We sit down with the incredible Steve Shell, co-creator of Old Gods of Appalachia, to chat through Season 1 of The Silt Verses and answer some questions.
| ATTENTION: SPOILERS AHEAD! Beyond this point, major plot spoilers are expected. Continue at your own risk. |
What was the inspiration for The Silt Verses?[]
Jon states that True Detective Season One inspired elements of The Silt Verses. Specifically, the lack of a supernatural ending and the pretension of suggesting that horror is a lesser form of literature.
Muna says that her favourite part of the world building of The Silt Verses are the corporate elements.
How did Carpenter and Faulkner develop as characters?[]
Jon admits that Faulkner and Carpenter were designed to be an ill-fitting pair, and that with B and Méabh's acting some things were adjusted and others stayed the same. B. is likeable, so they pulled Faulkner back from being an out and out villain.
Méabh adds that playing off B. allows her to bring out the depth of Carpenter's character.
Themes around religion?[]
Muna likes that the show talks very honestly about religion, admitting that she is religious in her own way.
Jon adds that he delves into his own relationship with religion, faith and faithlessness in the show. He goes on to describe that when he was 13 he was at a sleepover and one of the other kids decided he was the Messiah, and everyone went along with it. He says that there is a sense of relief that comes with the order of religion, and that there is a sense of mourning when that is lost.
How did you prepare for your roles?[]
Méabh loves how complex Carpenter is as a character, and that she didn't have to do much preparation because she was already so well fleshed out on the page. She plays Carpenter as "incredibly wary and absolutely done with everyone" on the outside, but internally vulnerable. She also makes sure to bring her tone down to reflect Carpenter's weary nature.
B. explains that they received character breakdowns including their histories, fears, likes and dislikes, and relationships. They say it was helpful because they only received the first two episodes' scripts in full and synopses of the first six episodes. A part of the character breakdown said that Faulkner is "a bit like Walter White in Breaking Bad", in the sense that there's a gap between how he thinks he appears and how he actually comes across. B. admits that they watched scenes from Breaking Bad to study Bryan Cranston's delivery as Walter White to develop Faulkner's non-monologue delivery in the show. B. also found ways to justify Faulkner's actions, because Faulkner always feels that in some way his actions were justifiable - at the very least through divine ordinance.
What god would you choose / invent?[]
Jon says he would invent an inert god of argon gas to worship it, because the whole point of the god would be that people pray to it so that it continues to do nothing.
B. says they would seek out one of the stray gods because they are attracted to the concept of them. Particularly, a god of empty places - places people should be in but aren't. They say they were tempted to pick the Cairn Maiden as their answer, but they're more drawn to the stillness rather than the decay.
Méabh says that public transportation in Ireland is very poor, and that she would be willing to worship a god that could get her from place to place.
Muna would choose a god of grief, because grief is such an individual emotion. That praying to them wouldn't take away your grief but rather "dissipate you". It is based on one of her favourite Somali folklore stories.
How is an episode created?[]
Jon writes the episodes, but Jon and Muna work together on logistics.
What is hardest about working on the show?[]
Muna and Jon agree that the hardest part of working on the show is how large of an undertaking it is.
Was the show influenced by Greek myth?[]
Jon mentions the story of Arachne, and how it highlights the cruelty and pettiness of the deities. He also mentions Apollo and Daphne to highlight the weird sense of mercy that the deities have, which lead to the idea that the gift a god might bestow upon us is something so unimaginable that it is monstrous.
Steve points out the similarities between the story of Medusa and the way Saints function in The Silt Verses.
Jon goes on to say that he thinks of Euripides' Bacchae as the originator of folk horror.
What was the process for audio design?[]
Sammy says they read the script and then listen to the episode. They enjoyed making the sounds for the Snare Dogs and the dump.
Did Eskew prepare you for The Silt Verses?[]
Muna says that I Am In Eskew did not prepare them for The Silt Verses.
Jon says that it helped his anxiety, because Eskew had double digit downloads for the first few months. He also said it helped with setting boundaries between the audience and him as the creator.
