries to fight him as best he can. Can you talk about the scene where Maggie realizes what happened?

This is not a really complicated, easy moment. Before all this craziness happened, she probably wanted to kill him in her mind when she found out he was unfaithful. But under strange circumstances, they strangely reunite with the common goal of protecting their children at all costs.

I think at the end, when they both realize that he’s now the Assassin, there’s a very sad and tragic understanding between them of what really must have happened. And there’s a brief moment where Maggie runs out of the bathroom and sees James transforming in the kitchen, and she has one last cognitive moment where James gives her that look, and that moment was so, so powerful, because it was the last time it really was James.

And then his newly recovered daughter begs him not to do it, which makes it even harder.

I think this family, especially the kids, needs a lot of therapy in Season 2 – if there is a Season 2 – to get over all the terrible things that have happened. This is unimaginable. What would you do in such scenarios? That’s the fun of being on a show like this, you’re trying to combine family drama and real relationships with these far-out ideas that come up in a genre like this. You walk the line between these two elements.

Have you discussed what the second season will be like?

We talked a little bit about the “what if” of it all and the idea of ​​the world getting a little wider. Season 1 was all about this enclosed farm, this enclosed family, and everyone involved in it (Season 2 was about what it would mean to expand into town).

We finally meet McNab’s (Rob Morgan) friends and think everything is fine, then two others show up and take them out, and again the main characters don’t know who to attack. trust.

Exciting. We’re introducing this new character with a megaphone who talks to us. And suddenly the problem is much bigger than they expected. It’s devastating for everyone involved, but I hope it’s exciting for the audience watching to say, “Okay, this is a much bigger problem.”

As far as we know, Harbinger is still with Arlo. Is this your understanding too?

Yes, Harbinger is still on Arlo, and Assassin is out there somewhere.

Can we assume that James is definitely dead?

I’m 99% sure he’s dead, but anything is always possible. (Showrunner Ian McCulloch Confirmed to EW He said the character died in the freezer trap.)

What would you like to see in Season 2 if it happens?

I’m thinking of expanding into other characters and getting a better understanding of exactly what’s going on. Now that they understand the various pieces of the puzzle, it’s a matter of putting the puzzle together and then trying to figure out exactly how to combat what’s going on.

All episodes of “Teacup” are now streaming on Peacock.