As part of our year-end coverage, revisit that conversation below.
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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you decide that now was the right time to address police brutality?
Credit: ABC; Getty Images
KENYA BARRIS: This is not a politicized episode.
Its about police brutality thats been happening not just now its actually about a conversation with your kids.
I think its an important conversation to have with your kids.
Ultimately, we tried to confirm we didnt [politicize the show].
Theres no politicizing the idea that police brutality is wrong.
Thats like saying murder is wrong.
Theres no real side to land on that.
No ones pro-police brutality.
Did you look to conversations youve had with your own family when writing this?
It literally kicked off from my son during the Ferguson indictment period.
And it really kicked off a conversation between me and my wife and how to actually answer that question.
How did you answer?
The entire episode takes place in that small area of the living room and the kitchen.
Howd you decide to not take them outside, to not see them at the protest?
I felt like that was going beyond what the scope of the episode was.
How did the actors respond to the material?
It was very positive.
They understood there was some importance to it.
They understood that they had to sort of be on their game because of the way it was shot.
They really stepped up.
I was really, really happy with it.
Its a relatively dramatic episode, but it also, of course, has some really funny parts.
How did you find a balance between serious and silly?
Were you worried about one overpowering the other?
The reason Im sort of nervous is because there arent so many jokes to hide behind.
Do you have a favorite moment?
I think when hes talking about Obama.
It gave me chills when I was editing and watching it back.
Did you, from the beginning, want to show images from the past?
I wanted to show that this is the world that weve been living in for awhile.
Did your own childhood factor into this episode?
For me, one of the big things I really worried about a lot was nuclear war growing up.
There was this movie calledThe Day After, and I was totally terrified of nuclear war.
I used to talk to my mom about it constantly, constantly, constantly.
Something like nuclear war that I had no control over, I remember that haunting me for years.
When did it stop haunting you?
The episode is titled Hope.
What does that mean to you?
Thats sort of what we wake up for every day.
What are you most proud of about this episode?
Just that the connection allowed us to do it and that we got it through.
Is that what you hope happens?
What do you hope the audience takes away?
The best scenario would be that it motivates some change.
