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.

Hawthorne promises "For Better or Worse"

     TNT's Hawthorne begins season three tonight with "For Better or Worse." Christina (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Tom (Michael Vartan) barely get through their "I do's" before having to rush off to work because of a neighbor's car wreck. At the end of the day, Christina is beat up badly in the parking lot. Tom convinces Brenda (Anne Ramsay) to do multiple risky procedures to try to save their baby, though Cat (Lauren Velez, Dexter) refuses. The baby dies anyway, and Christina insists on pushing it out, rather than having it removed. Nick (Marc Anthony, now a series regular) hunts, and eventually finds, her attacker. With Christina down, Morrissey (James Morrison) immediately and permanently replaces her as CNO with Bobbie (Suleka Mathew). After learning Bobbie has accepted the position, Steve (Adam Rayner) decides not to propose to her, as he has planned on doing. Candy (Christina Moore) returns to the hospital and delivers her own baby.

     Given that Hawthorne begins as a standard procedural, there is no reason to watch the beginning of the series. This episode, however, is excellent, and if it representative of what the show has become, then Hawthorne deserves another chance. The story may be somewhat self contained, but also plays on larger arcs about relationships and pregnancies. There is a real focus on the characters and their various bonds rather than on a case of the week. With the slew of medical series currently on the air, this is the way to distinguish a show from its peers.

     While Smith is perhaps not the best actress around, especially in the scene where she silently pushes out her dead baby, she is surrounded by a number of wonderful actors who will make viewers mostly forget her shortcomings, at least for this episode. Keeping her confined to a hospital bed likely helps. It remains to be seen whether being at the center of such a huge loss, speaking of the baby, will find Smith up to the task or not. Vartan, too, shows the limited range he demonstrates on Alias, but to his credit, it seems more a part of his character, rather than bad acting.

     The contrast between Christina and Candy is nicely played, milking emotional impact out of both births, which happen very differently, but at the same time. Candy choosing to name her baby after Christina also slightly dampens the pure grief that comes with losing a child so early. While much of this episode focuses on death, the new life helps brighten the mood, though not in a stereotypical, cheesy way.

     As for Steve and Bobbie, it's hard not to dwell on whether or not their relationship can weather such a disloyal move by Bobby. Morrissey's decision to choose a new CNO is understandable from a business perspective, though making it a permanent decision seems unduly harsh. Bobbie only accepts to keep the job from someone else. Perhaps she thinks she can give it back to Christina when the time is right, though others would not. Yet, it's easy to see why Steve interprets Bobbie's actions as blatant betrayal against a close friend. Will Steve come around to her way of thinking, or will they be soon splitting up?

     Hawthorne airs Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. ET on TNT.

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     Click here to buy season one and two of Hawthorne on DVD.

Article first published as TV Review: Hawthorne - "For Better or Worse" on Blogcritics.