Visiting MIDNIGHT, TEXAS

Article first published as MIDNIGHT, TEXAS Season 2 Set Visit on Seat42F. (many more photos available at this link)

NBC’s MIDNIGHT, TEXAS returns for a second season this Friday. If you missed season one last summer, there’s still time to catch up on all ten episodes through Hulu. Or you can just jump in when it returns. But assuming you caught the show, based on the books by Charlaine Harris (True Blood), here’s a bit of a preview for season two, cobbled together from interviews during a recent set visit.

And yes, there will be spoilers. This is a preview, after all.

Season two picks up basically where the first year left off. A hotel has opened in sleepy Midnight, founded by new characters Patience (Jaime Ray Newman, The Punisher) and Kai Lucero (Nestor Carbonell, Bates Motel). They are gypsies who have been going from town to town healing people. They’ve faced some skeptics, and they found some believers. Now they’re ready to settle down and open up a more permanent shop. And they’ve chosen Midnight as the location, an invading presence in a town still trying to settle down from the last big event.

Carbonell, whom you may recognize from Lost, and who was sought after because the new show-runners worked with him on Ringer, looked to Reiki as a way to ground the character. He says the cast is made up of the nicest people, all so welcoming and willing to take big swings, and open to trying things in new ways. He’s very happy to have joined the ensemble. Carbonell learned to trust the moment and the director on Lost, especially during his 13-day shoot (a normal episode takes about eight days) on his character’s backstory episode, which was far different than he had imagined. Now, he brings those skills and experience to MIDNIGHT, TEXAS.

The hotel itself is a sprawling, impressive, versatile set, featuring a pool in the lobby that will definitely get some use. It’s a big of a departure for sleepy, lived-in Midnight. The building is also apparently “so much worse than just being haunted; you’ll wish that was the only problem.”

The hotel isn’t the only thing new that has come to MIDNIGHT, TEXAS. With showrunner Monica Owusu-Breen having left to oversee the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot (which the cast universally insists she will ‘slay’), writer duo Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder (Supernatural), who worked on season one, have stepped into her shoes.

Nicole and Eric said their instructions for season two were clear: make it soapier, sexier, and scarier – essentially, like True Blood, but for network television. (Though not with the obvious move, bringing in Quinn, the weretiger character who appears in both book series. He’s still MIA this year.) With much of the material of the trilogy of books having been covered in the first two seasons, they also had a goal to set up the world for a much longer, larger, more dynamic story.

Everyone involved in the production seems to agree that they have succeeded in this. The action is more sprawling, no longer confined to Midnight, and more serialized. The cast claims the two-hour finale, which they were shooting during the set visit, and which involved a lot of night shooting, will blow your mind. Nothing has been spared.

Oh, and the great Jaime Murray (Defiance, Warehouse 13) has also come on board in an ‘integral’ role, though details about her part were not revealed.

Of course, not everything is about the new cast and sets. Fan favorite characters are well-served, too, with blossoming relationships explored and a threat coming from within, leaving you to wonder who is friend and who is foe.

Manfred (Francois Arnaud) still has to deal with the black ooze coming out of his ear at the end of season one. Plagued by “demon cancer,” he’s not quite himself as the story gets back underway. And he is beset by nightmares that aren’t just nightmares. Can he vanquish demons not just from the outside world, but from within himself, too?

At least it’ll be easy to hide the illness from his squeeze, Creek (Sarah Ramos), who is away at school, and so not around to catch him behaving badly. (Although Ramos is no longer a series lead, she will appear in season two of MIDNIGHT, TEXAS.)

Bobo (Dylan Bruce) has a few different things to contend with. For one, he’s bought the Cartoon Saloon, giving the place a Merlot’s-like feel. Second, he is enjoying his new relationship with Fiji (Parisa Fitz-Henley), his best friend.

Though, things will not necessarily go swimmingly for them. Haunted by past mistakes, Fiji has a lot about herself to figure out. Not to mention, being with her is going to endanger Bobo with a Final Destination-esque plot. So let’s hope the couple can get through that and come out the other side alive.

Perhaps a bit less dramatic is the wedded bliss of Olivia (Arielle Kebbel) and Lem (Peter Mensah). The couple has a few things to work on, such as re-decorating their shared living space into something suitable for them both, and the psychic connection they now have after Lem drank Olivia’s blood. But those aren’t deadly issues. Just fun.

