“We really wanted to make it pretty brutal and scary. It think the whole episode makes you feel like things are going in one direction and then, kablooey, they go in another. It’s also the episode that probably drew the biggest firestorm we’ve ever had, which was about killing Tara. We’re still paying for that one. I really understand what a lot of people’s issues with it are, but at the same time it was, I think, dramatically the right choice.
“It was enlightening to see how iconic and important this character had become to the gay community, and how painful it was to see one of our characters executed like that. Some people saw it as a statement, because girls were all naked and loving on each other, and the next thing you know one of them is brutally killed. We had to say, ‘Well look at the way this series has unfolded. We’re clearly not homophobic or anti-gay. You just have to trust that it wasn’t a comment.’ We did have thoughts of bringing Tara back in some way. In our minds it wasn’t necessarily the end, but it was interesting to see how heated and passionate a reaction it got.”