Ginnifer Goodwin joins ‘The Twilight Zone’ (Photo Credit: CBS All Access)
CBS All Access’ season one cast of The Twilight Zone just expanded by one. Once Upon a Time star Ginnifer Goodwin has signed on to the reboot of the iconic sci-fi series, joining James Frain and Zabryna Guevara in an episode titled “Point of Origin.”
The rebirth of the series will also feature Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story anthology series), Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul), Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), and Ike Barinholtz (The Oath). John Cho (Searching), Allison Tolman (Good Girls), Jacob Tremblay (The Book of Henry), Greg Kinnear (House of Cards), Sanaa Lathan (The Affair), Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley), Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation), Jessica Williams (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It), and Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead) also star in season one episodes.
Oscar winner Jordan Peele (Get Out) is serving as narrator and host. Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films produced the series with CBS Television. Peele, Kinberg, Win Rosenfeld, Audrey Chon, Glen Morgan, Carol Serling, Rick Berg, and Greg Yaitanes are the season one executive producers.
Ginnifer Goodwin’s credits include Big Love, Zootopia, Walk the Line, He’s Just Not That Into You, and A Single Man. Goodwin recently completed work on I Am Somebody’s Child: The Regina Louise Story with Angela Fairley and Kim Hawthorne.
The Twilight Zone is set to premiere on Monday, April 1, 2019.
More on The Twilight Zone, Courtesy of CBS All Access:
“The original The Twilight Zone premiered on Oct. 2, 1959 on CBS. The series took viewers to another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. “The Twilight Zone” became a worldwide phenomenon as it used socially conscious storytelling to explore the human condition and culture of the times. It was a journey into a wondrous land of imagination for five years on CBS, from 1959 to 1964. The godfather of sci-fi series, the show explored humanity’s hopes, despairs, prides and prejudices in metaphoric ways conventional dramas could not. Every episode of the original series is available to stream now on CBS All Access.”
Lifetime’s new series American Princess will join the network’s primetime lineup on Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 9pm ET/PT. The series is described as a dramedy and comes from writer and executive producer Jamie Denbo. American Princess is executive produced by the Orange is the New Black and GLOW team of Jenji Kohan, Tara Herrmann, and Mark A. Burley.
Season one consists of 10 one-hour episodes starring Australian actress Georgia Flood as a runaway bride who discovers there’s a lot more to life than she imagined. The cast of season one also includes Lucas Neff (Raising Hope, Downward Dog), Seana Kofoed (Men in Trees, Flaked), Mary Hollis Inboden (The Real O’Neals, Here And Now), and Rory O’Malley (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Hamilton).
Jamie Denbo, Lesley Ann Warren, Matt Peters, Lucas Hazlett, Sophie Von Haselberg, Matt Ehrich, Natasha Leggero, and Steve Agee guest star in the show’s first season. Tommy Dorfman, Fortune Feimster, and John Ross Bowie also have guest starring roles in the upcoming season.
The Plot:
When Amanda (Flood), an Upper East Side socialite, runs away from her own dream wedding, she realizes that the life she thought she wanted wasn’t actually right after all. After impulsively joining a Renaissance Faire, Amanda experiences an unexpected awakening that leads her to reevaluate everything she thought she knew about the pursuit of happiness. She quickly develops new friendships, rivalries and romances that, much to the confusion of her family, opens her eyes to new beginnings.
Neff stars as David, Amanda’s love interest and Ren Faire actor who goes by the name “Pizzle Humpsalot,” performing Shakespearean parodies in the mud. Kofoed plays Maggie, the venerable Queen Elizabeth at the Faire. Inboden is Delilah, a free-spirited washer wench who becomes Amanda’s new best friend. And O’Malley plays Brian, Maggie’s confidant and the Faire’s beloved Shakespeare.
Fox Entertainment brought the entire cast of The Gifted to their evening party for the Television Critics Association. The X-Men series is in its second season, with the Strucker family on the run from the Inner Circle.
We caught Stephen Moyer and his TV daughter Natalie Alyn Lind hustling some hors d’oeuvres (networks always forget to feed their talent). So with a prime spot for the wait staff and a glass of wine in his hand, Moyer and Lind spoke with Showbiz Junkies about the rest of the season. The Gifted airs Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT on Fox.
So what’s coming up for the Strucker family?
Stephen Moyer: “Well, lots of drama.”
Natalie Alyn Lind: “Lots of unexpected twists.”
Stephen Moyer: “Lots of crescendo to the season. Everything, if you’ve been following, is kind of building in one direction. The Inner Circle are trying to take over the world. They’re doing bad stuff, we’re trying to stop them.”
Is there still room for those family moments when the world is at stake?
Natalie Alyn Lind: “I think our show will always find a moment for family moments.”
