The CW drama series In the Dark is back for a second season (and already picked up for a third!), with Murphy (Perry Mattfeld) on the mend after solving her best friend’s murder and having a terrifying encounter with Dean (Rich Sommer). At the same time, drug kingpin Nia Bailey (Nicki Micheaux) expects Murphy, along with her supportive best friend Jess (Brooke Markham) and her over-achiever boss Felix (Morgan Krantz), to launder money for her, which easily catches the interest of the IRS.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actress Perry Mattfeld talked about how Season 1 was like the prologue to their story, really getting to dig into the characters for Season 2, what she was most excited about with the second season, whether Murphy might ever catch a break, being forced into a life of crime, the family dynamic, the season’s murder mystery, what makes Murphy and Max’s (Casey Deidrick) relationship relatable, and what it’s meant to her to get to bond with her canine co-star Pretzel.

Collider: First of all, congratulations on the pick-up for the third season. While we’re all stuck at home, at least that’s a bright spot to look forward to in the future.

PERRY MATTFELD: I was just saying that. The fact that, not only were we able to finish Season 2, before all of this happened, but we got very lucky with our timing and the fact that I know that I know that I get to go back to my job that I love so much, makes us feel like this is just a little break.

The first season of a show is always a lot of exploration, figuring out what it wants to be, and learning what the character dynamics and relationships are. How did it feel, going into Season 2, having that season behind you? Did things feel more familiar?

MATTFELD: Yeah. I feel like Season 1 was almost like our prologue, in a way. It just explained who these people are. It was like the introduction to the world of In the Dark. After the success of the show on Netflix, after Season 1, the show, as a whole, was given a little more creative freedom to just go with it, now that we know what the show is. I love Season 1, but Season 2, in my opinion, is where it begins. We know who these people are, so we have so much more to root for them now. Now we know why Murphy is the way she is and everything makes sense, going forward. While searching for her friend Tyson last season, she came full circle and now is in the same spot that he was, when he got in trouble. Now, we begin our story.

Once you already know a character, does it really feel like you just get to keep digging deeper into them and who they are?

MATTFELD: Yeah. And she fell in love, hardcore, with Max, too. You’ll see how that plays into Season 2 a lot. Every decision that she makes in Season 2 is for Max. I definitely feel like parts Season 2 were more fun. In the beginning of Season 1, we were still trying to figure out the tone of the show and everyone was trying to find these characters. But something about starting Season 2 where we left off, when Season 1 ended so strong, was really exciting.

With the way that things were left at the end of the first season, were there storylines that you were most excited about getting to dig into?

MATTFELD: After the finale of Season 1, I was like, “Now what?!” And now, after the finale of Season 2, I’m like, “Where do we possibly go?!” It’s so crazy, how things snowball. With what happens with Chloe, it’s awesome that Chloe’s part just continues to grow and she’s a big heavy hitter in Season 2, which I’m really excited about. It’s very interesting to see how that relationship plays out, not only between Murphy and Chloe, but between Dean and Chloe, as well. In the very first episode back, she’s frustrated because she loved the idea of her dad and Murphy together, just ‘cause she thinks Murphy’s so cool and she loves thinking of her as a big sister, in a way. I don’t know if she ever really realistically thought that they were gonna be together forever, but I think she loved the idea that Murphy was gonna be a big part in her life. So, that’s a little disappointing, at the beginning, when Dean tells her that they’re no longer together. But of course, he lies about what happened. And so, you watch Chloe lose trusts for her dad, throughout the season, and the conflict that puts on her. He’s someone that she knows loves her so much and has done everything for her, but it’s hard for her to understand why he made the decisions he did.

And it certainly seems to affect how Murphy sees and handle things, when she sees the pain and disappointment in Chloe.

MATTFELD: Yeah. Obviously, I continue to learn about playing someone who is visually impaired, and I have Lorri [Bernson] to thank for that. She’s our blind consultant and inspiration for the show and who Murphy is. But in addition to discovering new things with that aspect, I also find that one of the more challenging things about being Murphy is that, when I see a scene and every other word is, “Shut up, no, idiot or stupid,” it’s hard for me to find those moments in between that make people want to root for Murphy and love her, and see the parts that make her human and grounded and lovable. With her relationship with Chloe, just like her relationship with Tyson, you get to see a lot of that goodness. Right. Her relationship with Chloe is a big part of what makes you love Murphy and, as difficult as she is, trust her and want the best for her.

Every time that Murphy thinks she can get her life together, something happens or multiple things happen that change that. Will she ever catch a break? Do you feel like she’s due for some happiness, at some point?

MATTFELD: I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say, but there is another character that comes into Murphy’s life in Season 2, that gives her a glimmer of maybe something a little more. She’s in love with a guy on the run. Her guide dog school, which is supposed to be this charitable non-profit is a drug front. It’s all kind of corrupt. And there’s this new character that is from the other side – from the side of honesty and a real job and an upright citizen. For a second, while hanging out with him, she feels like she’s a better person. But of course, that doesn’t last.

With Nia expecting Guiding Hope to be her money laundering front now, it turns Felix, Jess and Murphy into this trio of criminals. How challenging will it be for them to keep that up, when they don’t really even have the best of luck at taking care of themselves?

