BETRAYAL a Betrayal of Viewers With Taste

Article first published as BETRAYAL Review on Seat42F.

ABC continues its run of soapy dramas with one-word titles, the newest, following in the footsteps of Scandal, Revenge, and Deception, is BETRAYAL. The tale of cheating spouses, murderous sons, and backstabbing business deals, BETRAYAL attempts to cash in on what has become an ABC brand, developing a serial story of intrigue and salaciousness. Sadly, it seems destined to be among the lesser efforts, soon canceled.

The “Pilot” begins by showing us Sara Hanley (Hannah Ware, Boss) bleeding on the floor and being loaded into an ambulance. It’s the same trick Revenge likes to use, revealing a later disaster early in the year, and Sara is one of the two most primary characters, so this sequence not only feels stale, but without tension. Sure, we want to know how Sara has been hurt and who did it, but there’s little danger that she’s going to die.

After dispensing with that bit of nonsense, which the plot won’t catch up to until at least mid-season, the real episode begins. At a party, Sara meets Jack McAllister (Stuart Townsend, XIII: The Series) and falls in love. These two are definitely soul mates, as every bit of their electric chemistry hints at, and even though Jack professes not to be interested in art, he even buys one of Sara’s works. Yes, Sara is an artist, and one who has kept her last name, perpetuating the idea that this is a common lifestyle one can aspire to, and that she’s not one of the lucky few.

There is just one little snag with Jack and Sara being together: both are married with a kid or two at home.

Sara’s husband, Drew Stafford (Chris Johnson, Against the Wall), is a bit preoccupied with work, trying to turn a legal career into political office. But he’s not a bad guy. He loves his wife, is supportive of her work, and seeks to celebrate his victories with her. Still, for some reason, Sara isn’t satisfied.

Jack is in a similar situation, happily working for Thatcher Karsten (James Cromwell, American Horror Story: Asylum), his father-in-law. His wife, Elaine (Wendy Moniz, Damages), is shown to be less joyful, not really approving of her daddy, and seemingly a bit jealous of Jack’s relationship with their twin teenagers (Men of a Certain Age’s Braeden Lemasters and First Day’s Elizabeth McLaughlin). But again, no obvious tension that would lead either spouse to stray.

Which is why Sara and Jack’s tryst doesn’t make any sense. Maybe they do have a magnetism that they can’t ignore. But they know it’s wrong, both saying so out loud, and both have a lot to lose. Why would they risk the entire lives they’ve built for themselves on a bit of sex with a near-stranger?

Of course, BETRAYAL isn’t satisfied with just infidelity. Tossing all realism out the window, the death of Thatcher’s brother-in-law not only has this family scrambling to protect Thatcher’s mentally challenged son T.J. (Henry Thomas, Gangs of New York), who is suspected, but also ends up putting Sara in a compromising position. I won’t get into the details, in case you plan on watching the show and don’t want spoiled, but it all feels extremely staged and forced.

Now, it’s true that a show such as this can’t just have a single arc, and with a limited number of characters, lots of drama must be built in to give it legs. However, other series have managed to balance a lot of twists, developments, and players with ease, so when it’s done this clumsily, it doesn’t feel right. Plus, there’s not a single character that really resonates and makes viewers want to get behind them. BETRAYAL may not be the worst show out there, but it puts itself up automatically against its peers on the same network, and it falters by comparison.

By the way, I don’t think Thomas does a convincing performance of a character with his condition. I know there is a spectrum, and not every person with mental disabilities acts the same, but this one just doesn’t feel authentic to me.

Overall, I could be wrong, and BETRAYAL may find a way to capture viewers. But I don’t see anything worth championing from it in the “Pilot.”

BETRAYAL premieres Sunday, September 29^th at 10 p.m. ET.

XIII Series Premiere Review

Reelz tries its hand at a regular series by running the Franco-Canadian-made XIII, which premiered this weekend. A top agent known as XIII (Stuart Townsend, Night Stalker), a name tattooed on his body, is ensconced in an Eastern European prison. He is broken out, he soon discovers, by the former president of the United States, who would like a memory chip that XIII hid away in a safety deposit box. The current president is also involved, behaving as a friend to XIII, but putting country first. However, XIII isn’t one to play nice, either, especially when he isn’t sure who to trust, and people are trying to kill him.

XIII is a continuation of a 2008 miniseries, which originally aired on NBC in the United States. Those who are unfamiliar with this miniseries will probably find themselves a bit lost. XIII is about a conspiracy and a mystery, with the main character not sure what his previous life is, and a power game at the highest levels of government. It’s kind of hard to unfurl a story like this when the first couple hours of clues are missing. As someone who did not see the miniseries, it felt like I jumped in halfway through a novel, and the show was not accessible.

However, even as the pieces begin to fall into place, and viewers catch up with what’s going on, sort of, it’s still not an easy show to get into. The former president got XIII out of jail, but for what purpose, really? What are his motivations? What are XIII’s goals, given that he is sort of hanging around, following some orders, arguing others, but not really stating any purpose? Is he trying to stop the bad guys, whoever they may be? Doesn’t he want to discover his own forgotten past, which he shows signs of doing, but doesn’t commit to? These characters just aren’t defined very well, and neither are any of the other supporting players. It’s one think to have shady individuals who keep an audience guessing, but this isn’t that. These are just confusing, often contradictory, roles.

The dialogue isn’t any better. XIII and the people he encounters ask the most predictable questions. For instance, waking up in the hospital bed, XIII has an exchange about asking questions, which seems trite and pat, also not making much sense in context. And the sequence of actions don’t quite line up, with an unnecessary fight scene that accomplishes nothing.

Another obvious screw up is how easily XIII gets into the White House. Are viewers really expected to believe that, with all of the cameras and agents, he can sneak around like this? And that he knows only Jones (Aisha Tyler, Archer) will find him? Her discovery is mentioned almost as a joke, but it actually serves to better draw attention to a glaring misstep. Yes, XIII is more clever than the average spy, but this just stretches believability too far, making the writers seem lazy for not developing a plausible break in scheme. Time is limited on a series, but certain things cannot just be glazed over without pulling viewers out of the story.

Much of the cast of this XIII is different than the miniseries. XIII himself is explained away when he reveals he changed his face, since the last one became a liability. This works, and is one of the few things the hour gets right. But why does Jones look different? Why would the show offer a reason for one character’s different look, but not others?

XIII is, overall, much like a Bourne movie. Confusing plot, conspiracies that seem a bit half-baked, characters who don’t always act in their own self-interests when they should, and a jumpy directional style designed to accommodate action bits and fight sequences, including those packed in gratuitously. It’s a specific type of show that will appeal to a specific type of viewer. But good quality television, it is not.

XIII airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Reelz.