The ending of Netflix’s buzzy vampire drama series First Kill still has fans shook, including series star Dominic Goodman.

The final episode of the season sees Calliope (Imani Lewis) and Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook) at odds. A sequence of events that started with Goodman’s Apollo being tricked by Juliette’s sister Elinor (Gracie Dzienny) and ends up with Apollo and Cal’s oldest brother, Theo (Phillip Mullings Jr.), now a vampire. In a way, Apollo’s naivety played a hand in all of this, and managing the character’s emotions was something that was important to the actor for his portrayal.

“Apollo has quite the story arc, and the main thing that I think I wanted to bring to this character is that obviously, growing up, you’re taught as young men to try to hold your emotion in and be kind of this strong character,” Goodman explained in a recent interview with Shadow and Act. “Mind you, I got every episode one at a time, so I had no idea where the character was going. I was truly and honestly growing as Dominic [just] as I was growing as Apollo at the same time. As Felicia [D. Henderson, showrunner] was giving me the scripts every episode, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, this is another opportunity for me to grow as a person, because now, I have to get in touch with certain emotions that I didn’t think I was going to have to.’ I also found it as a great opportunity to make sure that I released all those emotions for other kids that are going to be watching, or other young men that can see a strong character–this strong monster hunter–still be able to break down and still be able to release emotions like you see him do in the season finale. I can relate to that standpoint, because as a kid, you’re told to stop crying, and I stopped crying. I got to a certain point where things that were emotional affected me, yet I stopped crying. And so I was like, ‘OK, I can’t keep that in Apollo. I think I need to break some of that and release everything here.”

One of the most shocking moments toward the end of the season is Apollo agreeing with their father that Theo is not their family member anymore.

“Honestly, I fought hard on even saying those lines, because I as Dominic did not agree with Apollo,” Goodman admitted. “I went to the writers and I was like, ‘Hey, shed some light on why I’m saying this right now…like that is my brother no matter what.’ And it shows even through [the first] episodes when we’re fighting, we’re still brothers at the end of the day and you still see it’s fine. So I asked those questions. I was like, ‘Why is he saying this?’ And they were like, ‘A step in grief is denial,’ and she [Felicia] was like, ‘You’re in denial for your own character as your character.’ I was like, ‘Wow.’ Then it clicked for me. I was like, ‘Yo, I am literally in denial for Apollo…that he has to literally come to terms with his actions that have led to his brother being turned into a vampire, and that he just fought his brother.'”

The season ends with their mother dropping Theo off at his new home with people like him, but what is next for Apollo in all of this? Will things have really changed?

Goodman continued, “Given where it left off, you see Apollo leave thinking that his brother is dying and who knows what that does [to him] thinking that it’s on his hands? I think that there are two ways. You could see Apollo probably depressed, or you can see him maybe use it as fuel…like maybe sparking a rage. And especially now you see at the end, there are all these monsters in Savannah about to start causing some terror [and] you’re going to need a hunter. I don’t know what direction they’re going to choose for Apollo and how he chooses to handle it, but I do think that there are some opportunities, especially since you see Cal and Juliette kind of get away from each other at that end. That might be an opportunity for Cal and Apollo to kind of get closer, and you kind of see that towards the end of episodes seven and eight…they had to confide in each other and deal with these things together. So I think that might be more exploration, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

Watch the full interview below:

First Kill is streaming on Netflix now.

Dominic Goodman

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