Movies & TV The Terror: Devil in Silver The Terror: Devil in Silver’s Karyn Kusama Explains Second Episode’s Very Messy Scene In interviews with Reactor, the director, as well as co-showrunner Chris Cantwell, share how Pepper differs from the book By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on May 14, 2026 Photo Credit: Emily V. Aragones/AMC Comment 0 Share New Share Photo Credit: Emily V. Aragones/AMC Warning: This post contains mild spoilers for the second episode of The Terror: Devil in Silver. We come to learn more about Dan Stevens’ Pepper in the second episode of The Terror: Devil in Silver, including what he thinks about rats. If you’ve seen the episode, you know what scene I’m referencing; a rat falls from the ceiling of New Hyde’s lounge, and most patients and staff react as you might expect—gasps and shrieks laced with surprise and disgust. Pepper perhaps shares those feelings, but takes action, viciously stomping the rodent to death, something that we get to see in great detail. When I interviewed director Karyn Kusama, I asked her about this scene, specifically why we see (and hear) the rat die via multiple close-ups of the mauled creature. She admitted that it was “gross and upsetting” to shoot, but that it says something about Pepper. “I think part of what was always intrinsic to Pepper’s character was that there’s a light switch, a mechanism to violence,” she said. “I, personally, am pretty phobic about rats,” she added, “but the last thing I would ever do is what Pepper does.” Kusama added that the scene (which was a technical challenge to shoot, given the mix of live and artificial rodents required) is also a reminder that “in this environment, all of the patients are the rat waiting to get stomped.” Image: Emily V. Aragones/AMC The second episode also reveals more about Pepper, including the fact that he has an ongoing relationship with his girlfriend and her daughter, as well as an estranged son. Those who’ve read Victor LaValle’s book will know that these details are unique to the TV series. In my interview with LaValle and his co-showrunner Chris Cantwell, they shared how Pepper’s character developed after Stevens signed on to the show.   “We were able to build out a man who is connected on the outside to a woman and her child and has this unbridled compassion and love for them, and then also has this third characteristic of wanting to be a good guy,” Cantwell explained in a separate interview I had with him and LaValle. “He pushes on that to a point where, I think as the series progresses, we wonder, ‘Where’s that part coming from?’  And then we were able to unpack that over the course of the season, and that became intrinsic to the character and the character’s arc.” We’ll see to see the rest of Pepper’s arc unfold as new episodes of The Terror: Devil in Silver release on AMC+ and Shudder on Thursdays.[end-mark] The post <i>The Terror: Devil in Silver</i>’s Karyn Kusama Explains Second Episode’s Very Messy Scene appeared first on Reactor.