Did Carpenter have an emo phase?[]
Méabh, albeit admitting she doesn't dictate the canon of the show, loves the idea of Carpenter being a "Baby Goth". She thinks she would go for the lowest effort version possible.
Jon agrees and says she probably bought Doc Martens with hard toes to kick people with when they annoyed her, as a fashion statement of course.
The show has lots of horrible noises - is the audio editor okay?[]
Sammy is, yes.
What was the significance of the character names?[]
Jon explains that a faulkner is someone who handles falcons. They wanted the show to have a medieval journey narrative to it. Names with associations to the real world, whilst not necessarily being tied to a particular culture (other than that they are medieval English names) was the goal.
Who’s your favourite character to write?[]
For Jon, it's Carpenter. For Muna, it's Hayward.
What’s been the most surprising / best fan reaction?[]
Muna loved the reaction to Carpenter's characterisation in Chapter 4. Fanart starting amping up around then.
B. was most surprised that the audience decided that Carpenter, Faulkner and Paige were a little dysfunctional found family. That was the joke that B., Méabh and Lucille made whilst recording.
Jon was surprised by the reaction to Sid Wright. He thought people wouldn't pay that much attention to him, but the audience liked him a lot. Jon was somewhat surprised about the reaction to Faulkner's name being "Richard". But he also knew that people would dislike it, and they did.
Was C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces an influence?[]
Yes.
Is the show a road-trip buddy comedy?[]
Jon says that people lean into certain elements of a show. He has to remember that although the audience may find happiness in some elements it's important to retain the core of the show.
Why did you choose an ensemble cast?[]
Muna says that they wanted to do something different. People were interested and it kind of expanded from there.
How did the religious wars begin?[]
Jon has no idea how the religious wars began. He loves the idea that it was about the territory that people fought in. Instead of fighting each other, both sides are praying to a god to desperately defeat the other side. The propaganda gods are an allegory for viral worship that could be weaponised.
What DnD classes would the characters be?[]
Carpenter is a paladin, and Faulkner is a cleric.
What’s your favourite kind of scene to act out?[]
Méabh loves acting out the side of Carpenter who is rude and abrupt. Her two favourite episodes to act in season 1 were Chapter 4 and Chapter 15.
B. loves the arguments between Faulkner and Carpenter. They also liked getting to drown Stanton.
Méabh, what's your favourite and least favourite parts about playing Carpenter?[]
Carpenter gets to be this unlikeable, grizzled anti-hero that so often is seen as a strictly "male" role in media. Méabh sometimes struggles with pronouncing some of the vocab Jon uses in her dialogue.
Why did you choose the mix of dialogue and prose?[]
Jon admits that it was mostly a lack of confidence. He initially struggled with exposition, but as the show moves on it moves away from the narration heavy focus of the first few episodes.
How do you lose an entire town to the Wither Mark?[]
Junji Ito's Gyo was a huge inspiration of the show. Jon likes the idea that cosmic horror doesn't have to be cephalopods. Primarily, the world of The Silt Verses is very fragmented. It has only recently been joined into one unified country, and most of it still doesn't function like one. It's a country where no one is really able to communicate with each other. Bellwethers isn't an out of the ordinary event in this world. The Wither Mark was one of the first things they came up with conceptually.
Which mouths of the Trawler-man do Carpenter and Faulkner represent?[]
At the end of Season 1, Muna thinks Carpenter devours and Faulkner returns.
Jon doesn't see it that way, he sees it as religion vs, faith. Carpenter's relationship with the Trawler-man is personal, other people threaten that relationship. Faulkner's claims to be personal, but is the relationship of a Messiah which is inherently public.
How do you feel about usage of the setting?[]
Muna and Jon agree that they love seeing people create stuff based on The Silt Verses, as long as it's not for profit.
Why all the different accents?[]
Muna says they cast people in roles they think they'll excel in.
Jon admits that he is annoyed by the Anglo-centric fantasy casting of aristocratic characters having RP accents and regional accents being associated with lower class characters. He thinks its nonsense. They wanted it to feel disruptive and strange, and didn't want to limit who could audition for roles.
What colour are Faulkner’s shoes?[]
Jon says Faulkner's shoes are brown because "they are caked in river shit."