You saw it. It happened. Zeke and Lacey finally took that next step on Found Season 2, Episode 15 “Missing While Seeking Asylum.” And though the moment felt, in a lot of ways, like a long time coming, it also felt like just the beginning of a storyline that could bring a lot of growth to both characters and a lot of pitfalls. After all, both Zeke and Lacey still have a lot of baggage. And there’s also the matter of their friendship, which they both really and truly treasure, and don’t want to risk.
Especially because seeing the type of snack spread Zeke can prepare, we’d just marry him right now. If Lacey doesn’t lock down that man, we’ll take him off the market. “Listen, Arlen, I feel like you were intentional with that too, right?” Walsh joked. “You were like, I think we need to have some tea. And Lacey is just a candy fanatic, so, like the gummy bears. And I think that’s why Lacey got a little shook. Lacey was like, good. I don’t know what to do with this. I’m feeling, I’m feeling the feelings, the flutters and you can’t deny it.”
But getting into more serious stuff, when the kiss happens, for Walsh, “It’s just like an elation. That Lacey’s feelings are not just her own, they’re reciprocated. I think sometimes that’s a fear of ours. Like, oh my gosh, like this is my friend. She’s been there with Zeke, living with him. And now is starting to realize the feelings that she has for him go beyond that friendship. And like, what does that mean? What does that look like? And she’s very sad to leave when all of a sudden, he just lays one on her and he’s even outside of his comfort zone for it.”
Because the question is now, of course, what happens next? “There’s so much there to unpack,” Walsh teased. “So now what do we do with this? I think you’re going to see Zeke and Lacey climb another mountain. How do we come down to this? How do we go up higher? Who knows?”
For Escarpeta, Zeke’s going to need help. “He’s going to need a wingman, Dhan, step in, please. He’s going to need somebody to help him figure out the right path and the words to say and even that you should say something. Because the action of the kiss is not strong enough. Words matter. The emotions that are inside, that really has to be said. And I think Dahn’s going to help Zeke figure that out, and hopefully Lacey’s receptive.”
Walsh teased Lacey might be getting some advice from her “family” too. “I think Lacey is very keen on her family as she’s stepping out on her own. So, she needs somebody to bounce off of what’s going on. Cause it’s a change in the dynamic of what we know between Zeke and Lacey. You can’t take it back. And, where do you go from here? What does this mean? There are so many questions that are bubbling up to the surface and she’s got to figure out how to deal with them and who better to, you know, help consult her, but her family.”
Overall, it’s a big change, and a positive one, but both Walsh and Escarpeta teased that it’s going to bring some challenges. Especially because Lacey and Zeke still have their baggage and they were each other’s go-to person. Now that kinda shifts a little and they have to figure out how they operate within that shift. “I think they know each other’s baggage and I think one of my relationship goals is to be able to fall in love and be in love with my best friend,” Walsh said, “and have that and be able to lay out my baggage and not be pretty and to look ugly and to tell all the like unforgivable truths or whatever that is to, to, to bare yourself to another person and be loved and accepted. And they’ve been able to do that with each other.”
“But, being able to navigate and communicate and do all that, which has been hard for them in other areas, this is going to be difficult too.” Especially because Walsh said, “The constructive criticism feels different when it’s coming from your partner and not a friend.” And that’s something they’ll have to navigate going forward.
Escarpeta explained, “When we’re showing up as a friend, it’s one thing, and Zeke and Lacey, I don’t think they’ve had that many relationships… they’ve been trying to find themselves. They’re still finding and figuring out themselves, their love language, and what they have with each other, but when you put it through a different lens and you have an idea of what a relationship should be, or you don’t know what it should be, then you’re faced with this gray area that’s just full of different possibilities and a new place where you don’t know anything is very scary.”
Walsh agreed. “It’s uncharted territory. And for Lacey, within that, she doesn’t want to lose her best friend and that specialness that they have.”
For us who’ve been watching and shipping them for quite a while, it feels like they never could.
Found airs on Thursdays on NBC.
