Roma Roth’s beloved Nova Scotia filmed and set show, Sullivan’s Crossing, returns for Season 3, with fans finally getting what they’ve been hoping for to start the season. While there’s been a robust will they, won’t they storyline between Morgan Kohan’s Maggie Sullivan and Chad Michael Murray’s Cal Jones, they’re finally a couple.
“I think that after the third season, if you don’t start bringing your couple together, I think you lose your audience,” Roth told Yahoo Canada in Toronto. “But of course, you still have to throw in the old monkey wrench every once in a while.”
Where to watch Sullivan’s Crossing Season 2 on cable: CTV
Where to stream Sullivan’s Crossing Season 2: CTV.ca and the CTV App
When does Sullivan’s Crossing Season 2 premiere: April 27 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Sullivan’s Crossing showrunner: Roma Roth
Cast: Morgan Kohan, Chad Michael Murray, Scott Patterson, Amalia Williamson, Andrea Menard, Tom Jackson, Amalia Williamson, Lynda Boyd
Number of episodes: 10
CTV
Catch up on Sullivan’s Crossing Season on Crave, with plans starting at $9.99/month
‘Everybody’s getting a second chance’
While Roth described last season’s theme as “guilt,” the theme for Season 3 is “second chances.”
“Everybody’s getting a second chance to do their lives in a different way,” Roth said. “Maggie’s finally decided to make Sullivan’s Crossing her home and embrace that, and reconnect.”
“She’s already put her grievances with her father aside and is now kind of digging into life at the Crossing.”
While fans have be relieved to know that Sully, played by Scott Patterson, survived the fire at the end of the Season 2, the trailer for Season 3 also teases that there could be a love interest in his future.
“It’s nice to be able to give Sully a love interest and he’s been able to kind of put his relationship with his daughter, the negativity of that past relationship, to bed and now they’re moving forward,” Roth said. “So it’s only natural that now, especially after … he put his past with Phoebe to rest as well, he’s now kind of in a place where, second chances being the theme of our show, he’s able to kind of move forward with the second chance romance.”
But part of what’s interesting and impressive about Sullivan’s Crossing is how the show’s stars talk about working on the series. For Patterson, he’s highlighted in interviews, including one with Brit + Co, that the material Roth has crafted for Sully has given him the space to express emotions and vulnerability on screen in a way he hasn’t had the opportunity to in the past. In that Brit + Co interview he called working on Sullivan’s Crossing “a career defining moment.”
“It’s a dream come true to be working with such wonderful cast, and to watch them bring the words to life, and the characters that have been in my head to life,” Roth said. “It’s very gratifying and nice to know that not only is it connecting with an audience, it’s also connecting with the actors, because in order to bring those characters to life and really get into the role, they have to be able to love the characters as much as I do.”
Learning more about Cal
One character to certainly keep your eye on in Sullivan’s Crossing is Cal, with Season 3 diving deeper into his past and family relationships. And what Roth has been able to achieve in the show is maintaining a mysteriousness when it comes to Cal, even in its third season.
“It’s tricky, because you want to make sure that it’s still Maggie’s storyline, but obviously, because he’s the love interest, … and one of the leads of the show, that you’re digging into his character as well,” Roth said. “He came in Season 1 as being that kind of mystery man, … but now we get to actually meet some of his family members, and really figure out who he is and what makes him tick.”
But while many things are emotional on Sullivan’s Crossing, Roth still lets her characters have fun. And there’s one particularly joyous moment where Maggie, Lola (Amalia Williamson) and Sydney (Lindura) have a night out at a bar.
“You need to have a little reprieve from some of the emotional things that are happening, … and be able to have that kind of female camaraderie that we don’t see as much,” Roth said. “I kind of hope to lean into that in future seasons a little bit more.”
‘There’s an idealism that people kind of long for‘
Between Sullivan’s Crossing and Roth’s other popular project, Virgin River on Netflix, she’s really tapped into the beauty of a small town romance drama.
“Both shows that I’m affiliated with are shows that resonate in a deep, emotional, and true and real way with people,” Roth said. “It’s not set on Mars, it’s set in Nova Scotia, Canada. It’s set in a small town.”
“I think there’s an idealism that people kind of long for, especially in a world today, where we’re not dealing with people face-to-face anymore. It’s a lot of kind of virtual relationships and virtual communication that we’re doing with people. So being able to kind of go back to a world where life is simpler, not everyone’s Googling everything, and you’re relating to people on a personal level. … I think it allows people a reprieve from their own world, and probably satisfies, emotionally, things that people need and want in their lives, but don’t have.”
In terms of what makes audiences so devoted to both Sullivan’s Crossing and Virgin River, Roth highlighted that there’s an authenticity to the stories, even with all the drama.
“I think to do a compelling show that’s interesting to an audience, you have to have drama … that still feels relatable and realistic,” she said. “So we do a lot of research as well and … we’re playing in kind of the sandbox of as authentic as it can be for the audience.”
“Trying to think of the different dramatic elements and what can happen in a small town, and that’s part of the fun of creating the characters in the show and the storylines.”
