*Warning: This article contains full spoilers for Mint episode 4*
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Having chosen to ignore the comments from their loved ones, the love story between Shannon (Emma Laird) and Arran (Benjamin Coyle-Larner) seemed to be blossoming to dizzying new heights in Mint – until episode 4's shock moment that changes everything.
The episode very much felt like one beautiful, drawn out first date, with the pair getting to know one another more and sharing plenty of thoughtful moments exploring the town. At last, they settle in a restaurant and as Shannon looks out to Arran who is resting up against her car, her loving gaze is brought to an abrupt end as someone dressed all in black and wearing a motorcycle helmet comes up behind Arran and shoots him.
Chatting exclusively to Radio Times about his reaction to the twist, Benjamin Coyle-Larner said: "I don't think it was in the first thing I read. I think it was after I met Charlie and spent some time with her, she felt passionately to not keep me in the whole thing... nah I'm joking!
"I thought it was awesome, again, because it subverted the idea of what you'd expect. And the idea is, the way it’s set up and even the way that it's being presented now, the whole thing is about this love story and it's a tragedy. But also, what I loved about it is it allows Emma's character to find power on her own. I guess there's an idea in the middle of it but then where these two characters are along, they are then capable of changing their circumstance."
Benjamin Coyle-Larner as Arran in Mint. House/Fearless Minds/BBC
He continued: "I think what's nice about it, in a way, is that when Arran dies, Shannon is then forced to look after herself on her own, with the little pieces that maybe she's learned along the way. Which is quite powerful and not something I've seen that much, to really stay with a female character for that long as the lead - there's no man to save her, which I think is beautiful and true of life, it happens a lot.
"I was obviously sad but happy to just be in and out for my first role, to just make it brief."
But, was the decision to kill Arran an early one or did it come later down the line in the process of crafting Mint? Asking series creator, writer and director Charlotte Regan that very question, Regan revealed: "I can't totally remember the versions it's gone through. I'm sure if you ask my producer, Theo, he definitely will – he’s stressed out with every change that I've thrown at him.
"But I think I've always knew, like Ben has just said, that I didn't want it to be a romance where both of them entirely exist for one another or become one. I wanted it to be that there was independence outside of one another."
She went on: "So I guess that instinct was always there and what shifted was where or how that came. I think I always wanted it to go against the expectations that Arran is this new person in town, this rival family and they're evil, they're bad and our family's good. I think I wanted it to go with Shannon's perspective.
"At the beginning, she looks at her dad and her family as if they are the heroes of the world and they are the good guys and everyone else is the bad guys. And actually, through meeting Arran, she kind of learns, like the rest of us, there's no good and bad, and it's all like a grey area, everyone's struggling with something. So, I wanted it to kind of go against that version, which Arran’s end in [episode] 4 partly came from."
Given the fact that Shannon's father Dylan (Sam Riley) was the one to seemingly sign off the order of Arran's death, we'll just have to wait and see how that spills into his relationship with his daughter – and just how Shannon will now cope in the face of grief.
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Mint will begin airing on BBC One at 9pm on Monday 20 April, with all episodes available on BBC iPlayer that day at 6am.
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James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
