Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’ Episode 2

On the surface, NBC’s newest sitcom, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, is about a disgraced football star (Tracy Morgan) trying to rewrite his legacy. But it’s also about the guy holding the camera because, as these first two episodes prove, millennial filmmaker Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe) is not just there to “document” the former athlete. He’s there to poke around until that scar talks.

It’s why Episode 2’s “Nittany Means Big” hits as hard as it does. In Monday’s latest half-hour, we learn that Arthur isn’t satisfied with the clean version of Dinkins’ “food poisoning game.” Once he notices Reggie has Penn State newspapers dated before the game even happened, it’s all over, and the truth gets dragged into broad daylight, where we learn of a mascot theft plan, a gross trash-water escape, and vomiting that wasn’t a freak accident so much as a natural consequence of trash-water.

As Erika Alexander’s Monica accidentally gives away a crucial tell while Arthur interviews her for the documentary, the award-winning actress frames what that does to Reggie perfectly in an interview with Collider. “That’s the beginning of him showing that he’s an unreliable narrator about his own life,” she says as Reggie’s reaction is pure Reggie — anger, denial, and control-freak panic. But Morgan’s take on Alexander’s note is almost weirdly sincere: “Nah, the blow was to the public… The lie was to the public.”

It’s that denial that series co-creator Robert Carlock also points out that Reggie and Arthur share in common, and more so than their clashing egos. As the former showrunner for <em>30 Rock</em> puts it, they both have “a scandal, a failure, or something that they feel like they need to get past.”

In our exclusive interviews with actors Morgan and Alexander, alongside showrunners Carlock and Sam Means, we unpack how Episode 2’s “food poisoning” reveal rewrites Reggie’s myth, why Monica’s been carrying the fallout for years, how Arthur’s own scandal fuels his obsession with the truth — and what all of it sets up as the fallout only gets messier in the remaining eight episodes this season. Including those 30 Rock Easter eggs you might have spotted!

Erika Alexander Says the “Food Poisoning” Truth Proves Reggie’s an Unreliable Narrator

Reggie can’t take the truth behind the “food poisoning game,” and Monica’s buried frustration starts to surface in a way that changes everything.

COLLIDER: Episode 2 sort of reveals the truth behind the food poisoning game, and it reframes Reggie’s legend. Is the bigger blow that he lied to the public, or that he’s been lying to himself about what kind of player or person he was?

MORGAN: Nah, the blow was to the public. I know who I am! I know what I am. The lie was to the public. That was the bigger blow — when you betray the public. I play football! They believed in me! And then I gambled.

ALEXANDER: And you know what? That’s absolutely the truth. That’s the beginning of him showing that he’s an unreliable narrator about his own life. And they both shared the lie. Actually, she accidentally gave it away when Tobin was interviewing Monica. She didn’t mean to, but then suddenly it just pokes holes in a person that’s kind of tired of being a pincushion. Tracy doesn’t want all this stuff. He’s mad at her. He’s like, “Why did you tell him that?” And she’s right because Reggie can’t take it.

MORGAN: She called him a bearded infant.

ALEXANDER: [Laughs] Well, you know, that’s a pretty correct description.

Yeah, it is. [Laughs] Erika, Episode 2 makes it very clear that Monica has been carrying a lot of the history. What’s the one thing that you say you would say that she refuses to say out loud because she knows it would change everything?

ALEXANDER: I think that maybe as a woman and a protector of her family, she has dreams of her own, and that she’s tired of sort of sacrificing them for the messes that Reggie Dinkins keeps causing in her life, and she wants that freedom. She’s right about the agency, and she wants that. I think she’ll refuse to say it, but maybe that’s her journey is to start to get more for her life and not just work for her ex-husband.

MORGAN: She ain’t going nowhere.

ALEXANDER: You see how it is?

MORGAN: She said that in the pilot. She said she don’t need me. I said, “Good, then go on with your bad behind.”

ALEXANDER: Tania, do you hear this?

