Season two of the Canadian medical drama SkyMed recently premiered on Paramount Plus. The series takes place in remote Northern Canada and follows a group of nurses and pilots who work for medical rescue. This season, Bodie (Aason Nadjiwon) struggles with balancing work while raising a child, while Lexi (Mercedes Morris)’s dream promotion doesn’t go as planned.

Morris and Nadjiwon recently spoke with SciFi Vision about season two, including how their characters are dealing with their challenges this season, their relationships, playing real pilots, filming with CGI snakes on a plane, and more.

Watch the interview or read the transcript below and be sure to check out SkyMed season two, now available to stream on Paramount Plus.

***The following interview contains spoilers for the season***



SCIFI VISION:   To start out, Mercedes, can you talk about Lexi, and Stef, just kind of her meeting her and their relationship and working with [Sydney Kuhne]. 

MERCEDES MORRIS:   I mean, the trailer gives us a little bit of a tease, and that's a connection that's building between the two of them. Lexi's very work based and work focused. So, it's interesting to see a new coworker kind of come in and throw her off her focus just a little bit, but also maybe refocus her and reinspire [her]. It's that fine balance between a distraction and a help. You know what I mean? But definitely, it was a pleasure working with Sydney and getting to show a different side of Lexi, a more a more romantic side, I guess. I think that the viewers are going to appreciate it; they're going to enjoy that. Yeah, it was good. 

SCIFI VISION:   Ace, talk about Madison (Emilia McCarthy) and sort of where that's headed this season. 

AASON NADJIWON:   So, yeah, so last season, they kind of ended off on not the best terms, but this season, we're taking a really good turn. Bodie is just trying to be a good partner, because before anything else, you have to have a good friendship and be a good partner to this child who's brought into the world and not bring your personal drama into that. So, I think they've done a good job with keeping those things separate, just being there for the child and for each other as partners. I'm hoping that it will maybe develop into something maybe going into season three; we don't know. But working with Emelia is always a pleasure. She's amazingly fun to work with and play with. The way we go at these scenes is always super fun, even if it's super serious at first. I always get “more” then “reel it back, reel it back, reel it back,” which is a lot of fun. So, yeah. 

SCIFI VISION:   Do you think that he's taking on a bit too much responsibility because of it, though, this season, that it is affecting his work maybe a bit? 

AASON NADJIWON:   I think in season one, Bodie's answer to that would be, “Yes, this is affecting my life. I could barely bother.” But going into season two, I don't think, no. This isn't a load that he can’t handle, because piloting isn't his number one anymore. His number one is his son and making sure his son has everything he needs. So, the only reason Bodie is working harder and trying to find other means to make more money for his family is because he wants to be the best father that he can be. It's not about being the best pilot anymore. He knows he can fly. Right now it's about being the best father that he can and the best partner that he can and kind of redeeming himself from those actions in season one. 

SCIFI VISION:   Which is how really should be, so that's a good thing. Mercedes…the whole thing that happens with the guy coming into the plane, can you sort of talk to how that affects her and her confidence and maybe about her how she's not sure if this is for her, and if she wants to move on to something different? 

MERCEDES MORRIS:   That was it was a scary scene naturally, but it was one of my favorite to shoot for the series, because in those moments…all women at least, have experienced a situation like that, where something has made them uncomfortable, where they don't feel safe, but it's also so nuanced that it's a challenge to sometimes articulate that, and it can be challenging to articulate that to a man. You can be as clear as you can be, but if he's never experienced that, sometimes you almost feel like people are gaslighting you and invalidating your experience. So, I thought it was important for Lexi to try to try to articulate it. Like, even though sometimes we might fail, you have to still be okay with yourself. You have to know that you did your best; you tried. We kind of see that it ends up being a big learning opportunity for not just Lexi, but for the entire airline. So, I think it's also a testament to that when you speak up, that's the only way change can actually happen, because people aren't mind readers. And it might not happen right away, but it's better to start than to never start at all, you know, to try than to never start at all. So, I'm really happy that she spoke up for herself, advocated, and we'll see. The audience will see the results that come out of that, taking that

AASON NADJIWON:   I was happy that she spoke up. 

MERCEDES MORRIS:   You know, I’ll take that agency. That's the word I'd like to have. You have to have agency in your life. You can't sit around and sit back and expect people to just make changes and make things happen. You’ve got to step it up yourself too. So, [I’m] proud of Lexi. It took a while, but I'm proud of her. 

SCIFI VISION:   Ace, talk a bit about it…Kingsley (Kevin Hanchard) and sort of how him coming into the picture affects [Bodie] this season. 

