SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from “VII,” the finale of “Disclaimer», now broadcast on Apple TV+.

The final beats of “Disclaimer” completely overturn what had gone before.

So far, we’ve been led to believe that Stephen (Kevin Kline) has a misguided but fundamentally fact-based mission: to avenge the death of his son, Jonathan; his conviction is that Catherine (Cate Blanchett), whom he is stalking, had left his son to drown after the couple had an affair on vacation in Italy years before. His view of events – shared with his late wife Nancy – exists in a novel written by Nancy, which Stephen used as a cudgel to ruin Catherine’s reputation within his family and in his professional life as a documentary filmmaker.

Jonathan died in Catherine’s presence, but the evidence Stephen has is misleading; as Catherine explains to Stephen, in a stunning sequence that took days to film, she was systematically assaulted by Jonathan for hours and carried with her not only the shock of Jonathan’s death and the guilt of being died trying to save her son whom she had let into the sea unsupervised, but also the trauma of an attack. For six episodes, Catherine tacitly allowed those around her to believe the story Stephen propagated. At the seventh, it explodes.

This showdown reframes the whole of “Disclaimer” and solidifies the series’ place as one of the defining television events of the year. Variety spoke to Blanchett and Alfonso Cuarón – who wrote and directed each of the series’ episodes – on how the series ended and what made Catherine such a rich character to play even though, for much of the series, she is defined by how which others see it.

It is quite remarkable that Catherine is instantly believed, even though the story she tells radically revises what came before. Were you nervous about being able to thread that needle?

Alphonse Cuarón: The work of this moment was carried out throughout the other six chapters. It was the collaboration with Cate: she was absolutely keen to make sure that every detail of what we said was the truth, that we weren’t manipulating the information. When Catherine speaks, you realize that your perception has been tainted with judgment, not only of the other characters, but also of your own judgment. She hasn’t been allowed to speak for so long; all these characters silenced him, and finally, you hear his voice.

I found Catherine’s character’s final conversation with her husband truly astonishing – the idea she expresses that talking to him made her feel unbearably guilty and so she couldn’t, until that moment, find a way to be open.

Kate Blanchett: It is in a way a reconciliation with herself and with this past. The things we run away from, bury, or think we can avoid end up becoming our psychological and emotional enemies. And we didn’t talk about it much, but we both understood that we all wore a lot of social masks. In a long marriage, you become something to the other person – what the other person needs from you is a projection of what they believe you are. And it was really important in that scene that there was no mask.

Sometimes we can’t unpack these things ourselves. And I think the reason a lot of people don’t report violent attacks is because not believing in reliving something is being retraumatized. I was hoping that at the beginning of this scene you would think, “Oh, this is going to be the reconciliation scene…” And, during it, she realizes, “I don’t think I can reconcile with you.” » But I didn’t want her to take revenge on this man who didn’t believe her. Women are not seeking revenge when they describe how they felt. They seek clarity and understanding, often with themselves.

There’s something so complicated about Catherine and Stephen’s relationship – both of them are so tied to the past, to her perception of what happened and to her misperception. And it is only by clashing that they manage to make him discover the truth.

Blanchett: Having to tell, for the first time, what happened to you to someone who was actually trying to hurt you was a strange and very nightmarish kind of reality. Once the story gets out, with no way to stop it, it’s a runaway train.

And so for a moment… (To Cuarón:) The way you play with time is really interesting, because the time in which the story takes place is relatively short, but we have these long, elastic moments where there’s a huge feeling of danger. We decided two days before (the confrontation filming) that we would record the whole thing, 40 pages or whatever, so that you would have a chance to play with what would be on screen with Kevin and I, and then with what would be return. Italy.

Cuarón: This was very important because doing this allows us to stay in the present. It was so important to see her speak, and to minimize the moments where we went back to the past. It’s a fine line where you’re going to describe a scene as such without presenting it in an exploitative way.

Shooting the confrontation – especially with the long takes that so many critics have noted – must have been a challenge. Was it a filming day, or…

Blanchett: With Alphonse? Yeah, no. You start doing a take and you think, “Okay, this is the end. » And then Chivo (cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki) comes in and does it like this (mimes removing a grain of dust from his face). But at this point we had all been working together for a very long time, so we were sort of one organism – and I lost track of time. I don’t know if we shot for two or three days, because there were so many perspectives that were synthesized.

I understand that this series was effectively filmed sequentially – filming days following the action of the story, which is quite rare. And this sequence was the breaking of the dam; this is the climax. Did this feeling of accomplishment make those days of filming more exciting?

Blanchett: You think, “Oh, my God, I’m going to have to read 40 pages of dialogue. » You fear it. But I was like, “Bring him on.” “I just wanted, as an actor, to get rid of that.

Cuarón: When Cate finished that scene, at the end of the last take, she went berserk. She was jumping everywhere! It was clearly a great relief.

Blanchett: Do you remember what happened then? I went “Are we done? Did we get it? Yes, we got it. It’s all coming back to me. I went back to my trailer; (the next shot) was going to be a wide shot of Kevin. And I am sitting back, of course, still absolutely present. The camera was looking at me. And I said, “Wait a minute…” We had to do another take. Then I came back and we had to leave again.

Cuarón: I saw the eyes of someone who hated me.

Cate, you’ve played a few characters who have faced professional retaliation following a misunderstanding – such as in “Notes on a Scandal.” Does this idea that women are not heard or mistreated based on prejudice appeal to you in general?

Blanchett: Well, there are enough examples in the real world, aren’t there? I’m surprised there aren’t more. But for me, the biggest challenge was creating a character that was porous and ambiguous enough that the audience could get lost in another character’s point of view – that there was nothing that stood out or signaled whatever. whatever, but hopefully was interesting enough to stick around. with for seven episodes. It was my delicate little dance.

This interview has been edited and condensed.