"New" THE FOLLOWING

Article originally written for Seat42F.

Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) is back as THE FOLLOWING returns this week on FOX. It’s been some time since season two ended, of course, and almost all of the characters seem to be in good places in their lives, relatively happy. What that means is that chaos is about to hit again, more murders will be committed, and the question as to who will survive is raised week after week.

As the season premiere, “New Blood,” begins, Ryan is happily seeing Gwen (Zuleikha Robinson, Homeland, Lost). Ryan doesn’t have the best track record with women, and so he’s taking things slow with Gwen, but the question remains: is she secretly evil? On almost any other series, this wouldn’t even be a consideration, but on THE FOLLOWING, there’s probably at least a fifty/fifty chance of it, with the other option being that she’ll soon become a victim. Though how cool would it be if neither occurs?

As mentioned, things start out peacefully enough, but that doesn’t last long, and the body count rises quite significantly in the first hour alone. The main perpetrator this time around is not Joe Carroll, who is on Death Row, less than a month away from execution (what are the chances he’ll actually die?). Instead, the new cult leader is Mark (Sam Underwood), whose mother, twin brother, and adopted sister were killed by our heroes last year. Mark is not mentally stable and he is bent on revenge, a dastardly combination.

Ryan is soon drawn in to stop Mark, which makes sense, given Mark is purposely targeting Ryan, Max (Jessica Stroup), and Mike (Shawn Ashmore) with his games, the three that have wronged him, in his eyes. These three lied about some of the deaths they committed last year, and Mark wants the truth exposed. Will they be able to stop him before the truth comes out?

Ryan isn’t the only one in a different place in “New Blood.” Max and Mike have also followed their paths forward, and while I won’t spoil what that means, I will say flashbacks in the season premiere help fill in the gaps to get them to their current place. THE FOLLOWING is a very serial story, and while the action may take place months or years apart, hence the time jumps during hiatus, the writers do a pretty good job connecting the dots so viewers are not lost. These leaps also make logical sense to the plot.

A lot happens in “New Blood,” both fresh and following up from previously. A major character gets married. Another contemplates a big step in his relationship. Exes come back together and see how the other is doing. Mistakes are brought back up. Most importantly, though, is that THE FOLLOWING gives its characters time to dwell on past wrongs in order to see how they influence moving forward.

Early in the first episode back, Ryan is reminded of the collateral damage left in his wake. It may not be his intention to kill anyone, but even those cult members who die along the way have families and loved ones who care about them. If Ryan captures the bad guy but lives are lost in the process, is that worth it? Should he have done something differently? Is he too careless about others in his pursuit of justice? These fascinating questions are raised in “New Blood,” and that dramatically raises the quality of the episode.

THE FOLLOWING is by and large an action mystery, and it does that well. More interesting to me is that it is taking the steps to address the emotional toll on the characters. Ryan Hardy is not made of steel like 24’s Jack Bauer. Self-examination is part and parcel of who he is, and the fact that the show is re-focusing on that is exciting. I hope there will be plenty of time for it to continue as the season unfolds.

THE FOLLOWING airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND's Happily Ever After

Article first published as TV Review: 'Once Upon a Time in Wonderland' - Series Finale on Blogcritics.

It seems a little strange that the series finale of ABC’s Once Upon a Time in Wonderland is called “And They Lived…” Do the writers mean to imply that the characters merely survived the final showdown? Because that’s not the case. They triumph and basically get everything they want, just like any true fairy tale (though not necessarily any television show) should close. So why not finish “…Happily Ever After”?

“And They Lived…” is a good conclusion to the 13-episode miniseries. It has action and adventure, a couple of twists, the deaths of some minor players, and a wedding at the end. Those who have romantic partners find them again. The villain is defeated, the heroes go home, and it all wraps up pretty neatly. This from a series with a very rocky start.

Many would-be viewers gave up on Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, including fans of the mother ship Once Upon a Time early in its run. It’s a shame, given how the story continued to get better and better as the weeks went on, but it’s not a surprise. Mostly filmed on green screen, with very little reality to latch on to, the characters seem to have an alien frame of reference, and are slow to add depth to the players.

Part of this is because Once Upon a Time in Wonderland begins very mission-focused, rather than character-driven. We know Alice (Sophie Lowe) wants to rescue the love her life, genie Cyrus (Peter Gadiot), but rather than going through personal growth to get to Cyrus, she instead must overcome external challenges tossed in her way by a couple of bad guys.

