Exclusive: Return to Paradise’s Anna Samson on the twisty new mysteries being unwrapped in season 2

It was a thrill and a joy. Because that story certainly didn’t feel finished for anyone, me or the audience or the rest of the cast. We deliberately left season one in a place where the story hadn’t been concluded. So the first thing is the murders – which are outrageous and wild and tricky, and the puzzles are seemingly impossible. But you’re pretty confident that Mack will be able to solve it.

The second element is the interpersonal relationships, especially with Mackenzie and Glenn. At the end of season one, Mack hears Glenn tell Frankie, the dog, that he thinks he’s still in love with Mackenzie. But what’s she going to do with this information? There’s a responsibility that comes with now knowing this – and she doesn’t know what to do straight away. The first episode is you, the audience, seeing her cope with this information. And it brings up a whole rainbow of emotions for her.

Mack’s not so good with her emotions – I think an overarching theme of the whole show is how we can be better with each other. And I think she feels great guilt towards Glen – she feels great affection, great friendship and romance, of course, but whether or not she thinks she’s good for him is a different question. It relates to hurting him in the past, to her own self worth and whether she thinks she’s deserving of romantic love.

We film in New South Wales, outside of Sydney, on the coastline of New South Wales. We also travel north into the northern beaches for one or two locations, but mainly it’s the Illawarra region – Wollongong or the “Gong”, as we call it in Australia. You can almost take it for granted, living so close to that part, but it’s some of the most beautiful coastline on the planet.