John's performer, Austin Nichols, says, "I could be an angel or a Greek chorus. The mystery of John has yet to be unfurled, but it will be very exciting." "John could be anybody at this point," says executive producer Mark Tinker. "One of the things that John brings to the show is love, and a forgiveness for anyone and anything that opens people's hearts." Co-creator David Milch says, "I don't think he changes their lives, so much as reorients their understanding of the life that they've been living."