MATTFELD: The relationship between us three, we’re best friends in real life, too, so it’s so fun for us to work together. Both Morgan [Krantz] and Brooke [Markham] are so talented. A lot of the comedy happens in this trio of the Three Stooges, who are these extreme versions of people. You have Jess, who’s the emotional, sympathetic one. Felix is the competitive, painstakingly insecure one. And then, you have Murphy, who’s self-destructive. A lot of Season 2 is this cat-and-mouse thing with them. Who are they honest with? A lot of the comedy is the handball that that goes on between the three of them. You have these three extreme versions of people, and together they create this perfect mix of comedy. 

With all of that happening, it’s bound to create more tension for Murphy in her own family, which is an already strained relationship. How hard will that be on her relationship with her mother?

MATTFELD: I love Murphy’s relationship with her mom. It brings a really grounded element to the show. A lot of people have a similar relationship with their mom. Their mom is just there to help and just wants the best for them, but that could not be more annoying. All these decisions that Murphy makes are because she’s loyal to a fault and she protects. If you’re on her good side, she will do anything for you. And so, the lies and all the trouble that she gets herself into, her intentions are good, but yes, it does just end up hurting some of the people around her, and especially her mom.

One of the funniest moments in the first four episodes is the conversation that Murphy and Jess have with the two IRS agents. It’s hilarious because it’s something’s so seemingly mundane, but it’s in the middle of all this other chaos that’s happening. What was that scene like to shoot? Was it hard not to just crack up?

MATTFELD: I’m hoping that The CW allows us to release our blooper reel, when the show does go on Netflix, because you will see how many scenes we could not possibly get through without laughing. A lot of the scenes that I have with Morgan, he is as funny as Felix as he is in real life. Because I’m so close to him in real life, it’s hard for me to differentiate between Felix and Morgan, and in the blooper reel, I have to apologize to the crew because I can’t stop laughing. Episode 3 was super fun, especially with that back-and-forth with the IRS. That episode, in general, felt like a French farce. It was so fun. That’s something that has always made In the Dark so special. It’s so raw and grounded, and there are no superpowers or superheroes, or anything. A lot of it is just about these people, in their most vulnerable state. Whether it’s two best friends, just sitting on the couch and having a beer, or a girl trying to get her dog to just go to the bathroom so she can take a nap. There’s a lot of this real stuff, where you put these very raw, real people in this circumstance, and you get such a rich, vulnerable, grounded and raw show, which is what I love about it so much.

Season 2 kicks off another mystery, right from the very beginning, and we get little pieces of what happened, along the way. Were you told about how that would play out, before you started shooting the season, or did you also have to wait to find out what was going on with the mystery aspect of the season, as you got the scripts?

MATTFELD: We do not get the scripts until maybe two days before we start shooting, so we had no idea. With Corrine [Kingsbury], our creator, Yael [Zinkow], and our writes’ room, in general, the stuff that they come up with is so brilliant. For Season 2, I felt a lot more trust. Whatever’s next, it’s gonna be awesome. In a way, I don’t wanna know because I wanna experience it with Murphy, for the first time. I think it keeps the freshness of every episode because we’re going through it with our characters. That’s something that I love. We all feel safe because the writers know the show so well, at this point, and I completely trust them.

It’s obvious how much Murphy and Max care about each other, but at the same time, it seems impossible for them to actually be together in any way that doesn’t involve chaos and disruption. What can you say about their relationship, this season? Is there any hope for them?

MATTFELD: Everyone roots for Max and Murphy ‘cause that’s maybe her first great love. It’s Max and Murphy, forever. It’s always gonna be them two. It’s a very relatable relationship, in that they bring out the best and the worst in each other, and they butt heads a lot. If Tyson was Murphy’s drive and her heart and her willpower in Season 1, Max is that for her now, whether or not they’re together.

What have you most enjoyed about the relationship and the bond that you’ve gotten to develop with Pretzel?

MATTFELD: In Season 1, there was obviously this love-hate relationship between Murphy and Pretzel because Pretzel represents help, and that’s something that Murphy has never wanted and hates to accept that she needs. There’s this whole love story with not only Murphy accepting hope, but falling in love with this dog. After the loss that she goes through in Season 1, the thing that’s closest to unconditional, supportive, and constant love is from your four-legged animal. In Season 2, we get 100% love and no pushback with Pretzel. I’m very lucky because, since Pretzel has to take commands from me while we’re acting in a scene, he only gets to hang out with me on set, until the end of the day. Everyone is very jealous. I get to share a special bond with that dog ‘cause we’re together for 14 hours a day, every day, for six months. I wish I could call him mine, but I feel like he is, in a way.

It’s certainly a nice perk that, if you have to be at work for long hours, you get to have a companion like that.

MATTFELD: These dogs are so incredible. They have to take a lot of their cues non-verbally because if we’re rolling, they need to respond to hand signals and stuff like that. Our trainer is very loving with them, but they also need to know the difference between their owners, who they go home to, and their teacher. When you go to school, you have a different relationship with your teacher than you have with your mom. Multiple times, I’ve asked to have Pretzel in my trailer for lunch, so that we could take a 20-minute nap together. It’s obsession, at this point. When I’m away from him, I do miss him a lot. Because of Season 3, I’ll get him back.

In the Dark airs on Thursday nights on The CW.