DEN OF GEEK: At what point did you know where youd be heading with this season?

Did you ever consider different jumping off points for the year?

JESSICA GOLDBERG:Well I always knew what was going to happen with Eddie.

So that I knew.

That was even like a long-term goal since the conception of the show.

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This season sees you expanding from a ten-episode season to a 13-episode one.

Would you want to return to ten episodes next year?

It sort of forces you to have more twists and turns.

So that was kind of fun.

I think it also forces you to lean on to the more familiar moments in a stronger way.

After the second season renewal, did you start thinking more in a multi-year story sense?

Actually, I kind of just focused on what was going on in the moment.

We set up a lot at the end of season one.

Theres the mystery of Steven Meyer now being awake.

Sarah finding out about Cal.

The dissolution of Eddie and Sarahs marriage.

We had a lot of jumping off points.

Ive worked on a bunch of other shows where you get one year and youre done.

Ive noticed that you have a largely femaleif not entirely femalewriters room.

Thats a nice little rarity that you have.

Do you feel this largely female perspective is beneficial to the series?

In season two we also added a writer, Justin, who comes fromStranger Things.

So we definitely get a male-added perspective, too.

Im a little less of the mind, that theres much of a male perspective and female perspective.

Youre telling stories and you hope theyre connecting and getting inside people properly.

Do you find this helps with cohesion or is a strategy that makes a big difference?

Was it a touch that was your idea, or how did it come about?

In the end the relationship between the actors and the directors gets even stronger.

So much of this season involves everyones relationships getting that much more complicated and duplicitous.

Why did you want to push this duality to the extreme this season?

Well the first season is actually kind of small in a weird way.

Its these three characters and this marriage.

I just felt really excited about expanding this world and letting us see a little more of this religion.

We actually get to see the Meyerists out in the world.

Eddies whole relationship with Chloe is a really tender element of the season.

Why did that seem like an important part of Chloes character?

Eddie is just such a haunted character and I was thinking about the ghosts that linger around him.

Cal was a fascinating character to me last season but hes on a whole other level this year.

Hes just constantly doing the wrong thing and making matters worse.

Why did such a destructive direction for him seem right this season?

We have such compassion for him in the writers room though.

He does awful things, but we just love him.

He is an addict.

Hes just got that impulse that he cant shut down and hes deeply flawed in that way.

Its just so much fun to write, especially with how Hugh plays it.

The territory of prophetic visions really expands this season.

For me, I just love that archetypal doubter that is imbued with the true faith.

Eddie certainly represents that.

With Cal, his moments are perhaps less visions than his Jungian subconscious acting up.

I do think keeping ambiguity in a show like this regarding who is the One is useful.

He goes on a nice journey.

His bubble of Meyerism certainly bursts.

We just feel so lucky that we found that actor, too.

He literally sent in a tape.

Its also just very tense this season watching Cal and Sarah get paired together as Eddie is pushed aside.

Yeah, it was certainly controversial and difficult in some respects.

Michelle and Aaron were both very adamant about not wanting their characters to be with anyone else.

But for the dark road that Sarah takes this season, some of these bold moves are certainly needed.

Youre crossing a big line when you do those sorts of scenes.

For the faithful this stuff is real, but the skeptics theres an explanation behind it.

Maybe just factors like hunger have made you feel like youre floating.

The character in that moment believes whats going on, so thats how we depict it on screen.

You direct this seasons finale!

That must have been such a thrill and a huge moment in your career.

Talk about that a little bit.

Oh, it was amazing.

The Paths second season began streaming January 25th, exclusively on Hulu.