When we last left the Workin’ Moms, things had gone badly, especially for Kate (Catherine Reitman). She discovered that her husband, Nathan (Philip Sternberg), was having an affair with Mean Nanny (Jess Salguiero). And, to add to the emotional moment, Kate discovered she was pregnant.
Viewers were left wondering what Kate’s next steps were. Would she divorce Nathan? What about the pregnancy? Kate wasn’t the only one facing challenges. Anne (Dani Kind) was headed for a showdown with he ex-husband Brad (Christopher Redman), and Frankie (Juno Rinaldi) was juggling new relationships.
Workin’ Moms returns on a new night this Thursday at 9 p.m. on CBC with two back-to-back episodes chock full of the tears and laughter we’ve come to expect from Reitman’s creation. And with folks like John Ralston, Sean Cullen and Emma Hunter on board, we had to find out more. We spoke to Reitman, Kind and Rinaldi at CBC’s recent media day.
There is a time jump when Workin’ Moms returns. Kate is about to give birth. At what point in the creative process did you know you were going to do that?
Catherine Reitman: We went back and forth on this in the writers’ room a ton. And ultimately we always go back to, ‘What’s the most compelling way to watch this character?’ Is it more interesting if she doesn’t have another child, does the child actually drag us back to what we’ve already seen her do?
And then she gets involved with someone else.
CR: She is juggling a little more than usual. Dani, Juno, and I all in real life have two kids, and I think there is something to do when you meet someone with just one child you’re like, ‘Ugh, I totally understand, but just wait.’ Because when you double down on kids there is just a different level of storm, you’ve become so not a priority in your own life. Giving Kate this baby felt like a way of just filling her plate to make her the least important protagonist in her own story.
It just parallels so many working mother’s lives, I think. As far as her season, I think Kate is having an identity crisis once again. Kind of like Season 1. Except for this time she now has to reinvent herself with infidelity kind of screaming at her the entire time. We hear so often about the women keeping the house and the kids. And there’s something just really refreshing, and you really root for someone who moves out. Someone who hits the pavement and starts her own business the way Kate does and so many women I know out there currently doing it. I just think it’s incredibly brave and it’s the kind of story I wanted to get behind.
How did you land John Ralston in a guest role?
CR: I tricked him. He thought it was Murdoch. He showed up, and he was like, ‘I don’t understand, where’s the gentleman with the beautiful lashes?’ And I said, ‘You’re fine, just hold this baby and get in a wheelchair and …
He is a recurring character?Â
CR: He is a recurring character. Look, our characters make flawed decisions all the time and having them sort of deal with those repercussions at this magnitude is really, it’s just really fun. It’s a fun ride for Kate. And John made it that way. I think we auditioned every guy in the country for that role. Similar to Anne and Frankie, it was, ‘How do we find someone who can make this character likable? Not a straight up cartoon villain.’ And he brings so much heart, and he’s having so much fun. He’s constantly laughing at what he’s saying. He’s delighted with himself. And it makes him so easy to watch and get on board with.
Had you considered having Kate and Nathan get back together again?
CR: Of course, and that’s not off the table.
Dani, things look pretty tough for Anne right now. The court case being challenged, and the cake being brought in as evidence. What can you say about what’s going on with Anne and Lionel? And there’s something going on with her daughter this season as well, right?
Dani Kind: She clearly hasn’t dealt with things between her and Brad from last season, from their marriage. I think she’s stuffed them away and hasn’t dealt with them. She gets a new job this season helping other people who’ve gone through similar traumas, which is very interesting. It creates a lot of conflict for her. She also becomes extremely possessive of Alice and almost gets into like a manic state of wanting to protect her family and protect herself, I think, from feeling all the things that she hasn’t dealt with.
What about Frankie? I mean things are going great, she’s got these ads where she’s lying on top of money. She’s got an old girlfriend coming back into her life asking for tuition. So what’s going on with her this season that you can say?
Juno Rinaldi: I feel like Frankie is feeling really great about where she’s at. Things have taken a turn for her, she finally feels like she’s got her groove and it’s, she’s able to help Giselle with some financial stuff, she’s sort of in the driver’s seat now. But with Frankie, you never really know where we’re going to go with her, how it’s going to shake down. But it’s really nice to see her sort of feeling really good about things and moving forward.
Workin Moms airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
Images courtesy of CBC.
