Adapted from Liz Moore’s book, showrunner Nikki Toscano (The Offer) faithfully captures the essence of Long Bright River, a story of a deeply-flawed Philadelphia cop Mickey Fitzpatrick (Amanda Seyfried) navigating being a single mom, dealing with an estranged substance-abusing sister Kacey (Ashleigh Cummings), and trying to find a killer of drug addicts assumed to have overdosed in the seedy Kensington neighborhood of drug addicts previously assumed to have overdosed.
The intriguing title invites up all manner of images. “It conjures up the Delaware River. It conjures up a vein in an arm. The most poignant way to describe Long Bright River is that it refers to this river of departed souls who have left us too early,” muses Toscano.
It was actually the love story between the two sisters that initially drew Toscano into the story more than the murder mystery.
“I loved this idea of Mickey’s character being so flawed and she tells us so. It was a unique take on a patrol cop in that she’s not very good at her job. Her only superpower is that she’s from the neighborhood,” Toscano continues.
Nikki Toscano
“We’re meant to trust her. And then, as we get deeper into the series, we realize that she’s not a reliable narrator. There are things that she’s hiding, most of all, her own ability to face her role in their respective estrangement with her sister. That the deeper into the series we get, and the more she’s willing to confront that, the more open she is with her son Thomas (Callum Vinson), with Truman Truman (Nicholas Pinnock), and with everybody else in the series.”
Setting The Tone
Long Bright River has a strong sense of place – gray with the possibility of sunshine. Mickey’s connection to Philadelphia informs her perspective of the neighborhood. “She views the neighborhood with more humanity and less horror.”
Indifferent cops fighting a losing battle during an opioid crisis creates images, stories and stereotypical characters. Although Long Bright River covers such expectations, the main thrust of the show is its depiction of law enforcement. “One of the most powerful things about the series is the fact that it upends this ‘cop as savior’ narrative,” explains Toscano. “It also upends the victim narrative. The people that we start out perceiving as the savior and the victim at the beginning of the series are not who we perceive of as the end.”
Liz Moore was also present in the writers’ room when the series was broken and co-wrote several episodes. Fortunately for the series, Moore wasn’t tethered to a strict page-by-page adaptation of her four hundred page novel. “She was not interested in seeing a duplicate of her novel on the screen. She was game to see what were the possibilities of storytelling and moving forward.” She is a Philadelphia native and passionate about accurately portraying the Kensington community.
“Liz volunteers in the neighborhood. We spent a lot of time there researching, and then we brought brought Kensington to us. We had a number of people from harm reduction organizations that came to advise and counsel us. We had graffiti artists from the neighborhood, and actors that were in speaking and non-speaking roles come up. We wanted to stay engaged with this community and serve it in a really honest and authentic way,” adds Toscano.
Of note, the series required more “investigative turns” than in the novel. Furthermore, Mickey is extremely introspective in the novel and needed more extroversion in the TV show. Toscano describes their collaboration with Moore as being able to “kick the tires collectively” and do what’s best for the show.
Family Drama vs Murder Mystery
A key aspect of Long Bright River is its two lane storytelling. It’s imperative that one aspect of the series doesn’t displace the other. “It was always our intention to make sure that the family drama was informing the murder mystery. In order for Mickey to establish the identity of the killer and the mystery of her sister’s disappearance, Mickey was forced to reflect on her own complicity in their estrangement.”
It was important to show how the sisters began; united and later separated. Much of this relationship dynamic is told through flashbacks. “They were used as a runner throughout each episode to not only inform the episode, but also inform the whole series and paint a picture of what happened to these two women.” The showrunner believes that flashbacks work best when they serve dual purposes – to inform the moment and inform the place in the whole story. They should also be structured as self-contained stories with a beginning, middle, and end, with a return to the current episode.
Mickey (Amanda Seyfried) & Kacey (Ashleigh Cummings. Photo by Jocelyn Prescod/ PEACOCK
There is no right way to deal with a sibling struggling with addiction. “Mickey has perceived herself as somebody who has always chosen right in this life and her sister is somebody who has always chosen wrong,” mentions Toscano. As the series progresses, we find out that Kacey was born an addict. This revelation upends Mickey’s entire worldview.
“I think at the beginning of our show, Mickey is perceived as the savior while Casey is perceived as a potential victim. I think that we turn that on its head by the time we get to the end. And, there’s a part which is sort of a metaphor for what these girls had to do their entire life, which was to save each other,” shares Toscano.
One of the challenges in the writers’ room was to adhere to Mickey’s complex character who’s open and says exactly what she means and means what she says, so audiences know exactly who she is.
The series concludes with Mickey making a major mistake on the murder case. She’s drained and has shared so much of herself in a way she hasn’t previously.
“And it’s only through that that she’s able to heal from the multi-generational trauma that she went through as well. She is hopeful of her life with her sister and hopeful that Kacey won’t begin using again. She’s heartbroken over the loss of Truman. She’s more committed to a more authentic path for both herself, her son, her sister and grandfather Gee (John Doman).”
