Tabitha Matthews has had perhaps the wildest journey on FROM.
She and her family entered the town, grieving the loss of Thomas, and were quickly enveloped in the horror awaiting them in the form of complicated town dynamics, monsters, and more pain.
Through it all, Tabitha has remained steadfastly protecting her family, and the early part of FROM Season 4 sees her and her children dealing with yet another cataclysmic loss.
Jim’s death left Tabitha not only a widow but also a single parent in the midst of a nightmare.
With the town in a constant state of chaos, and things seemingly getting worse by the day, Tabitha made the decision during FROM Season 4 Episode 3 to return to the bottle tree in hopes it would lead her back to the lighthouse and thus back into the real world.
Things didn’t go as planned, because they so rarely do in this world, and now Tabitha is seemingly left to find another way forward.
We chatted with FROM star Catalina Sandino Moreno about Tabitha’s decisions, the dynamic between Tabitha and Jade, how she’ll begin to process Jim’s death, and what’s ahead this season.
The biggest thing for Tabitha’s character this season, I would assume, would be Jim’s death. It’s probably the biggest death in the show’s history and another devastating thing for the Matthews’ family.
How are we going to see Tabitha grieve and handle that loss, or is she really not even ready to process it yet?
I think she’s going to make rushed decisions. She’s not going to think things through. I think the grieving will be overshadowed by other things that happened in town. I don’t think there’s a time for her to just grieve.
For some people, grieving is staying in bed all day doing nothing. For some others, they’re just like, “I need to do stuff for me in order not to go into the hole.”
But I think it’s a very slippery slope with her because at any moment, she just can go into that hole, and she just wants to do stuff and to be helpful and useful and not think about the reality of having lost Jim.
Tabitha is a very proactive person. So, that’s what it felt like she was doing in this episode. She just went right back into that proactive mode.
Which is so sad. Which is so sad because he was the father of her children. He was her partner for more than 20 years. It’s like, how can you just keep going?
I don’t know if you’re a mother, but I am. And in the pandemic, I remember my kids saying, “Are we going to be okay?” And I’m like, “I don’t know.”
But then you just have to put on that face of like, “We’re going to be fine. I’m going to take care of you. But I don’t know if I’m going to take care of myself. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
That’s what you have to do when you’re a mom, I guess. You just have to put on a tougher front and be like, “You’re fine. I am in charge. I’ll take care of you.” And I think that sometimes, Tabitha doesn’t do that.
She’s just like, “Oh, where’s the exit? Where’s the exit? I need the exit. I went through the bottle tree once, and I’m going to do it again, and I’m going to save everyone.” And I think that’s a rash decision. Those are the rash decisions that sometimes she makes.
We saw Tabitha and Jade grow close last season, but this season, ever since the reveal with Miranda and Christopher, she’s keeping him at arm’s length. Then, after Jim’s death, she takes out a lot of her emotions on him, as well.
How do you feel about that dynamic, and how does it evolve this season?
Well, first of all, it was horrible for her to say what she said to Jade. I find what she did disgusting, but that’s grieving. She’s heartbroken.
Jade was the one who was trying to find answers.
Jade was the one who was disrupting shit and dragging Jim to, “Let’s go, and you take something with a car and the tower and all that stuff,” and encouraging Jim to do stuff. But it was Jade who was doing things.
I think that was in the back of her head at that moment. And when she said that, I, as a viewer, saw that, and I was like, “Oh, that was so horrible. No one should die in this crazy town. No one should die.” And not Jade, because Jade, the only thing he was trying to do was find answers.
And that’s the trick. Knowledge comes at a cost, as we now know.
Jade, I think he has found many answers to many questions, and he has done everything imaginable to find answers to leave that place. So, I don’t know. It was tough to even watch the last episode.
It was like, “Oh, I shouldn’t have done that.”
And it was a small thing in this episode, but Tabitha, as she prepared to go through the bottle tree again, left that note for Donna, seemingly wanting Donna to be the one to look after Julie and Ethan.
Why do you think it was Donna that she put that much trust in?
Well, she’s the maternal figure. She’s the one who takes care of the Colony House. She’s the Boyd of the Colony House. She has everything in control. She’s tough. I mean, I will never leave my children in anyone’s care.
Mind you, going through the bottle tree is not an easy task. I mean, she went through the bottle tree, but then she woke up in the hospital, all banged up and in pain. She’s willing to do that because of her children, because she wants to. No one wants to die anymore in that town.
She’s willing to go through pain, physical pain, to save them. I think Donna would be the one to take care of them. And when you see Donna talking to Ethan and how much love Ethan has for Donna, and how much respect, I think Julie will follow what Donna says, too.
But just for the record, I will never leave my kids. Nope. “We’re going to the hole together. Let’s go to the hole together. Let’s go to the barn together. Let’s do this thing together. You’re never leaving my sight.”
Tabitha came into the town, shouldering a lot, and obviously, things have just gotten worse and worse. How would you describe who she is now compared to who she was when we first met her?
I feel that at the beginning, she was not as inquisitive as she is now. I think she questions things much more right now, and especially now that Jimmy’s not there, I think she’s going to push a lot into finding answers.
At the beginning, it felt like Jim wasn’t very helpful with everything she was going through. I saw monsters, and he’s like, “Well, maybe that’s not.” I’m like, “No, but I saw a monster, and they were right in front of us.”
And a partner not believing in what you went through, I think that was something that would not push her to keep finding that stuff. But now that she saw that he died, it’s something that is going to push her to just keep trying, keep finding stuff, keep pushing, keep looking.
And with Jade, I think they’re a great companionship to just keep doing this together.
What can you tease for us about the rest of FROM Season 4, either from Tabitha’s perspective or just the whole thing?
I mean, the FROM writers are so good and so smart. It’s always like you’re going to find a lot of answers. There’s going to be a lot more action, which I love when that happens.
There’s going to be a lot of beautiful talks with children, and Victor, and there’s just going to be these beautiful, nuanced moments in this craziness of what FROM is. I think it’s going to be a great balance this season.
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You can watch FROM on Sundays at 9/8c on MGM+.
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The post Catalina Sandino Moreno Gets Candid About FROM Season 4, Tabitha’s Grief, and Jim’s Death appeared first on TV Fanatic.