The Last Thing He Told Me, authored by Laura Dave sold over two million hardback copies before it went into paperback to sell another half million copies to date. Co-developed for Apple TV+ with writer husband Josh Singer, it’s making waves on the streamer and stars Jennifer Garner as Hannah Hall, Angourie Rice as Bailey Michaels and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Owen Michaels. Co-executive-produced by Reese Witherspoon’s former shingle, Hello Sunshine, the seven-parter is delighting audiences once again. It tells the story of a husband/ father who goes on the run after his company is implicated in corporate fraud. All he leaves behind is a note begging, “Protect Her.”

Co-writer Josh Singer (The Post, Spotlight) spoke with Creative Screenwriting Magazine while Laura Dave was working on her new novel.

The first consideration for the writing duo was adapting the novel while remaining faithful to it. “The twists and turns were pretty well laid out in the book,” explains Singer. “What I wanted to really be faithful to is Laura has this exceptional understanding of emotional intelligence and how humans interact with each other.”

Singer elaborates that a key reason the novel performed so well in his view is that it subverts and merges the thriller and mystery genres. “To me, it’s more of a mystery than a thriller.” Ironically, Laura is averse to both genres. “She’s really focused on the emotional relationship both between her stepdaughter Hannah and her husband Owen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) who recently left her.” Dave and Singer wanted to focus on the family drama since Owen left abruptly.

The Last Thing He Told Me was never going to be a “damsel in distress” story, who against all odds, finds a resolution. “This is a story about a woman who is incredibly strong, incredibly active, and becomes the hero of her own life,” states Singer. Unlike similar stories where a woman in peril must tap into her inner strength to overcome her situation, Hannah is stoic and determined to find out where Owen is while living her life and raising her step daughter. “She takes control, and, as a result, creates this found family for herself despite the possibility that Owen may not be found. She creates an answer, she’s going to have to make sacrifices, but she also is going to find something, which is even more valuable at the end of the day.” It’s more about her journey than the result.

The story provides solid stakes for Hannah and amply opportunity for water cooler conversation as audiences debate whether they would make the same choices as her. The idea of  “found family” is explored as Hannah graduates from stepmother to Bailey’s primary caregiver.

The Last Thing He Told Me straddles two related genres. We asked Singer what differentiates mysteries from thrillers. “We live more in suspense. We ask, ‘What’s behind the door?’ more than things jumping out and chasing us with knives and guns.” The writers aimed for a high degree of emotional realism in their story rather than forcing choreographed scenes.

The novel attracted the attention of Lauren Neustadter from Hello Sunshine who decided that it was going to be adapted into a six-part limited series. Team Lauren and Josh went to work and deconstructed the book starting with the “episode outs.” The mystery signposts were largely lifted from the book to ensure the story momentum remained intact.

The first episode of the series is ostensibly the most important. Dave and Singer must introduce the world, the setup, the characters, and the mystery. A successful mystery drip feeds measured scenes into a well-paced series. “Laura’s got such a sterling, procedural mind, which is really quite amazing when you see how she loads a dishwasher,” jokes Singer.

Josh Singer

During episode two, Hannah and Bailey decide to leave Austin. In the novel, it’s a simple matter of words on a page. “When you actually look at that for the screen, you need five more reasons for them to get on that plane. We need a few more clues to pop up in powerful ways so that they get on that plane,” articulates Singer. The twists and turns were already in the novel, but the TV series required that additional scaffolding to span seven episodes.

There was also more “character sculpting” in the series than in the novel. For example, there was a scene in the pilot episode where Hannah and Bailey go to the store which didn’t appear in the novel. “It felt like an active character moment between them.” It had to establish the friction between the two and the knowledge that Owen may or may not return. They may never find out his secrets.

The writers didn’t want to rely on flashbacks to keep Owen alive, but they needed to illustrate their relationship. One of the notes Neustadter gave Dave and Singer was, “We need to drive harder.” That’s when the scene of Hannah and Owen walking along the dock was written to establish their close relationship.

“There is an extraordinary amount of story that must be packed into a pilot episode,” recalls Singer. He believes that writing pilots is different than writing other episodes. Moreover, a pilot episode is more like a feature screenplay where you get to establish a world and its characters and set them up for their journey in thirty pages.

Mystery Or Thriller?

The screenwriters balanced the mystery/thriller genre mix. A mystery is more concerned with acquiring information and piecing together a puzzle to answerquestions. A thriller is a more active experience with heightened tension and stakes.

For Singer and Dave, genre comes down to exploring two people. In the case of The Last Thing He Told Me, it’s about Hannah and Bailey, how the information about them is doled out, what it reveals about each character, and how it brings them together. This is underscored by Hannah’s persistent question of whether she really knew Owen. Who is he? More importantly, who is she. These questions also apply to Bailey.

The Hannah and Bailey tug of war is also about parenting. Psychologists have posited the need for us to rebel against their parents when we’re teenagers before we eventually return to them. Bailey is going through a similar thing in a heightened way. Irrespective of the predominant genre, the story relies on its emotional girding.

Both Hannah and Bailey are creative souls. Hannah ponders life carving bowls and Bailey enjoys musical theater. They’re connected through art,

“There’s a patience and fortitude in peeling back and finding what is special, unique and interesting in a piece of wood. It’s a little bit like Michelangelo and marble,” adds Singer. “You create something new.” Bailey undertakes a similar path of discovery. “I think as we go through life, we all change on the surface, but I think there are a number of core things that stay true,” muses Singer.

The “peeling back of layers” is a core tenet of mystery stories. Despite not knowing Owen’s whereabouts, the thing that Hannah loved about him is still there. Hannah isn’t pitying herself or waiting for the phone to ring. She makes her own calls to find him. Her woodturning defines her character.

While Hannah’s occupation was fully defined in the novel, Bailey’s was engineered in the TV series. She faces an additional dilemma in concealing her identity as a performer in the public eye.

There’s something surprising about the finale of the series in that there isn’t a clearly defined conclusion.