Apple TV+'s Lucky just finished its Season 1 run with quite the eventful finale, one that led to the death of two major characters, and the betrayal of many more. For those not following along, the show follows Anya Taylor-Joy's titular character, a con artist who finds herself on the run from William Fichtner's Wayne (and Annette Bening's Priscilla) when he accidentally inherets 10 millioin dollars of stole money.
The Season 1 finale saw it all come to a head, as Lucky was forced into a sting operation under Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor's Agent Billie Rand. As one would guess, it didn't go smoothly. In a matter of minutes, the entire ruse was laid out into the open, with chaos insuing not much later.
While Fitchner's Wayne was confident that this was going to go his way, just before getting to kill Lucky, and her father John Armstrong (played by Timothy Olyphant from The Mandalorian), his former partner Priscilla decided to turn the tables, shooting him in the chest instead. Wayne's mole, AD Peter Kershaw (Eric Lange), didn't fare much better, thanks to Agent Billie Rand's last minute thinking.
Living up to its title, both Lucky and John remained the luckiest characters alive, having both made it out of the entire ordeal with everything still intact—even if it did lead to Lucky's father trying to take the money for himself.
The Direct sat down with Lucky star William Fichtner in an interview to discuss his character's fate in the Season 1 finale, and how Wayne never say Priscilla's betrayal, and subsequent vengance, coming.
Wayne Never Saw Priscilla's Wrath Coming
"That Was Wayne's One Big Blind Spot..."
- The Direct: "Before the finale ends, your character obviously bites the dust. In fact, he is shot by Priscilla. So my first question is, did he see that coming? Do you think he would have ever thought that she could do that or would do that?
William Fichtner: No, I really don't believe that he ever saw that coming. I think the very twisted relationship that they have—I do think that Priscilla is someone, for lack of a better word, special to Wayne. I mean, like he says to her in episode five, if you were anyone else—there is something about her. There always was. I mean, I had a child a long time ago. He told her a long time ago, I don't want to go down this road. She wanted to. She had the boy... I think that was Wayne's one big blind spot that he never thought that it could turn in that direction.
- The Direct: "They didn't see it coming. But did you when you first read the script?... Did you think that might happen as you were reading it, that she might do that?
Fitchtner: I mean, listen, you never know how stories [will unfold]... It's only seven episodes, and you have so much of the history of all of these people. You know, picking them up at this moment, but especially for Anya and Timothy, they get so much of the backstory, and you get a lot of it with Priscilla, but not so much with Wayne. You pick up Wayne in this world right now. [But no], I wasn't anticipating [it].
The actor continued, explaining that with the writing being so great, he didn't know it was going to go the way it did for Wayne.
Fitchtner: I didn't know if it was going to go that way, which is why I think you know the writing is so [great]. I'm old school enough to keep saying if it's not on the page, it's not on the stage. And it's on the page here, and especially the finale, episode seven, that whole big showdown sequence is really incredible with so many layers and plates spinning. It's special. With that said, I still didn't see her doing what she does.
William Fichtner on Wayne's Initial Judgment of Lucky
Make No Mistake, Wayne Respects Lucky.
- The Direct: "I want to jump back to the conflict in this finale. When Wayne first walks up to Lucky, take me into his mind. What is he thinking about this person, and what are his initial snap judgments? The very first moment he lays eyes on Lucky?"
William Fichtner: I love this question, Russ, because I remember when we were shooting it, and we were up in those oil fields north of L.A. I'm not kidding you. It didn't dip below 100 degrees for five days in a row. That light sand, Dust, dirt, just like it reflects and bounces up. One of my favorite moments was literally pulling up, getting out of the car, and walking straight to Anya because it was the first time that Wayne, you know, and Lucky were together.
"In the course of the scene, she proves herself with some information," he continued.
Fichtner: I remember I had the thought, reading it, you know, trying not to give it a name, just see how it feels in the moment. But everything that I kind of anticipated fits so well because when I walked up to her, and you see this incredibly beautiful kind of petite woman, and I think this is what wreaked havoc right here, and then obviously in the course of the scene, she proves herself with some information that I definitely give her a little tip of the hat because she's a smart lady.
- The Direct: "Do you think this is like the first time Wayne has actually put brain power into thinking about the situation, as opposed to just being like, 'Hey, get my money back, like go fix this?'"
Fitchtner: No, I do think that this is maybe not the first time, but certainly in this story, the telling of this story, you know, there's a great moment. There's a wonderful moment that I loved reading, and I loved playing it... But he's like, "All right, fuck it, new plan. I think that's actually right smack there in the moment. Like you know what, I don't—This is not going to go down this road. We're going down another road. You're not picking which road we're going to travel. I'll tell you which road. So I do think Wayne gets surprised.
Did Wayne Care About His Son Even a Little Bit?
Wayne and Priscilla Make for a Twisted Pairing.
- The Direct: "One of the biggest parts of Wayne and Priscilla's story is obviously their child, who Wayne doesn't seem to care at all about. Do you think that there's any part of Wayne that ever cared even minimally about his child?"
William Fichtner: Maybe—my favorite scene to shoot in the series for me was being in the car ride in episode seven with Annette [Bening], and the things that we talked about, and it's a bit of a different color for both of them. I truly think that Wayne has a spot inside of himself, twisted as it might be, that Priscilla is different than everyone else, and he says in that scene, you know, 'This was your call. Way back when, I did not want this, and I told you, you took this journey. It's your journey.'
Fitchtner further elaborated that at no point did Wayne consider keeping the child with Priscilla.
Fichtner: So, I think for Wayne, for whatever his reasons are, of wanting to make sure you need to know you don't have this baby, and all of a sudden, we find a way to be parents. No, no, no. This is your journey. So, for whatever his reasons are, I don't think that Wayne ever thought, Well, I'm not sure how I'm going to go with this. I don't think Wayne's that kind of guy. Yeah, no, no, we're going to go this way, and this is the way we're going to go, and that's just it. And so he says to her, you know, earlier in the show, when he expresses to her, 'Listen, he took my money. Do you think it makes it any different? Do you really think it makes it any different?'
