The CW finds drama in disaster with the new miniseries “Containment,” which follows Atlanta residents caught on both sides of a quarantine zone following the outbreak of a mysterious epidemic.

Showrunner Julie Plec and executive producers Chris Ord and Matt Corman were joined at WonderCon by stars Christina Moses (“Nikita”), Chris Wood (“The Vampire Diaries”) Claudia Black (“Pitch Black”), Kristen Gutoskie (“Republic of Doyle”) and George Young (“The Pupil”) for a sitdown with members of the media.

The show is based on the Belgian drama “Cordon,” in which residents of Antwerp are forced into a "cordon sanitaire" after a mysterious virus outbreak. "The Belgian series is very compelling," said Ord, who co-wrote “Containment” with Corman. "There were certain things in the Belgian series that we knew wouldn't be right for American audiences, and then there were certain things we just knew we wanted to do for the characters. We tried to bring our brand of humanity and heart to it."

"It's very dark, though, the Belgian series" Corman added. "The sensibility is even darker than this show. We wanted to allow the audience in a little more because it's quite austere, but quite good."

 

Plec and her team expanded the series for a 13-episode run, and moved the action to Atlanta. Plec's other CW series, “The Vampire Diaries” and “The Originals,” also film in the city, which is mere miles from the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The imagined disease featured in the show is both violent and realistic. "The virus they constructed has a very specific chart for its progression. So, it all felt very real and organic," Wood said.

"Containment" also features characters who behave in a true-to-life, grounded fashion. "After years and years of having to build a multi-layered supernatural mythology, and of having to come up with a way to need new witch spells or not to need a new witch spells," Plec said, "being able to write a simple conversation between two people and not having to worry about a portal opening up was really refreshing."

However, all of the characters do have to worry about a rapidly spreading disease that leads to a fast and gory death. "If you have someone you love on the inside and you're stuck on the outside, or vice-a-versa, and not know whether they're OK, was really the driver," Ord said. "Putting yourself in that situation is a great and frightening question to ask yourself."

 

"We have Zika going on, we have Ebola going on. This is the something that can really happen," Young said. "And, I love the fact that we can ask the audience some questions: 'What would you do if you're one street away from your best friend and you're not allowed to see them anymore."

Young plays Dr. Victor Cannerts, one of those in charge of making the tough decisions that alienate and confine people affected by the virus. Cannerts makes the call to enforce the quarantine. He also must keep his cool in the face of panic and criticism.

The administrative nightmares of the outbreak extend beyond Cannerts' grasp. Black plays Dr. Sabine Lommers who’s responsible for containing the virus. "She is the person on the ground who has to make the tough decisions and she reports back to the President a lot of the time," Black said. "She's like the Jack Nicholson character from ‘A Few Good Men.’ She's the one who has to put people on the wall so that everyone else can sleep at night."

 

On the ground, some of the show's characters have unique responses to the situation. As Jana Mayfield, Moses reacts to the quarantine by barricading herself in a clean room. "I'm on the inside," Moses said. "Working as a data recovery specialist, I'm around sensitive materials so I have three rooms that are completely sanitized. So, I'm able to outsmart the virus."

Others aren’t so fortunate. The virus leaves a swath of dead in its wake. "It gets gory," said Gutoskie, who witnessed death scenes performed on a daily basis. "There's lots of projectile mucous. There's a lot of blood."

“Containment” premieres tonight at 9 ET/PT on The CW.