Sarah Carter on ‘Falling Skies’ and Love Triangles

Sarah Carter (‘Maggie’) admits she’s not good at talking about Falling Skies leading into a season. She’s fine with discussing the series once episodes have aired, but as far as teasing what audiences can expect from season four it was a difficult task for Carter who seemed to want to spill the beans on everything – that’s how enthusiastic she is about this upcoming season.

Chatting at WonderCon, Carter discussed her character’s romantic entanglements as well as how this season has women in more powerful positions among the surviving humans.

Falling Skies season four premieres on TNT on June 22, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT.

Sarah Carter Falling Skies Interview

What are you allowed to tease about this new season?

Sarah Carter: “This is our fourth season that’s about to air so things are completely different and very exciting, and especially for Maggie. I think this is one of her wildest seasons…it is her wildest season. What can I tease you about? Well, I think you have probably heard that there’s a love triangle and it’s not with Karen. I was just officially given permission to tease about this and I’m terrified for this story to come out. When it was written I had a very strong reaction and I think it’s because I genuinely love working with Drew Roy and our relationship – the Hal and Maggie relationship. And we are still very much working together but the relationship is now complex because his little brother’s involved.

When I saw it on the page, I went, ‘I’m doing what?! What’s going on? How do you justify this?’ Tears…phone calls to David. ‘David, I know this is an awesome idea. I trust you because you’re a genius. But are you sure? Are you sure?’ But it is making for incredible drama, I have to admit.”

Isn’t this better than Drew having another woman?

Sarah Carter: “Hal…poor Hal. Oh my god! I think Maggie’s got it harder though. It’s heart-wrenching because she’s entirely aware of what’s going on and there is a major piece that I can not tell which is the reason for all of this. That part of the storyline is phenomenal. I can’t wait until Comic-Con when I can speak freely. So, it’s justified but it’s still hard.”

Where does the relationship stand at the start of the season?

Sarah Carter: “Off the top of the season, Maggie and Hal are split up so we both take leadership roles in our new little communities. And Hal’s storyline is phenomenal and I was excited about not being only in a romantic storyline but actually taking a leadership role. And Tom empowers Maggie in this season a lot to be that voice of truth and reason.

I think when Ben sees me in that role, he falls in love and he also wants to be around me a lot. Maggie is taken aback… We know Maggie to stand in the back of the crowd, right? She’s sort of like looking at everyone and assessing the situation. She’ll take action, but she doesn’t say much. She’ll take action when she wants to make a political move. She’s a political character, for sure. But now Tom is saying, ‘Maggie, what is up?’ He’s seeing that she can stand on her own two feet and she can also affect change. So, that’s awesome to play.”

It says in the notes that Jessy Schram is back this season, but you killed off Karen. Can you say anything about her return?

Sarah Carter: “Well, I think she’s forever going to be the reason for a lot of the things that happen on the show. She’s the reason for everything in the next season, separating, and coming back together. She has a lot to do with Scarlett Byrne’s character. Scarlett is phenomenal next season. She’s such a great actress. I think that’s probably the best thing about next season: Scarlett Byrne.

Great storylines for women, actually, in this upcoming season. Moon [Bloodgood’s] character Anne Glass is a full-on warrior. I think it takes the show to a whole other place to have all of these women in leadership positions, and I was not expecting that. So kudos to the writing team.”

Do you think it needed four seasons to take it to this level or do you think it was something that was missing that should have been addressed sooner?

Sarah Carter: “Oh, maybe. You know the show is about Tom Mason and his sons and that’s wonderful. That’s sort of Spielberg’s niche and I have a lot of respect for that. Noah Wyle is very much the lead this season. It is all about Tom Mason’s arc and he is creating an umbrella for all of us. But, yeah, maybe it was our turn. Maybe it took a while for women to… I don’t know. I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t really think of the show in terms of why, when, it just is. It’s so crazy next season. Everything is what you don’t expect.”