American Vandal season 2 is a harrowing, often dark true-crime experience that also happens to be primarily about poop. Where season one of Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda's Netflix mockumentary worked to answer the question "who drew the dicks?", season 2 goes bigger, sending intrepid high school reporters Peter Maldonado (Tyler Alvarez) and Sam Ecklund (Griffin Gluck) to a Catholic private school to investigate the mysterious serial poop-prankster known only by the Instagram handle The Turd Burglar.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, Alvarez discussed season 2's darker themes, trying to solve the show's mystery on his own, the dangers and potential of social media, and the all-important question: Whether it's harder to say "dicks" or "turds" with a straight face.

Collider: I have to know, was it harder for you and the cast to spend a season earnestly saying the word “dicks” or the word “turds”?

TYLER ALVAREZ: That’s a tough question. Was it harder to say dicks or turds? To be honest, I think turds was actually harder for me. I think poop is funny. I may be out of high school but I still have that mind, I guess. Poop was definitely harder for me.

So when did you learn there was going to be an American Vandal season 2? Was Peter a character you wanted to revisit?

I learned about the second season a few weeks before they announced it. They dropped the season 2 announcement trailer. We all kind of knew that it was going to happen because we saw everything that was going on and the reaction it was getting. I was really excited because Peter is a character I love to revisit. We’re quite similar and it’s just fun to solve crime, you know? It’s fun to be a little Sherlock, in a way. I love doing that stuff, I was excited to start breaking down the next crime, getting to the bottom of it. As an actor and as Peter, too. It’s a lot of fun every single time.

When you’re reading the scripts and preparing for a new season, do you approach it like a serious mystery or do you want to know ahead of time where it ends up?

The way I do it is I read each episode in order and I take the facts from that episode, write them down, and then come to my own conclusions based on that to solve it as the scripts progress. I kind of don’t want the scripts to solve it for me, I want to solve it on my own. This season I had no idea what was happening. I could not figure it out. Last season I was able to figure it out, which is fun. But yeah, I try and solve it as we go, which helps me get into the mindset of solving the crime and getting into the Peter headspace. I also watch a lot of documentaries. Shadow of Truth was a big reference for this season.

I felt like this season went to some much darker places than the first season and I’m wondering if you were cognizant of that when you were reading it and how that informed your performance?

Yeah, to be honest, when I was reading it I was scared. I was terrified reading episodes 7 and 8. Like genuinely scared. As a reader, as an actor. And that influenced my performance a little bit. There’s that one point where I was just like, “Okay, this is scary. The stakes are really high.” Journalists really go for it and they also put themselves in harm's way sometimes with the stories that they cover. I was scared for Peter, God forbid something happened to him. Not that it ever would in this world, but in my imagination, I’m afraid the Turd Burglar is gonna’ come after me.

At the end of the first season it seemed like Peter came to the conclusion that the documentary itself wasn’t a good idea. What is it about the character that would make him sign on to do another American Vandal?

The fact that we brought justice to Dylan Maxwell’s story and were able to exonerate him and really change his life, that was one of the bigger issues that we tackled. We have to hold the justice system accountable and we also have to shine a light on the corruption that does happen. Because everyone in the U.S. is entitled to due process. It’s supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but that’s not always how it plays out. We see that in season one with Dylan’s story and we see it again in season two with Kevin’s story. So I think Peter loves what he does. It’s an art. He loves making movies. And with the success of the first season, how could he not make another documentary? I think Peter was a lot more hesitant this time around with what kind of case he was going to take on next and the way he would approach it and what he would reveal about certain people. I think he learned from the first time around to be a little bit more careful with what he does and what he doesn’t expose about other people. Making sure that it really is absolutely necessary to the storytelling. Because at the same time you also have to be biased as an investigator. It’s kind of a hard line to follow. But he is still a kid. You live and you learn.

The way season one ended it felt like it had a very strong point of view. What would you say that point of view is with this season?

The message of season 2 is about how, on social media, we all pretend to be something that we’re not. We all put out what we want people to think of us, what we want people to see of us, and that’s not necessarily the reality of it. People aren’t so genuine on social media. They show you the best picture, not the shittiest picture. What I think the message is is to be more honest on social media. For everyone. We don’t always have to pretend to be something that we’re not. We do because we’re growing up and everybody pretends to be something they’re not because it makes them feel safe. It makes them feel comfortable and like they fit in. I think the message is to say fuck that and break that mold and be honest. We all feel the same way underneath, we’re all scared, we’re all insecure, and we’re all uncomfortable. Everyone has different variations of how much that impacts them, but I think the message is to be more honest and to be who you are and to not fake it.

Reading the last monologue in this season was a crazy experience for me because I really felt like I was talking to my generation. I really felt like I was saying something for us and to us. It was probably one of the most gratifying things that I’ve been able to say or do. Art, for me, I always like to do projects that say something. I like saying something that will hopefully make some sort of a difference. I really felt like I gave people food for thought at the end. I was humbled that I was able to be the conduit that gets to relay that message.

I know it’s ridiculously early to ask this, but have you heard anything about a season 3?

No, and I’m going to be one of the last people to know, to be honest. They don’t like telling us anything, but of course, I bother the creators, like “come on, is there anything?” I even bothered somebody yesterday and they were like, “we actually have no idea.” So, unfortunately, no, but I’m just as eager to know as anybody else.