Stephen Moyer: “We get a couple of really nice scenes actually, don’t we? One in 15, one in 16. It’s really nice for us to have some. In fact, has our episode played yet where I come and follow you?”
Natalie Alyn Lind: “Yes.”
Stephen Moyer: “Oh yeah, that was great.”
Could you have imagined when you started The Gifted where you’d be halfway through season two?
Stephen Moyer: “We do cover a lot of ground. I don’t know, really. I wasn’t sure that I would get powers. I got powers right at the end of season one, coming into season two. I wouldn’t have thought that that would’ve happened yet.”
Did they tell you it was a long term plan?
Stephen Moyer: “I had a feeling that that would maybe be in there at some point, but I think the studio really liked the idea of it so they pushed Matt [Nix] to create that.”
Do Reed and Kate still have time to parent? Do they still have the authority to parent while they’re all on the run?
Natalie Alyn Lind: “Well, obviously just me.”
Stephen Moyer: “To be fair to the program makers, it’s hard. With all the story that’s going on, to give us those moments that we all kind of crave, which are those character beats is very difficult. And we’re always trying to push for those beats to be with our kids and have moments of learning and doing all of that stuff. So, we do have a couple.
There’s lots of stories to finish, lots of things that have been set up and teed up that need to be finished. In so doing, there are moments where we will get to close portals, close doors and finish stuff. We always want more. I think every actor is always going, ‘Oh, I want to do this. I want to do that.'”
I’m just thinking with teenagers, yes, it’s life and death but you still don’t want teenagers to run rampant.
Stephen Moyer: “Especially not these two. They’re very rampant together, my twins.”
Natalie Alyn Lind: “My twins?”
Stephen Moyer: “Not that they’re twins, but…”
How does this season finale compare to last year’s, where they brought down a plane?
Stephen Moyer: “And they [Lind and Percy Hynes White] brought down a building. Emma [Dumont] brought down a plane.”
Natalie Alyn Lind: “I think it’s even crazier than the last one and something big happens which kind of puts the show into a new perspective.”
Stephen Moyer: “I think there’s a leaping off point into the future kind of idea.”
Being in a season and a half of The Gifted with all these super powers, is it more similar or different to True Blood at this point?
Stephen Moyer: “I think that if you remember season two of True Blood, we had the crazy eyes and the maenads and the crazy sex orgies all the way through that season. [Joking] So it’s pretty much just like that but ours is off stage.”
Warner Bros Pictures and MGM just released a full trailer for the romantic drama, The Sun is Also a Star, along with a new poster. The romance stars Riverdale‘s Charles Melton and Grown-ish‘s Yara Shahidi. John Wick: Chapter 2‘s John Leguizamo also stars in the adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s novel.
Before I Fall‘s Ry Russo-Young directed from a screenplay by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip). Leslie Morgenstein and Elysa Koplovitz Dutton produced, and Pamela Hirsch served as an executive producer.
Russo-Young’s behind the scenes team includes photography Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Teen Spirit), production designer Wynn Thomas (Hidden Figures), editor Joe Landauer (Before I Fall), and costume designer Deirdra Elizabeth Govan (Sorry to Bother You), with Herdís Stefánsdóttir (The Hate U Give) handling the film’s music.
The Sun is Also a Star is set to open in theaters on May 17, 2019. The MPAA has given the film a PG-13 rating for some suggestive content and language.
The Plot: “What if I told you I could get you to fall in love with me…?”
College-bound romantic Daniel Bae (Melton) and Jamaica-born pragmatist Natasha Kingsley (Shahidi) meet—and fall for each other—over one magical day amidst the fervor and flurry of New York City. Sparks immediately fly between these two strangers, who might never have met had fate not given them a little push. But will fate be enough to take these teens from star-crossed to lucky in love? With just hours left on the clock in what looks to be her last day in the U.S., Natasha is fighting against her family’s deportation as fiercely as she’s fighting her budding feelings for Daniel, who is working just as hard to convince her they are destined to be together.
A modern-day story about finding love against all odds, The Sun Is Also a Star explores whether our lives are determined by fate or the random events of the universe.
Fox has confirmed The Simpsons will return for seasons 31 and 32. The history-making animated series is still going strong, with the current season averaging 4.8 million viewers. The half-hour comedy is the longest-running primetime scripted show in history and ranks in the top five comedies among all adults ages 18 to 49.
“Woo hoo! 32 Seasons! Watch your back Meet the Press,” said Homer Simpson.
The critically acclaimed series has a reputation for predicting the future, including presidential elections (Trump), tragedies (9/11), and major sporting events including multiple Super Bowls. In a recent interview with the New York Times, writer/showrunner Al Jean explained his take on why the series gets so many key events right so far in advance. “When that many smart people produce a television show, it’s bound to make some startling ‘predictions,’” said Jean.
