Honestly? We’re almost surprised that So Help Me Todd didn’t put Skylar Astin‘s character in a Rear Window situation in its first season—it seems perfect for him!
That’s the inspiration behind the March 14 episode, “Dial Margaret for Murder.” While in the hospital recovering from an emergency appendectomy, Todd is convinced he overheard a plot to murder someone. Sharing his hospital room with him is his personal guru, a grizzled veteran private investigator (Dean Winters‘ Dick Franks). Plus, when Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden) realizes her difficult but very important clients are interested in Todd’s theories, she jumps into the role of private investigator and brings them along for the ride.
Below, Astin previews the very fun episode and teases what could be to come in Todd’s love life.
Talk about Todd’s emergency appendectomy and preview how he ends up in the hospital. Everything with Allison (Madeline Wise) is so funny.
Skylar Astin: Todd starts the episode with Margaret talking about some budget cuts, and he feels this slight pain in his side, and then all of a sudden, he is at dinner and he can’t eat. Then he’s nauseous, pushing in on his stomach. Thankfully, he has a doctor as a sister. So she was able to say, “Hey, push in on this side, if you feel something on the other side…” And then he yelps in excruciating pain, which leads into a very fun sequence of Allison rolling Todd into the hospital for an emergency appendectomy.
And then there’s the fun bit with the coffee before that…
“You chose coffee over my life, Allison!”
Todd is so sure he overheard a plot to murder someone. What does it take for him to convince anyone to believe him?
Well, that’s the thing. Todd gets these hunches, and sometimes they are a little out of left field and they feel random to most people. And since he’s sedated and since he’s barely coming in and out of consciousness, it’s even all the more reason for the people around him not to believe him. This episode is kind of based off of Rear Window and how Jimmy Stewart’s character has to operate everything from a bed. That was Scott Prendergast’s vision for this, so he was very insistent that I stayed seated the whole time and that it’s all over the phone. It was really fun to perform. It was really fun to execute that entire episode, and then we had some incredible guest actors as well.
Michael Courtney/CBS
Dean Winters guests as another PI.
We had such undeniable chemistry right off the bat. We ran the lines in the trailer just to get comfortable, and by the time we even rehearsed it for the crew, the chemistry was bang on. It was there. He was making all of these choices that were really informing the character and the scenes and the dynamic between the two. And thankfully, we have him back a little bit throughout Season 2.
What does that mean for Todd’s trajectory as a PI? Because he’s seeing the career path that Dick Franks took.
Exactly. Dean kind of encourages Todd to be this lone wolf PI—if you’re going to make it as a PI, you have to live on the streets and be a lone wolf, and he says, “Stuff garbage in your pants to keep warm at night,” and it’s kind of supposed to be a representation of what it takes to be the greatest detective ever. Dick Franks definitely gears Todd in that direction
And we got some great stuff with Margaret doing Todd’s job. He’s on the phone with her, and then she has those sisters (Joyce Robbins and Jaqueline Robbins) in the back of her car…
Yes, the twins are dynamite. It was such a great storyline right off the page, and then executing it was really fun because it was a bit of a role reversal between Margaret and Todd. Margaret has to prove herself as her own kind of PI, and I think that that was really nice. It has a good payoff because oftentimes, Todd is the one who is doubted and overcomes the odds, and at this point, Todd didn’t even believe she could execute any of it. Not only is it dangerous, it’s tricky being in a car chase. What kind of lawyer knows about that? But Margaret is not someone to be underestimated.
What are you enjoying most about Todd and Margaret’s relationship this season? I love how far it has come from the pilot.
Yes. I think that there’s a great perspective shift with Todd and kind of a point of view. He has a little bit of a leg to stand on now that he has his investigator’s license, and he definitely sees them as equals even though he works for her because he’s working with her and he also has his own detective agency that he’s running outside of the office. So he’s a little bit more engaged in the firm’s cases because it directly involves his business as well.
Is Todd getting an actual office, separate from the firm, anytime soon?
I as an actor and as the person playing Todd am very proud of at least having my nook being converted into a makeshift office. That’s kind of where Todd’s at this season, optimistically. He really is taking everything as a win. The fact that he even has a business card and the fact that he has an office or an apartment that is a dump according to Margaret, but to him it’s a palace… That’s kind of how Todd and I are operating this season, is just seeing everything with the glass half-full. So will he eventually have an office with several offices within the office because it’s its own kind of agency? That is the goal. That is the goal, and we are looking forward to getting there.
I do like the shift in Todd and Allison’s dynamic because of that apartment.
Yeah, it’s definitely another role reversal, and it’s a great opportunity for some really great comedy between Todd and Allison. Maddie and I have been having such a good time playing off that kind of relationship and hearkening back to the old dynamic of, “Was I this difficult when I was crashing on your couch?” “Of course you were.” And Todd’s revisionist history of what happened there and his expectations moving forward with Alison… Actually, in Episode 5, there’s a really nice kind of confrontation of their perspectives and how they both feel like they have a stance in their arguments, but you’ll see how it plays out and who wins that argument.
Heather Morris is recurring the season, and Judy already seems interested in Todd. What’s next there?
I think Todd being in this kind of lone wolf perspective, a girlfriend or a love of interest doesn’t really fit in to that plan. So either someone has to rock the boat for him or he has to come to his own realizations. But there’s a lot of really fun stuff that is explored between Judy and Todd this season. And I’m excited for audiences to see where we wind up as kind of either a team or a relationship or more friends or kind of adversaries. People are going to really enjoy seeing where that goes.
He’s still working with his ex, Susan (Inga Schlingmann), and there’s always a possibility that something could happen there.
Yes, I never say no to that. As of now, they seem to be married and seem to be thriving. I made it a point when I read the episode in Season 1 where Todd and Peter [Desmond Chiam] meet and they’re quite fond of each other that he wouldn’t disrespect that person and would also have respect for a monogamous relationship. So even though there’s that kiss in Season 1, I think in Episode 1 of Season 2, when Todd puts that relationship to bed, he means that. Will that change throughout the course of history? We’ll see. But as of now, I think there are just former spouses that work together, and that’s always a bit complicated.
So Help Me Todd, Thursdays, 9/8c, CBS