AASON NADJIWON:   I think at first it makes - because he's in such a strong spot, where he's like, “Okay, I'm a father,” check. You know, “I'm a pilot,” check. “I'm working as hard as I can to take care of this kid,” and then make sure all these things are check, check, check. So, he's super on this journey straight like, “boom, I'm gonna go do this.” He’s got these goals, and then, out of left field, he gets this call, meets Kingsley, and I think what happens is, he gets extremely vulnerable. We see Bodie get extremely vulnerable for the first time. And yes, he's had vulnerable moments before, but this is something that he can't control. I think Bodie meeting Kingsley first puts him on his toes. You see, I think, any anger of a child finally meeting his biological father, and I'm wondering, like, you know, “Where have you been?” but it also gives him a chance to learn. Even when he doesn't want to admit it, he's watching Kingsley do these things, these father figure things, and he can’t help but soak that up. So, in season one, he was a lot more strong-headed, but I think because of being a father, he's a softer human being. So, even though he's trying to be like this tough father figure like, “No, you weren't there,” he's also learning. He's also soaking this stuff up, and he can't help but want that father figure in his life, even if it's not how he wanted it, if that makes sense. 

MERCEDES MORRIS:   It's like this energy of nurturing. You want to be nurtured, and you want to nurture. I see that. I've really, I've really enjoyed that. 

AASON NADJIWON:   So, yeah, it was cool to see him get so vulnerable like that, because I just hadn't see[n that]. Like, I'm like looking at this guy, and I'm like, “Okay, he’s super cocky, and then he's accomplishing all these goals. Not so cocky anymore.” But yeah, I like that. They threw that at him, and the audience thinks it's going to be his mom, based off of season one. So, I feel like that's such a good twist. And, you know, Kevin's great. 

SCIFI VISION:   I was going to say, Mercedes, I think your character is a lot more more vulnerable, obviously, with what happens, and and just with Stef, which is nice to see. 

MERCEDES MORRIS:   …I mean, season one, her bestie, Nowak, like that was her backbone; that was her her support system. So, I see that Stef was really a shoulder for me to lean on, someone for me to speak to. It's like, I'm so used to being everyone's support system. It was nice to be able to find that solace in someone else for a change. 

SCIFI VISION:   Now, snakes on a plane. I'm guessing they're not real snakes, but talk about sort of just filming that. 

MERCEDES MORRIS:   That was so much fun for me. I think when you step into these roles, and Ace will agree, you want to really come across as a real medivac. Like, I want to look strong enough to lift a man, pull this part. But when it comes to the special effects, how do you practice that? How do you prepare for that? It’s your imagination. Those tongs that I had - little spoiler here - but those tongs that I had, that was it! That was it. It was tongs, and there was actually a little green ball, a little marker, that I had to pick up. So, those are my acting chops, honey. I had to pretend I had that snake was in my hand. Even to move my arm - you’ve got to move your arm as if the snake is really moving, and you have to embody that whole experience. And also, it's like that fine balance between, this is scary, this is new, so like the stakes, but also, I'm a professional. I have this. So, a sense of control. You know what I mean? 

AASON NADJIWON:   You kill that scene too. 

MERCEDES MORRIS:   I was proud of my self with that scene! 

AASON NADJIWON:   You cannot hand tongs with a little green piece of tape to someone and say, “What is this? What are these tongs?” No, it's a snake. [laughs] 

MERCEDES MORRIS:   It’s is a snake. Venomous. 

SCIFI VISION:   Well, I figured it was rubber or something. I mean, I didn't really know. So, it worked. 

MERCEDES MORRIS:   We tried it with the rubber snake; I will say that. And in the end, the floppiness would have been more challenging for the effects designer. So, he decided to just CG the whole thing. So, that means that there was even more responsibility on me to sell it, because I'm working with nothing now. 

SCIFI VISION:   … I talked to some of the other casts last season, but I didn't talk to you [two], but can you talk sort of about the more technical side of it and sort of learning how to portray that? And is that difficult, being being true to that? For both of you. 

AASON NADJIWON:   I think the first season was a little bit more difficult, because it was like something brand new, but we had Jamie with us teaching us every step of the way on what to do, how to do [it] and look like a pilot, because the thing is, you're not looking down to find switches. The one thing you don't want to be doing is looking down to find switches. These pilots don't need to find switches. They know where the switches are. They know what to do an emergency. They know how to act, what kind of energy to put into it. They're relaxed. They're in control. And I feel like, in season one, yeah, it was a little more challenging, but season two, personally, I feel like I picked up. I think both me and Mercedes, we had some - I think the hardest thing were those - little spoiler - we have some emergency masks on at some point. I think that was probably the hardest part, because we had never done that. So, that technicality was a little difficult to maneuver around, but we did it. I mean, the beautiful thing is I can turn to Mercedes, I can turn to you know, Thomas [Elms], I can turn to Jamie, and we can all help each other out and collaborate on how this is going to look great. What are you going to say? Where are you going to look? And I think that's what made it even more easy as we all were just kind of working so smoothly together. 

MERCEDES MORRIS:   Yeah, and we we actually enjoy it. I feel like Ace and I, Thomas, Praneet [Akilla], everyone, we like studying and knowing all the details. So, when they give us little videos to understand, like the order of the switches, I love that. I soak that up. Now I feel like I'm a professional. I'm very tempted to get my pilot license, because I know it. I know the terminology. I know the switch. I know the apparatus, what it does, all this stuff. So, for us, it came natural almost.