‘9-1-1: Nashville’s Ryan Phillippe Talks Rogue’s ‘Obsession’ With the Plagues Case

The criminal plaguing Music City on 9-1-1: Nashville has now reached out — and that means our favorite first responders could be in some serious trouble. TV Insider spoke to the newest cast member, Ryan Phillippe, who plays Detective Rogue Kelly, about that and more. Warning: Spoilers for 9-1-1: Nashville Season 2 Episode 2 ahead!

After the 113 and Rogue successfully rescue two babies in pipes in the wall, with some help over FaceTime from Buck (9-1-1‘s Oliver Stark) and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) chiming in, since the two have experience, and save the teen mother, the other major call for the first responders is once again linked to the person bringing the plagues to Nashville.

The Pharaoh, as the person calls themselves, even calls into 9-1-1. “No, this is your emergency,” they say, using a voice changer and telling Cammie (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) to forbid first responders from interfering with their mission. “During the last exodus, the plagues were sent to destroy me. This time, I send them back to you. This is my revenge. … I am divine inspired.” There’s even an allusion to the next plague, with “a boil that needs to be lanced” and “You’re So Vain” playing in the background, as Cammie and Rogue figure out when she plays the callback for him. A group of looksmaxxers is covered in boils (for some, fatal), and with the connection to the ongoing threat, Rogue joins the 113 at the scene. Don (Chris O’Donnell), of course, still isn’t happy, especially as his entire firehouse becomes obsessed with the podcast about the detective’s work catching the Staten Island Strangler and his son Ryan’s (Michael Provost) interest in the current case.

The episode ends with The Pharaoh calling Cammie. “I warned you what would happen,” the person says, but she refuses to not send help where it’s needed. “There’s nowhere to hide from me. … I see you, Cammie.” As for what The Pharaoh is planning next, “God said let there be light. There is light. I say let there be darkness, and there will be darkness.”

As Phillippe tells us in the video interview above, “It’s darkness, but not in the traditional sense of the word.” Also coming up? Snakes.

He promises, “This season, in comparison to last, has a lot more twists and turns and cliffhangers and moments that will shock the audience because this serial killer is unpredictable. Even though he’s using the biblical plagues, they’re his version of it, so they don’t always end up working out the way you would imagine. It’s his own twisted version of what that plague might be. And my character, you’ll see as the season progresses, becomes obsessed with stopping this guy. It’s what he lives, eats, breathes, sleeps. I mean, it haunts him in his dreams because of the scope of what this guy is doing to the city of Nashville and how many people are actually being killed along the way. It becomes a full-on obsession to find this guy and to stop him.”

Speaking of his obsession, we can’t help but notice that parts of the profile that Rogue comes up with for The Pharaoh could very well be describing himself — extreme confidence, charismatic, good-looking, 40 or older. Is this criminal supposed to be a mirror to Rogue?

“I think that’s something that the writers were playing with to begin with, and it’s just stuff to put in the minds of the viewer and to have them try to unravel and solve this mystery themselves,” says Phillippe.

The Pharaoh has already reached out directly to Cammie and warned her. So, how worried is Rogue about this guy coming after him? According to Phillippe, it’s a mix of concern and “let him come.”

He explains, “There’s the potential for him to hurt, harm, or kill people close to him,” and he has sons and is getting to know the other characters, “so, as much as Rogue is kind of a brash, seen-it-all, tough guy, I think that he has cares and concerns that are genuine for the people around him and in his life.”

That means Rogue is going to have his hands full, so don’t expect to see any romance for him any time soon; though we do feel like there could be sparks with Cammie, we can’t forget about her boyfriend. “I think romance for Rogue is going to have to wait until the Pharaoh is caught because there’s no time for anything else,” admits Phillippe.

Watch the full video interview about with Ryan Phillippe about Rogue, his dynamics with Don, Ryan, a possible 9-1-1 crossover for an I Know What You Did Last Summer reunion with Jennifer Love Hewitt, and more, and The Pharaoh.

9-1-1: Nashville, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC