While it could be argued that Lifetime's scripted series UnREAL mostly centers around the mayhem and manipulation caused by the two central female characters Rachel and Quinn, Season 2 may shake up that dynamic a little bit in the form of their colleague Jay, played by Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman. The actor recently shared some UnREAL Season 2 spoilers during an interview with Bustle, which suggest that Jay's story arc on the series is about to get pretty interesting and potentially find him in a position of power. But will he let that power corrupt him in the way its corrupted his female cohorts? According to Bowyer-Chapman, that's the struggle he'll be facing as the season progresses.
"I think that Jay is trying so desperately this season to hang onto his soul and hang onto his integrity and his morals that it's a constant struggle for him," Bowyer-Chapman reveals. "But he does get to a point later on this season where he gains a certain amount of power so much so that it kind of rivals the power that Quinn and Rachel have and it really puts things into perspective for him... Is he going to use it for good or use it for evil? It's a really slippery slope for him."
Perhaps this will have something to do with the fact that Rachel and Quinn are currently on the outs with each other yet again. It could present Jay with an opportunity to climb that corporate ladder and be the one calling the shots for a change. "To rise in the ranks is definitely on the forefront of his mind," Bowyer-Chapman teases. "He definitely asserts himself this season and certainly steps up and gains some more power.
It's great to see Jay getting more attention this season and from the sound of things, his role on the show will grow to be even more pronounced in the already renewed third season, which may finally give this guy a well deserved love interest. "Personally I think that it's a very important storyline to tell, Bowyer-Chapman explains. "There's such power and such beauty in the fact that we're portraying an openly gay character as a lead character on a television series. I think in 2016 it's incredibly important to start normalizing and to start broadening the spectrum of humanity in television."
So far on the show, the only hook-ups we've seen have pretty much been between heterosexual characters, so knowing that the writers have every intention of including Jay in that aspect of things is very reassuring since, as Bowyer-Chapman points out, it's "also important not to desexualize [gay characters], which unfortunately still seems to happen a lot in the entertainment industry. "I feel like a lot of television and films tend to do that with gay characters," says Bowyer-Chapman. "They include them, but to make it more palatable for a heterosexual audience and for a worldwide audience, they don't really include the love interest."
But don't worry loyal Jay fans because even though he's focused more on his career now, a love story is definitely in his future. "It's a very comfortable topic of discussion between myself and the writers and creators of the show," Bowyer-Chapman assures fans. "By next season it's definitely something that we will be exploring." But in the meantime, there's still a very exciting plot line to witness throughout what the actor calls a much "darker" Season 2 that will further explore the topic of race in the industry.
"From Episode 5 onwards, it really gets dark because we are focused on race this season," he shares. "The first couple of episodes it really is normalized, but from Episode 5 and 6 onwards, we really see that there's certain issues that go on with being a black man in the entertainment industry and racial dynamics that can't be avoided and can't be ignored and the writers hit that head on fearlessly." Sounds like the drama is only just beginning.
Images: James Dittiger/Lifetime (2); Russ Lamoureux; Giphy
