James Patterson On ‘Zoo,’ His Views On Killing Of Harambe The Gorilla [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

James Patterson, the best-selling author, published his novel Zoo in 2012, and is now heavily involved in its TV adaptation for CBS.

James Patterson Video On ‘Zoo’

Patterson thought up the plot of Zoo after becoming increasingly aware of stories in which animals were displaying abnormal behaviors.

“I kept seeing these stories about bizarre animal behavior; like alligators doing weird things in Florida, crocodiles doing weird things in Africa, like imitating dogs — the sound of dogs to lure dogs down to the river. There was a thing where literally hundreds of fish were jumping into boats in Lake Michigan and it’s like, ‘What is going on here?’” Patterson told uInterview in an exclusive interview. “And the notion of turning that into a fable about what man is doing to the Earth and how the Earth might fight back a little bit, so it’s not realism. This couldn’t really happen, but it’s like 1984 or Animal Farm — one of those where this isn’t gonna happen but here’s a fable about it, here’s a story.”

Zoo is returning to CBS Tuesday for its sophomore season, which Patterson believes will be better than the show’s first season. Thinking about what makes him return to a show, Patterson was vocal about wanting Zoo to have more surprises every week.

“I felt at the end of the first season we needed to change it up in terms of surprising people more. So this season it’s kinda like nobody’s figured anything out, so every episode it’s like, ‘Oh my god, it’s not what I thought it was gonna be,’ and surprising people,” Patterson said. “You want people at the end of a show and the next day to say, ‘Oh did you see what happened on Zoo last night?’ — ideally anyway.”

Patterson added, “I think the characters all deepen, I think what happens to them is surprising. You don’t expect the romances that happen this season, you don’t expect the personal relationships, the ups and the downs, you don’t expect the different things that happen around the world. I like surprises.”

With his book Zoo, and now his series, Patterson has displayed a curiosity in how the human race can have a negative effect on the environment and wildlife. Some animal rights activists felt that the killing of Harambe, the gorilla at a Cincinnati Zoo earlier this year, was unjust, despite the reality that he may have posed a threat to the life of the young boy who had entered his cage. Patterson’s reaction to Harambe’s killing is nuanced. While he is sorry that Harambe was killed, the threat to the child, at least to those in charge at the zoo that day, was great.

“I guess zoos, you can begin to question a little about what goes on there. Is it good to hold animals captive? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?” Patterson said. “But I think in terms of just a story, that story in particular, just raises the conflict issue — what would you do? You got a small child, however the child might have gotten there, and you have this massive-sized… So what are you gonna do? The gorilla is now thrashing the child around, maybe that’s caused by people screaming, it probably was, but nevertheless, it’s happening so I don’t know. I’d had to have been there. I do think it’s difficult when a child is in that much danger to go, ‘Oh okay, let’s take the gorilla’s point of view.’

Zoo‘s second season will premiere on CBS Tuesday, June 28 at 9/8c.