‘Anna Pigeon’s Kim Coates Teases ‘Violent’ And ‘Ruthless’ Season Finale

Kim Coates On Jeremiah Paulson And ‘Anna Pigeon’s Season Finale

I wanted to begin by talking about the journey that Jeremiah goes on. We start with him as a ruthless businessman but in the back half of the season there are more layers we get of who he is as a person.

What was it like to discover how he is, not necessarily a family man, but someone who feels obligated to protect family and also as an absentee father who does not feel great about his daughter showing up in town?

I have no idea how to answer any of that. Laughs.

No, I must say that Morwyn Brebner, the showrunner, and Leah Thompson [executive producer and director]—I absolutely adore both of them—when they offered me this guy, they had like an overview of who Jeremiah was at the beginning and probably where he was gonna go at the end. It’s very important to me before I sign on to any television series like this to kind of [know] what’s the character gonna do? Is he a vampire? Is he a good guy? What are his motives?

They gave me as much as they could but the whole thing with Melanie Scrofano, who plays my daughter in the show, that was a surprise to me. That sort of came out of left field. That’s fine because, you know, I’m not in this show a ton. But when I do show up, there’s a reason. I think that whole daughter, not being there for her, it makes perfect sense.

These guys, they have so much money. They only think about themselves, truly. They have a business. They grow that business. They sometimes become a really sh-tty father or a bad mother. And I think that was the case with Jeremiah Paulson. I don’t think he really understood his lack of being a good father or a good uncle.

Then when his nephew gets into trouble and his daughter tries to help get him out of trouble—it’s just a bee’s nest, isn’t it? It just turns into this incredible bee’s nest. But what’s sort of frustrating for me as Jeremiah, but I guess it’s pretty good for the show, is Jeremiah’s not in it a lot.

So there could have been a lot more, in my opinion, said, written, filmed, for Jeremiah’s background, but with Tricia Helfer being—Tracy [Spiridakos], who’s killing it on this show, she’s so good—being her sister and me, we’re kind of the true B storylines of the whole series.

They have their regulars, which are all great, but I come in and I go out and I come in and go out. I think 9 and 10, the last two episodes we get to a pretty big climax this coming week on the 10th and final show, and I can’t wait for people to see it.

Well, when you are in Kim, there’s definitely a spark. There’s a lot of tension between him and Anna. When acting opposite Tracy and you’re doing these scenes where both of your characters are getting under each other’s skin, what is that like navigating the highs and lows of that dynamic?

Because it very much is sort of David and Goliath as your character wants what he wants and he’s going to get whatever he wants. And even in the finale tries to bribe her to do something to help his nephew so he can move on and go back to figuring out the lay of the land with the national park.

I’d work with [Tracy] again in a heartbeat. She brings it, she listens. You know acting is not acting. You can’t act or the camera will see it. You have to feel it, and you have to start by listening. It’s all about listening, and whatever I would give Tracy or what she would give me, we just added on these layers that you talked about in the confrontation, which comes at the end here in the 10th and final [episode].

He bribes her one more time or tries to. There is something that Jeremiah does tell her that he knows. And if she goes along with him, with what he wants—which is all these multi-millionaires seem to live by, it’s their mantra and it’s very, very, very fun to play but depressing in real life to be perfectly honest with you—he has this idea that he thinks he knows something that is pivotal to [Anna].

Whether he really knows or not, what he says to her kind of throws her for a loop. It’s a big loop that she’s been dying to know about. I don’t know what would have happened or what will happen if this thing gets picked up for a second season, but it was fun to be a pivotal point of her life and part of her life from Jeremiah’s point of view.

Get a sneak peek of the moment Coates is discussing below:

What I thought was interesting in episode 9 was that you get to have a little bit of romance with Molly.

Yeah, how ‘bout that? Laughs.

There’s a little bit of a connection at the bar where Jeremiah gets to be someone other than the ruthless landowner. He gets to be a man who’s having a rough day and just wants to have a nice glass of wine with an interesting woman.

And has a sense of humor. He’s had a rough go. He doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know who he is. [When] I find out who she really is, and she finds out who I am— there’s a really, really cool thing coming up.

