Camryn Manheim Teases ‘Murder in a Small Town’s Wedding Family Rivalry Episode

Things are going to get very, very personal for the people involved in Murder in a Small Town‘s second episode of the season, “Blood Wedding.” As the title indicates, there’s a nuptial ceremony at play, but things begin in a dark place due to the bride and groom’s warring families, and it only gets worse when one member of the bridal party turns up dead.

Guest starring in the episode is Camryn Manheim, the Emmy-winning alum of The Practice and Law & Order, among other shows, as Jocelyn Tait, the mother of the groom who loathes her soon-to-be in-laws, the Connellys.

To get a sense of what we can expect from the bitter family feud ahead, TV Insider caught up with Camryn Manheim to get a preview of “Blood Wedding!”

You have a long history in procedural television. What do you think is special about Murder in a Small Town, and what made you want to come and be a part of the season?

Camryn Manheim: Oh, wow. Where do I begin? Let’s just talk about the environment and surroundings. Being on the Gold Coast in Gibsons is it’s so magical and so special. Any actor who has the good fortune to be asked, I’d just say it’s good for your soul to go and do it, and then you couple that with the incredible team with Kim [Roberts] and the producers and Amanda Tapping, the director, it’s just like a family love fest, which just was what the doctor ordered. Everything’s been so crazy in the film and TV industry, and to just go and visit a show that is so beautifully run and has such a good heart and spirit was really good for me.

What can you tease about the episode?

For me, the episode was about every mother and mother-in-law’s nightmare: when you are not fond of the family that your child is marrying into. And when I say not fond, that’s just really nice for she actively despises all of them. Here you are in this phenomenal, gorgeous surrounding where everyone should be all happy, and it was just a big hatefest.

One of the producers described it as the Montagues vs. the Capulets. Would you agree?

I would not be surprised if that was the inspiration for this episode because it really was this old family feud dating back to 1934 over a real estate dispute, where one family emerges richer and the other one struggles for the next 80 years. You have one family that’s really wealthy and controls the whole industry that they’re in, and another family who knows that it was a very unjust action, and it sets in motion generations of the people who are really taking [it out on each other]. So that’s where we begin our episode. And you can imagine the frustration and stress that came from these two young lovers who have come to get married. And as you know, the title of the show is ‘Blood Wedding,’ so I think that’s probably a little tip on what we’re expecting from the episode.

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Will your character be a suspect in the case?

Oh yeah, she’s a suspect for good reason. She is. She hates the family. She feels the family did her wrong. She actually blames the family for someone who died in her family. She’s a very forceful, strong, and powerful woman. She’s incredibly capable of doing this, and she is the number one suspect, as she should be.

I understand that things get a little physical towards the end as well. Can you tease anything about what you had to do?

First of all, I always love to do my own stunts, and so this was exciting for me. But I’m just going to start off with saying the Connolly family are a bunch of idiots, and they do stupid a** things. And you will see, when you watch the show, just how the stupidity has been passed down from generation to generation. And now the youngest Connolly takes matters into his own hands, and that involves my character, Jocelyn, and he’s just no match for me. That’s all I’m gonna say.

Do you think this is a character who could come back at some point in the story? I mean, it is a small town.

Yeah. I mean, anything is possible. And I would love that because it really was a special and magical experience to be up there. A lot of times, you do shows like this, and it just feels like the machine, like it’s run by the big gun, and this family was doing it. So I loved the director, Amanda Tapping. I would follow her anywhere, and I loved the producers. And it all stems from the top. Rossif [Sutherland] was incredible to work with and so generous, and I would love to come back. I mean, I’m serious, I would love to come back. And, yeah, who knows? The writers can get very creative, so I pose that challenge to the Murder in a Small Town team.

Murder in a Small Town, Tuesdays, 8/7c, Fox