Heléne Yorke, Drew Tarver, Case Walker and Ken Marino are revealing the secrets behind the success of the Max comedy series The Other Two, as part of Deadline’s FYC House + HBO Max event series. New episodes air on Thursday nights via Max.
L to R: Michelle Moughan, Case Walker, Heléne Yorke, Ken Marino, Wanda Sykes, Michelle Moughan
As the titular “other two” Brooke (Yorke) and Cary Dubek (Tarver) continue in their search for success and true happiness, in Season 3 it appears even more elusive than before. Now that they’ve had a taste of what could be, how to keep the momentum going without getting in their own way? Will the siblings really ever feel fully fulfilled and content?
“I keep saying I hope not because that would be the end of our show— maybe? What’s fun about The Other Two is the idea that if you’re constantly pushing, no matter how much success you get, you can feel without—these characters are a manifestation of that theme,” said Yorke of the series created by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. “We took them to new heights this year, and they’re successful, but they’re always searching. That’s something that Chris and Sarah thread really interestingly and something that I think people can relate to, even though situations aren’t necessarily relatable,” she continued.
Added Tarver, “They’ve been struggling for many seasons and in this season, at least for Cary, what does it look like when you do get some of the things that you were dreaming about? And, does that make you happy or solve your issue? Or is there something deeper that you are not dealing with or figuring out? And what does that look like? It’s fun to play them struggling as well, but this season, I think the writers were like, ‘Alright, let’s give them what they want and see what it looks like.’ I thought that was like a deeper level to play that led to comedy and also like a deep sadness.”
Case Walker, Drew Tarver
Brooke and Cary have a younger brother named Chase Dubek (Walker) whose achievements towered over theirs at an early age fueling them to really reach for the stars. Chase, known professionally as ChaseDreams, has just turned 18 and his goals have changed, much to the chagrin of his family and his devoted talent manager Streeter Peter Peters (Marino).
“I think growing up, he’s just become more aware of who he is, and his team and his family. I think weirdly you’d expect him to be the least normal but he seems to be the most normal,” shared Walker. “What drives him is pretty simple things like he just wants to be in a relationship and he’s willing to do whatever it takes. So it’s been interesting seeing him grow up as the world’s gotten crazier and he’s stayed where he’s at. Even in moments with Streeter, he’s just back to the basics. Like, ‘Hey, this is my team. I still want to sing, I’m still doing my thing.’ He’s also a lot more aware of the world,” he added.
Poor Streeter just desperately wants to be loved and be part of the Dubek family. With ChaseDreamers becoming an adult and figuring out what he wants for his future, Streeter has been trolling social media for the next big thing.
“In that first episode, he knows he has Chase and is trying to figure out what to do with him outside of his singing career because we all know it’s not going to make money. But during Covid, Streeter started signing people off TikTok though he doesn’t fully understand how to make a profit from that. He wants to learn though so he can get in on the action. But Chase will always be his number one, for sure,” said Ken.
While Chase is also sorting out his love life, Streeter signed on with a new influencer family, the Barbacados.
“When the Barbacado family shows their talent in front of the theater where they dance for like three seconds, I fell on the floor laughing because I didn’t see that when it was filmed. It was so quick,” joked Tarver causing his cast mates to erupt in laughter.
He added, “I think that’s what Sarah and Chris do so well with not being afraid, especially in this season, to really take these big swings with absurdity and surrealism and you know, just crazy big comedy bits. But then they always find a way to bring it down and ground it in real relationships and give it depth and heart—it lands so well. It’s such a tightrope act, and they seem to just nail it every time.”
Josh Segarra and Heléne York
In recent episodes, there’s trouble on love island as Brooke and her on-and-off boyfriend/fiancé Lance (Josh Segarra). Could a broken engagement really be the end for them?
“I keep saying that Lance is the man she barely deserves. Josh Segarra, who’s a wonderful actor and a longtime friend of mine, is such a wonderful guy. It’s been fun watching these two characters evolve over three seasons. And now they’re engaged but how is she going to f**k that up?” questions York. “The theme, the way Sarah talked to me about the relationship this year is that she’s faced with this person— who in her mind is so clearly better than her and she feels like she doesn’t deserve him—is that she’s on this quest to be on his level. That’s the only way that she’s going to be able to maintain this, and in doing so, sabotages the entire thing. I relate to that because I think it’s really easy to fall into these patterns where you second guess yourself, and if you’re doing the right thing, or being the right thing, and if you’re faced with somebody who’s just nailing it all the time, it’s challenging.”
Another relationship in limbo involves Streeter and his beloved Pat Dubek (Molly Shannon), whose morning chat show has turned her into a huge star. Not being able to casually take his lady love anywhere without her security, is really putting a damper in their relationship.
“They’re two adults who understand the realities of life and the obstacles that can get in their way, so they’re working through it. What I can only tell you is that they do care about each other very much, and they’ll do what’s best for each of them,” Marino shared about the couple’s future.
Ken Marino and Molly Shannon
For the remainder of the season, there are many surprises that are yet to be revealed. The hysterical absurdity of this series is that something that sounds insane and made up, could really be an upcoming storyline.
“The Kiernan Shipka episode sets off this problem presented ahead where his girlfriend’s gonna have to go live in the woods. That becomes his priority over singing until the end of the season,” said Walker bewildering his cast and the Deadline interviewer. “And we see once that is solved there’s kind of this opportunity, so we’ll have to see what happens there in the final episode. Eventually, that problem is solved as directed by Streeter. So his primary issue is keeping Pam Snot [Michelle Moughan] from living in the woods with Ann Dowd. This is all normal to Chase, he really loves this girl,” he added.
And for the other two?
“More high jinks: she’s trying to be good, be a good person and she wants everybody to know she’s a good person. How is she going to get there? She basically discovers she can be good using the industry and so what did that lead to?” states Yorke.
“I think Cary it gets deeper and deeper into this chaos he’s created and it all comes to a head at the end of the season,” concludes Tarver.
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