‘Found’ stars Shanola Hampton and Mark-Paul Gosselaar talk Gabi and Sir’s ‘sick’ origin story revealed in Season 2

(Warning: Spoilers from Season 2, Episode 12 of “Found.”) 

In the latest episode of “Found,” fans finally receive an answer to one of the biggest questions that has stumped them since the show premiered: How did Gabi and Sir’s twisted partnership begin? 

Season 2, Episode 12, out Feb. 13, flashes back to the moment Gabi, played by Shanola Hampton, and Sir, portrayed by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, came face to face about 20 years after he kidnapped her. Viewers see Gabi intend to kill Sir, hoping to end her years of suffering and fear, before he changes her mind. He pitches that the two collaborate on her M&A cases, allowing their toxic, unbreakable bond to continue. 

A majority of the episode, titled “Missing While Misidentified,” is set in the past while in the present, both Gabi and Sir are arrested and questioned separately by the police. 

“This is my favorite episode that I’ve ever shot on the show,” Hampton tells TODAY.com in an interview.

She adds, “To see that rage and that passion of why she did what she did, it was just so fun to do and I was so excited to play it.”

Gosselaar says the episode also digs deeper into the psychology behind Sir’s attachment to Gabi.

“That’s a question that people have asked about the first season. Like, ‘Was he able to escape? How did he escape? Did he want to escape?’ So I think we get a glimpse of that in Episode 212,” he shares. 

Below, the two stars unpack all the secrets that were revealed in Season 2, Episode 12 in a joint interview with TODAY.com — and why Sir and Gabi’s relationship is a dynamic “we have not seen play out on television before.”

For most of Season 1, your two characters collaborated on the cases of the week. What was it like switching to Season 2, where Gabi and Sir have been separated for most of the episodes? 

Gosselaar: It’s been lovely. This has been just a great season. The fact that I don’t have to be in the same room as you for so many hours. 

Hampton: That’s what I was going to say, too. You know how you go on “Love Is Blind” and you want to switch your answer to “no” after they say “No” (at the altar)?

Gosselaar: Honestly, I do enjoy the scenes that Sir has with Gabrielle in Episode 212 — we go back to the origin. It’s fun to watch the dynamic between the two characters. And there’s just so much going on, right? So it’s fun to shoot and it’s fun to watch.

Hampton: I make no secret that I get to work with wonderful actors on this show. But my scenes with Mark-Paul, they lift me. And when he’s there and he’s present, on a personal level, it lifts me. So, not having as much interaction this season was really a bit of a shock to my system, because I got so used to it Season 1. I relied on those days as an escape day for me, and so not having that was quite an adjustment. Truthfully, that’s how I feel about it. And hopefully in Season 3 we will be back on the screen together a lot!

As you mentioned, in Season 2, Episode 12 we finally get to see Gabi and Sir share a lot of scenes together and we learn how their partnership first started. What was it like to film that intense reunion? 

Gosselaar: How did it happen? I think that’s a big question of the first season. How did she abduct Sir? Why is he in her basement? Somebody had to help. Who helped her? All those questions get answered. And for us, as fans of our show, that was fun to read and fun to do. We always end on a cliffhanger. That’s by design. The next script for us, we just can’t wait to get into it. So we’re sort of mirroring what the audience is going through, just in a different way.

What about for you, Shanola? Gabi is in a very different headspace this episode compared to how we’ve seen her last season and thus far in Season 2. 

Hampton: This is my favorite episode that I’ve ever shot on the show. To be able to answer some of the questions from Season 1 in this episode, to see the mindset, to play the dynamics and the nuances of dealing with Margaret (Kelli Williams) while making this choice, and to see Dhan’s (Karan Oberoi) part in it. All of these things where it just was so juicy to me. To see that rage and that passion of why she did what she did, it was just so fun to do and I was so excited to play it. I like seeing Gabi here, because I think the audience gets to really go on the ride that she went through in a real way.

We learn in this episode that Gabi had the opportunity to completely end things with Sir and sever their connection, but she spares him and agrees to go along with that partnership. What did you think about her decision?

Hampton: I think it’s telling to the psychological damage that one does to the victim and how hard it is to break the cycle. Our central theme is not to judge people’s healing process. People are so quick to say, “Just block them, girl! Don’t talk to him anymore!” Everybody has advice until they’re there. Now, she can search why and really heal so that when she does press block, if that time ever comes, it’s out of a place of healing. That was really a telling moment, I think, for Gabi, for me as the actor playing Gabi, and for the audience to see, “Oh, this goes way deeper than we even think.”