But yeah, to be with Trish, I’ve known her for quite a long time. We did Van Helsing together. She played Dracula. I played her husband way back in the 14th century in castles in Romania when we filmed it. That was fun as all get out.

So, to be with her and not be on the phone with somebody, but to have a scene with her, sit across from her, that was easy peasy. It was just again, fun. We made lines up. We giggled. We tried to be without forcing the chemistry that I think the two could have had. And should have had perhaps. That was fun. That was a real fun night of filming for me.

That was a nice glimpse of who Jeremiah could be outside of being a ruthless business man.

This is the tough thing for a Morwyn Brebner or a showrunner. We had it on Sons of Anarchy. We only have a certain amount of time or a certain amount of shows, and I really feel that Jeremiah’s background could have been delved into more, and I’m sure everyone thinks the same thing at USA [Network]. But what we did have was great to play, and I’m really glad I said yes.

I’m really glad I was filming in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and that community and the animals and the characters and the leaves falling and the fresh air. It was a really fun time for me, but yeah, the background of Jeremiah could have been even stronger in my opinion.

There are definitely different notes there that could be dug into, but I did think in the finale it was interesting. You’re really in the woods a lot for the finale because we’re on this hunt for Anna.

[Jeremiah] is also a mastermind. He’s trying to mastermind this entrapment. So doing that and being out in the setting, which I feel like Alberta really plays its own separate character in the show. What was it like getting to do that in the finale and really ratchet up the tension for the show?

So lucky that the weather cooperated. It could have been a very, very miserable couple of days out in the woods if the rain or sleet or something—because they were filming it no matter what. We were ready to go with our wardrobe and everything else. The wardrobe gals were so great. But we got the most beautiful, sunny, bluebird couple of days filming that climax with the helicopter and my buddies, and then getting onto the woods.

Those walkie-talkies really worked. It was really Anna’s voice, Tracy’s voice, so that really helped me to listen to her voice when I would talk to her and she would talk to me. And it really was a David and Goliath moment, wasn’t it? There’s no way I’m gonna lose. There’s no way I’m not gonna come out on top.

What would you tease about the finale that might be unexpected, whether it’s a confrontation or it’s a scene that you really got to dig into?

It gets really violent. It gets really ruthless. It gets really “Who’s gonna win this confrontation?” She’s not giving up anything. Certainly we’ve seen her in the 10 shows go up and down in the cave. That episode was my favorite episode when she’s trapped in that cave. Tracy was in it to win it, and she’s not going anywhere. She’s not afraid of anything except probably her dreams and her nightmares at nighttime, right?

And Jeremiah. He’s never not had it his way. He’s never not won any confrontation, and he wants to buy the park. He can’t buy the park, it’s a national park. Well, he’s going to. He’s gonna buy it by poisoning the water. He’s doing all kinds of stuff behind the scenes, but he doesn’t care.

So, for people wanting a happy ending, or an ending that they think might be happening here with the 10th and final episode, put your seatbelts on.

This gets very…I’ll never forget filming Entourage. I played this producer [in the final season] who had mental problems and issues. The scene that I did with the boys was so out of left field and so violent and so sad. I’m not saying that this ending is like that but there’s an element of that I think people are going to be very, very shocked and very “Wow, that really did happen” kind of a moment for the end of this 10 shows for Anna Pigeon.

I will say it did stick with me. I was not prepared for that ending clash.

Right?

Yeah, it was something.

It really was. The filming of it was beautiful and we did as many takes as we needed. Leah was unbelievable directing. Yeah, it was a great fit.

In fact, it feels, that was a year ago, when we finished, right? So it’s been a year ago. So finally, USA [Network] and Crave up in Canada are showing this incredible little series, and I hope the numbers are awesome. I hope it’s been a big hit for them, and I hope they come back for a second season.

Fingers crossed.

Fingers crossed.

Crossing our fingers worked. Anna Pigeon has been renewed for season 2 and how this finale shakes out will have major repercussions for what happens next.

Anna Pigeon’s season 1 finale airs Friday, October 9 at 10 p.m. ET on USA Network. Follow Sabrina Reed on Forbes for more coverage and news about the business of TV. For deeper thoughts on the TV she’s watching, chat with Sabrina on X and Substack.