Inside M.I.A. | Violence, Family, and the Cost of Becoming
- TYREE POPE III
- May 7
- 3 min read
From creators Bill Dubuque and Karen Campbell to stars Alberto Guerra, Danay García, Shannon Gisela, Brittany Adebumola, and Dylan Jackson, Kickin’ It With Tyree breaks down the world of M.I.A. a series where morality is blurred, violence is inherited, and transformation comes at a cost.
A World Where Nothing Is Simple
In M.I.A., nothing is clean.
Not justice.
Not revenge.
Not survival.
Streaming on Peacock, the series drops audiences into a world where characters aren’t defined by what they do but by what shaped them.
And according to creator Bill Dubuque and showrunner Karen Campbell, that’s the point.
This isn’t a story about heroes and villains.
It’s about transformation.
Are Killers Made… or Born?
One question sits at the center of the entire series:
Are killers created or born?
For the cast, the answer plays out in real time.
Shannon Gisela points to Etta’s journey as the clearest example. A character who didn’t start with violent intentions but was pushed there by trauma.
Alberto Guerra, who plays Elias, takes it further. He sees his character not as inherently violent but as someone shaped by a life he never chose.
And that distinction matters.
Because it forces the audience to confront something uncomfortable:
If you understand someone’s pain…
Do you still judge their actions the same way?
The Line Between Justice and Vengeance
M.I.A. doesn’t answer moral questions.
It complicates them.
For Brittany Adebumola, the show constantly asks where the line between justice and vengeance really exists.
And the answer?
It depends.
On perspective.
On experience.
On what you’re willing to justify.
Even the actors admit their answers shift depending on the situation.
Because morality in M.I.A. isn’t fixed.
It’s human. Family Is the Only Anchor
Amid the chaos, one theme remains constant:
Family.
For Danay García, who plays Leah, family is survival.
Her character builds a stable home something predictable and rooted in love so she can function in a world that is anything but.
Without that foundation, nothing else works.
And that becomes one of the show’s most powerful ideas:
You cannot survive chaos…
Without something real to come back to.
Stability vs Survival
Each character represents a different response to instability:
Stanley (Dylan Jackson) seeks control and structure after a life of loss
Lovely (Brittany Adebumola) turns to spirituality and empathy
Etta embraces action taking control of situations that once controlled her
Elias operates within violence but holds onto a personal code
These aren’t just character traits.
They’re survival strategies.
Different ways of navigating the same broken world.
A Story Built on Contradiction
What makes M.I.A. compelling is contradiction.
Characters are:
Violent, but moral
Broken, but capable
Dangerous, but human
Etta protects and destroys.
Elias kill but follows a code.
Lea loves but operates in darkness.
No one fits into a category.
And that’s intentional.
The Power of Empathy
To play these roles, the cast had to make a choice:
Empathize.
Even when it’s uncomfortable.
Even when the actions are extreme.
Because without that, the story doesn’t work.
As Guerra puts it, the question isn’t “What did they do?”
It’s:
“What happened to them?”
Transformation Comes at a Cost
At its core, M.I.A. is about becoming.
Taking someone at their lowest point.
And asking:
What do they turn into?
But more importantly:
What do they lose along the way?
For Dubuque and Campbell, Season 1 is just the beginning.
The real transformation is still unfolding.
The Relationships That Define Everything
One of the most telling moments in the series comes early:
The pickup truck scene.
For Shannon Gisela, Brittany Adebumola, and Dylan Jackson, it was the first scene they shot together.
And it set the tone for everything.
Trust.
Connection.
Care.
Because despite everything happening around them…
These characters look out for each other.
And that bond becomes the emotional core of the show.
Expect the Unexpected
If there’s one thing every cast member agrees on:
You won’t see what’s coming.
The twists aren’t predictable.
The turns don’t play safe.
The story doesn’t follow rules.
Even the actors themselves were caught off guard reading the scripts.
And that unpredictability is part of what makes M.I.A. stand out.
What M.I.A. Is Really About
Beyond the violence.
Beyond the action.
Beyond the twists.
M.I.A. is about something deeper:
How people are shaped
How they survive
And whether they can ever truly escape what made them
It’s not about who someone is.
It’s about who they become.
Comments