Al Jean also serves as an executive producer along with James L. Brooks and Matt Groening. The series is a Gracie Films Production.
Upcoming guest voices on season 30 include Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Awkwafina, Judy Blume, Ken Burns, Nicole Byer, Guillermo del Toro, Will Forte, Ken Jeong, John Lithgow, Dave Matthews and J.K. Simmons.
Key The Simpsons Highlights, Courtesy of Fox:
“The longest-running primetime scripted show in television history, The Simpsons exploded into a cultural phenomenon in 1990 and has remained one of the most groundbreaking and innovative entertainment franchises, recognizable throughout the world. Currently airing its historic 30th season, The Simpsons has won 33 Emmy Awards, 34 Annie Awards, a 2016 People’s Choice Award and a 2016 Environmental Media Award.
It was the first animated series to win a Peabody Award and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2012 for the theatrical short ‘The Longest Daycare.’ The Simpsons Movie was a hit feature film, the mega-attraction ‘The Simpsons Ride’ at Universal Studios has received historic expansion updates with the addition of ‘Springfield’ and the show was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2000. It has been named the ‘Best Show of the 20th Century’ by Time magazine and called the ‘Best TV Show Ever’ by Vulture in 2016.”
“Smile boys, tonight you’re working for Goldface,” says Goldface (Damion Poitier), an elusive arms dealer who’s just hired Ralph (Hartley Sawyer) and Barry (Grant Gustin). He believes the pair are criminals and snags them to help with a heist in season five episode 13 of The CW’s The Flash.
As the episode titled “Goldfaced” begins, Sherloque (Tom Cavanagh) is still investigating Nora and trying to figure out who her accomplice is. What Sherloque doesn’t know is that Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) knows that Sherloque is on to her.
Nora visits the future and asks Eobard Thawne (also Cavanagh), who’s still in a cell, what to do. Eobard reveals he knows after becoming a Wells what will distract this Wells…love. He offers suggestions on how to get him to fall for a specific woman. With his mind preoccupied, he’ll be too distracted to keep investigating her.
Barry tries to help Iris set up her new office, but she’s focused on her work and upset her blog and new online paper isn’t getting much response or traction. Iris (Candice Patton) tells Barry she thinks if she does investigative articles on Cicada it will hit a nerve with the public. Barry gives her the go-ahead, taking off to S.T.A.R. Labs. (Finally, Iris is getting back to being what she is supposed to be – an investigative reporter!)
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) informs Ralph and Barry that she and Cisco have come up with a metahuman cure. The cure, once injected into a meta human, will take about a minute to shut down the part of the brain that gives metahumans their powers.
Team Flash needs to find a way to immobilize Cicada long enough for the cure to work. Caitlin also has an idea of how they can do that. (Seriously, Team Flash would be completely lost without Caitlin and would never defeat any villains.) She tells Ralph and Barry a company created an anti-riot device called a field generator that should freeze any living thing within a confined radius. The devices, however, were stolen and Caitlin doesn’t know where to look for them.
Ralph says he has a few contacts and should be able to find out.
Ralph talks to his contact who confirms the arms dealer Goldface has the device. When Ralph tells Barry the speedster is not comfortable with buying a weapon from an arms dealer. Ralph reminds him the ends justify the means and that he was the one who said to think outside the box.
Nora takes Sherloque to Jitters and sets it up so that Sherloque will bump into the Earth-1 version of Renee Adler (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), the woman he has married several different times on multiple Earths. Sherloque is immediately smitten with her but when he shows off his detective skills to try and impress her, she gets freaked out thinking he’s a stalker.
Ralph and Barry search for the black market and end up falling into the highly secretive illegal marketplace. One of Goldface’s goons quickly puts power-reducing cuffs on them and Ralph does some convincing talking about looking for a serious weapon. Ralph instructs Barry to just stay put and wait for him because he doesn’t know how to act like a villain.
While Barry’s just standing there he’s approached by a guy who offers him a super cop-killing assault rifle. Barry tries it out and realizes it’ll blow through the armored vests police use. Not wanting the weapons on the street, Barry offers to buy all of them.
The seller, sensing something’s off about Barry, signals Goldface’s goons. Ralph comes back and pulls Barry aside, reminding him not to blow their cover.
Ralph and Barry meet Goldface who assesses their criminality, sensing Ralph is scum but not Barry. One of Goldface’s goons points a pistol at the back of Barry’s head and Goldface asks Barry who he is. Barry takes a few seconds and then replies, “I’m nobody. No arrests, no convictions. Not for the Star City museum heist where atomized lorazepam knocked the guards out or the acid bomb that blew open the federal reserve vault last month.”
