“From” EPs Talk Season 4 Man with the Yellow and Killer Dolls

warning: This article contains spoilers for Season 4 of From on MGM Plus.

Between the giant killer puppets and yellow-suited villains, Season 4 of the MGM Plus horror-mystery series provided more obstacles and nightmare fuel for those still trapped in the show’s relentlessly creepy city.

As Season 4 of From comes to a close, I spoke with creator and executive producer John Griffin, showrunner Jeff Pinkner (Lost, Fringe) and director Jack Bender (Lost, Game of Thrones) about the show’s creepy puppets, the creepy Man in Yellow, and keeping fans “always in mind.” The fifth and final season of the series From is expected to be shown in 2027.

“Ultimately, our goal was never to tell a bleak story,” Griffin said. “That doesn’t mean it can’t be a difficult story to watch or one filled with sacrifice and sadness. Whatever the outcome, our goal is to reward the audience for taking this journey with us.”

The second to last episode of Season 4 will premiere Sunday in the MGM Plus app and on the MGM Plus linear channel at 9pm ET and 9pm PT.

Q: This season of From has felt a little different for me as a viewer because I know a big secret that the residents don’t know: the man in yellow walks among them as Sofia. What was the thought process behind letting the audience know about this secret from the beginning of Season 4?

Griffin: A big part of it was, you know, looking at our villain, what kind of villain we have and the role he played behind the scenes in this world and in these people’s lives. It sounded like this: “How will he most enjoy this next stage of the game?” How can the audience more enjoy watching him work, so that he is not like an inconspicuous presence on the sidelines of the show? I felt like, “Oh, well, the last thing people in the city expect is to have this thing living among them.”

Q: From the original monsters that come out at night to the giant killer dolls in Season 4, horrific creatures and visuals are a big part of From. Can you tell me more about bringing these creepy puppets to life this season and how you’re coming up with new ways to terrify viewers?

Jack Bender: I will say that the Muppets, when I first read it, I was like, “Oh my God, okay.” Because a lot of times Jeff and John and the writers come up with things, and I’m like, “Okay, how can we do this in a unique way that’s not going to be goofy and it’s going to be terrifying?” We looked at a lot of pictures of old dolls and other things. It was also our designer and our production designer, actually, Matt Lickley and Rachel Grant, who collaborated. In the end, Rachel came up with the stuffed doll look.

During the process of seeing the dolls alive as standing, fully formed figures, I realized that seeing them running might look a little goofy. Just because it’s lumbering and big and soft. So the idea of ​​it being flooded with water from the lake, dripping with seaweed, and all that stuff really helped. The slight sagging and tearing of the material also helped keep it rough and scarier. And then, of course, our visual effects with the creation people, which Jeff and John were all involved in – creating those teeth and everything was a huge success. So, like most things on our show, it’s a great collaboration inspired by what crazy Jeff, John and our other writers have come up with.

Question: Boyd faces a dilemma this season: whether to protect the people in the city or put them in danger over a theory that could bring them closer to returning home. What was the thinking behind the portrayal of Boyd’s fear for his townspeople this season and the choice he makes in the end?

Jeff Pinkner: I think for Boyd, the dilemma that he’s constantly in, and the dilemma that’s going to become more acute for him as we go forward, is protecting his family versus protecting the city. There is a discussion to be had. When the show started, Donna’s attitude was: “Tomorrow’s not guaranteed, we’re enjoying today.” That was kind of the philosophy of Colony House. Boyd’s position, who was very opposed to this, was “We will be safe today so that one day we can go home.” “Well, going home isn’t guaranteed, so let’s have fun today,” Donna said.

And over the course of these four seasons, this has been a ping-pong debate. “Do we try to go home and risk it?” This place clearly wants us to suffer. Maybe the hope of returning home is our suffering. We always try to relate this to what would you do if you were in this situation? What do you value? Sort of the premise of the show from the beginning is: Your life, the world is falling apart – who are you in this void?

And for Boyd, that’s the question that’s always at the forefront of his mind, “What’s the right move here?” It’s an impossible choice, and the more impossible it is, the longer Harold (Perino) will be alive, and he’s our great weapon, you know? One of the amazing joys of this show is the cast and writing of none of them. But writing for Boyd, specifically, and Harold, that’s the dilemma. What do you do? Do you risk it or not?

Question: I know I’d like to see all the citizens of Fromville escape after everything that happened. But this show doesn’t seem like the kind of show where there’s inevitably going to be a happy ending, or, you know, that might not even be possible. Did you keep fans in mind when crafting the final season?

Griffin: One thousand percent.

Pinkner:We always keep the fans in mind. From the beginning, our premise was that the show couldn’t hinge on the mystery and what the final answer is, because that’s not the way to satisfy audiences in the end. If you’re creating a show based on, “What’s the answer?”, it’s either too hard for the audience to guess it – and then they get frustrated – or it’s too easy for the audience to guess, and then they get frustrated, “Wait, that’s all that was?”

So, our premise was always that we would uncover all the answers. The question then is what do the characters do about it? Can they survive? Who will leave? Who might be trapped here? Will anyone be able to leave? And we always, always, always write from the perspective of what is the audience reacting to? What are they frustrated with? What do they want to happen? What are they afraid will happen? Sometimes we intentionally exploit the audience’s frustration, and sometimes we lean into it directly. But when it comes to the way we present the show, we always keep the audience in mind.

Griffin: Our goal is never to punish the audience, to punish the characters, or to punish ourselves. For me, the show was always best summed up by the speech Henry gives to Tabitha in his basement, while we also watch Tian Chen’s funeral. And you know, Henry says, recounting Miranda’s words, “They had nothing to hold on to, so they held on to each other.” As dark and difficult as this show can be at times, for me it has always been a show about hope, because it’s a story about people who have nothing to hold on to and reaching out to each other.

This does not mean that it will be a happy ending, nor does it mean that it will be a sad ending. People will struggle. The public will not get everything they want. The characters won’t get everything they want. But ultimately, our goal was never to tell a dark story. That doesn’t mean it can’t be a difficult story to watch or one filled with sacrifice and sadness. Whatever it ends up being, our goal is to reward the audience for taking this journey with us.

Bandar: What I will say is that my mission has always been – and I’ve always expressed it to you guys, to John and Jeff – “Okay, how do we make this real?” You know, what if this was us? I believe the “what if” question is essential to great storytelling. You know, whatever the world is, whatever obstacles these characters are tortured with, or have to go through. But the truth is, we’ve always tried to keep it human and real about how we confront these issues.