Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Apples Never Fall!

Summary

• Joy's mysterious disappearance is resolved in the Apples Never Fall finale, revealing her escape both with and from Savannah, and the Delaneys' family secrets are exposed.
• Despite Joy's return, the Delaneys face conflicted emotions and revelations about each other, unsure of how to move forward.
• Jake Lacy breaks down the tricky tonal balance of the show, his collaborative relationship with Sam Neill and what the future holds for the Delaney family.

Everyone's secrets have been exposed and Joy Delaney's fate has been revealed in the Apples Never Fall finale. The Peacock mystery show based on Liane Moriarty's novel of the same name has followed the four adult Delaney family siblings as they try to determine the answers behind their mother's mysterious disappearance. This led to a lot of suspicion cast on their father Stan as a potential murderer, while the group all learn new things about one another, including extramarital affairs, mental health struggles and years of resentment built for the wrong reasons.

The Apples Never Fall ending ultimately reveals that Joy had taken off with the mysterious ingénue, Savannah, to escape her self-centered family, only to learn that Savannah was actually the sister of one of Stan's former students who later became a tennis star. Savannah sought to infiltrate and ruin the Delaneys' lives in retaliation for being abandoned by her brother and father and left with her abusive mother after her father fired Stan. Despite some relief over her return, the ending also sees the Delaneys conflicted with the revelations about one another and how to move forward with their lives.

Following the show's finale, Screen Rant interviewed Jake Lacy to discuss the Apples Never Fall ending, the emotions behind filming Joy's return home, Troy's overall arc in the show and nailing the tricky tonal balance of comedy and drama.

Sam Neill Has Remained Close With His Apples Never Fall Family

Screen Rant: Jake, it's great to see you again. We've chatted for so many amazing things over the past year, and I really loved Apples Never Fall from start to finish. We talked for it before it came out. What's it been like to see the reception, both from critics and audiences, for this show?

Jake Lacy: You know, I tried to dip my toe into the response, and it ended up being like quicksand where I sort of get pulled all the way in. [Chuckles] So now, I try to remain at a distance, so I don't get too caught in what other people think, because the path from my small contribution to what gets put out into the world, to then what the reception is, those two things are so incongruous, that I'll make them relate to one another. But they really shouldn't, you know? So I'm thrilled to hear that, like, family members have reached out or Sam hit us up in a group thing to be like, "People are telling me they really like this." So that's wonderful. Of course, I want people to enjoy it.

I love that Sam is so involved with you guys still in that group chat. I remember he was telling me about that beforehand, and you never know with a big-name actor like Sam, or even an older actor like Sam, whether they'll be able to stick with technology like that.

Jake Lacy: It's so cool, man. He lives in New Zealand, splits his time between Australia and New Zealand, and wherever he's working, and genuinely finds the more false parts of this business laughable. [Laughs] He's such a genuine guy. Yeah, a lot of love for Sam.

I love that. I actually did want to touch on yours and Sam's dynamic in the show. I think it's Stan's episode where you have the big blow up about Harry's father firing him, and you finally learn the truth, but then Troy has to grapple with, like you say in the show, 19 years of resentment towards each other. What was it like going into that sequence, in particular, and working with Sam to find the right beats and the right emotions to deliver in that scene?

Jake Lacy: It was a real collaborative effort between Sam and myself and the director. And the writers provided us with this wonderful script, and figuring out where that ramps up, and where it pulls back, or where maybe Troy thinks he's going to back off for a moment and then gets pulled back in or. You know, trying to create a little push and pull within that scene. But Sam was so wonderful in hanging back, letting me say, "I think it should be this, and then this thing there," and then he would sort of toss in one or two, "Do you worry this line communicates this and not that?" I'd be like, "Yeah, you're absolutely right."

He's got two or three things that he's not even saying, "It's got to be this way" or "I don't want to say it like that", or some kind of declarative thing as much as going like, "To my ear, I worry about XYZ. What do you think?" Which is such a wonderful way to work, especially when both he and Annette, that's one and two on the call sheet. They could absolutely just storm around set [chuckles] and go like, "I'm not doing it like that, and we should cut that half a page, and I'll be over there in the corner when you want to shoot." Instead, they're so invested and engaged and collaborative and thoughtful.

