welcometonightvale
patreon
Director’s Notes: 240 – He Is Holding A Knife
🕑 Added 2023-12-15 14:00:02 +0000 UTCWell, well, well. Guess who's back.
Every few months, Jeffrey and I sit down to discuss what we see happening in the coming Night Vale episodes. And at our last meeting, we discussed the idea that the boy found in Grove Park was Kevin. It made sense to us, and we started to talk about a plan for the reveal. We decided to do a Halloween special with Kevin, to remind everyone who he was and hint that he was going to become prominent in the plot again. And then the big reveal on December 15.
When it came time to write that big reveal episode, I returned to a line from our Strexcorp arc, when Kevin had taken over the radio station and Cecil was banished from Night Vale. In that moment, Kevin sees Cecil approaching and says, "he is holding a cat". It's a funny moment because a cat is not a dramatic thing to hold, but it's also a dramatic moment because it succeeds in feeling triumphant despite itself. I thought it would be fun to echo that moment with the repeating line in this episode.
The Mahallas are characters we haven't visited in a while. They were introduced in an episode by frequent Night Vale guest writer Brie Williams ("Rattlesnake Rest"), and then later expanded by me in the episode "U-View". As long as we were looking back into the history of Night Vale, I enjoyed also checking in with this family, burdened with the same tragedy as any of us: the movement of time, the loss of those we love.
Also, it felt like a good time to call back to characters created by Brie, as we have a fairly big announcement:
We have been working with Brie for years now, both on Night Vale and on our Audible original Unlicensed. She is one of my favorite writers, and someone who gets our voice better than anyone we've ever worked with. Because of that, starting in 2024, we will be bringing Brie on as the third full time writer of Night Vale. She will be writing a third of the episodes, and helping us shape the overall plot.
I cannot say how much we enjoy writing with Brie, and I think that this will only make our show more interesting and exciting moving into the future. Please join me in welcoming her!
And also, back again, Kevin.
-Joseph Fink
Comments
WhenTheFoxGrins
I ADORE Kevin! And like so many others, I do hope we’ll eventually get more backstory on him — there’s SO much room for his character to grow I feel! I’m still smacking myself because it wasn’t until Kevin literally spoke at the end of the episode that I realized who it was and I COMPLETELY missed the like hints (the Halloween episode and the refurbished line from the Strex arc — both of which stood out to me but failed to click in my brain, haha). I am so stoked to hear about Brie joining!! I know if you guys trust her to help you continue to bring your vision of Night Vale to life, then she really must be quite exceptional! I look forward to it all! 🧡
Rob Cottingham
Genuine chills hearing Kevin's voice at the very end. And him holding a knife — the suspense would be unbearable if I didn't know you were going to be back at the beginning of January. Oh. Oh, no.
Glenn Dallas
Welcome Brie!
Peter Wilsnack
Kevin disturbs me. Brie delights me. Balance is healthy, I suppose.
peachblow
DELIGHTFUL news! i love brie's writing so much!! 💖
O.
Welcome Brie!!
Dublin Mullen
I'm always excited for Kevin! =D
Maeve Hightower
I want to know all about Kevin. I have Thoughts about his father and his Smiling God and what Strex did to him and I want to hear more. Also Charles and Donovan, how are they doing?
Jordan Newport
Hooray! I love Brie's episodes!
Welcome to Night Vale
We have listeners who aren't big fans and might not listen regularly, and we try to write so they can follow along too. -Joseph
Caspian Turpin
Woo! Welcome Brie! The line "to remind everyone who Kevin is" is so funny for me because we've been begging for more Kevin since Mudstone Abyss 😂
Michelle
Welcome Brie!!
Joseph Robertson
Excellent news about Brie. I also loved hearing Kevin again in the Halloween episode so looking forward to seeing how this all goes.
