The final episode of FX‘s The Shards puts one of the series’s most beloved characters, Susan Reynolds (Kaia Gerber), in dire danger for the first time, but it turns out that filming that terrifying home invasion sequence came with its own drama.

**Spoilers for The Shards Episode 9 “Stairway to Heaven,” now streaming on Hulu**

Part way through The Shards Episode 9 “Stairway to Heaven,” someone — perhaps the Trawler — attacks Homecoming Queen Susan Reynolds in her own home. Just when it seems that her fate is sealed, her ex-boyfriend Thom (Graham Campbell) arrives to save her… Or does he?

Fans of The Shards will know that Thom has been cozying up to the creepy cult the Riders of the Afterlife and that they might actually be responsible for the Trawler’s crimes. Was Thom really looking out for Susan or was he the masked man the whole time?

“This is really funny because this is like a point of tension for us,” Graham Campbell told DECIDER.

“Yeah, It is a fun point,” Kaia Gerber said.

“I don’t know about fun,” Campbell said. “I mean, I was trying to have fun that day, but you had been doing your Shelley Duvall thing for like three hours and I came in trying to be like…”

“Graham came in like, [upbeat] ‘Da, da!’” 

“Yeah, she’s going, [Shelley Duvall impression] ‘Ahhhhhhh!’” 

“But I think in his defense, he didn’t,” Gerber said. “I was there on set for the first, like, ten hours by myself filming the invasion with our incredible stunt man, Troy, who — Actually, my brother went to middle school with him and I thought he was the coolest stunt boy and now he’s a stunt man. And it was so wonderful to see him again.”

“He’s even cooler,” Campbell said.

“Even cooler now,” Gerber agreed. “Obviously in my mind, I’m like, ‘That’s Troy from when I was 12.’ But when you’re screaming and hyperventilating like that, your body does get freaked out.”

“Also it’s my nightmare — literal nightmare — walking by my closet and someone jumps out and attacks me with a knife. It’s hell on earth,” she continued. “So I was definitely a little shaken up and then Graham comes in, as he always does. in the best mood, which is actually, like it’s wonderful, except for on that [day].” 

“[It’s wonderful] in the right time and place,” Campbell said.

Gerber then revealed that part of what was so exhausting about that day was that Ryan Murphy was “very clearly about wanting to reference Shelley Duvall” from The Shining. It’s a reference that links back to the very start of The Shards and that gave Gerber the opportunity to prep by listening to the Stanley Kubrick film’s soundtrack.

“How fucked up is that soundtrack?” Campbell said.

“It’s so crazy,” Gerber said. “I actually still listen sometimes when I film.” 

Ultimately, though, one of Gerber’s “favorite parts” of that sequence is when Campbell’s character officially arrives.

“When Thom comes in and tries to calm me down and I’m still in that space… I actually think that works so well,” Gerber said. “But I’m very excited for the Reddit threads about it because I felt one way when we were shooting it and then watching it, I kind of felt a different way.”

“Well, do you want to say what way you did or didn’t feel?” Campbell queries.

Gerber then admitted: “I felt like when we were shooting it, there’s no way it was Thom.”

“But then there’s that little —” Campbell teased.

“Then that moment when there’s no there’s no one on the ground, I was like…” Gerber said. 

“But everybody has a moment like that,” Campbell said. “That’s what’s so expert about the way this series is put together, is that it’s the right look in the eye or the head tilt or the lingering on a shot where you’re like, ‘Holy fuck, it could be anybody.’”

“It could really be anyone,” Gerber said. “Do you think it’s you [in the mask]?” 

“I think it’s… I shouldn’t say, I shouldn’t say,” Campbell said.