A few episodes in, though, this begins to shift. True, Alice stays pretty single-minded, but The Red Queen’s (Emma Rigby) back story is one of broken hearts and missed opportunities (which is a little like the Evil Queen in OUAT, but it feels different enough to be OK). Her arc is all about getting back with The Knave (Michael Socha), which becomes more complicated when he takes Cyrus’ place in the bottle, thus shifting the thrust of the story entirely.

Which brings us to “And They Lived…” Jafar (Naveen Andrews) resurrects the dead Red Queen, then forces her to love him, as he has broken the rules of magic. This is not only the most interesting thing going on as Alice, Cyrus, his mother, Amara (Zuleikha Robinson), The White Rabbit (John Lithgow), and their friends try to save everyone, but also where the most tension lies. After all, even if Jafar is stopped, The Knave cannot have his happy ending without The Red Queen. Would she stay in the land of the living if Jafar’s powers, which resurrect her, are stripped away?

It’s great that Jafar’s own hubris is what brings him down. He thinks he has the situation under control, so gets rids of his henchwoman, the Jabberwocky (Peta Sergeant). But then, he’s being hit from too many sides, and his own spell over The Red Queen fails when true love’s kiss proves to be too powerful. He is soundly defeated by the very woman he forced into the mix.

My one real complaint about “And They Lived…” is the specific way in which Jafar loses. Couldn’t Jafar just give the water back to the well, freeing himself fro the genie curse? And are we supposed to believe that the water witch is more powerful than Jafar, even after he has broken all the rules of magic? I feel like this climax needed to be a little smarter than it is. Ditto how the water witch decided to let the Red Queen live, just because.

Still, between the terrific character moment in which Jafar kills his own father (Brian George), and an Alice / Cyrus wedding that residents from both worlds attend, courtesy of The White Rabbit’s portal skills, there is much to praise. There are dramatic moments, earned and well-wrought, as well as a general a feeling of satisfaction as the protagonists get their happy ending.

News of The Knave’s imminent transfer to Once Upon a Time next fall does raise some questions, though. Will he get to take The Red Queen with him back to Storybrooke? If not, how can the writers separate them without ruining their lovely story? Might others be included? Alice and Cyrus surely will not, but there are plenty of other good candidates, including The White Rabbit, who would be most useful.

I do hope Once Upon a Time in Wonderland‘s ratings failure doesn’t ruin any other OUAT spin-off opportunities. It may have taken a little bit of time to make it work, but in the end, it does. More stand-alone, short-form tales like this would be most welcome indeed. Oz, in particular, seems a ripe vein to mine.

Benjamin Linus: Great character, or greatest character?

     Last night's episode of ABC's Lost was called "Dr. Linus", and assuming it was clearly a Ben story, I eagerly tuned in.  I was far from disappointed.  Ever since we caught a glimpse of Dr. Linus, the history teacher at the high school where John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) was working as a substitute teacher, I yearned for more information.  Last night, we got it.
     Dr. Linus cares as much about his students as the Ben of the island cared about the people he lead.  And what's more, even though he seemed like a much better man, he is was still ready to resort to the deep, dark tricks he pulled in the other timeline.  Yet, here, he did not pull the trigger.  He did not call a bluff.  He held back, and it proved that Ben has something in him better than anyone expected.
     This brings up to further debate on an age old questions: do circumstances determine who you are?  In Ben's case, yes.  Island Ben was pushed to the breaking point over and over and it led him do become a pretty nasty psychotic.  When we saw young Ben in the 1970's, clearly he was not that way.  Alternate path Dr. Linus was not either, and it was with supreme irony that his father told him they should have stayed on the island, it would have been better for him.
     Back on the island, Ben had a breakdown that reminded us once more why Michael Emerson wins Emmys for the role.  He proclaimed he would go with the smoke monster because no one else would have him.  True, at this point, who would take that Ben?  But Ilana (Zuleikha Robinson) took pity on him, and agreed to take him, just when the audience needed to see someone accept Ben.
     You seen, while Ben has done unspeakable evil, the writers of Lost have somehow managed to make us see why he did what he did.  After last night, we also saw the potential for greatness in him.  Does Island Ben deserve redemption and a happy ending?  Probably not.  But he should get one.  He should get one because they made the viewers truly care about him, and many of us will be highly disappointed if he does not.  Ben Linus will go down as one of the most truly interesting, complex, dynamic characters ever created in any medium.  Michael Emerson, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, be proud of your creation.  We are.
     Plus, the episode had Leslie Artz (Daniel Roebuck), and that's always a good time.
     ABC will present 9 more episodes of Lost before the series finale Tuesday nights at 9pm.