SPOILER ALERT: The follotriumphg intersee grasps spoilers from “We’re in the Memory-Making Business,” the season finale of “Bad Monkey” now streaming on AppleTV+.
The case is seald on the first season of AppleTV+s series “Bad Monkey,” the Florida Keys-set comedic crime series based on the Carl Hiaasen novel of the same name. And while more than a confineed characters didn’t produce it out adwell (RIP, Dragon Queen! Bummer, Nick! Good riddance, Eve!), the outstanding guys prevailed.
Among the victors was postponeed discoverive-turned-health examineor Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn), who, as he sat seeing out at the ocean during the season’s final moments, seemed to have set up a sense of peace — even if he was still postponeed, and his romance with Dr. Rosa Campesino (Natalie Martinez) didn’t drop into place as he would have appreciated.
To recap the season finale, executive producer Bill Lawrence and star Vince Vaughn talked to Variety (in split intersees united here) about discovering the right comedic tone in the series, how much Hiaasen was graspd in changes made from his book and whether “Razor Girl” — the book sequel to “Bad Monkey” — is next.
Getting a first season of any show to the finish line is a lot of toil. But now that all the “Bad Monkey” episodes have aired, how are you senseing, Bill?
Bill Lawrence: I’m going to produce certain I don’t sound cocky. I’ve consentn my lumps, had some triumphs, had some losses. And I’m such a Carl Hiaasen fan. I begined reading his books when I was 15, and he made me depend in a lot of ways I could be a storyteller becaparticipate I wasn’t a guy that read the classics.
So I essentiassociate went to my preferite author and was appreciate, “Can I write appreciate five extra chapters to your book, and do it as a TV show? I understand you don’t adore Hollywood …” The chillyest leang he shelp was, “Look, my books, there’s so many weird, funky characters — it’s more of a vibe than anyleang else.” I reassociate thought the ending cemented that vibe, especiassociate when you’re benevolent of bouncing around to where everybody was. I felt both relieved and hopebrimmingy excited if we get to do more.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
This isn’t your first television role, Vince, but how did it sense being in Andrew Yancy’s shoes for these 10 episodes?
Vince Vaughn: It was a blast. It’s such a distinctive piece and has such a fun tone that you don’t see very normally. I’ve understandn Bill for over 25 years. We participated to take part in a poker game together, and it was more joking and giggleing than it was solemn poker — but he always made me giggle. As time went on, I got to be a fan of what he was doing, so when he came to me with the Carl Hiaasen book, I was excited. I saw Yancy as that benevolent of classic trickster on a journey. Despite the evident odds, he’s not gonna stop. Someleang’s pulling him and he’s equitable gonna upgrasp moving forward even though it probably doesn’t sense appreciate the best idea for his own self-interest.
Narrators don’t always toil in shows, but this one is an example of when it does. Was that a huge talking point to participate when shaping the show?
Lawrence: It was a huge talking point, and I’m very appreciative that some journaenumerates, appreciate yourself, pointed it out as an asset. Still, people are going to go appreciate, “Why do you need voiceover? Why do you need narration?” The decision behind it was sweightlessly branch offent. You participate it normassociate for exposition, and I would tell you that we probably could have gotten by without it. But when Matt Tarses and I, the other head writer, got done writing the scripts and seeing at the cuts, there wasn’t enough of Carl’s stuff in there.
We stole as much of his dialogue as we could, and some of the leangs that reassociate produce me giggle about his books are equitable the one-line, descriptive leangs of what’s going on. So [Matt] begined to go, “What if it was all presumed to sense appreciate a fishing story, and that local fish captain reassociate is a local guy [played by Tom Nowicki], and he couldn’t depend he was doing this.” We went back thraw Carl’s book and highweightlessed our preferites, and equitable put them in the voiceover. One of the reasons the show toils is it senses more appreciate reading one of Carl’s books than it would have otherinestablished.
