‘The Night Shift’ exclusive: Jill Flint on Jordan and Scott, ‘intense’ season 3 finale
The two-week finale event for “The Night Shift” season 3 is set to begin on NBC Wednesday night after a brief hiatus due to the Olympics, and based on what we’re hearing, the show is going to waste no time throwing some of its characters into a fire … a literal one. Jordan and Scott are going to face serious danger on a wildfire rescue mission outside the city, and it’s just one of many intense events that will be happening before this season closes out. We’ve got relationship drama, new ownership at the hospital, and potential trouble for TC overseas.
We were thrilled to have a discussion both about the finale and this season so far with Jill Flint, who plays Dr. Jordan Alexander on the show. Specifically, we spoke to her about subjects ranging from a certain polyamory episode to the latest on Jordan and Scott to also how she had an opportunity to learn so many new things about the character throughout this season.
CarterMatt – How did you enjoy the season? Did you enjoy it more than the first two in terms of figuring out Jordan?
Jill Flint – The first season, there’s so much and you’re trying to just figure out who the character is. The second season, there were so many twists and turns that were happening with Jordan’s character. She had a stalker in one episode, she was pregnant by the next, and things were really moving at a fast pace.
This season, it really felt like things were breathing so much, and it was a different journey she was on. It was less focused on TC and making sure TC was happy and safe and secure and doing well, and more so about her just trying to figure herself out after being in a long-standing relationship. It felt really good. I think all of us, all of the actors together, we sort of in a way hit our stride. We have our personal relationships, and we have our character relationships. Everything sort of settled in this year.
How much do you think everything that was going on at the beginning of the season, in particular the breakup and losing her baby, is still in her head now? Is she able to focus more on the present?
I think this year was definitely a different year for Jordan. As far as things with TC, she knew it was over when he decided to go back into a battle zone while she was pregnant. I think she realized something different in her life. She spent so much of her time and energy focusing on TC, he was really the center point of her life, that she needed to make the change. It wasn’t really fair to try to make him be somebody that he ultimately couldn’t be. No matter how much she loved him, she had to move on.
So moving forward into this season, she had to get away in order to deal with the loss of the baby and all of those emotions. She had to get away from all of the well-wishers and the prying eyes. But when she comes back to work, she [settles] back in. The one driving force is her responsibility [to work]. It’s been really interesting playing Jordan this year; I was really getting to know a completely different side of her. Look at her! She’s a woman who had been in a relationship for ten years, and now she’s trying to date and that’s just a comedy of errors for her! She has no idea what she’s doing, she’s been on a few very interesting dates, and it’s been fun to just see this other side of her exploring who she is outside of her relationship with TC.
How much did you enjoy some of the lighter stuff this season? You had more of the friendship with Shannon, and all of that polyamorous stuff with one of her dates was really fun.
Absolutely. The polyamorous episode was so much fun. There were so many different ways that I could go about how Jordan would react to [the reveal]. The one scene where Jordan gets kissed by the wife, I had four different ways that I wanted to go about that scene. We tried out multiple different things to see what would be the most fun. I loved doing that. I loved getting to play a little bit more of the comedic side of Jordan.
We’re coming off the kiss now between Jordan and Scott, so where do you think things stand when it comes to the two of them?
I think Jordan realized that she never gave Scott a fair chance. I think she realizes that he is actually all of the things that TC is not. I don’t think that she’s necessarily ready or wants to jump into a relationship with him, but for the first time she’s really seeing who he is as a man and a person. She had some things that she had to deal with and get over to recognize. There was a lot of drama for her last season. There was a lot happening. She decided to get back together with TC, and it was almost like someone poured gasoline on a fire. I think once the dust settled moving into season 3, I think she got a chance to see Scott for who he truly is.
And now we’ve got this other thing with Turkey and TC going over there. Was there ever a temptation for her to go out there, or did she not want to because of both everything that’s happened so far and then also the new ownership of the hospital?
I think there is that side of her that is curious or lives vicariously through TC in that way, but I think that she realized that she has a family and a home in San Antonio, and there’s a very real threat that it could be taken away from her. So she stayed behind to support Topher.
He seems to be in the most trouble. Is it possible that Jordan and the other doctors could do something to rally behind him?
I think it’s very possible. I think you’ve got a penultimate and a finale that you need to watch (laughs).
In the finale, it looks like Scott and Jordan are going to be in a dangerous spot due to a wildfire that is starting to spread? Obviously there’s some TV magic that goes into it, but what was it like shooting that?
It was hot, hot, HOT. We were shooting out in the desert in about 100-degree weather, wearing black jackets and scrubs. It was grueling! Somehow, with the great crew that we have, we did it, man. Even though it was one of the more difficult episodes, it was also bittersweet because it was almost over and we weren’t going to be seeing something for a while and you never know what’s going to happen with the show.
So going into those episodes, did you film them as though they were the last?
I always do … I think as an actor, you’re always looking over your shoulder to see if you’ve still got a job (laughs), so you’ve got to approach it like ‘this could be it. Tomorrow. Get it all in now.’
Is there anything that you want to say about the finale? It was obviously a dramatic one for Jordan last year, so are we going any lighter, or are we going into the fire (in this case, we’re speaking metaphorically) once again?
Oh, no, we’re totally going into the fire! We can’t leave you with, like, warm fuzzies. We’re going to end with a huge bang. You’re going to be questioning the state of a lot of things, you’re going to be questioning if a lot of people survive. It’s a very intense finale. Survival is on the line across the board.
Finally, where do things stand right now in terms of a season 4? Has the cast started to hear anything?
We’ve been getting a lot of really fun press lately. People have been responding to this season, saying it’s the summer show to watch or that it’s the best show you’ve never heard of, which is great. We have a very rapid fan base, and I’ve been getting a lot of messages from fans on Facebook and Twitter screaming for season 4.
Here’s to hoping someone announces it before the finale, since there could be panicking in the streets.
People will be very angry. In my mind, there will be riots.
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Thanks again to Jill Flint for her time, and be sure to check out Wednesday night’s episode airing at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time. “The Night Shift” really is one of the best summer shows out there with a beautiful balance of drama, romance and laughs, so if you aren’t watching, you really should be.