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Spoilers below forOn My Blockseasons one and two.
You know how Ruby onOn My Blockis L.A.s most demanding party planner?
Thats co-creator Eddie Gonzalez in a nutshell.
Jamal, on the other hand, with his emergency go-bags, thats co-creator Jeremy Haft.
Iungerich had mentioned that shed been interested in developing a high school show involving people of color.
We would go into meetings, and people would be like, Oh my God, were you scared?
That stuff happens, but we didnt want to portray it as a bleak neighborhood.
Eddie, I know that Ruby is modeled after you.
Ruby was always there because hes like Eddie.
Monse is a version of Lauren.
Jamal is a version of me.
But they just click.
We set up Freeridge as a multi-ethnic community that wasnt just predominately Hispanic or predominately African-American.
She is the glue of the crew, but shes trying to figure herself out as a woman.
We thought theres much more story to be mined in that situation.
For the boys, they dont have any girls around them.
They have this person that could be a curse and a blessing.
Monses changing and maturing, but she is surrounded by three guys and a father.
Theres no mother figure, so we wanted to explore that.
They celebrate quinces, fall in love, fight with and support each other.
How do we get back to that tone?
Gonzalez: Thats what life is.
Life isI think Im doing welland then, all of a sudden, theres a trigger.
Thats what we wanted to portray.
For me, personally, thats what life was like.
All of a sudden, boom, theres a shooting.
Now your school is on lockdown.
Thats why the tonal shift.
It is difficult to accomplish that, but this is what real life is like.
We see it in the pilot.
As they run away, they play a game guessing what the bullet calibers are.
And theyre laughing.Gonzalez: I was really good at guessing!
Thats how you know you grew up where we grew up.
We were fortunate enough to be in a room with writers of color, writers who understood this world.
We all sat there and talked about what the show needed to be as authentic as possible.
Theyd bring in these amazing stories about their background.
We had these two story consultants who were fantastic.
One grew up in Watts; one grew up in Inglewood.
They would tell us their stories.
Sometimes theyre heartbreaking stories, sometimes theyre funny as hell.
And thats we wanted to imbue into these characters.
It makes it so much easier.
Thats why we did that in the room, but we also did that behind the camera.
Our crew is like no other set Ive ever been on.
There are people of color everywhere and its beautiful.
And she did it.
Was it hard?Gonzalez: No, the talent is there.
You just have to look.
So I dont buy it now.
Its hard finding talented writers, period.
This is no diss to anyone out there.
But its really hard to write!
We probably read 200 to 250 people over the two years.
Haft: This show has a very unique tone and a very unique voice.
How can you connect to this material?
Latinx Hollywood has been upset aboutNetflixs cancellation ofOne Day at a Time.
It furthered the conversation about Latinos on TV.
Thats what it did.
This is all baby steps.
It may take a few more years, but the fact that people are talking about that?
To me, that is a huge home run.
Id rather have that than a show that came and went and no one talked about it.
It would be the same companies, no joke.
It would be Salma Hayeks company, which is great.
It would be Emilio Estevezs company.
Now were going into meetings with white places where they want to hear these stories.
Thats why we root forFresh Off the Boat.
Finally, youre seeing our value!
Lets talk about the season one cliffhanger.
Did you always know where you were going with that story?
If youre gonna be real, unfortunately, shes gonna die.
Gonzalez: I remember the reactions from the Netflix executives.
And hes gonna get that kiss by the end of the season.
And then we said, Shes going to die.
I remember their faces.
So there was never any scenario where Ruby would die?Gonzalez and Haft:Nooo!
The opening montage of season two is really evocative, seeing all the sidewalk memorials in the neighborhood.
Haft: We wanted to set a mood.
Visually, we were able to show whats been happening over the last couple weeks.
What are the reverberations of this innocent person being shot and what the real stakes are?
The death threats we would get!
But that kind of passion is great.
To get visceral response to our work, theres nothing like that.
I would rather someone watch the show and say, I hate you than go, Meh, no.
Eddie, are you an amazing party planner?Gonzalez: I am a very detail-oriented guy.
As Jeremy will say, I can be a little bit anal about stuff.
Im a lot like Ruby.
I got along with everybody in high school.
Haft: Eddie knows a lot about a lot of things.
You know how Ruby does taxes for people?
Literally, someone called Eddie the other day about estate planning, and then someone else called about luggage.
Gonzalez: When I was a kid, I did do my neighbors 1040EZ.
I was pretty good with math, so we wanted to put that into Rubys character.
There are a lot of things from my life.
The Abuelita that lived at home and you never get your own room.
Im the last of eight kids.
The house was never empty.
My sister says every time she watches the episodes its deja vu.
Its watching moms house.
I love conspiracy theories and the Bermuda Triangle, and all that stuff.
I love weird gadgets and how they work.
Would you have gone on that whole adventure to find the money too?Haft: Oh, absolutely.
I still have go-bags at home!
Haft: I actually do have a go-bag in the car right now.
I have a full earthquake preparedness kit.
I have baseball bats for any sort of danger.
Other weapons in my car.
I have numerous sprays, lotions.
I have it all.
Monse grows a lot in the second season.
She gets to know her mother, which breaks her heart.
Monse idealizes this woman.
And by the end, she tells her mom, Youre so disappointing.
Thats the worst thing she could say.
As part of her journey, shes looking for that role model.
But you know where the role model is?
Its in the mirror.
Thats what the role model is.
Thats why she becomes Team Monse.
Haft: Monses mom is troubled.
But shes a poisonous influence for Monse at this time.
Monse knows to get away and shes got what she needs.
Sometimes its right before your eyes.
You just got to see it.
She saw Jamal and she said she was like, Its okay to be quirky.It was beautiful.
[Tears up.]
And then my niece asks me, Tio, can I get a picture with you?
And I was like, Sweetie, you have 1,000 pictures with me.
And shes like, Yeah, but I wanna show my friends.
They dont believe you createdOn My Block.
Haft: So many people DM us on Twitter and Insta.
Thank you for not showing the area that I grew up in as some dark, bleak crappy place.
Dont know who this guy is.
Hes staring at me.
It was so weird.
It was a fun thing, but I was not expecting it to come up at a funeral.
By the way, all of our writers except for Rob [Sudduth] appeared in the first season.
The Prophets are Fran [Gailes] and Adam [Starks] and Arlyn Richardson, our post-production supervisor.
Haft:We are low-budget show.
We cant afford everything, so we gotta put them in.
Gonzalez: About 70 percent of those photos throughout Rubys house are my family.
When they kick off the refrigerator in the cold open, thats my sister and my nephews.
Thecobija,the blanket that is on the couch, my mom knitted that for my wedding.
[Son, thats my blanket.]
Its something really special that will live on forever.