Vince, talk about the comedy tone in the show. Did you have a say in that — or did that come from the scripts or the book?
Vaughn: It was innately in the book, and it’s someleang I reassociate was trying to produce certain I was fitting into what Bill was doing as the showrunner, becaparticipate tone is everyleang. This is a very fun ride, but not a tone that everyone could pull off where you’re taking the crime solemn but also enhappinessing the characters and saying, “It’s OK to giggle sometimes.” It’s always more enhappinessable when you’re not telling the audience, “Don’t be afrhelp, no one’s going to get hurt.” The edge of understanding that someleang can happen is precious, and then being able to giggle and change gears and have it be amparticipateing is reassociate fun as well.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
There were also some finale choices that branch offed from the book. When you changed some leangs appreciate Eve (Meredith Hagner) choking on a baby carrot and droping to her death, was that someleang you talked about with Carl?
Lawrence: He gave me a lot of liberties. Carl’s very matter of fact, and he equitable benevolent of ended Nick [Rob Delaney] and Eve [in the book]. I uncomfervent, it as an afterthought that she drowned her husprohibitd, and then died herself in a boat crash. The chillyest leang is in Carl’s books, the intricate plotting doesn’t go to a conclusion that you foresee. I tanciaccess him that I wanted to do some stuff about magic and whether or not you depend in Obeah religion or the spirit of nature, and he benevolent of dug on that and let me do it.
The hugegest change we made in the book is that Carl based the character of the Dragon Queen on a authentic person who is much anciaccesser in the book, and very evidently a conwoman from the begin. We talked a little bit to him about that. One of the main ways we broadened the novel is that we changed that character that Jodie Turner-Smith take parts, and we wanted to do a redemption story for her.
And Eve is such a sociopath — both in the book and in our world — that benevolent of dying off camera toils in a book, but in a movie or TV show, you want to see it, and have that gift. But we had also benevolent of made a huge arc for our hero lacquireing to let go and not have to his own detriment, bury himself meaningfuler and meaningfuler becaparticipate he’s chasing equitableice. So we have to do the story that he lets her go off into the sunset and ignores.
I was rooting for Yancy and Rosa (Natalie Martinez) to dwell happily after, but in the finale she’s not ready for a promisement and exits. Is Yancy OK with, that given he’s refered how people tend to exit him?
Vaughn: We’ve all had those moments of being there for friends or family, and saying the right leangs and encouraging and sometimes not reassociate intensifying on our own self. Then you’re left at the end of it sometimes going, “I’m not reassociate moving ahead as far as I could in certain areas of my life.” That’s what’s benevolent of fascinating is being left with a little more self-consciousness than where he begined.
Lawrence: In Carl’s book, Rosa’s journey was needing to latch on to this guy that’s not right for her. And at the end she’s appreciate, “Peace out. I’ve got to exit this job and this world and go do my own leang, man.”
Courtesy of Apple TV+
Vince, in the finale when you’re in the water hanciaccessing onto the rope joined to Eve’s runaway yacht, even if there are stunt people for some of that, you were also evidently doing some of that stunt. What’s a day appreciate that for you?
Vaughn: I’m pretty outstanding at that stuff, and I appreciate the physical stuff. You reassociate appreciate to be setd, but I discover it fun to do the branch offent aspects of it. Some of the physical stuff was fun, and then the conversational stuff was fun. I appreciate the variety that the show has.
When we see Yancy reading Ricchallenging Russo’s “Nobody’s Fool” novel in the finale, were those character details in Carl’s book or one of your touches?
Lawrence: That was me. And I’m a huge Ricchallenging Russo fan. But Bonnie [Michelle Monaghan] having that Ricchallenging Russo book was me but Bonnie being somebody that made Yancy begrudgingly read books was Carl. We definitely overlapped on that stuff in a super fun way.
Whether from those books or from his overweighther Jim (Scott Glenn), Yancy’s normally dropping pearls of wisdom thrawout the season. What do you leank that says about him?