We also learn that Sir initially escaped but chose to go back into the basement and pitch this idea of working together. What was it like seeing your character make that decision? 

Gosselaar: I just think it reinforced that a lot of the time that Sir is there by choice. That’s a question that people have asked about the first season. Like, “Was he able to escape? How did he escape? Did he want to escape?” So I think we get a glimpse of that in Episode 212.

Sir always talks about the connection he has with Gabi. He calls her his ‘family.’ How would you describe this twisted, unbreakable bond the two of them have?

Hampton: Sick. It’s an obsession of sorts. There’s no real definition. We’ve not really seen this dynamic play out on television before. So to have it not be a sexual chemistry or him wanting to marry her, wifey her up — you just see him wanting a life with her. So it’s weird. 

Gosselaar: There’s so many things. We don’t choose family, so I’m wondering if that’s why he uses that word. That even years can go by and because you have the bond of family, it’s an unbreakable bond. So I think he’s very particular in the words that he chooses. But “family” is deep and it’s really dark. I guess that’s what people come to our show for.

At the end of the episode, Sir is put in jail and it seems like Gabi can finally put him in her past. How do you think that sets up the two characters’ trajectory for the rest of the season?

Hampton: Well, it shows that it’s going to be a disconnect. This means a lot less time of them being in the same room. Gabi (is) putting a line in the sand, saying, “I’m not giving into his manipulation.” It sets up the next several episodes of what the dynamic is going to be with Sir and Gabi.

And for Sir, now he is in prison, similarly to where we first met him.

Gosselaar: We’re just going to see moments where the lack of control is going to eat at him. You’re just going to see him do everything in his power to connect. 

Mark-Paul, you directed an episode later this season. What was it like directing this cast on set?

Gosselaar: We have a great group of actors, very talented. There’s a few stinkers. Actually, just one. But I won’t name names, because that wouldn’t be fair to the other actors. We are a very ambitious show. We’ve said this before: we have 44 minutes to tell a story, and this story is just packed with plot and characters. It was very difficult to get this all on screen. We did, and we have just an unbelievable crew that works their butt off every single day of our show for the nine months that we’re filming. So my hat goes off to them. We have great writers and everyone working behind us and all the actors. It is truly a collaboration that couldn’t be done with one of the parts missing. Thankfully we don’t have any parts missing, and it just makes for a great show. I hope we can continue with Season 3. Maybe I’ll just have to have a conversation with that actor that was slowing things down.

Hampton: That actor says that she has in her contract not to speak to her or look her in the eyes, so I don’t think that’s going to happen. (laughs)

Shanola, what was it like having Mark-Paul direct you on set? 

Hampton: It’s awful. So what people don’t understand is that Mark-Paul is the lead on this show, but he doesn’t work. So it’s one day a week, which means I only have to stomach him one day. When he’s directing, he’s gotta prep. His presence is there. He has to direct all eight days. You know what eight days is like being with Mark-Paul? No, it was amazing.

Gosselaar: Actually, I was there for a lot longer. We went through a hurricane together. I was there for three weekends. I was like, “What is going on here? I’ve never worked so hard in my life!”

Hampton: What I’ll say about Mark-Paul as a director, and this is for future projects as well, what you’re going to get is someone who is intellectually prepared, technically prepared, but also able to be really chill when things need to change. He has so much experience on set. He is a leader of not only the cast but the crew. He commands trust on day one, and he’s a joy. I mean, he is a stick in the mud. And yes, you would think he’s boring and a jerk. But he’s actually super funny, and people enjoy being around him. I’m not one of those people. He is one of the five directors that I would work with for the rest of my career and be happy. 

‘Found’ has such a passionate fan base that tweets every week. What do you think stands out about the show that has made it connect so much with the audience? 

Hampton: I think it’s that they thought they were just going to get another procedural, and then there was a man in the basement. You start the ride and you cannot get off, because you have to see what’s going to happen with these two characters while serving the communities who are underserved. So I think that’s where the connection has happened.

Gosselaar: I agree. I like how you started that off. Because it’s like the audience thought they were just going to get Shanola, and then they got Mark-Paul Gosselaar.

Hampton: (laughs) Not what I said, Sir!

Gosselaar: Pretty much. You said the procedural and then you were, like, “Then the guy in the basement.” I totally agree with that.

Hampton: I mean, how many Critics Choice nominations did you get before working with me? You’re welcome.

Gosselaar: Same as you. (laughs)

NBC’s “Found” airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET.