Let’s talk about Spencer’s decision not to destroy the possibly manufactured evidence against Esme that Victor left for him. What do you think was behind that? “Well, Spencer doesn’t know if this evidence is real or not. He’s just assuming that it’s probably not because Uncle Victor was an unscrupulous guy. And I’ll say this, too: I don’t think that Spencer really wanted to go see what was in the [safe-deposit] box with Trina from the start. He knew that whatever was in it was bad and for a while he was saying, ‘I don’t even want to see what it is.’ I think he probably did want to see what it was, but it gets more complicated when you bring other people into the situation, even someone like Trina — maybe even especially someone like Trina, because she has such a good heart. That’s why at the beginning of this, he was trying to talk her out of it. He was saying, ‘Maybe let’s just let this go. We can walk away from this. We don’t have to open the box.’ But once she does know the contents of the box, he has to deal with it. His feeling is that Esme is guilty, no matter what, so it doesn’t matter if the evidence is forged or not. He can see that Trina has made up her mind [to the contrary] and can’t be convinced. Still, he’s very, very determined, so I think it came as no surprise at the end of that episode when he put the evidence back in the box.”
That could become an interesting wrinkle between them, because Spencer loves Trina and Trina loves Spencer, but at the end of the day, he does operate with a bit of a different moral code than she does, one she might not be comfortable with. “Exactly. Yeah, Trina wants everything to be right and correct and I think that Spencer has a more flexible view of what right and correct means. For Spencer, his life has consisted of mostly gray area. I think he feels like life moves on regardless of where you stand in terms of right and wrong, and so it doesn’t really make a difference and the only judgment that is to be made is, ‘What is the most advantageous thing for me and for the people I love?’ That’s the place he has to operate out of and I think that it could prove to be a challenge that Trina and he have these different moral codes. That’s a tough one! It’s interesting because Spencer and Trina are so attracted to each other and they have a deep love and a deep care for one another. But in terms of a value system, there is some crossover, but then there is this whole other side of each of them that doesn’t come into contact with one another. It’s a different way of playing the game called life.”
Do you think he feels guilty about doing this behind her back and not being transparent with her about hanging onto the evidence? Or is he so determined to get rid of Esme that he’s not really thinking about Trina? “No, he’s thinking about her, but it’s both of those things. I think he knows that he has to keep all of these cards in play, right? Like, ‘This is a valuable asset and it could be helpful at some point and so I can’t destroy it.’ I do think that there is some guilt involved with not destroying it because he loves Trina, but ultimately I think that he knows that it is the right decision and that in this instance, what Trina doesn’t know won’t kill her.”
