We've Got Hollywood Covered
|

‘American Crime': John Ridley Avoids Revealing the Central Crime of Season 3

TCA 2017: ”Often with things like this, crimes in humanity, they’re not centralized. When they happen there is an effect that is wider, that goes beyond the headlines,“ executive producer says

| January 10, 2017 @ 4:56 PM
American Crime

ABC/Nicole Wilder

John Ridley played coy when asked to reveal what would be the central crime of the third season of his ABC anthology “American Crime.”

“I’ll say that when one completes all the episodes, one will have a full understanding of what the American Crime is,” Ridley said at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Tuesday.

The question was posed to Ridley because Season 2 of the anthology surprised viewers last year when the crime of the season turned out not to be the alleged rape from Episode one, but a school shooting in Episode seven.

Also Read: Golden Globes Nominations by the Numbers: HBO Dominates TV, Lionsgate Leads Movies

But Ridley said that the every season of the show will have one “single incident” which serves as a through-line for the audience to follow, even as its effects ripple outward.

“Often with things like this, crimes in humanity, they’re not centralized,” Ridley said. “When they happen there is an effect that is wider, that goes beyond the headlines. That goes behind other stories that quite frankly aren’t even covered in the media.”

Also Read: 'American Crime' Creator John Ridley Leaves CAA (Exclusive)

Season 3 of the drama issues surrounding the lives of immigrant day laborers and human trafficking, and will see the return of much the cast of the first two seasons, including Felicity Huffman, Regina King, Lili Taylor, Connor Jessup, Richard Cabral and Timothy Hutton.

And even though the series doesn’t shy away from exploring topical and politically charged issues, Ridley says he’s not interested in shaping the show around the minutiae of national politics.

“The urgency that I approach storytelling, the issues that are out there, they’ve always been out there,” Ridley explained. “This story would’ve been told irrespective of who’s in the Oval Office.”

“It’s not about tweaking or changing or trying to be oh-so-current that we miss the bigger picture and the longer game. Immigration is not new,” he said. “If we’re not engaging rather than preaching or proselytizing, then we’re not doing our jobs.

Also Read: Regina King Set to Return for 'American Crime' Season 3

But what Ridley does aim to do with his series is to reflect the stories of individuals and the lives of real Americans. Especially those individuals who are not typically represented on TV or in the media.

“That’s really important, that’s what ‘American Crime’ is about: people, families, connections, communities,” he said.

28 First Looks at New and Returning 2017 TV Shows (Exclusive Photos)

  • Black Sails Season 4 2017 Starz
  • beyond first looks Freeform
  • shadowhunters Freeform
  • Colony USA
  • Sneaky Pete Amazon
  • The Young Pope HBO
  • Mickey and Roadster Racers first looks Disney Junior
  • scandal ABC
  • Outsiders Season 2 WGN America
  • The Magicians Syfy
  • Suits USA
  • Black Sails Season 4 2017 Starz
  • powerless exclusive NBC
  • Santa Clarita Diet Netflix
  • reign CW
  • Girls HBO
  • Crashing HBO
  • patriot Amazon
  • Chicago Justice NBC
  • Trial and Error Exclusive NBC
  • Famous in Love Freeform
  • Great News Exclusive NBC
  • The Leftovers exclusive image HBO
  • American Crime ABC
  • The Catch ABC
  • Imaginary Mary first looks ABC
  • Time After Time ABC.
  • Downward Dog ABC
1 of 28

Exclusive new images from ”Black Sails,“ ”The Young Pope,“ and more series premiering in midseason

A total of 455 scripted series aired in 2016, and 2017 is poised to be at least as jam-packed. Check out exclusive new images from new and returning series premiering in the first half of the year.

View In Gallery