Troy & Brooke's Bond Brought A Funny Realization For Lacy

That's wonderful to hear. Now, when we talked before, we talked about how you and Conor had a great dynamic throughout the show, but I love that with Brooke's reveal you then get more time with Essie and bond with her and the unfortunate situation on her part. What was it like developing that bond with her as the show went on, in comparison to maybe Conor and Alison?

Jake Lacy: Essie is maybe the first person I've worked with where I thought, "Oh, you're young, and I'm old." [Laughs] Ali and I would both be like, "Oh, I'm used to thinking of myself as the young person on set, where it's just a bunch of young kids making a thing." And now, we're both closer to 40 than not and are going, "Oh, there's a whole other crop of people coming up." Essie was wonderful. First, they're a fantastic actor. Secondly, though, as a person is so much more tuned into what's currently happening in the world, that we could debate stuff and discuss stuff. I felt like I learned so much from Essie.

The dynamic is lovely, in terms of actors and as characters, in that each of these siblings has a love for the others, and also judgments or takes issue with those dynamics at different times. So, in a way, I think Brooke and Troy seem like they have the least in common, in terms of age and circumstances, or things like that, but there's still a love and a care and a compassion for the other one [to have] room to make mistakes that I think Troy doesn't necessarily afford to his other siblings.

It's like, "It's my kid sister, and they're hurting, or have made a mistake, and there's some shame there. And I know what that's like, I know what it's like to blow it all up, and not know why you're that way." So, I really appreciated that both Essie and I got those moments together. And also that Brooke and Troy got those moments together.

I love that, even with their shared tennis history, like you say, there's definitely that love and kinship that might be there for them more than it might be for the other siblings. Now, talking about blowing up Troy's life, I found the affair reveal pretty funny as far as Troy's boss' reaction. This is a show that walks a really fine line between comedic and dramatic, as far as tone goes. So, when you're going into that scene, where you're confessing to your boss that it's you, as he's having this breakdown, that's a scene that could be just as much a gutbuster as it is a heartbreaker for his character in particular. What is it like for you, as a performer, going into that scene and trying to find that right tonal balance?

Jake Lacy: Dawn Shadforth directed those episodes, and I absolutely adore her, and our time working together. She was so intuitive, but also with totally different results than myself, which was wonderful. I go into it and think like, "So you want to do this? Do you want to do that?" And maybe we'd do a rehearsal or a couple of tapes, and then she'd be like, "I think it's actually this." Which is something I never would have arrived at, but once she said that, I was like, "Oh my god, yeah, let's do that for sure."

The longer I work, the more things that I work on, and the more things I get to be a part of that do kind of toe that line, or that dip sometimes into the drama of a situation, and sometimes dip into the comedy of that same situation, the more I'm like, "Just play it straight. Play it for keeps, play it for real, play it like the stakes are totally real." For my money, the best version is performing it that way, and then the comedy ends up being in the rhythm of how they've shot it, and how they edit it, and what music is under it, or how long they hang on a certain shot. In a weird way, the responsibility of finding those rhythms is in the edit and not in the performance, which is tricky, because I want so badly to lean into this or that, depending on the day or the scene, or the person I'm working with, or the mood I'm in, or whatever.

But it ends up looking goofy, you know what I mean? It looks like a guy who's playing it up, and to me, the things I laugh at the hardest in my own life are the desperation of someone who's really committed to do a thing that's a terrible idea. That's way funnier than goofiness to me. So then, there's scenes where, whether it's comedy or drama, there's takes that I really liked, and then in the edit, they choose a different one. Not for that scene, specifically. Or they'll lay music under it that you go, "Oh, that's communicating a very different thing than what I was going for." And sometimes that's great, because they work in juxtaposition, and sometimes, it's a bummer, because you go, "Oh, man, they're really telegraphing to the audience, 'You should feel this way.'"

