After A Wild Season and an Even Wilder Finale, 'Kings Of Napa' Creator Janine Sherman Barrois Tells Us What She's Looking Forward To Next Season
Kings of Napa has to be one of the most compelling and binge-worthy dramas that has come out this year. A sort of cross between a soap opera and Succession, we'd call it a page turner, but there are no pages - we've had to just sit and wait weekly to find out what's going to happen to the King family next. And now, just as one storyline wraps up, another begins, and we're going to have to wait even longer for next season - even though that last episode contained so many surprises we're still reeling from it.
We can take comfort, at least, from the fact that we're not the only ones who were a little surprised by how things turned out. Even the creator of the show, Janine Sherman Barrois, is simply a passenger on this ride at this point; as she explained to Enstarz in an interview, at a certain point the characters take on a life of their own.
"At the beginning, when the characters are getting born, you have to think - people are not who they present themselves as. We are all layered, we all have different things going on...so I try to embody the characters and think about what they're going to do, and then there's a point in the creative process where the character kind of takes over."
So, just like a fan conversing with another fan, we got Janine to tell us what she's most looking forward to from the King family next season.
First of all, after that final twist between Christian and his girlfriend Sheila, we're all concerned about the lovable little goof's heart.
"I was definitely surprised with where it's gonna go with Christian...You're just like 'oh, he's the youngest, he's got this cool girlfriend,' and you're not paying any attention, and she turns a card and is like, okay put the light on me, here's this huge moment."
That means that next season Christian - played by Ashlee Brian - is going to have a lot more screen time, and a lot more drama to deal with than nobody believing in his brandy business. (Good that he'll be getting more screen time, cause he's a cutie, though it is unfortunate that more screen time also means more rough stuff is going to happen to him.
This plot will likely intersect with another cliffhanger we were given: the setup for what will obviously be a huge source of conflict for season two. A man named Everett has bought Shawn and Sean's vineyard and is planning on turning it into a resort - and he's coming for the Kings next.
"I'm very interested to see this new dynamic, and how the Kings will overcome or defeat this new challenge. That's gonna be a really big story. I'm also very very curious to see how we deal with the partnership of Rose and Brigitte as they may - or may not - try to get back at the family."
That will, of course, be another major feature for next season - the love triangle going on between Rose, Dana, and Brigitte - because while Rose is married to Dana, after the stunt he pulled vis a vis their supposed fertility treatments, we don't blame her for running straight into Brigitte's arms.
"I feel like Dana, now, is a complicated character - some people love him, love to hate him, but he's got a heart, and how he deals with it, as you've seen in the finale, kinda breaks your heart - because underneath of all this bravado is this guy who is just trying to be loved. And that's sort of what the bravado is about. He wants to be loved, he wants to be seen, he wants to be heard, he's mad at his father; and in the last moment of the pilot, when he's calling Rose, I think you feel that this is not a game, this is their life."
Dana has been driving many a fan insane with his stubborn attitude, but he hasn't quite been playing a heel - he is, after all still a member of the King family, and it seems like next season he will be given the space to act more maturely about some of these things happening to him.
"He wants to learn. And he messed up, completely, he has done some horrendous things, you know, he should really regret and rethink why he did them, but we also know sort of why - we've all done things where we've fallen down a rabbit hole, we don't know how to get out, and the truth is gonna kinda bite us, and that's what's happening with him.
"I think one of the big takeaways is that family is complicated," Barrois said, summing up the show so perfectly you almost can't believe it's that simple.
"There were a lot of twists and turns this season...but I think as we face this world coming out of a pandemic, and we rebuild businesses and see our friends again, I think the one thing that is consistent is that you always have family - that can be one that you're born into, it can be one that you've made with your friends, but you always have family."
It's those interpersonal dynamics taht can be complicated, that can be messy, can be things that you don't think are repairable, but in the end, those are the people who are in the front row seat of your movie - cheering you on, crying for you, and just helping you get to the next day.
So I think the Kings represent that - they have done some crazy stuff to each other, but they are still a family, and they are going to be there next season and the season after, fighting it out and repairing the wounds, and making new wounds. But they're going to repair it and keep going."
"When you work with people, people are getting paid to tolerate you, to do a job - but you're family, they're not getting paid, they're with you, and they're unpacking your issues, because they're kind of the mirror, holding up a mirror to your life, saying, 'No, look at your flaws as well' and I think that's what so compelling about family shows."
That's right - and if the people you work with are family, even if you try to fire them (*cough* VANESSA), they're gonna stick around and keep holding up that mirror.
We already can't wait to see all this - and more - play out on next season of Kings of Napa - for now, we're going to have to settle for repeat binges on OWN.com.
