‘The Audacity’: Billy Magnussen Explains Finale Twist & Teases ‘Scary’ Season 2

Life-changing secrets were revealed in The Audacity Season 1 finale on Sunday, May 31, setting up the tension to come in The Audacity Season 2, which is already green-lit and starts filming this year. Billy Magnussen tells TV Insider that what happened to his character, Duncan Park, in the finale could be a “driving force” in the story of Season 2. Warning: The Audacity finale spoilers ahead!

In The Audacity Season 1 closer, Duncan presented his data-farming tech to a crowd of peers who hate him for selling technology that scrapes personal biological and genealogical data from millions of people without their informed consent. Before the presentation started, Dr. Gary Felder (Paul Adelstein), told Duncan that he was a sociopath. Duncan told Gary to spread the word, because tech people respect sociopaths. In the presentation, he said that the crowd just doesn’t like what his decisions reflect about them. But then, his own algorithm turned on him.

Duncan’s P.I.N.A.T.A. technology revealed to him in real-time, and in front of a full audience, that his daughter, Jamison (Ava Marie Telek), is not his biological child. While Duncan’s wealth has made him immoral, Magnussen says that being Jamison’s dad is something he’s good done in his life, so this was an earth-shattering revelation. A fundraiser for her school was going on at the same time in the same building. Duncan went there immediately confronted his wife, Lili (Lucy Punch), about it.

Duncan’s late business partner, Hamish, who died by suicide before the events of Season 1, is Jamison’s biological father. What will Duncan do with this information?

“As he said earlier in the season, you can’t un-f**k that bell,” Magnussen tells TV Insider. “That’s going to be a driving force. How do you go back into a relationship or into your life when you have the revelation that your child is not yours, who you spent 18 years raising? I think it’s devastating. And where does someone with that amount of energy put that? I think it’s a very exciting story arc, and I’m excited to see what Jonathan Glatzer puts together.”

Liane Hentscher / AMC

Even if she’s not his biological child, Duncan still raised Jamison. Will his ego get in the way of maintaining a relationship with the struggling teen?

“I think that’s the juggling balance,” Magnussen says. “She’s one of the most important things in his life that he truly loves and cares for. He feels like he’s a good father. It’s a double-edged sword. And I think you see it all the time in relationships. Someone cheats or whatever, the hate for the partner might be bigger than the love for the child, which is scary. What’s more important: the love or the hate?”

Related

'The Audacity's Sarah Goldberg on Why AI Won't Kill Hollywood

“I think what people need to understand about our show: No one should like our characters,” Magnussen adds. “They’re horrible people, and that’s the point. They’re out there in the world, and these people are making decisions for 7.2 billion people. That’s scary.”

The season ended with these wealthy elites getting harsh reminders that they’re human, that no amount of money can shield them from experiencing consequences. Duncan responded to this by trying to regain power through a deal with Carl Bardolph (Zach Galifianakis). He sold P.I.N.A.T.A. to Carl for $1 in exchange for his reinstatement as CEO.

Elsewhere, therapist JoAnne (Sarah Goldberg), who’s been blackmailed by Duncan all season after he caught her doing insider trading, got a call from the FBI as the episode ended. Has she been caught, or is something bigger going on with her high-profile clients?

The Audacity, Season 2 Premiere, TBA, AMC, Streaming on AMC+

More Headlines:

• ‘The Audacity’: Billy Magnussen Explains Finale Twist & Teases ‘Scary’ Season 2
• ‘Jersey Shore’ Star Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino Eying New Jersey Governor’s Office
• ‘Alaskan Bush People’: Noah Brown Shares New Details About Matt Brown’s Death After Finding Body
• David Spade Reveals He Auditioned to Play a ‘Full House’ Lead
• Stephen Colbert Fans Beg Him to ‘Save PBS’ With New Show in Viral Campaign