SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details of FX’s finale Big question.

It looks like Lois may never make it to Florida after all.

FX’s finale Big question felt in some ways as if the 10 episodes had come full circle, with Niecy Nash-Betts putting aside her plan to start over in Tarpon Springs and donning her detective hat once again to try to solve the same heinous crimes she had investigated in her liminal condition – except this time they’re happening in real life.

After Lois is called to the scene of a family who has been brutally murdered and carefully placed around their kitchen table, she begins to grow suspicious. But when she stands at the altar of the church again, staring at a bloody reproduction of the Last Supper, this time with her doctor (who was the priest of the church and ultimately the murderer in the events that unfolded while she was in her hospital sat) coma), in the middle, she knows she can’t run to Tarpon Springs until she gets to the bottom of this.

Meanwhile, the doctor who interviewed Lois about her liminal state tries to convince her of it she is the one who commits the murder this time. After all, she has lost track of time. And who else would know about the nature of the murders from her comatose imagination besides the two of them?

For the record, Nash-Betts wants answers to all these questions and more.

She tells Deadline that “if everything were perfect, we would have a season 2 to unpack it. If not, that means hours of sitting at dinner with Ryan (Murphy) telling me where he was going with this story.

In the interview below, Nash-Betts unpacks the latest episode with Deadline, speculates on Season 2, and reflects on Big question‘s social commentary, which explains why Lois is “one and the same” with Vice President Kamala Harris.

DEADLINE: The finale once again casts doubt on Lois’s reality. What do you think? Is she really awake and alive?

NIECY NASH BETTS: Yes, I believe everything that happened up to episode 7 was in Lois’ coma. On the other hand, now that she has woken up from the coma, someone, a copycat killer, has started making her dreams come true.

DEADLINE: So you don’t think Lois is the killer?

NASH BETTS: No, I didn’t say that! I haven’t said who I think the killer is.

DEADLINE: Do you have a theory?

NASH BETTS: You know, I think in the Ryan Murphy universe you always expect the unexpected.

DEADLINE: Very cryptic. What was your reaction to the final episodes when you first read them?

NASH BETTS: Oh, I loved it because all the cast members got to play this duality as performers. My daughter, played by Raven Goodwin, was portrayed one way: her mother was not proud of her and she was wasting her life, when in reality she is a high-functioning doctor with double degrees. The same was true for every character, really. Sister Megan, played by Micaela Diamond, was a nun. And in real life, she is the chief of police. So we all have to live in this world where as an actor the dream is to be able to play multiple sides of a character. So this was absolutely wonderful for us.

DEADLINE: What was it like changing the dynamic between all these characters mid-season? They all have completely different relationships than what was first presented.

NASH BETTS: Let me tell you, we loved it. What we like most about it is that we’re giving Travis Kelce a hard time with that mullet. Everyone thought (Eddie) was so friendly and cool, but it was like, ‘Uh uh. Not in real life.’

DEADLINE: Now that you can talk about his character fully, what was it like working with him in such a two-character capacity?

NASH BETTS: Oh, it’s wonderful to be able to lean into the duality of it all. I’m definitely a huge supporter of Travis and any new actor. You want them to win. You support them. So, just to see how he looked at himself and looked so different… I posted a little BTS of him and his cowboy boots and his mullet. I was like, ‘Boy, you look like you should be driving the tractor.’

DEADLINE: How did you figure out what kind of person Lois is after he came out of his coma?

NASH BETTS: Lots of conversations with Ryan Murphy to understand her mental state, where she is now. What does that all mean? Does she still drink? Or is she recovering? So a lot of things had to be unpacked. What causes her to feel like she’s going crazy and checks herself into a psychiatric hospital? We just had to have a lot of conversations about all of these things to make sure we got to the right cruising altitude for Lois and her waking life.

DEADLINE: I thought the relationship between Lois and Marshall was so interesting. It’s so controversial after she wakes up. How did you work with Courtney (B. Vance) to figure all this out?

