The Season 2 finale of Adults nearly played out without one more major romantic beat for Paul Baker and Anton. But Owen Thiele made sure the episode delivered a tender, game-changing kiss between the longtime friends, roommates, and accidental husbands.
“I pushed for the kiss, ultimately. I did push for the kiss. And Jack’s a great kisser. Not just because he’s a great kisser, but I really felt in that moment that you needed to see some physical connection between Anton and Paul Baker,” Thiele, who stars as Anton, shared when the Adults cast stopped by DECIDER’s Midtown Manhattan studio before the Season 2 premiere.
Jack Innanen, who plays Paul Baker, said the romantic finale moment was almost handled very differently. “They were just going to hide it behind the balloons. There was a lot of debate live,” he remembered of the Season 2 closing sequence, which happened to be the last scene filmed and was shot around 4:00 a.m.
Although the balloon-filled, rom-com-style moment wrapped production, it wasn’t the true final scene viewers saw in Season 2. The episode ultimately ended with the unexpected hookup between Billie, played by Lucy Freyer, and Samir, played by Malik Elassal — a twist that could seriously shake up the house dynamic. “We’ve got to figure it out, being like lifelong friends. It’s kind of like we’ve gotta get married; otherwise it’s gonna be weird,” Elassal joked.
During the conversation, the Adults cast also looked ahead to possible Season 3 guest stars, revisited Issa, Paul Baker, and Anton’s wildly chaotic possum foursome, and dug into the biggest Season 2 ending moments — from the election night kiss to Billie and Samir’s complicated future, Issa’s hookup, and everything still hanging in the balance.
Fans have been rooting for Paul Baker and Anton so hard since Season 1. Owen and Jack, why do you think they complement each other so well?
THIELE: I think Anton listens to a lot of people. That’s kind of his thing. He’s constantly making friends with new people and knows the neighbor’s cat’s name and when her birthday is, but I feel like Paul Baker actually listens to Anton in a way no one else does. So I think that’s special.
INNANEN: I think it’s just a really beautiful love story, and they both get to complete their arcs through it. Like for Paul Baker, I think he’s so passive in a way. And this is the first time where he has to make a decision and be much more active in his life. And it’s so beautiful that it’s love that encourages that. I love that this whole season’s all about relationships and who you are to each other beyond the labels that you’ve set up. My favorite part was Anton and Issa liberating each other. And I think in a weird way, Anton and Paul Baker liberate each other just [by saying] “Hey, can we do this? Can we cut the bullshit a little bit?” I think that’s really beautiful and a pretty relatable thing.
How did it feel for them to be so warmly embraced by fans after Season 1’s finale?
THIELE: It was so amazing. I think very rarely is there a black queer man in a show who gets to have an emotional arc and find a love interest. So just that for me is emotional. And Ben and Rebecca did such a wonderful job with that, and threaded the needle so carefully. I’m really happy and thankful for that.
We have to talk about the rom-com worthy finale kiss. Did you two feel the weight of the moment when you were filming with the balloons, and can you share what Anton said to Paul Baker, or is it a secret?
THIELE: Oh, that has to be a secret. But the weight of that moment —
RAO: The weight of the moment!
INNANEN: The balloons, we had only so many times with the balloons. Because it was a whole rig. We had only two takes. And the first one we didn’t even kiss. We were debating.
THIELE: I pushed for the kiss, ultimately. I did push for the kiss. And Jack’s a great kisser. Not just because he’s a great kisser, but I really felt in that moment that you needed to see some physical connection between Anton and Paul Baker.
INNANEN: They were just going to hide it behind the balloons. There was a lot of debate live. We were kissing, and people were yelling at other people to do stuff.
RAO: And it was like 4 a.m. It was our last day of shooting. That was the last shot of the whole thing. Someone started popping the balloons, and they were like, “STOP IT!” [Laughs]
ELASSAL: No one’s ever been that intense about balloons.
THIELE: Yeah. It was a really, really high-stakes moment. I forgot to breathe at one point. I was mid-kiss. I was gonna faint.
In a last-second twist, we learn that Billie and Samir are hooking up, which is something fans have been rooting for since Day 1. Did you know they were heading in this direction? And considering that Samir is fresh off of a breakup and Billy spent the season dating around, what do we think the future holds for them?
FREYER: Well, I don’t think they’re setting it up to be another Anton-Paul Baker dynamic. I think if anything, it’ll be like a “Oops, what do we do?” Like, “We probably shouldn’t have done that.”
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ELASSAL: Yeah, it’s definitely an “Oops, what do we do? We’re so close. We live in the same house. We probably shouldn’t have done that.”
FREYER: It’s like Samir fist bumps Billie right after. And I’m like, “OK, well…”
ELASSAL: Yeah. “Cool, cool, cool. Well, I’ll be seeing you!” Yeah, I’m worried for them.
FREYER: But they did pitch it to us when they did the full season pitch out at the beginning. They told us it was going to happen. And we were never really sure whether it would be there.
ELASSAL: We thought it might, and then they weren’t telling us, I think, because they didn’t want us to breadcrumb it at all.
THIELE: You know what’s so crazy is Jack and I weren’t there. So when I watched it, I was like, “WHAT?!” I literally forgot that you guys looked up. How was it? Was it good? [Laughs]
Fans have looked at Billie and Samir and said, “Close enough, welcome back Nick and Jess.” So I’m sure they’ll still be rooting for them even if they play it off.
FREYER: Well, we don’t know what’s gonna happen. The deed has been done. It’s in the air. Who knows whether [the roommates] will find out about it and how we proceed with it. But it’s happened, so…
ELASSAL: Yeah, now we’ve got to figure it out, being like lifelong friends. It’s kind of like we’ve gotta get married, otherwise it’s gonna be weird. [Laughs]
In the finale, Issa also meets a fellow weird little guy, Margot. Fans really wanted Issa to get a girlfriend, so after the breakup with Paul Baker, what do you hope this new connection leads to for her?
RAO: She’s the star of her show, and I feel like she finds it really easy to do that with men. So I think maybe in queer relationships she’ll think of her partner more — or maybe she’ll be the star in those relationships as well, and they’ll cater to her. [Laughs] But I just think it’ll be new ground for her, and now she won’t just be a bi girl who says she’s bi; she might actually use that title, which is exciting.
Assuming we get a Season 3, what’s something you’d each like to see for your characters?
RAO: I want to see Issa get canceled on a national scale. I just think it’d be really funny to see Issa get canceled for actually doing the right thing for the first time, like something selfless where the intention and the execution are actually good, but it’s received horribly.
THIELE: I want one of us to suddenly get famous overnight. Just hear me out: One of us gets so famous in the show. We get four million followers. And then what do you do? It should be Issa. Actually, maybe it should be Samir. He makes a random video, gets famous, and goes viral, and Issa is pissed. I also think there are a lot of love things that need to be figured out in this.
FREYER: Yeah, I am curious to see how [Billie and Samir] plays out. How [Paul Baker and Anton] plays out.
THIELE: Will Paul Baker and Anton date? Who knows?
Or they might encounter some hiccups! Hiccups, hiccups, hiccups!
INNANEN: Body goes crazy!
Want more behind-the-scenes insight on Adults Season 2? Be sure to catch up on Part 1 (dream guest stars and more Season 2 questions) and Part 2 (“Racoon” foursome) of Decider’s interview with Lucy Freyer, Malik Elassal, Amita Rao, Owen Thiele, and Jack Inannen.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Adults Season 2 is now streaming on Hulu.