Olivia has had a lot of emotional pain in her life, and this season will provide some healing. Not that she’s stopped being a badass assassin; quite the opposite. But she needs to learn how to embrace the wonderful parts of life, too, and to figure out how to be strong enough to be vulnerable.

Kebbel also promises satisfying, big resolution between Olivia and Madonna (Kellee Stewart), who was revealed to be working for Olivia’s father at the end of last season.

Then there’s Joe (Jason Lewis), whom after a millennia of hiding, is trying to figure out what his life is now. This will lead to some fresh temptations for the angel, and Joe will be forced to confront the person he was.

Which is not to say that season two of MIDNIGHT, TEXAS is backwards-looking. While the past does play into character development, it’s used to inform how the characters grow moving forward, not driving the plot as it sometimes did in season one.

It’s been said that Friday nights are a great night for genre television on the broadcast networks, and with MIDNIGHT, TEXAS moving into the regular season – albeit for a nine-episode run this fall, rather than trying to complete a full twenty-some episodes – let’s hope that stays true. The new and expanded sets look great, the story teased is intriguing, and the cast and crew seem to be having a lot of fun. I look forward to going along for the ride with them.

MIDNIGHT, TEXAS begins its second season this Friday on NBC.

Wicked, WICKED CITY

Article originally published as WICKED CITY Review on Seat42F.

Anthology series seem to be all the rage these days. Cable started things off with the extremely successful American Horror Story, followed soon by Fargo and True Detective. But ABC has gotten into the game, too, with American Crime and WICKED CITY, the latter of which premieres this week on the alphabet network.

WICKED CITY’s first season tells the story of a serial killer on the Sunset Strip of L.A. in 1982. Kent Grainger (Ed Westwick, Gossip Girl) is the smooth-talking man that seduces ladies by telling them exactly what they want to hear, then stabs them to death and has sex with the bodies. He’s a psychopath who happens to love children, and can be quite scary, indeed.

Now, that description of what Kent does is pretty disturbing, but ABC doesn’t get too graphic, nor would anyone expect one of the broadcast networks to do so. The sex side of the crimes is handled without showing too much, barely any skin, and certainly none of the actual corpse desecration. Instead, it’s more about the seduction game, which Westwick does very well, talking the worst sides of his former character, Chuck, and making them bigger and more dangerous.

Several women come into Kent’s orbit in the first episode alone. There’s Betty Beaumontaine (Erika Christensen, Parenthood), a desperate single mother who quickly falls hard for the smooth fellow. There’s also Karen McClaren (Taissa Farmiga, American Horror Story), a wannabe reporter. And these are just the two I think might survive awhile; there are victims in the pilot.

Their best hope at staying alive is Detective Jack Roth (Jeremy Sisto, Suburgatory), who is on Kent’s trail. Given that this miniseries will last ten weeks, it’s surprising just how much Jack finds out in the first installment. Yet, Kent is smart, and I’m sure some of the information Jack gleans will soon become outdated and useless. The cat-and-mouse dynamic set up between Kent and Jack is immediately interesting.

Jack doesn’t work alone, of course. He has a new partner he despises, Paco Contreras (Gabriel Luna, Matador), as well as a romantic liaison, who happens to be an undercover officer, Dianne Kubek (Karolina Wydra, True Blood). These two may just serve as collateral damage as the case goes on, as they certainly are taking a back seat to Jack initially.

In an attempt to make Jack grittier and more complex, Dianne is the mistress, as Jack has a wife, Allison (Jaime Ray Newman, Mind Games), and teenage daughter, Vicki (Anne Winters, Tyrant), at home. But honestly, this doesn’t do as intended, as Jack seems like a typical hero even when he’s cheating on his wife. It’s like there are two separate Jacks, both equally noble, that happen to co-exist. This may be cynical on my part, being able to segment his life without judgment, but that’s how the show feels as it plays out, with Jack otherwise not being the least bit edgy.

WICKED CITY is engaging. There are a number of scenes in the first episode where I find myself on the edge of my seat, wondering what will happen. While it is done in the ‘true crime’ style, I’m not sure if it tells a real tale, like the inferior Aquarius, or a false one, like Fargo; I am not able to confirm this is based on a real killer. As such, it feels like anything can happen, and I hope ABC makes sure it stays that way, instead of settling into a comfortable pattern, as the broadcast networks usually do. If the rest of the episodes are as good as the pilot (and continue to have catchy music), I’ll be quite happy to continue watching.

