Warning: This article contains spoilers for the season 1 finale.
Returning to NBC on October 3, Found Season 2 picks up after Lord escapes from Gabby’s basement to torture her in the worst way possible. In Gabi’s finale, Gabi made it clear that her abductor-turned-turned-abductor would remain a permanent fixture in her life unless she ended things for good. However, the realization came too late, as Master poisoned Lacey’s dog before taking Lacey himself.
Star Shanola Hampton Shares that Gabi will be in mental agony after her sister’s abduction and believes that she is guilty. In addition to keeping Master captive, Gabi kept her crime a secret from Lacey and the entire Mosely & Associates team, leading them to think the kidnapper was still at large. Hampton reveals that despite this confession, her friends are willing to work together and pursue their shared goal.
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Screen Rant Interviewed Hampton about Gabi’s impasto syndrome, her determination to save Lacey and what fans can expect in the future Found Season 2.
Found Season 2 will see Gabi question her ability to solve cases without Lord
“It was nine months of going to Lord with the case, and he was able to look right at the thing and make it happen, so of course that impasto syndrome is there.”
Screen Rant: Did you know how season 1 was going to end in advance?
Shanola Hampton: I don’t get the scripts long in advance, and as a general rule, I don’t even read the next script until I’m done with the others because it’s too much. But NK does a really good job of giving us an outline of the season and where it will go. So I knew he was going to get out of jail, and I was floored. I said, “Oh, we’re doing this in season 1? Don’t we want to keep him a little longer?” But she and her genius is like, “No! He’s going to escape at the end of the season.” So I knew.
What did it mean that she should be able to save Dasheka without Herr, only to find out that he was the one who sent the tip?
Shanola Hampton: It’s crazy because Gabi Mosely is very capable of solving these cases without Lord. Lord’s thought is, “What does a sociopath think in 48 hours?” These are the most important. Ask a psycho about a psycho to get them quickly. But then she would question it, as anyone would, because they work together for so long to solve the cases.
“Can I do this? Am I able?” Then to say, “I’m capable,” and then to realize, “Oh, he was there looming again,” that messes with you too and that complex that we all have where it’s like, “I’m as good as I am seem” to be to other people?” The entire first half of the season Gabi goes through so much mental agony.
Would you say she’s struggling with a little imposter syndrome in season 2?
Shanola Hampton: Of course. I think that anyone would, especially now that the safety net of Lord has been removed. Know that she is smart and savvy and all these things, but the questions have to be there. How could they not be loading? It has been nine months of going to Lord with this case, and he was able to look at the thing properly and make it happen, so of course that impost syndrome is there.
Now that everyone knows about Sir, how will this affect the team dynamic and their perception of you?
Shanola Hampton: It does what you would imagine if you go tell your group of friends, “Hey, by the way, you thought I was super, super, super great – I had a man in the basement that I Kidnapped, and I fed him really bad food.” So what that effect would have on your friends, that’s kind of what Gabby Moseley is going through. I think it’s also a relief, in a sense, to not have to keep the secret. This is the good part for Gabi because she wants to repent and pay for what she did.
Everything that everyone feels towards her, she feels that it is justified, and she wants to take the punch. You can’t hurt Gabi or make her feel worse about herself than she already does mentally about the decision she made. But we have people we have to find, so they all come together for the common good. And that’s the through line of the first few episodes is, “I’m mad at you, but our goal is still our goal. And that’s to find those in underserved communities.”
Gabi will be in the “darkest place she’s ever been” after Lacey’s abduction
“She feels very responsible, she is, in many ways.”
What will it take on Gabi, with Lacey not only taken, but knowing that she is going through it alone this time?
Shanola Hampton: It’s mentally, physically such a mine screw for Gabby Moseley. She’s probably in the darkest place she’s ever been and would trade her life for Lacey in a minute to not have her in that position. She feels completely responsible. She is, in many ways. Gabi had a hard time for a good bit, dealing with the pain of Lacey being gone.