But, to me, it's more opaque than that. There's a real surrendering to the process to go, "I'm going to commit fully to my thing, and let's build out a bunch of options, and try to make them all feel organic. And then in the edit, you can pick and choose and move." I would see Annette do multiple different options and takes, and, of course, all grounded and organic and heartfelt, because she's an incredible performer and actor. But I think she knew to give them options, and to be okay with going like, "Now it's their thing. I've given them the raw materials, essentially, to build something out. It's not my job to go sit in the edit bay and go like, 'Don't use that. There's a much better take later that's really interesting. Go use that one.'"

Joy's Return Home Was A "Funny" Thing To Film For One "Technical" Reason

One thing I did want to talk about was when Annette comes home, when Joy comes home, and you and the siblings are there. You all look scared, but you're also eager to get to see her. What was it like for you and the other sibling actors on the day, being like, "Okay, how do we play this? What emotions do we express? What are we feeling right now?"

Jake Lacy: Yeah, that's a funny one. Like, you're preparing as an actor for, "I've been mourning the loss of my mother, assuming that she's dead. Now, my dad's in jail, the responsibility and guilt and shame of being like, 'I put him there, essentially.' And also, mom's alive, and also, she's coming home. And also, my siblings know all my secrets.'" There's a lot leading up to that emotionally, and so we're both preparing for that, and then trying to keep that kind of boiling on a backburner somewhere in order to also figure out, "Who should come out the door first when we go? Is this too far down the driveway or do we come closer? Is it weirder if we come back?"

It's so technical in that way, because for the sake of the tension of the thing having to fudge a little bit maybe what you would do, normally you'd burst out the door and come screaming down the driveway, but it's harder to build that into the tension of they see her, she comes out of the car, she sees them, do they go to her? It's like that tension of, "What happens now?" It really has exploded that if you go, "They burst out the door, and then I hug Mom," it's like, "Oh, well that moment was sort of nothing." So, it's tricky. And then it's really fun. Joy comes into the house, and we're all emotional and sort of relieved and fawning over her, being like, "Please don't ever leave again" and "Are you okay? Can I get you anything?"

The way that you care for a person you thought wasn't in the world anymore, and now is in front of you. And then her ease, and borderline indifference, to Savannah/Lindsay almost killing her and then just being out in the world somewhere, but the kids kick back into their own thing again. [Chuckles] Troy's like, "What are they charging her with? She's just out there? Well, this isn't exciting." He can't help but get pulled right back into who he is. And Amy being like, "I really think we should call somebody," is trying to manipulate it, but also be emotionally supportive.

And it's cool to see that in the writing and directing and the edit and performance. This weird push-pull of going like, "They are making progress as people, but they also still are who they were 15 minutes ago." It's not leaps and bounds of growth, it's just a little step toward this thing. And then also, there's been this huge build toward this moment, and then for the kids, I think for everyone, there's a weird like, "Now what?"

The balloon was filled with all this fear and suspicion and gossip and rumor, and then it pops and just kind of drifts back to the ground, and you go, "Oh, we're all here and kind of messed-up individuals. Uh oh. Now what?" And that kind of is where we leave them, in a weird deflated way, it is going like, "Oh, when all the scariness of this extra thing is gone, you're still left with yourself and the people around you, and you'll have to take these baby steps toward independence, and seeing one another as people. And continue that care and growth." That's what sort of lies ahead for them, where we leave you off with the Delaneys.

About Apples Never Fall

Apples Never Fall is based on the New York Times bestselling novel by Liane Moriarty and centers on the seemingly picture-perfect Delaney family. Former tennis coaches Stan (Sam Neill) and Joy (Annette Bening) have sold their successful tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives.

While they look forward to spending time with their four adult children (Alison Brie, Jake Lacy, Conor Merrigan-Turner, Essie Randles), everything changes when a wounded young woman knocks on Joy and Stan's door, bringing the excitement they've been missing. But when Joy suddenly disappears, her children are forced to re-examine their parents' so-called perfect marriage as their family’s darkest secrets begin to surface.

Check out our previous Apples Never Fall interviews with:

• Melanie Marnich
• Sam Neill
• Alison Brie & Essie Randles
• Jake Lacy & Conor Merrigan Turner
• Georgia Flood

Apples Never Fall is now streaming in its entirety on Peacock.