As part of my continuing coverage of RTX 2017, Rooster Teeth's epic expo for fans of movies, TV, animation, and gaming, I had a chance to discover just what all the buzz was about for Day 5. The original sci-fi/drama series takes place in a rather unusual post-apocalypse, one that sees the majority of humanity dying off whenever they sleep for more than a few minutes. Day 5 becomes a literal waking nightmare as a band of survivors tries to stave off sleep in any way they can or else risk certain death. All six episodes of Season 1 of the Rooster Teeth original can be streamed on their site; but Season 2 is just around the corner.

On August 6th, Season 2 of Day 5 will debut exclusively on Rooster Teeth FIRST. The expanded eight-episode season will continue the story of meth-addict Jake (Jesse C. Boyd), graveyard shift doctor Ally (Stephanie Drapeau), red-eye pilot Ellis (Davi Jay) and the mysterious Meredith (Katie Folger), among others, as co-creator Josh Flanagan's writing and direction leads them further into the unknown. I had a chance to sit down with the cast and crew of Day 5 to talk about the story so far and what fans can expect from the original series in the coming weeks.

Before we get to the interview, however, check out the newly released Season 2 trailer for Day 5 below:

Join FIRST to watch Day 5: On August 6 the (un)waking nightmare continues in Day 5 Season 2. As delirium mounts and new threats arise, the survivors of a fatal sleep epidemic must embark on a last-ditch attempt to reach the one place that might still save them...a place where it's rumored you can still sleep safely.

If you haven't been watching Day 5, here's how Flanagan sells it:

Josh Flanagan: There’s lots of nudity. [laughs] There’s not … there’s some. It’s just really cool. It’s a really fresh show. I don’t think there’s anything quite like it. It’s an interesting mix of The Walking Dead and Lost and 24, to some degree, because there’s an urgency and a bigger thriller element. It’s a cool hook: It’s about what happens when sleep kills people. There’s something that’s weirdly relatable about that; everyone knows what it’s like to be dead-tired and haven’t slept for two or three days and still have to study for a test or go to work. For so many other apocalyptic scenarios, you sort of have to have this big suspension of disbelief. “Oh, what do I do if there’s zombies?” But everyone knows what this is like, so it’s easy to put yourself in the place of the characters and really feel their fatigue and their struggle.

That fatigue creeps in as the characters attempt to stay awake longer and longer through use of stimulants and even physical pain. The protagonist, Jake, is a meth-addict, so of course some folks were wondering if Day 5 exists within the Breaking Bad universe:

Flanagan: Interestingly, we looked at Breaking Bad a lot when we were writing. We made sure, like, Jake can’t be Jesse Pinkman. We have to make sure there’s a clear distinction between those characters because we thought everyone was going to draw that line. I think, so far, I haven’t heard that. But, yes, he’s Walter White’s biggest customer. [laughs]

Flanagan teased how Season 2 will explore new methods of staying awake, but he steered clear of giving away any spoilers:

Flanagan: There’s a really good way that these certain people are staying awake; it’s probably going to be a fan-favorite character and group of villains, basically. The methodology of how they stay awake is very unique and the side-effects are really, really dark, but also really funny. It’s a little different from Season 1, which had the incubi who used pain, and now you have these people who use this other thing. They’re dangerous but they’re also weirdly funny at the same time. It’s a really unique villain that I’m excited for people to see.

Day 5 Season 2 will drop on August 14th, exclusively for Rooster Teeth FIRST members, and it will get an expanded episode count. Here's how the extra two episodes will help character development and storytelling:

Davi Jay: A couple of more episodes doesn’t necessarily change anything for me as an actor, it just allows us more room to flex inside these well-shaped characters who, at this point, live inside us. Basically it just gives us a little bit more room to play within that story and we use it.

