ShÅgunâs Director Talks About Filming Episode 9âs Spoilery Death Scene, And How A Positive COVID Test Almost Derailed The Whole Thing
Warning: spoilers for Episode 9 of FXâs Shogun, âCrimson Sky,â are going to be heavily discussed.
In a series about measured sacrifice and honor, itâs probably fair to say that even the most diehard fans of ShÅgun are still reeling from the death that capped off last weekâs episode. âCrimson Skyâ is the penultimate entry in FX's James Clavell adaptation that has been sweeping the 2024 TV schedule, and itâs set up quite a high bar of emotion that this weekâs finale will definitely try and clear.
After discussing the episode with its director, Frederick E.O. Toye, I came to appreciate how those final moments for a beloved character were crafted. And on top of that, Mr. Toye shared some interesting stories about its production, among which was an account of the time a positive COVID test almost derailed the entire episode.
Letâs Talk About Shogunâs Spoiler Death From Chapter Nine - âCrimson Skyâ
Consider this your final spoiler warning for ShÅgunâs âCrimson Skyâ episode, which saw the death of the honorable Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai). While she survived challenging the guards of Lord Ishido Kazunari (Takehiro Hira), and narrowly avoided committing seppuku, it was one final twist that sealed her fate.
In order to avoid capture, Mariko stood in front of the door that the shinobi sent to capture her were about to blow up. Closing out the penultimate episode, Marikoâs defiance in the face of her captor delivered her to the death sheâd been begging for over the years.
It was certainly a moment that landed with a huge impact, as some ShÅgun viewers were probably as stunned and upset as John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis). However, both this ending, and Anna Sawaiâs favorite ShÅgun battle scene with Mariko fighting for her freedom, presented some interesting wrinkles of their own.
The COVID Test That Almost Derailed Shogun Episode 9
Letâs start with that Naginata fight that saw Mariko-sama making what looked like the first of her three potential final stands. As CinemaBlend was given the opportunity to speak with director Frederick E.O. Toye about his work directing ShÅgun, the discussion favored his work on the final two episodes of the seasonâs run.
And in recalling how Anna Sawaiâs huge sendoff came together, the veteran television helmer tipped his hat to one of his fellow directors on the project, Takeshi Fukunaga. That tribute was paid thanks to his assistance when the following COVID test scenario presented itself:
I have to give credit to Takeshi, who directed Episode 7, because Takeshi filled in for me during one of those days of shooting that scene. ⊠The long story that I'll cut short is that me and the DP, Sam McCurdy, had caught COVID during the Naginata fight. So we had the whole sequence pre-storyboarded and pre-vis, and Lauro had blocked it all out. And on a Monday [or Friday], I think Sam got the positive test. And then on Monday, I got a positive test.
Admittedly, thereâs never a good time to catch COVID, but even worse if weâre looking at the viewpoint of a director for ShÅgun, coming down with that nastiness during the production of the second-to-last story in the ten-episode series. Thankfully, technology and the assistance of director Takeshi Fukunaga came to the rescue, as Fredrick Toye would mention further along in our talk:
I was directing from a hotel room, just like I'm in now. And during the Naginata scene where she's trying to escape, I had the monitors from the set on the television screen in the hotel room, plus a radio, talking to the assistant director, and two Zoom meetings. One Zoom meeting with the camera operator ⊠and another Zoom meeting with a gal named Crystal, who was one of our production assistants on set, walking me around and talking to the actors with an iPad. So I actually was on an iPad directing the action sequence in the castle, during the escape scene.
All told, Frederick E.O. Toye claimed that he was gone for three days of the seven that it took to capture Marikoâs ShÅgun showdown. But if there was a greater challenge, itâs capturing Anna Sawaiâs big death scene. Especially when those final heroic moments almost looked a lot different!
How The Death Of Mariko Was Almost Depicted In Shogun
The final moment of âChapter Nine - Crimson Skyâ happens in a literal flash. As soon as the explosion takes out Toda Mariko, the episode basically ends with that scene as the cliffhanger to ShÅgunâs finale, âChapter Ten - A Dream of a Dream.â But as Frederick E.O. Toye was preparing to shoot the moment, ideas on how heâd play with everything from the sound to the roomâs reaction to that moment were on the table; which led to this initial approach to shooting Marikoâs death:
So I had done this shot, and I'm really glad that it's not in the show, but I had done this shot with a Phantom camera, which is a camera that shoots at like 1200 frames per second. So super, super slow motion. And we were filming on her, the actual moment of explosion, of when [the door] explodes. And I wanted to sort of suspend time.
Just as ShÅgun valued authentically capturing Japanese culture, all involved also wanted to stay loyal to the emotional stakes that had been set up throughout the entire season before. That approach in particular helped reshape the sacrifice of Mariko, which meant scrapping that slow motion shot that Toye had originally planned. Rethinking things through that lens, hereâs why Fred and the team decided to scrap what theyâd done:
It was cool, but it didn't work in context because I think Justin [Marks] and Rachel [Kondo] and all the team, when they saw it in context, it was far more powerful to have it be subtle, to just have it be, in a way, the sacrifice. ⊠You don't want to extend that moment because the inevitability of it has been laid out for several episodes. This entire episode, and her performance in that episode, is about the inevitability of this sacrifice. It had to happen. So by the time you get to it, it's not about suspending time. It's about the reality of it, the immediacy of it.
Framing this shot of ShÅgun wasnât all for naught though, as Frederick Toye and the powers that be found even more of the emotional core of the moment in its execution. And in the final part of Frederickâs story about capturing this massive moment, he shared a funny story about how Anna Sawaiâs birthday offered an opportunity to play a good natured prank.
How Frederick E.O. Toye Was âComplicitâ In Ruining Anna Sawaiâs Birthday With That Unused Shot
Many people would probably say that theyâd rather not work on their birthday, and who can really blame them? ShÅgunâs Anna Sawai apparently didnât have that option, since her birthday happened to be the day of shooting Toda Marikoâs final farewell. Keep that in mind as you read this final section about how the most unlikely of celebrations took place during a moment of death:
It happened to have been her birthday on that day. And so the shot was a phantom camera, super slow motion with her reacting. It's the same camera we used for the arrow in episode five, you know, so, so super slow motion, you're gonna die. This is it. And we had a big air cannon blasting at her face. And so it was like, it's a huge thing. Like the camera's really loud, everything, so it was like ready in 3, 2, 1, and then we were like, happy birthday. And we brought the cake out, like in that moment. And it was like the meanest thing you could do to somebody, especially as an actor. And I was completely complicit in this idea to destroy her birthday, with a slow motion camera shot of her death.
Shows like Sh?gun are usually terribly serious affairs, which means that letting off steam on set is usually important. After learning about the various obstacles and one massive prank that helped make âChapter Nine - Crimson Skyâ as fantastic as it is, that lesson seems more important than ever. While the future past the finale is yet to be seen, the entire run of FXâs latest hit serious has been a thing of beauty, even in the darkest of times.
If youâre ready to finish the journey, or to trace the entire path from square one, you can do just that. All ten episodes of ShÅgun are currently available for those who hold a Hulu subscription. Just be ready to question what the words âCrimson Skyâ truly mean once youâve reached the end.
