Found boss unpacks Gabi Mosely's massive secret

Fall TV's unlikeliest team-up goes to Found!

When Gabi Mosely (Shanola Hampton) said she'll do anything to solve her cases she absolutely meant it. As a teenager she was held captive by Sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and had to save herself, so she has devoted her life to finding people who the system allows to fall through the cracks. Most of that work is done alongside her team, but in the series premiere we find out that Gabi has Sir locked in her basement advising her on cases.

We dive into this twisted development with Found creator Nkechi Okoro Carroll.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why did you decide to have Sir be Gabi's prisoner and to reveal that in the first episode?

NKECHI OKORO CARROLL: That's the one part of the story in Gabi's journey that has never changed in seven years. It was part of what originally interested me about exploring a character like Gabi, who is still healing from the trauma of what happened to her as a teenager. When something happens to you that is profound and life-changing there's a moment along the way where that additional piece of pressure can cause a break where you lose a little bit of touch with right and wrong. Gabi is so consumed with her mission.

Over the course of the season, we're going to come to understand how someone like Gabi could have snapped to the point where she turned into the sort of monster she hunts every week. Sir has not been in there for the last 20 years. She's done it fairly recently. Eventually we will explain how Sir came to be in Gabi's basement.

We get a glimpse of Gabi and Sir's time together in the past and present. What can you share about what their dynamic is like?

Despite the fact that Gabi is the one seemingly in control with him held captive, it is really a cat-and-mouse game even though Sir is contained in one place. That speaks to the power of influence and the power of what occurred in the year that she was held in captivity by him. Part of the reason we continue to tell that storyline in the past is to inform so much of their interaction in the present because they are interlinked.

What is Sir like?

It's complicated, but to be very clear: he is a serial kidnapper and there's no redeeming that whatsoever. He is 1000% the villain. When it comes to Gabi in particular, it's a very complicated dynamic especially after you spend a year in only each other's company. That time together has as much of a life-altering effect on Sir as it did on Gabi. There's no version of a good guy who's a serial kidnapper, but the nature of what he feels for Gabi, why he's in captivity and what that means for his future is what we'll unpack over the course of the season. There's no way to tell Gabi's backstory of that year without telling Sir's simultaneously.

Was Mark-Paul Gosselaar who you always wanted for the role of Sir? How did that happen?

He was always at the top of our list. I honestly didn't think he would want to do it. It was my absolute shock when we heard that he was interested in talking to me about the role and was fascinated by this character after reading the script. Mark-Paul has been an absolute dream of an actor to work with on this role. We spent a lot of time talking through the influences behind the idea of Sir and how someone like him comes to exist. Some of that will be revealed later this season.

We meet Gabi's team in the pilot, but now we know Sir is involved. How does he fit into their work?

For lack of a better comparison, he's the Hannibal Lecter to her Clarice. No matter what Gabi has done, she doesn't think like him, her mind cannot go as evil as his does. He's a resource. He doesn't interact with the team, but we will see the role he plays in helping Gabi, sometimes whether she wants it or not. One could argue that at this point she recognizes what Sir's expertise is and has spent enough time with him to arrive at those conclusions just as quickly herself. The idea of do the ends justify the means is something she struggles with, increasingly as the season goes along.

How does Gabi keeping Sir a prisoner complicate her life professionally?

I mean, that's the whole series. She is so passionate about saving these lives and returning them to their families and yet she has this horrible secret. The main thing that drives Gabi, which is how she's able to keep pushing forward, is having someone who thinks like Sir at her fingertips [expedites] the finding of these victims. To Gabi, absolutely nothing trumps finding missing people. Gabi is brilliant and has been doing this without Sir, but she knows every minute counts when someone is missing. After 48 hours the odds of finding someone alive tend to diminish. If doing it with him means finding someone alive, it's worth it to Gabi.

We see where Gabi and Lacey's bond began. Can you tease what this secret could mean for their connection and friendship?

No one on the team knows about Sir and everyone on that team has a little hero worship where Gabi is concerned. She played a role in saving all of their lives. If not literally, then metaphorically or emotionally by giving them the resources to turn their trauma into purpose. The idea that she isn't what they think she is haunts Gabi just as much as the idea that she is slowly becoming the thing she hates. Lacey is the biggest personification of that because Sir was Lacey's kidnapper. Lacey worships Gabi and wants to be her when she grows up, so the damage [this secret] can do is something [Gabi] struggles with daily and we will see that play out this season.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Found airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on NBC.

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