Kurt Sutter Talks What Would've Happened Next on 'The Bastard Executioner'

Kurt Sutter has already explained his decision to not move forward with another season of The Bastard Executioner, which FX seconded, in interviews with The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline. But for those viewers who did stick with the drama through its 10 episodes, we talked with Sutter about the satisfying series finale and what would’ve happened next.

Related: ‘The Bastard Executioner’ Season Finale Recap: The 5 Most Satisfying Moments

We said it in our recap: the season finale could almost be described as uplifting. Was that how you always intended to end Season 1, or did you realize you wouldn’t have a second season and tweak some things?
I think what ended up happening was different than I had originally thought, not necessarily because I knew what our fate was, but as it tends to happen in the process, I have those goals and those mile markers but try to let the story unfold in an organic way. That’s always inspired by a lot of things. It’s inspired by the interpretation by the actors in their performance, by direction, all those things. What ended up happening is some of the story moved forward quicker than I thought it would, in terms of the reveal of Annora and Wilk’s connection. I didn’t necessarily see that happening maybe until the end of Season 2. But the way it unfolded with Luca being taken, and Annora having the answer to that, it felt like there would have to be some major revelation for Wilk to buy off on the information that she was giving him. It would have been hard for her to be too vague about what the dynamic was and yet have him still believe in her or stay connected to her. So that happened organically.

I think my finales tend to resolve a lot of things and then ideally set up a lot of things. I think that was traditionally what I was able to do in terms of rescuing Luca and bringing the connection between Love and Wilkin. I always envisioned that love to be consummated in the first season. In fact, I kinda thought it might happen earlier, but it didn’t seem like the timing was right. I never had really envisioned that as being the finale out, but it all sort to fell into place that way, and I’m sort of happy that ended up being the final moment. I guess because there tends to be a significant amount of resolution and things moving forward it probably a little more satisfying, or at least questions got answered. I guess I never really perceive anything I write as being “uplifting” [Laughs] but I’ll take it.

Milus and Love were my favorite relationship in the show. I loved the scene in this episode where they admitted they were fond of one another. I loved him hitting on Isabel at the end. I loved that he seemed more at ease now that he’s seen his men fight for loyalty and not for money. How did you view Milus’s journey?
I love the idea of taking characters that maybe are traditionally more in the category of antagonist and then turning it around, and shifting alliances, and having them sort of weave back and forth. I always have seen Milus coming around and actually becoming an ally of Wilkin’s as we move forward in mythology. Even if it was a manipulated alliance, they would ultimately need each other and have to trust each other. That was always my intention.

And here’s an example of an actor’s interpretation: I always had envisioned Love and Milus as having deep respect for each other. They were the devil and angel in Ventris’s ear when he was alive. There was always this chess game that happened between the two of them, and he enjoyed that competition. But Stephen [Moyer] really took it a step further, and he was playing it from the point of view that Milus was in love with her, and I loved that idea. I don’t write to that, so you get those nice, nuanced moments where, for a guy like Milus, who is so guarded and protected, it leaks out. We see it leaking out in that one scene where he says as much as he can say and doesn’t feel quite comfortable being as intimate as grabbing her hand. Then we see him slip back into his Machiavellian mode and, for me, it was like, “Well, if I can’t have her, I’ll get to the person that’s closest to her,” with Isabel. At the end, he sort of slips back into perhaps what he’s more comfortable being, even after having that… I love that moment he had with Frenchie at the end there, where he gives him his cloak, and Stephen had that nice nuance there where he sort of touches his face. [Laughs] And then poor Frenchie has gone through a rough ride. He’s just this simpleton who goes from being adored to having the s–t beat out of him because he’s there. To me, it was a really interesting dynamic as well, not unlike some of the dynamics that Gemma had in Sons [of Anarchy] with characters other than Clay — with Jimmy Smits’ character, with Unser. There was sort of these love affairs that were happening outside the main circle that never really were spoken of.

What would have happened next with Love and Wilkin’s relationship?
I think we would have moved it forward. My plan for the end of this with a second season was to come back a little later with some time, and we actually do see her pregnant with Wilk’s baby. Then trying to figure out the mechanics and the science of that in terms of, “Do we say that it’s Ventris’s baby and it just took forever to ferment?” [Laughs] We’d see that their greater mission, in terms of perpetuating the mythology of what Annora was talking about, would ultimately start tugging on them. So they would have this pull toward their greater destiny, yet Love would have all these demands of being a baroness and the dynamic that was happening with the rebels. What does that look like? It’s one thing if you’re a nomad and knew that was your destiny from birth, like Annora did, but what does that look like for someone like Love, who is of noble background and has a lot of responsibility?

As someone who’s not well versed in religion, I was often wondering if I was interpreting things correctly in terms of what’s based on “fact” and what’s coming from your head. What do you want to make sure people understand about that side of the story?
As someone who was raised with a rather strict Catholic upbringing and 12 years of Catholic school, and as someone now who doesn’t practice Catholicism but who lives a somewhat spiritually-based life, I made it [about] the sad irony that the teachings of Jesus, which are the core of Christianity, are all about peace, and civility, and humanity, and yet ultimately millions and millions of lives were lost in the name of that. Not to ring a contemporary bell, but look what just f–king happened in Paris. All that. It’s all done in the name of God, and it has never changed. There wasn’t a time where it was more prevalent than the Middle Ages, especially pre-Renaissance.

That was something I wanted to communicate. Not to get heady, and not that I would have started lecturing through character on this, but there’s a great book called Zealot, which is sort of the true story of Jesus, and ultimately [about] how he’s just a man, and basically a rebel, and how after he died, his disciples and his brothers tried to maintain those simple teachings, and that ultimately it was bought out from underneath him by Paul — not the original disciple Paul, but another Paul — who basically packaged and sold to the Romans, and Roman Catholicism was invented. It was sort of corrupted and manipulated from Day 1. I like the idea for me, that perhaps, in my fantasy, there was still that core group of disciples that felt the need to try to correct that and to right that wrong. That’s what the greater mythology was all about with Annora and with Wilkin. Obviously the timing of it is rather sad and pertinent, but the idea of the irony of how little human life was regarded and how many people were slaughtered in the name of their God — I think that we managed to get that out a little bit, albeit somewhat preachy, with Annora.

One burning question: Was the reveal of Ash being a serial killer related to the mythology, or him just being a standard psychopath?
It was tied to the mythology in that ultimately Ash would perhaps be manipulated and used to the Rosula’s end.

Related: Fox Theme Park: Our 'Sons of Anarchy’ Wish List

And last question: What do you know about that 20th Century Fox World theme park and resort being built in Dubai? What are you hoping they have that’s Sons-related?
I’ve seen mock-ups of the park and the [SOA] ride, and it’s pretty awesome. I honestly don’t know what stage it’s at, but it’s sort of like if you go to the Cars Land [at the Disney California Adventure Park], where you go in and there’s a theme restaurant and a theme store — basically lots of venues to spend your money. But from what I saw, I thought it was handled really well, and I think it would be a fun experience for fans. My joke is that 10 years from now when I’m out of work, I’m just going to go hang out at the theme park and hope people recognize me. [Laughs] Just sit in the corner with a f–king eye patch.