From show creator Tanya Saracho, the half-hour Starz series Vida is back for Season 2, as Lyn (Melissa Barrera) and Emma (Mishel Prada) attempt to figure out the best way to approach rebuilding their mother’s business without it fully dragging them under financially. As the series continues to explore identity, culture, gender and sexuality through the lens of a Latinx family and their community, these previously estranged sisters must figure out what they want from each other, the relationships in their lives, and their futures.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, showrunner/writer/executive producer Tanya Saracho (who also makes her directorial debut this season) talked about why she wanted to make the series available to binge, how cool it is to work in an environment where she doesn’t have to defend what she’s doing, expanding to 10 episodes for Season 2, kicking off the season with an orgy, the reality these sisters will face in trying to save a struggling business, and trying to juggle Vida while also developing other projects.

Collider: How do you feel about the entire season dropping at once? Are you excited to see how people react to that?

TANYA SARACHO: It was my idea. We didn’t make it with that in mind, but then, especially spending time with it in the editing bay, it’s so binge-able. Not a lot of days happen between episodes. Sometimes it’s one or two days, but sometimes it’s right the next day. This show is about millennials of color, and millennials of color binge, too. The way we’re releasing it, I hope the experiment works. I think it’s perfect because you can get it linearly on the channel, and you can get it on the app before that.

And this show moves so fast that you really want to see the next episode, as soon as possible.

SARACHO: Yeah. I remember being a fan of shows that were half an hour, like Entourage, Girls and Looking, but then you have to wait one more week for the next half-hour, which I know was a frustration last year. Hopefully, this will answer that.

The story that you’re telling with Vida is written by and brought to life by people who look like the individuals in the story. What’s it like to walk onto the set and see the faces of the people who actually really should be telling this story, and know that you’re the one responsible for making all of that happen?

SARACHO: And hearing the Spanglish, and also having that represented in the editing bay, is really cool. It’s awesome. I love us. I don’t know what else to say. I love that I was allowed to build the world the way that I wanted to, and have only been supported, especially because my executive is Marta Hernandez, and her name tells you why she supported it. I never had to defend the world. I never had to be like, “This is why this world is worth it, and these are the reasons why these stories are worth it.” I never had to do that. That plays out in staffing the writers’ room and staffing an all-Latina season of directors. This season, we have all Latina directors, queer Latino cinematographers, and all-female editors. It makes a difference. I remember the meeting when all of the department heads were all sitting there and somebody took a picture, and we were all female. The producer, the ADs, the director and the cinematographer were all female, and it was like, “Oh, my god, we’re not manning the show. We’re woman-ning the show.” It just feels different. It feels like you don’t have to defend anything. Sometimes in these co-ed spaces, you have to defend your right to speak up, or you get shut down. Here, other stuff can shut you down, but not your gender, and that feels good.

What was it like to jump from six episodes to ten episodes, this season? What were you most excited about, as far as what that extra two hours would give you?

SARACHO: In 2019, we’re more used to consuming five hours of a half-hour season, so ten episodes is pretty common. I so respect my fellow showrunners who have 22 episode. I don’t know how they do that. It’s amazing. As a consumer, I like eight, ten or twelve episodes. In that area, you can really tell a good story. And the way that we make it, we try to make it quality and right, and that takes some time, so we wanted to give ourselves that time.

You have an orgy scene to kick off the season. How did you decide that that was how you wanted to start the season, and how did you break that to Melissa Barrera?

SARACHO: When I wrote in the first script was that I wanted the world’s saddest orgy. They’re coming down from their high. It’s probably smelly because they’ve been partying all day. It looks, at first glance, like it’s so glamorous and great, but then you look around and there’s a creeper just creeping everybody, all flaccid. Every sex scene has a purpose. She is shifting away. In case you weren’t sure, at the end of last season, she’s shifting away from that lens, and you see her make the decision. You watch her see the girl throw up, and then she shifts and walks away from it, metaphorically and physically. That gets her started in the season. She is now determined to go to a new phase of her life, of adulting, and no one is going to believe her because she’s never done that. That’s gonna be her struggle, this season. Until the last episode, no one believes in her, even herself. She doesn’t believe. She keeps trying, but she keeps doubting herself. What better way to show that, than the world’s saddest, most pathetic orgy. I hope people can smell it. This is what rock bottom looks like.

I love a show that can kick it off like that, and still make me laugh and cry, at the same time, in the same episode.

SARACHO: Oh, good! And then, you have Emma (Mishel Prada) with her own sex scene, where she’s so controlling. She has these exchanges with people in a non-sentimental way because, that way, she doesn’t have to engage her emotions in anything. We’re gonna break her out of that, this season.

Things get very real this season, when it comes to the reality of what it takes to save this bar. How challenging will all of that prove to be, and is it ever a challenge to have the show not tilt too far into the serious, when you’re dealing with something like that?

SARACHO: You know, I never think about how serious we get. Other people think about that for me. No, we just don’t worry about that so much. We had this group of consultants draw up a five-year business plan for us, for if it were a real bar, and I’m telling you, these girls are set up for failure. So, for this season, we followed the plan, as Emma would. The first basic phase is to clean the bar. I think the realism of what it would really take to save the bar is something that we deserve to see. We didn’t want to come back and have it just be amazing because that’s not realistic. Nine days have occurred, between Season 1 and Season 2, and they don’t have the money. That’s real. Every penny has to be accounted for. 

It’s always fun to see Emma a bit off kilter, and I love that you’ve brought Raúl Castillo onto the show because he’s great and their characters clearly don’t know how to deal with each other.

SARACHO: They hate each other!

What can audiences expect from that relationship? What did you want to bring to the show with that dynamic?

SARACHO: I wanted to bring that hyper masculinity to it because it’s also a color we didn’t have last season, and it’s also a more traditional part of the neighborhood. Baco does not like how Emma presents herself. He thinks she’s snooty, and he tells her, and I love that. The neighborhood is not shy. Whatever they’re trying to serve, no one is buying.

And you’ve got to have somebody that tells you that, once in a while.

SARACHO: Yes, and Emma is not used to that. She’s used to men doing whatever she wants. Actually anyone, not just men. So, how does she deal with this hyper masculine guy, who doesn’t give a fuck about Emma and her little prissy self? She’s showing her colors, when she brings up the to-do list. She tries to do everything professionally, and that is not how people do things. She’s from there, so she really should know that.

Because Vida is such a great show, people keep asking about what your next thing will be because they’re excited to see more material from you. How hard is it for you to focus on Vida and tell the best story you can there, while also thinking about other possible projects that you’d like to develop and work on?

SARACHO: I don’t know! It’s impossible! I’ve being trying to write this Brujas thing, and then I have to go to New York to do press because we have to let people know about Vida, and that’s important. If you find out how other creators do it, please let me know because I mostly just stress about it. That’s not a good answer, but it’s real. I’m trying! I know it will get done, but it might take me a little bit. I don’t how these things happen. 3:00 am sessions? I don’t know. 

Vida Season 2 is available for binge-watching on the Starz app and Starz On-Demand, and you can watch on Sunday nights on Starz.