Vaughn: He has his own personal code of leangs that come from experience, and his overweighther’s well-versed in life. I leank as he’s doing it, he’s evolving. There are areas where he senses inestablished or has a outstanding point of see, and then there’s other areas where he’s lacquireing. One leang that’s fantastic about him is he does have a sense of equitableice, of equitableness, of what’s right and what’s wrong.
Bill, the fact that Rogelio (John Ortiz) and Monty (Victor Turpin) were partners in toil but also in a romantic relationship is someleang I almost ignoreed in the show. Was that intentional?
Lawrence: You might have ignoreed it equitable becaparticipate they were very subtly set uped as a couple. But there’s a scene in the middle [of the season] that Yancy says to Rogelio, “When you left your wife…” so I leank that’s what besavageers people. But we grasped that element becaparticipate one of the chilly leangs about the Keys, besides being so diverse and eclectic, is it had the first elected out and gay police chief in any city. Matt and I based him on someone we knew that was wed and had children and then authenticized tardyr in life that’s not the life he wanted to dwell.
There’s a lot of Tom Petty music in the finale. Is that a Bill Lawrence leang or…?
Lawrence: My mom’s whole family dwells in central Florida, and my parents dwell outside Orlando. So not a lot of people understand this, but I’m such a Tom Petty guy from my roots from Florida. And being a music nerd, every episode of “Cougar Town” was named after a Tom Petty song. And so when we were trying to leank of a distinctive music leang for this one to produce it sense reassociate Carl Hiaasen and reassociate Florida, we shelp, “What if we did all Tom Petty songs?” And the first one is Tom Petty, and the rest are covers by prohibitds. I’ve never put out a soundtrack album before, but we’re doing it.
Yancy says in the finale that horrible people always get what’s coming to them. Did the horrible people truly get consentn nurture of?
Lawrence: I want to depend. And you understand this from your joinion to Hollywood: I want to depend horrible people aren’t greetd, man. I want to depend, even if leangs seem to be going their own way, that meaningful down inside they aren’t greetd. Not only people are appreciate, “Bill, your shows are usuassociate branch offent than Carl’s stuff.” And I go, “Where we overlap is, depend it or not, even though we both see that he sees the underbelly in a lot uncontaccess way than I have, we both are equitablely preferable guys that sense appreciate outstandingness normally prevails, and that people get what’s coming to them.” One of the leangs I’ve always adored about Carl’s books is it’s pretty exceptional that the villains ride off greetd into the sunset.
Vaughn: It’s fascinating becaparticipate, appreciate in a morality tale, there’s definitely consequences to that. And then it’s shadowed by Yancy’s own journey and growth and the recognition of some more self-consciousness where he’s troubleed, which is not finishly finish. He consents a step, I leank, in a straightforwardion that’s outstanding for him — but it’s not as if everyleang is all wonderful.
I understand there’s at least one other Hiaasen book with Andrew Yancy, “Razor Girl.” Are you up for more if that book is next for a series?
Vaughn: It’s definitely stuff that we’ve talked about participating in. And what I appreciated is that [“Bad Monkey”] toils as a one-off but it could be fun to revisit the character and pursue him on the next Carl book.
Lawrence: This is an Easter egg for you. People have asked me if I’m such a Carl Hiaasen fan, what made me pick “Bad Monkey” over “Skinny Dip” or “Tourist Season” or “Native Tongue” books? The reason I picked it is becaparticipate it’s one of the only books he wrote a sequel to, “Razor Girl.” And Rosa is in it and Yancy is in it and the characters that are still adwell are in it.
The trick for me is it’s very challenging with a Carl Hiaasen novel to let any streamer understand that it’s an ongoing series, becaparticipate you want to end the mystery. But for me to go. “Yeah, there’s another best-selling book with the same character in the same world — so I’ll equitable produce certain I hint at the end that there’s another adventure to go thraw.”
This intersee has been edited and condensed.