MORGAN: And when I was outside with the radio, what happened? She came back to Papa. I had the radio, and she refused to let me put the album on, and she came right back to me.

ALEXANDER: What’s that syndrome called when a person can’t leave their torturer?

Stockholm syndrome.

ALEXANDER: Stockholm syndrome.

MORGAN: Stockholm!

ALEXANDER: That’s exactly what she’s got. [Laughs]

MORGAN: Stockholm in the house!

ALEXANDER: And he’s happy about it, Tania.

MORGAN: Stockholm in the house!

Robert Carlock Explains How Far ‘30 Rock’ Easter Eggs Can Go Without Overdoing It

Carlock explains the Easter eggs, and Sam Means co-signs that while the nods are fun, the show’s goal is still to be its own weird thing.

COLLIDER: I read an interview where Tina Fey, who is the show’s EP, said there are 30 Rock Easter eggs throughout the entire first season. What was the rule for you guys? How far should you go before it stops feeling like the same universe and becomes something new?

ROBERT CARLOCK: That’s a great way of putting it. I hadn’t thought of it. Part of it, to be honest, is like, “Well, we need a name for this wine. Well, we already have the Donaghy Estates label. Legal has already cleared it.” We did try to do one Easter egg that we tried to put in. We needed a name for a fancy store, and in the 30 Rock world, there was a store called Vattené, which means “go away” in Italian. Evidently, since then, someone has started a clothing store called Vattené, so it didn’t clear! Our own stupid name didn’t clear.

When does it get to be too much? I’m not sure. I don’t want this to be in the same universe as 30 Rock. I think maybe eventually, in Season 7, Tracy Jordan will play Reggie in the movie or in a sketch on The Girlie Show. But we do want it to share that DNA at the very least. It is a little nod both to hopefully people who liked that show and enjoy finding those little things but also promise this is going to be a weird take on the world we live in and be full of jokes.

In Episode 2, that is the first time the show really punctures Reggie’s mythology with the truth behind the food poisoning game. When you built that reveal, what did you want the audience to realize about the stories that Reggie tells himself versus everyone else?

CARLOCK: There is a level of this. One of the reasons Tania wanted characters like Arthur included is this idea where people can easily present themselves through social media today. At its heart this is a family comedy but there is an underlying theme regarding how we present ourselves to others. Reggie and Arthur share significant reasons for wanting control over their narratives due to past scandals or failures which they seek redemption from.

SAM MEANS: Yeah, what he said.

How Daniel Radcliffe Helped Fine-Tune Arthur for ‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’

Means says Arthur was built for Radcliffe from day one but real magic happens in their Tracy-Daniel “feedback loop” once they’re together.

SAM:, Daniel has such specific comedic rhythm. Did Arthur change when you saw Daniel play him?

SAM MEANS: That’s interesting because we’ve worked with Daniel before on [The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt] interactive project as well as his role in our animated show,Mulligan. We were excited to showcase his comedic talents on broadcast television since many may not be familiar with them..........

CARLOCK: We wrote Arthur specifically with him in mind.........
SAM MEANS:: Exactly! From day one when we envisioned this character—a self-important director—we had Daniel at heart during writing sessions.SAM MEANS:: Exactly! From day one when we envisioned this character—a self-important director—we had Daniel at heart during writing sessions.SAM MEANS:: Exactly! From day one when we envisioned this character—a self-important director—we had Daniel at heart during writing sessions.SAM MEANS:: Exactly! From day one when we envisioned this character—a self-important director—we had Daniel at heart during writing sessions.SAM MEANS:: Exactly! From day one when we envisioned this character—a self-important director—we had Daniel at heart during writing sessions.SAM MEANS:: Exactly! From day one when we envisioned this character—a self-important director—we had Daniel at heart during writing sessions.

CARLOCK:: You’re always learning.: You’re always learning.: You’re always learning.: You’re always learning.: You’re always learning.: You’re always learning.