NASH BETTS: It’s interesting because not only Courtney, but also Lesley Manville, who also played Nurse Redd. We have very different relationships in our waking lives. You think Marshall is on a ventilator and in a coma, only to find out that it’s Lois who’s in a coma – and how controversial his relationship with her is, and how he really sees her. Courtney is such a good guy, the times he had to say mean things to me, I mean, I just start laughing, because I’m like, ‘Who are you? You’re not even this person.” We get along great. We’ve worked together on a few projects before, but we never had to be mean to each other. So when we had to be mean, we always said, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?’ Because it just didn’t even feel right.

DEADLINE: So in the finale, Marshall suggests to Lois that she and Redd all move in together.

NASH BETTS: Did you see that?!

DEADLINE: What did you think of that scene?

NASH BETTS: I thought, ‘What’s going on?’ But you never know. Some people probably live that life. I just know that at that moment Lois was thinking, “Y’all, get out of here.” With all sincerity, her husband said in her waking life, “Can we all live here together?” You know, it was crazy.

DEADLINE: I find it very intriguing that even at the end the audience is still unsure about what is real and what is not.

NASH BETTS: I’ve had so many people call me and say, ‘What’s going on? I don’t understand what happened. Wait a minute. Is this real? Isn’t that real? Wait, what happened?’ So I’ve had a lot of people trying to wrap their minds around it and theorize what they’re thinking. There are a number of groups that are all dialed in and have large chat rooms dedicated to the show and their theories on the show. I feel like we’ve definitely put an end to a season 2 so audiences can continue along for the ride.

DEADLINE: Do you think there’s room for more?

NASH BETTS: Absolute. You don’t even know who Grotesquerie is yet. That’s a big unanswered question.

DEADLINE: Are there any unanswered questions you want answered in a possible season 2?

NASH BETTS: The main thing I think I’m looking forward to is who Grotesquerie is because right now in therapy the doctor says Grotesquerie is an amalgamation of all the evil that has happened in (her) mind in the world but then these crimes literally start to happen. So wait a minute. What does that mean then? There are still a few questions I’m waiting to be answered, and if everything is perfect, we’d have a season 2 to unpack it. If not, that means hours of sitting at dinner with Ryan telling me where he was going with this story.

DEADLINE: So you don’t think Lois is going to Florida?

NASH BETTS: Not me. I don’t think so, not after she stands flat-footed after coming out of the mental hospital and tells Cranburn and says to Megan, “Meet me in my old office.” I know who the killer is.’ I don’t think she’ll make it to Tarpon Springs anytime soon.

DEADLINE: What was your experience like as an executive producer, where you were able to provide more creative input to the series?

NASH BETTS: Ryan is a great collaborator. So we worked together on everything from storyline thoughts to casting and maybe even reshaping things after we shot something. And it’s like, “Wait a minute, this points me in this direction,” or “Maybe we can make a change here.” What are Lois’s intoxication levels? Is she plastered? Does she have a hangover? Where does she stand with her illness? So we were hand in hand and worked together a lot. I’m thrilled to be Ryan’s new muse.

DEADLINE: What were some of your favorite hints or Easter eggs that Lois was in a coma leading up to the reveal?

NASH BETTS: The two that stand out to me are when my daughter Merritt is filming her video for a TV show, and you see a nurse just walking through the frame. It distracts Lois’ attention. And then she says, “Wait, what?” And then when she’s at her desk having a conversation with Nurse Megan, the beeping of the printer sounds like the beeping of the machine she was hooked up to.

DEADLINE: This series is full of commentary about the current state of the world. How does it feel to air the finale just a week before a very important presidential election?

NASH BETTS: We touch on many topics. We are touching climate change. We discuss women having control over their own bodies. We discuss different types of evil that exist in the world. And in many ways, I feel like Lois and Kamala (Harris) are one and the same, both trying to save the world from evil.