Stephanie Drapeau: I found that it gave us a lot more time to build that arc, to give us a fleshed-out beginning, middle, and end for this particular series of obstacles that we’re coming across in Season 2 which far surpass in intensity those of Season 1. I appreciated the extra two episodes, not only for letting it breathe and letting the character arcs have a little more space to build, but just for creating finite moments within that build to really give us some oomph, something to sink our teeth into. There’s a clear delineation from where we begin as characters, the beginning of a solitary day—a three-month shoot for one day in the storyline—to where we end up at the end of the season. After overcoming that much in a day, you change … you definitely change.

Katie Folger: Regarding the eight episodes, we had a lot more material to keep track of because we couldn’t shoot in chronological order. We had some really awesome locations this season which we had to shoot a million different episodes within a week’s time period. I know these guys would be jumping from 1 to 3 to 5 to 8, even in one day. As a performer, we really had to do our homework and make sure that we knew where we were ahead of time as best as we could.

Drapeau: The intensity of the locations, whether it was just something like in Taylor, Texas where it was hot or cold, or Alpine where there were sandstorms, to in Austin in a funky abandoned building that was dark and moist … all of it added to this fighting against your circumstances, fighting to survive.

Jay: I think each location this season became its own character in itself. Freescale, that place is hideous, and it literally just got in you and into your performance. There was no way you could be in that setting and have it not manifest itself in your performance. Definitely out there in the desert, the vastness of it was overwhelming.

Shooting out of order at all those different locations wasn't the only hardship. A dustdevil took out Folger's cellphone, but it also wiped out an entire practical set:

Folger: I really want to see this blooper because the camera was on me and then we heard this thing that sounded like a huge truck coming, and we kept doing it because we were like, “We’re not gonna stop until they say cut.” But then it kept going and I think we all simultaneously looked and saw this dust devil 20 feet away from us going through video village. And my phone … it’s the silliest way your phone screen could ever get broken: A tornado threw it on the ground.

Flanagan: It wiped out our set. We had a big camp set built. They were out there for a week and they were having issues while they were out there. They thought they finally got it. Then the first day we’re out there filming, it literally just picked up the entire set and threw it. And we were like, “Well, that’s gonna be on a soundstage now back in Austin.”

While the cast was understandably cagey about sharing details of Season 2, they were happy to talk about the new cast members who are joining the production:

Flanagan: There are two: In the first episode, you’re introduced to Aidan (Ryan Cooper) and you’re introduced to Gabbi (Adriene Mishler). There’s one other character, too: Paula (Electra Avellan), who we haven’t seen yet; she comes in in Episode 2. There’s a bunch of great guest roles, too: Jake Busey and William Sadler and some other people.

Drapeau: It allowed our characters to come up against obstacles of new people as well as new friendships forged, new enemies, and the like. As actors, to sink our teeth into that always makes for more interesting choices and stories, as a whole.

Here's a little extra bit of trivia for the Day 5 super-fans out there:

• Meredith has a pretty intense opening sequence in the Season 2 premiere. Fans who got an early glimpse at it soon saw Folger in a different light and told her how "creepy and spooky" she was afterwards.
• Folger and Mishler have known each other for a few years having acted in the Austin area. This will be the first time they get to work together.
• Flanagan is hopeful for another season of Day 5, but stopped short of confirming anything.
• He also has a big, secret project lined up with Chris Demarais and Aaron Marquis. "I can’t say anything about it yet, but it’s big, probably bigger than Day 5."
• Boyd will star in David Fincher’s new series Mindhunter on Netflix. He also has a Lifetime movie coming out with Toni Braxton based on true events.
• Drapeau recently wrapped Sanitatum, working alongside Elisabeth Röhm and Richard T. Jones. Her film Ripped recently came out as well
• Folger's film The Honor Farm premiered at SXSW during Day 5 shooting. "It’s a coming-of-age thriller, a really unique film. It premieres on Amazon." She also launched Dynamite Sisters Comedy. "It’s a lot of Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett-influenced old-school work. We raised $15,000 on Kickstarter and will be releasing a bunch of content this fall." Folger is also starring in short film directed by Lisa Donato in which she plays a homophobic Texan.
• Jay is working on his band’s latest album release. Check out Bourbon Street: The Band for more.