- Season 1 was very winter-coded. Did you always know that you wanted Season 2 to be set in the summer?
- Speaking of budget cuts, is that part of the reason why it took so long between the first and second season?
- In Season 2, “Diarra From Detroit” is still at its core an adventure and a mystery, but we also get a thread of romance. Diarra is being pulled between three men: Chris, Royce (Clifford “Method Man” Smith) and Danger. What was it like having a romantic element within the mystery-thriller adventure of it all, but also this thread of motherhood that Diarra is really pondering this entire time?
- You also weave this beautiful ribbon of history into the show. Audiences learn about bootlegging during Prohibition, the Underground Railroad and quilting and what that has meant for the Black community and the Black church specifically. Is “Diarra From Detroit” a political show?
- Despite budget cuts and a change in platform, you also had so many people show up for you as guest stars this season, from Nicco Annan to Lovie Simone, Bokeem Woodbine, Lil Rel Howery, Amber Riley, Phylicia Rashad, Morris Chestnut and countless others. What has that meant for you?
- Speaking of emotional, in the Season 2 finale, “A Cold Ass Wedding,” Diarra and Aja’s friendship breaks down. Why was that important to illustrate when their bond has been such a glue in the series?
- Speaking of another season, what has it been like to experience the show on Paramount+, which is a much bigger platform than BET+ was?
- What are your hopes about a potential Season 3?
SPOILER ALERT: The following story contains plot details from the Season 2 finale of “Diarra From Detroit” now streaming on Paramount+.
Paramount+
Season 1 was very winter-coded. Did you always know that you wanted Season 2 to be set in the summer?
Season 1 was very winter-coded. Did you always know that you wanted Season 2 to be set in the summer?
Speaking of budget cuts, is that part of the reason why it took so long between the first and second season?
In Season 2, “Diarra From Detroit” is still at its core an adventure and a mystery, but we also get a thread of romance. Diarra is being pulled between three men: Chris, Royce (Clifford “Method Man” Smith) and Danger. What was it like having a romantic element within the mystery-thriller adventure of it all, but also this thread of motherhood that Diarra is really pondering this entire time?
BET/Paramount+
You also weave this beautiful ribbon of history into the show. Audiences learn about bootlegging during Prohibition, the Underground Railroad and quilting and what that has meant for the Black community and the Black church specifically. Is “Diarra From Detroit” a political show?
You also weave this beautiful ribbon of history into the show. Audiences learn about bootlegging during Prohibition, the Underground Railroad and quilting and what that has meant for the Black community and the Black church specifically. Is “Diarra From Detroit” a political show?
I would say anytime you put a Black woman in the center of something, it is inherently political in a lot of ways, simply because we just haven’t seen it enough for it to be old hat. People put so much on it. That’s where the fun is. Maybe I’m just a Black nerd, but I have always loved watching movies like “National Treasure” and “The Da Vinci Code.” I love watching a piece of fiction and then going on Google later to be like, “Wait a minute, how much of this is true and how much of these gaps are filled in by the imagination of the writer?” I guess at the end of the day, I’m the daughter of the teacher. So one thing [my mom] did was really instill in me the joy of learning, history and facts. “Indiana Jones,” “National Treasure” — it’s like there are no Black women in these movies. At all. You struggle to find a Black woman who speaks; maybe she has two lines, rolls her neck and then moves on. I really wanted us to write in the very center of that genre. I think the facts give it legitimacy: it was well-researched and brought in some truths about the city. To me, we were kind of just following the genre playbook.
Despite budget cuts and a change in platform, you also had so many people show up for you as guest stars this season, from Nicco Annan to Lovie Simone, Bokeem Woodbine, Lil Rel Howery, Amber Riley, Phylicia Rashad, Morris Chestnut and countless others. What has that meant for you?
Despite budget cuts and a change in platform, you also had so many people show up for you as guest stars this season, from Nicco Annan to Lovie Simone, Bokeem Woodbine, Lil Rel Howery, Amber Riley, Phylicia Rashad, Morris Chestnut and countless others. What has that meant for you?
Speaking of emotional, in the Season 2 finale, “A Cold Ass Wedding,” Diarra and Aja’s friendship breaks down. Why was that important to illustrate when their bond has been such a glue in the series?
Paramount+
Speaking of another season, what has it been like to experience the show on Paramount+, which is a much bigger platform than BET+ was?
Speaking of another season, what has it been like to experience the show on Paramount+, which is a much bigger platform than BET+ was?
What are your hopes about a potential Season 3?
Well, every season is a different mystery. Diarra will always have to deal with some consequences of the mess she stirred up, but I have some thoughts about what the new case would be, where they would go from here, and what the central mystery would be.
But the biggest mystery is her. She really struggles to investigate herself, even her own feelings. She loves distraction, like us all in this era of iPhones and whatever. It’s like the minute something uncomfortable happens, we’re all like, “Let me check my Instagram.” “TikTok time.” I think a lot of people will relate to that, but I do have some thoughts about what her next big internal question would be; we’ll have to see if we let any of that live. She also definitely answers the question Chris asked her at the very end.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
