David Bernad

And so when you kind of boil down the list of Southeast Asian countries that have a rebate and have a crew base and are film friendly and the weather worked for our dates, it was really only Thailand. So we said, okay, let's scout Thailand first. We'll appease HBO and then we'll go on to Japan. And A fun fact is Mike, who was twice on The Amazing Race, had been eliminated twice.

And so when you kind of boil down the list of Southeast Asian countries that have a rebate and have a crew base and are film friendly and the weather worked for our dates, it was really only Thailand. So we said, okay, let's scout Thailand first. We'll appease HBO and then we'll go on to Japan. And A fun fact is Mike, who was twice on The Amazing Race, had been eliminated twice.

And both times, the elimination station was in Koh Samui. So Mike always had this kind of aversion to Thailand. So I would never, ever have thought we'd end up in Thailand.

And both times, the elimination station was in Koh Samui. So Mike always had this kind of aversion to Thailand. So I would never, ever have thought we'd end up in Thailand.

Yeah. I mean, we started off in Bangkok and then we went from Bangkok to Phuket to Krabi and then up to Chiang Mai. I think we just discovered just how incredibly beautiful the culture is in Thailand and Buddhism and also the warmth of the people can't be understated. And I think the real...

Yeah. I mean, we started off in Bangkok and then we went from Bangkok to Phuket to Krabi and then up to Chiang Mai. I think we just discovered just how incredibly beautiful the culture is in Thailand and Buddhism and also the warmth of the people can't be understated. And I think the real...

turning point for us was we were in chiang mai and mike had bronchitis and he ended up in the hospital we were supposed to fly to chiang rai and we ended up staying a couple extra days there in chiang mai and we put mike on this nebulizer which i guess is like a really strong steroid and he i never heard of a nebulizer you never had to do one for your baby no it's like this little inhaler mask oh oh wow yeah okay and he ended up hallucinating

turning point for us was we were in chiang mai and mike had bronchitis and he ended up in the hospital we were supposed to fly to chiang rai and we ended up staying a couple extra days there in chiang mai and we put mike on this nebulizer which i guess is like a really strong steroid and he i never heard of a nebulizer you never had to do one for your baby no it's like this little inhaler mask oh oh wow yeah okay and he ended up hallucinating

And he hallucinated the season. And he came in. He got out of the hospital. Yeah. He came into the van. I was there. And he goes, I had the most vivid dreams last night. I was on the steroid and I couldn't sleep. And he told me what he dreamt. And that is what we shot. Wow. It is almost exactly that. And it came to him as a vision.

And he hallucinated the season. And he came in. He got out of the hospital. Yeah. He came into the van. I was there. And he goes, I had the most vivid dreams last night. I was on the steroid and I couldn't sleep. And he told me what he dreamt. And that is what we shot. Wow. It is almost exactly that. And it came to him as a vision.

And I think, I think the way, you remember him telling me just how incredibly well he was treated by the nurses and how much they cared about him. And he just kind of fell in love with Thailand. And when we left Thailand to fly to Japan, I was like, oh yeah, we're going to end up shooting in Thailand. And we got to Japan and I think kind of to your point,

And I think, I think the way, you remember him telling me just how incredibly well he was treated by the nurses and how much they cared about him. And he just kind of fell in love with Thailand. And when we left Thailand to fly to Japan, I was like, oh yeah, we're going to end up shooting in Thailand. And we got to Japan and I think kind of to your point,

The interest of the show is never to look down or make fun of local culture. I think Japanese culture is so specific and it's so beautiful. I think to do a show set in Japan, you're going to end up getting into things we didn't want to get into, where Thailand is really about Buddhism. Buddhism itself permeates everywhere in our experience.

The interest of the show is never to look down or make fun of local culture. I think Japanese culture is so specific and it's so beautiful. I think to do a show set in Japan, you're going to end up getting into things we didn't want to get into, where Thailand is really about Buddhism. Buddhism itself permeates everywhere in our experience.

That just felt like a more ripe place to kind of investigate Eastern versus Western philosophies. Yeah.

That just felt like a more ripe place to kind of investigate Eastern versus Western philosophies. Yeah.

Yeah, I think since I've known Mike, and I've known Mike 20 years too, he's always been interested in Buddhism. It's something that's come up a lot. He's read a lot. So I think for us, once we got there, the Buddhist ideals and kind of Buddhist storytelling was something that was already in his head.

Yeah, I think since I've known Mike, and I've known Mike 20 years too, he's always been interested in Buddhism. It's something that's come up a lot. He's read a lot. So I think for us, once we got there, the Buddhist ideals and kind of Buddhist storytelling was something that was already in his head.

As we traveled around, you kind of realized how if you're going to do something in Thailand, that's going to be a subject matter you're going to have to tackle. So I think thematically, he was already there.

As we traveled around, you kind of realized how if you're going to do something in Thailand, that's going to be a subject matter you're going to have to tackle. So I think thematically, he was already there.