There was originally a different episode in place of this one. Could you briefly explain how the current episode came to be?
I was off shooting [Shot All to Hell] when this episode was being broken in the room, so I dont know what was supposed to be in its place, but I know that there was an early thought that Uncle Jack would have a larger role in the season, that he might possibly come in earlier than this episode, or stay longer; that basically he would fold into the Crowe family (and the season) in a more significant way. Ultimately we realized the Crowe family was large enough already and that we had lots of stories to cram in with the remaining episodes, so we felt that adding another character to the long arc of the season was unwise.
What was the hardest scene to shoot?
The cantina scene at the end. God shut down production. Literally. The first time we attempted to shoot the scene, on location in a barren canyons north of Los Angeles, a wind storm kicked up as soon as the sun went down, and the sand was blowing, and the lights way up on cranes were groaning and shuddering and the corrugated tin roof of the building started peeling off. Some PA handed out protective goggles for the sand, but the goggles, they did nothing. After an hour of nervous laughter we were told it was too dangerous to shoot.