WICKED CITY premieres Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

Red Widow surviving, not thriving

Article first published as Red Widow surviving, not thriving on TheTVKing.

ABC's newest "gripping" drama is Red Widow, which offered a two hour premiere this week of "Pilot" and "The Contact." In it,  Marta Walraven (Radha Mitchell, Silent Hill), the grown daughter in a crime family, asks her husband, Evan (Hell on Wheels' Anson Mount), to get her and their three children out of the family business. Evan promises to do so, after warning Marta that they will have to leave everything behind. But before that can happen, Evan is murdered and Marta is forced into being a criminal herself to pay off his debt.

There are multiple sides to this story that Marta is trapped in, pulled in several directions. Her father, Andrei Petrov (Rade Sebedzija, 24, Batman Begins), whom she loves, is heavily involved in illegal activities. Her brother, Irwin (Wil Traval, All Saints) not only worked with Evan, but is now in jail. These characters are presented as loving and sympathetic, as is Marta's sister, Kat (Jaime Ray Newman, Eastwick, Grimm), so we are supposed to root for them, right?

But there are also the bad guys that we don't trust. This includes Evan and Irwin's partner, Mike (Lee Tergesen, Oz, The Big C), whom Marta doesn't trust, and who happens to be married to Marta's best friend, Dina (Suleka Mathew, Hawthorne, Men in Trees). I do wonder how Marta can wrap her head around the fact that Dina loves a man she despises, and if this has caused conflict between them in the past. Or maybe Marta is just now seeing Mike in a different light, after suspecting him of being involved in Evan's death? It's not clear how this dynamic supposedly works prior to the events of the "Pilot."

And then there's Nicholae Schiller (Goran Visnjic, ER), the man that Irwin stole from, but Marta is being forced to work for in Evan's name. There is almost a bit of romantic tension between Marta and Nicholae, at least from his side, but he also radiates a level of danger. This is a Very Bad Man, we're quickly told and shown in an extraneous boxing scene.

I'm going to be honest, Red Widow, while having many good components and interesting performances, does not feel all that unique to me. With Revenge, Scandal, and other like dramas on the air, this one, while somewhat different, isn't stand out enough to earn its place. ABC is starting to reuse its concepts, and making more of the same is not what viewers want.

I find most startling the differences between Schiller and the Petrovs. Even though both operate on the wrong side of the law, they are painted in such different strokes. We know right away who we are supposed to root for and against. The complexity that the series would get on a cable network isn't present here, and that makes it a lot less enticing, and plot twists seem forced.

In "The Contact," Marta makes her first move in Schiller's service, turning Bob (Rodney Rowland, Veronica Mars), a broke, divorced man into her paid-off patsy. It's a challenging assignment, one meant to wake Marta up to the new world that she is living in, and testing her resolve and dedication, done in the name of protecting her family. Yet, it's also completely predictable, and the ending feels like a cop out.

Also, we see Marta being a mother to Boris (Jakob Salvati), who thinks its OK to bring a gun to school, Natalie (Erin Moriarty, The Watch), who somehow stayed in the dark about what her dad did, and Gabriel (Sterling Beaumon, Clue), who is trying to follow in his father's footsteps. It's like the developers of this show had to give Marta these stakes, whom we know will never have anything too bad happen to them, but will likely be used mostly as pawns. Toss in a charming nanny, er, guard named Luther (Luke Goss, Hellboy II), and there's almost an unnecessary family series here, fighting for space within the main story.

At the same time as Marta dips her toe into the dark side, she is also being pressured by a federal agent, James Ramos (Clifton Collins Jr., The Event), to cooperate with the government. It turns out, Evan intended to turn in Andrei, Irwin, and the rest in in exchange for his family entering witness protection. Marta is horrified at this "big twist," having trouble believing her husband would turn on their family. This only serves to illustrate just how naive Marta is.

The biggest problem with Red Widow is that Marta is not a compelling character. She's too much of a fictional creation, lacking authenticity. Everything happens around her in broad strokes, because she might not be able to understand or deal with the nuance. The story is lacking because she is lacking. And the show keeps throwing more stuff and more characters at us hoping to distract from how surface everything is, and how weak Marta is as a creation.

Red Widow might still be good; it's not unsalvageable. It just feels too safe for ABC, and lacks the drawing power a new show needs in the current, crowded environment of high-quality TV. The more we see that's better, the more obvious it is when an effort falters. Red Widow's first episodes are quite shaky.

Red Widow airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.