Exclusive Interview
‘Maxton Hall’ Finale: Sonja Weißer on Lydia’s Tragic Season 2 Ending & What’s Next
What To Know
- Sonja Weißer spoke with Swooon about Lydia’s tumultuous journey in Maxton Hall Season 2.
- She addressed her character’s controversial relationship with Mr. Sutton.
- The actress teased further character growth for Lydia in Season 3.
[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers from Maxton Hall — The World Between Us Season 2.]
The end of Maxton Hall Season 2 puts Ruby’s (Harriet Herbig-Matten) future in jeopardy, but don’t forget about Lydia (Sonja Weißer).
“She suffers throughout the whole season,” Weißer told Swooon. “Close to the end of Season 2, she finally thinks she is having a sort of solution and can be somewhat happy. Shortly after, she is not inheriting anything from her mom, moving out of home, and witnessing her partner and the father of her babies being arrested. Her world collapses again, and in the worst way.”
Before Mr. Sutton (Eidin Jalali) is put in back of a police car, he’s brought before the school’s council. Someone has sent them a photo of Sutton and a student in an intimate-looking position. Assuming that the student in question is Lydia, Sutton fesses up — only to discover that Mortimer (Fedja van Huêt) has Ruby framed for Lydia’s actions.
As he’s being taken away, Sutton shakes his head at an emotional Lydia, which Weißer interprets as him telling her to keep quiet. There’s no telling if Lydia will come forward with the truth or not next season, despite forming such a strong bond with Ruby this time around.
“They found each other at the right time,” Weißer reflected on their friendship. “Lydia never had a real friend. The platonic love between them helps her through the toughest time of her life so far and lets her learn about herself in a different setting. With that new strength, Lydia finds more courage in the emancipation from her father and the challenges of her life.”
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Weißer, who feels protective of her character, said Lydia was in denial of her father being such an evil person before his actions in the finale. “When you grow up in such a toxic and excluded family dynamic, you probably don’t realize or do not want to realize the issues,” she said. “But as we have seen, she gains more and more courage to stand up against her dad and also will see his patterns more and more.”
After staying away from Sutton all season long and keeping her pregnancy a secret, Lydia and Sutton had just committed to being together in Episode 5, with the former finally telling the latter about her unborn twins. The student-teacher aspect of it all complicates things, but Weißer draws from the fact that “there is real love between the two” when playing out their romance.
“[Their love] is rooted in meeting each other when Sutton was still studying,” the actress pointed out, “but at the same time, I personally find their dynamic problematic. What I find interesting is if and how Lydia will reflect this aspect herself. Maybe we will see this someday.”
Just before Lydia’s confession to Sutton, Cyril puts himself out there, too. But when he kisses Lydia at the Midsummer Night’s Dream ball, she shuts him down. Weißer confirmed that Lydia means it when she says she only views Cyril as a friend. “Cyril and her grew up together, and she has always seen him as her brother‘s best friend, though she definitely was not happy she had to break his heart,” the actress stressed.
They seem to smooth things over in the finale, once Cyril gives the Beaufort twins a place to stay away from their father. However, Cyril still has that photo of Lydia and Graham kissing, which he took during the ball, and he could still do something with it. That’s one of many unresolved storylines in the Season 2 finale, setting the stage for a dramatic third season.
Weißer doesn’t want to spoil what’s next, but what she can say is that she was happy to see Lydia get expanded role in Season 2 and step up to the challenge as an actor. She told Swooon that it is “definitely hard on the mind and body to shoot intense emotional scenes over and over again.”
Season 3, Weißer said, takes a similar approach to her character. “She grows even more in Season 3,” the actress teased. “I wish to expand the storyline for every character that is dear to me, but I‘m glad that Lydia has more room in Season 2 and also Season 3. She is so wonderful and an amazing persona to play.”
Maxton Hall — The World Between Us, Seasons 1-2, Streaming Now, Prime Video
Maxton Hall — The World Between Us, Season 3, TBA, Prime Video
