Baker adds: “I remember years ago – Joe, maybe you can help me out with this – there was one [theory] about how it was all about the war criminal Radovan Karadžić.” Joe laughs: “Yeah, that one, I think we can say, is correct.”
For the fans who have followed the show since its conception, the possibility of seeing performances that are more “emotionally powerful in certain scenes”, as Joe puts it, is a whole new and exciting ballpark. When the short teaser trailer for the DHMIS TV show launched this June, the YouTube comment section was alive with fan theories and users breaking down its 30 seconds of content, providing a mere glimpse into the considerably deeper dives to be found on Reddit. Internet fandom and the idea of darker messages within more naive, childlike content have always gone hand in hand, and in the case of DHMIS, the fandom has become just another aspect of the show.
Joe tends, however, to steer clear of too much immersion in theories, hesitant that it could affect the writing. “Over the years, we’ve got tremendous enjoyment from them – and not in a condescending way. You read the theories that are so well thought-through, detailed and fleshed out that you start to go: ‘Oh, maybe that is correct.’ And if it is to them, it is. So that’s what we’ve always said: ‘If it’s what you think, then it’s correct for you and for whoever else wants to believe it.’”