Fans of ABC Family”s ‘The Nine Lives of Chloe King” (Tues., 9 p.m.) have only had a few weeks to get up to speed on the teen warrior”s complicated story (she”s a descendant of an ancient half god/half human race the Mai, can”t kiss humans, has superhero powers, that sort of thing) unless they”re called fans of the books the series is based on, of course. But no matter – the show is less about backstory than action, which will reach a crescendo on the show”s season finale. During a set visit, the cast sat down for roundtable interviews to give us a glimpse (but just a glimpse) of what we can expect this season – and beyond.
While Valentina, the leader of the San Francisco Mai, has warned Chloe she may need to give up her friends and family and go into hiding to stay alive, it hasn”t happened yet – and Skyler Samuels (who plays Chloe) says it won”t. “This season she doesn”t get taken away, but the way this season finale unfolds, it”s just absolute chaos. All those lose ends that we”ve kind of seen and experienced throughout the season kind of come together and it”s one explosion after another and drama on top of drama on top of drama. In Chloe King”s future a lot of those threats are going to become severe realities and maybe not in a good way. But those things are part of Chloe”s lesson, growing up as the Uniter and also being a teenager.”
The relationship between Chloe”s normal high school friends Paul and Amy has been a touchstone of non-crazy in our supernatural girl”s newly crazy life, but it won”t be for long. “You know on Facebook where it says in a relationship or it says it’s complicated? It goes to that realm. It says it’s complicated, and we’ll see what happens,” says Ki Hong Lee, who plays Paul.
“There will be a big bump involving a bump,” adds Grace Phipps. But don”t take that the wrong way. “No, no, no! There will be no baby bumps. There will be a bump, but they will prevail, I think. Everyone’s relationships are very strong. And they can endure bumping.”
Jasmine, Chloe”s fierce protector and daughter of Valentina, has happier relationship news. “Later on this season you’ll see Jasmine does get a love interest. Finally,” says Alyssa Diaz (Jasmine). “I was like, everyone’s getting some love around here, Jasmine needs some love!”
As for Chloe”s own bumpy relationships, she”ll find herself torn between her hot Mai friend Alek and her human love interest Brian (whom she can”t, or shouldn”t, kiss). “I think [Alex] eventually owns the fact that he loves her, but obviously without saying, ‘Chloe I love you,”” says Benjamin Stone (Alek). “He doesn’t want to freak her out or anything. But again, it’s toeing a fine line between wanting to help her and protect her but then also his selfish reasons for wanting her for himself.” But whether or not he”ll kick the crap out of Brian to get Chloe to himself remains to be seen. “I think he could take him,” says Stone. “But it’s whether he should, because he’s a decent honorable guy. And it wouldn’t be fair. It would be like kicking a puppy.”
The other main conflict in Chloe”s complicated life is the fact she has to hide her Mai identity from her adoptive mom Meredith, played by Amy Pietz. We can expect that relationship to unravel – though not in the first ten episodes which constitute the super short first “season.” “I suspect there will be an additional ten or twelve or thirteen more episodes to complete the first season, and I also suspect Meredith knows a lot more than she’s letting on to both Chloe and the audience, especially in regard to Chloe’s origins and what happened in the Ukraine,” says Pietz. “There was a lot more upsetting news to share with Chloe than she’s shared, because it wasn’t pretty. So I think that will slowly be revealed.”
So what happens next season? Samuels, who has gotten a sense of the big picture from the show”s writers, has some ideas. “What comes up next season, which is kind of setting up Chloe King’s future, is that as the Uniter she’s discovering there might be loopholes or ways around the curses that come with being Mai.” Loopholes? “I think there will be some smooches between Brian and Chloe in the future, but it’s hard to say whether or not those will end well. That’s all I’m gonna say.”