Gabi thinks, “Hey, if I had ended this, Lacey wouldn’t be in danger right now”?
Shanola Hampton: Of course, of course. Indeed, you even see as the audience who we are and where our moral lines are. A lot of people are like, “Why didn’t you just shoot him? You could have just killed him, and then you would have avoided all of this.” And that runs through her mind. But then also, “I’m not a murderer.”
But then she wasn’t a kidnapper either. And even now I really want to kill him. Now you have Lacey. So all the thoughts, all the scenarios were expressed in her head as it would be with any person who got himself into the cycle of bad that they can’t seem to get out of, and the person just won’t go away.
Do you think Gabi can really kill Harry if it comes to that?
Shanola Hampton: I don’t think so. I really don’t think so for many reasons. I think that any time that someone has had that influence, whether good or bad in your life, or if you’re not in a rage of rage, real rage where it blinds you – that’s the only scenario that I can see where she can Really pull the trigger. Could this happen now that he took Lacey, that rage she feels?
Yes, because most people will do stuff for other people before themselves. I won’t do it for me, but now that you’ve done something with my sister, you’ve now got a whole other side of me. It is the fear. It’s that, “I won’t let you do this to anyone else”. I go back and forth. Now I say it depends on your mood.
Trent will struggle with his feelings for Gabi in Found Season 2
“Gabby did something that was morally corrupt. She did. And Trent, out of everyone on the show really toes that line.”
As Gabi said, Trent is already compromised. They almost have a moment in the finale, but what does it mean now that he knows about Lord?
Shanola Hampton: I think it’s interesting with Gabi and Trent because, at the end of the day, Gabi did something that was morally corrupt. She did. And Trent, of everyone on the show really toes that line. He’s a walk the line kind of guy. It really puts him in an unfair position because his heart wants what the heart wants, but the logic behind it is it doesn’t make sense. So they’re definitely going to battle, and I think he’s going to fight with his feelings for Gabi.
At the end of the day, I think it would be so unfair for Gabi’s baggage to bring that into a relationship with Trent. It’s almost one of those, “I guess I’ll see you next life,” kind of things because so many things have happened, and she really just needs to heal. And that’s what I love about our show is that we don’t always have to go to a relationship to find some kind of peace. Heal first, bring your healed self to a relationship. So I think that the story of what she did will be a lot. She knows it would be unfair to bring it to Trent.
We really saw Gabi break down in a way we hadn’t before, and that was before Lacey went missing. Will we continue to see the more vulnerable side of her in season 2?
Shanola Hampton: Yes. And I say this sadly. At the end of the day, Gabi Moseley, with all her fine clothes and her contour and her heels, is still such a child who is broken and who had this terrible thing happen to her. So she is at her weakest now that Lacey is missing. She is exposed, she is fighting. There is so much fragility and brokenness that you will get to go through with it. Some people will cry, just so you feel sorry for [them]So you’re not crazy anymore. It is not that. There is no other outlet but to break for you.
What season 2 episode are you most excited for fans to see?
Shanola Hampton: Episode 12, written by Sonay Hoffman, who is our co-showrunner. That episode, to me, was just dynamic. I’m so excited for the audience to experience it, and it was my favorite episode to shoot. It was so fulfilling, and I think the audience will be so fulfilled. So I’m excited. There are so many great ones in there, but if you’re asking me to pick one, it’s 2×12.
About NBC’s drama series Found
Created by Nkechi Okoro Carroll
In any given year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the US. Public relations specialist, Gabi Mosely (series star and producer Shanola Hampton), who was once herself one of the forgotten ones, and her crisis management team make sure that there is always someone looking out for the missing.
Gabi, however, has a chilling secret: in the midst of grief, she imprisons her childhood kidnapper, Lord (Mark-Paul Gosselaar). Now Lord has escaped and is on the loose, and her biggest secret is now her biggest threat.
Check out our other interviews with these Found cast:
Found Season 2 premieres October 3rd on NBC at 10pm ET/PT.