DEN OF GEEK: Jasper is finally talking! Did this feel like something that had to happen before the season ended? Clearly his time with Melissa last episode made an impact on him.

ANDY BOBROW: I think there was a while where we thought we could keep him silent forever. When Will first started pitching the character in the room, it was all about just having this kid stare at Tandy while Tandy tries to get him to say “Thank you” and “You’re welcome.”

One thing that changed Will’s mind was when we cast Keith Williams and he started hanging out on set with Will. He just saw how natural and good Keith is. So that made it easy. And the other thing that made it easy was when we decided to do the time jump. Because none of us really wanted to do the story where he starts talking. That kind of moment, like where he says his first words, is the kind of thing that made us cringe. Okay, I’ll confess, I kind of wanted to do that moment. I even wrote the soliloquy. It was part of Keith’s audition. But it was cheesy and deep down I knew it.

It’s really nice to see Melissa “come back to life” and getting digs in at Tandy again. Were you anxious to get her back to 100 percent and working with the group like before?

ANDY BOBROW: Yes definitely. On one hand, I really like that we played her mental health thing relatively real, and we let it play out at a natural pace. On the other hand, it took her out of the lineup in terms of comedy. It’s good to have her back.