“R.J. Decker” has always been committed to celebrating the inherent weirdness of Florida, but the ABC drama takes that mission to a dangerous new level in its Season 2 premiere. Two words: flash mob.
The premiere opens with a massive musical number — featuring several cast members from “Dancing With the Stars” — in the heart of Fort Lauderdale. Fun as it may be, the performance turns out to be a distraction organized by a serial pickpocket (played by “Bachelor” star and “DWTS” winner Joey Graziadei) whom R.J. quickly apprehends. And while we’ll admit that R.J.’s detective skills came in handy here, we could have identified Graziadei by his giant butterfly tattoo any day. Where’s our P.I. license?!
With that bit of ABC synergy behind us, we proceed to the premiere’s main cause of concern: a group of pantsless bank robbers known as, what else, the Bottomless Bandits. Mel and her partner aren’t making much headway in the matter, something FBI Agent Winwood (played by Sasheer Zamata of “Agatha All Along”) won’t let her forget. Oh, did we mention that Mel once ghosted Winwood after a hookup back in the day? That might explain some of their tension.
Meanwhile, an old prison buddy of R.J.’s named Stevie (“Bel-Air” alum Jordan L. Jones) resurfaces in need of help. Despite being committed to living on the straight and narrow, he’s being blackmailed into working for the aforementioned bandits, which puts R.J. in a unique position to help both Stevie and Mel. Once the dust settles, the bank robbers’ mysterious benefactor is ultimately revealed to be none other than FBI Agent Clark, Winwood’s partner! So not only does Mel’s ex get to eat a giant slice of humble pie, but R.J.’s buddy is a free man — though R.J. does make him promise to complete a 90-day rehab program.
And where is Emi during all of this? Three months after her father’s murder, she’s still laying understandably low, avoiding both the media circus and her family business’ concerned clientele. Catherine, surprisingly, is the first to extend an olive branch, offering Emi a non-judgmental (and non-journalistic) ear. She also encourages R.J. to reach out to Emi, which he eventually does, though it isn’t exactly the romantic reunion fans are hoping for. In fact, their exchange with the worst F-word of all — friends.
Below, “R.J. Decker” star and producer Scott Speedman breaks down Tuesday’s premiere, teasing what’s still to come for the titular P.I. and his inner circle in Season 2:
Scott Speedman predicted R.J. Decker’s DWTS crossover
TVLINE | Was there any attempt to get you into that opening flash mob, or was it never going to happen?
There was a temptation, but you know, I’ve been doing this for a long time. When I heard we were following “Dancing with the Stars,” I called Rob Doherty, our showrunner, and I said, “Just so you know, I won’t be doing any ‘Dancing with the Stars’ crossover-ing.” And sure enough, there was one of those scenes written into the first episode, but not involving me. They did a great job. Honestly, they were so cool. All those people that have been doing this for so long on that show — a very huge, popular show — came down with no ego. They were amazing, they were very kind, and they did our show a huge service by giving it a boost.
TVLINE | I have to say, I really thought R.J. was going to adopt that kid’s dog when he was sent to prison this week.
Me too. When I was first reading it, I was like, “Oh, I’m getting a dog.” I would have loved that, but then you start thinking down the line about how hard it is to work with a dog every day. It’s one thing on a movie, but on a show like this, where the schedule is crazy, adding anything unknown that we can’t fully control is a challenge. I would love for the character to get a dog, though, that’d be so cool.
TVLINE | R.J. does feel like he should have a dog, though. Maybe an off-screen dog that’s always mentioned but never shown?
I think the audience would be clamoring to see that dog at some point.
Should Catherine be worried about Mel’s ex? And have we seen the last of Stevie on R.J. Decker?
TVLINE | I’m a little torn about this next one: I love Sasheer Zamata as Agent Winwood, but I’m a little worried about her and Mel. Should I, or more importantly Catherine, be worried?
Anytime there’s something like that, I would be worried, but I really think they’re safe for now. She came on and did a great job, and she was amazing, but I think that’s a relationship that’s in the past and probably will remain so. But we’ll see.
TVLINE | Speaking of things remaining in the past, it was nice to meet Stevie and get another glimpse into R.J.’s prison stint. Will we be seeing more of Stevie?
I’ve done this a couple of times on the show, but when we finished that episode, I pulled the producers aside and told them what I thought of that kid. I was actually watching the crew react to him specifically, and I could see they were really entertained. He’s just a very likable person, and he’s a very funny actor. On a show like this, I think we really need that, so I would love to see him come back.
Scott Speedman explains how Emi friend-zoning R.J. actually ‘works well’ for the show
TVLINE | Things were really heating up between R.J. and Emi at the end of Season 1, so their first interaction in this premiere was kind of a bummer.
Yeah, that was weird. That was tough. It’s a pretty sharp 180 for the audience to take, but I think it works well for the show in terms of freeing those characters up. It allows for more story possibility as we go forward.
TVLINE | Well, since R.J. is single now, can we look forward to him dating around in Season 2?
Yeah, I think we’ll see some of that. On a show like this, bringing that to the table really works in the right way, and I think the writers have done a good job of layering that in their own way. What we’ve done does work, and we definitely do that this season.
TVLINE | Given the caliber of humans that typically cross R.J.’s path, I can’t wait to meet them.
Yeah, me too. Hopefully there will be a lot of different ones. The ones we have this season are very interesting, very funny, and very odd.
Scott Speedman was ‘thrilled’ when Beau Bridges was cast as R.J.’s dad
TVLINE | And we have Beau Bridges coming on to play R.J.’s dad this season! That’s pretty exciting.
Yes, that was a highlight for me. One of the things we wanted to do going into Season 2 is get to know R.J. a bit more — his personal life, his history, and how he came to be the man that he is now. Bringing in his dad does that quite well. And when we got Beau Bridges, I was thrilled. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. They have an estranged relationship, which we test, storywise, in the season. I think the fans are going to really like that aspect of it. It also kind of puts R.J. on his back foot a little bit. R.J. is a pretty cool customer, so any time we get to kind of push him off center, I think it works really well.
What did you think of the “R.J. Decker” premiere, and what are your hopes for Season 2? Grade the episode in the poll below, then drop a comment with your thoughts.
