Carlton Cuse might be the busiest man in TV; the former Lost boss has three shows currently under his watchful eye: Bates Motel, The Strain, and Colony.

Along with ex-Fringe writer/producer Graham Roland, Cuse is also developing a show slated for 2017 based the Jack Ryan novel series by Tom Clancy. Despite his jammed workload, Cuse dropped by EW’s Con-X to chat with EW critic Jeff Jensen about his many projects. Here’s what we learned:

Vera Farmiga hasn’t checked out of Bates Motel

Though season 4 ended with the death of matriarch Norma (Farmiga), that doesn’t mean the overbearing mom is out of Norman’s (Freddie Highmore) life: Cuse confirmed the actress is still a regular.

“There’s all these rumors she’s going to go on American Horror Story — no,” Cuse said. “She still exists in Norman’s imagination. He will become an increasingly unreliable narrator and through his point of view, we’re going to see a lot of her. She’s very much a character.”

The Strain‘s season 3 premiere will welcome new fans

Jensen described the upcoming first episode, airing Aug. 28 on FX, as full of action set pieces, complemented by being an entry point for green viewers. Cuse added that this was indicative of the new TV atmosphere.

“We live in this weird world now because you can watch all the episodes of shows, people feel compelled that they must watch all the episodes of a show,” Cuse said. “I think we are habituated now to feel like we have to dutifully watch everything like homework, but I’d be happy if people jumped in at the beginning of season 3 of The Strain. I think you would able to get everything that was going on and enjoy it.”

Colony could change after the election

Colony, Cuse’s series on USA about an alien occupation, is loosely inspired by World War II. But it could gain further resonance depending on how November’s election plays out.

“After Donald Trump bans television, it will be interesting to see what people will do,” he joked, before playing off the fact that Colony has a walled-off city. “It will have a lot of resonance [if Trump wins]. The good thing is I shoot two shows in Canada, so I’ll spend a lot of time there.”

Con-X is a four-day getaway in Embarcadero Marina Park North in downtown San Diego. Made for all fans, Con-X allows anyone to get a taste of Comic-Con for free with panels, Q&A, trivia, music, screenings and more. Con-X runs Thursday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. PT.