Meaghan Rath Previews Her 'Very Dark' Accused Case, Revisits the 'Really Sad' Surprise of Hawaii Five-0 Ending

This week on Fox’s Accused, it is Being Human and Hawaii Five-0 alum Meaghan Rath‘s turn to enter the newly renewed anthology series’ fray.

In “Morgan’s Story” (airing Tuesday at 9/8c), Rath plays the titular wife, mom and school teacher, who after a brush with death decides to end her marriage to Jason (Covert Affairs‘ Christopher Gorham), a high-strung Wall Street player with whom she has been living quite comfortably off his inheritance.

What follows, in the wake of Morgan’s decision, is “very intense and very dark,” Rath hints in the TVLine Q&A below, in which she also revisits Five-0‘s unexpected termination after 10 seasons.

TVLINE | Tell us a bit about Morgan and Jason….
Oh, Morgan and Jason…. Everybody’s “dream couple”! [Laughs] Without giving too much away, when we meet Morgan, she’s in a very, very bad, dark relationship. She asks her husband for a divorce, and then she is subsequently framed for a crime.

TVLINE | How gnarly do things get between the two of them as the episode unfolds?
It’s pretty ugly. It’s pretty ugly. Jason’s true colors are revealed right away. He’s not a nice person and goes to pretty extreme lengths to ruin his wife’s life. It’s very intense and very dark.

TVLINE | How did you like Chris as a scene partner? He has played a variety of roles over his TV career.

He implied that he always plays bad guys, and I think it’s because he’s such a lovely person. He’s the nicest guy, and it was so nice to work with him. Our characters’ relationship is so fraught and so volatile, and it’s really nice to be able to do those scenes knowing that your scene partner is such a great person.

I’ve actually known Chris for a long time, and so it was a nice thing to come in, be so vulnerable when you’re doing scenes like this, and know you have Chris on the end supporting you. Knowing you’re safe with him is huge.

TVLINE | You should hunt down and binge Harper’s Island.
You know what? I think I watched Harper’s Island…? Was he a nice guy, or was he the killer…?

TVLINE | [Delivers spoilery recap.]
That’s my Chris!

TVLINE | Have you had a chance to watch any of the other Accused episodes while waiting for yours to air? 
No, but my dear friend, Ian Anthony Dale, who I did Hawaii Five-0 with, did the episode that just aired [on April 4], so I have it recorded and I’m going to watch it.

TVLINE | I heard he killed it in his episode.
I think he was really happy with how it turned out, so I’m really looking forward to seeing it. While we were filming, I heard so much about everybody else’s episodes, so I’m looking forward to watching them.

TVLINE | There’s one with Whitney Cummings, which I caught, and she was dramatically terrific.
I’ve heard about what that episode was about, and I was like, “Oh, wow, she’s going for it.” That’s great.

WATCH A SCENE FROM MEAGHAN RATH’S
ACCUSED EPISODE:

TVLINE | What is it about doing an anthology series like Accused that is attractive to an actor?
It’s such a great format and medium, because it’s like a little movie that you’re shooting in 45 minutes. Usually, you come in and you play a character for months and months and months, so it was really nice to kind of just jump in and do something very different and fun, and then go home.

TVLINE | Get in, endure some mayhem, get out.
Just torture yourself, and then live your life!

TVLINE | Last Monday was the three-year anniversary of the Five-0 series finale….

Oh, really?

TVLINE | Does it feel like three years? Longer? Or does it feel like yesterday?
I little bit of both. Like, I really miss it. I really do.

TVLINE | Do you keep in touch with anybody?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Scott Caan is one of my dearest friends. We were just messaging, because he took a trip to Hawaii and sent me a video of one of our favorite restaurants that he was walking into. I was like, “Oh my God, I’m so jealous,” because, no joke, I think of this restaurant, like, once a week. Excellent, excellent sushi. And Ian Anthony Dale, we just went to his house for dinner last week. And Beulah [Koale, who played Junior], we message all the time. He’s in New Zealand but is literally like a brother to me.

TVLINE | Did the show’s cancellation catch you at all off-guard? 
Yeah, it was a real surprise for everybody. It really was. I still remember the day where [showrunner] Peter Lenkov came to Hawai’i and assembled everybody in a group, the entire crew, and let everybody know that this was going to be the final season. It was really, really sad. I think everyone expected it to go on for a lot longer.

TVLINE | You are guest-starring on How I Met Your Father later this season, and looking at the pilots you booked over the past couple of years, it seems you are trying to scratch a comedy itch…. (Rath also stars on the Canadian sitcom Children Ruin Everything.)
Yeah, that seems to be like what I am leaning towards these days, and that’s why it was so fun to come and do an episode of Accused, because it was such dark drama. What I’ve always loved, and have been lucky enough to do, in my career is go back and forth, so I could never choose. I could never choose one of my babies!