“That was you?” asks Goldface. “Not according to police reports because the only evidence I leave behind are red herrings for idiot cops to chase down. You want to know who I am? You can call me The Chemist,” answers Barry impressing Goldface, his thugs, and even Ralph.
Goldface motions for his gunman to relax and tells Ralph and Barry he has s a job for them, explaining he needs someone like The Chemist along to cover their tracks. Goldface and his crew are going to steal a 3D printer that prints organs from the lab before it reaches the hospital.
Meanwhile, Iris meets a man who knew Orlin Dwyer and she gets a lead on where he lives. Iris tracks down the house and sneaks in to look for information. She hears the door and hides as Dwyer (a.k.a. Cicada) enters.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Nora tells Sherloque she has contacted some of his ex-wives to help. Sherloque’s not happy because his ex-wives didn’t know where to find him and he owes them money. In a very cute twist, multiple versions of Renee Adler appear as holograms to not help Sherloque but berate and chastise him. They end the conversation by telling him if he doesn’t pay them the alimony he owes with interest, they’ll send the Breacher after him. Before disappearing, one of his ex’s explains to Sherloque that he’s just not meant for relationships. Hurt and depressed, Sherloque walks off and Nora feels terrible.
Ralph and Barry prepare for the heist and Ralph can tell Barry doesn’t want to go through with it. Ralph starts to try to talk to him about it, but Barry says he blew it. They could have just done a deal, but he had to overplay his hand and prove to be a villain. Barry believes Ralph is right and that he needs to be ready to get his hands dirty.
Goldface’s thugs pull up in a van to the lab building. Ralph and Barry are the last two to get out, and Ralph asks Barry to go back and grab his phone. Ralph takes Barry’s rifle, ostensibly to hold it while Barry gets the phone. However, when Barry looks inside the van, Ralph locks him in from the outside. A surprised Barry asks him what’s going on, and Ralph replies, “The Flash doesn’t have to get his hands dirty, but I can. I can do this.”
Ralph puts Barry’s rifle in the dumpster and heads into the building while Barry yells to let him out. Inside the van, Barry starts looking around for something to use to break out of the van.
Iris tries to slip out but is seen by Cicada just as she’s about to leave through the front door. She acts as though she’s coming in and lies to Dwyer, saying the door was open. Iris explains she’s a reporter doing a story on lead in the water in some of the houses in the neighborhood and wants to interview him. A suspicious Dwyer (for some unknown reason) agrees.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Nora apologizes to Sherloque. She believes he’s a romantic and that he can’t deduce love but needs to live in the moment of it.
Ralph finds the 3D printer of organs in the lab but when he sees that it’s children who’ll be receiving the organs, he can’t go through with the heist. He knocks out one thug but a few more catch him and two take him down to the van to kill him.
As they exit the building into the garage, Barry, who’s freed himself from the van, knocks out both the goons. Barry’s happy Ralph couldn’t go through with it either and together they grab their assault weapons, set them on stun, and get ready to take out Goldface’s thugs.
In an exciting but bit overly long shoot out, Barry and Ralph prove to be expert shots against the thugs. They knock every single one of them out while never getting so much as even grazed by a bullet.
Goldface shows up and orders them down to the van by activating their power cuffs to explode mode. Barry and Ralph face off with Goldface and he decides he’s going to kill them. Ralph and Barry fight Goldface and at first he’s getting the better of them. However, Barry uses Goldface’s gold whip against him and lures him into hitting an electrical box which electrocutes the criminal. Barry checks to see if he’s alive and, to even Barry’s surprise, Goldface has a weak pulse.
Iris wraps up the false interview with Dwyer and thanks him for his time. As she’s leaving, she picks up her bag. Dwyer immediately says, “You didn’t have that when you came in here.” Iris makes a run for it but Dwyer is too fast. He slams and locks the door. Iris, who shouldn’t be standing after an encounter with Cicada, throws furniture in the apartment at him. Dwyer pins her to the wall and pulls out his dagger. Iris is able to stab him with a pen in his wound. (It seems the pen is mightier than the dagger…ugh.) As Dwyer writhes in pain on the floor, Iris stands over him and taunts, “We’re going to beat you.”
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin checks over Barry and Ralph and deems both okay. Ralph’s upset they lost the chance to get the tech to stop Dwyer, but Barry reminds him that today was a win because they stopped a dangerous arms dealer and they did it without their powers. They need to remember that even when Cicada dampens their powers they have other ways to fight.
Barry’s pep talk is interrupted by a call from Iris.
The next scene shows The Flash speeding around Dwyer’s apartment and Elongated Man and Killer Frost breaching in. “Dwyer’s gone,” says Barry. Killer Frost and Elongated Man check all over but don’t find any evidence or clues indicating where Dwyer went. Iris asks if they got the device and Barry shakes his head no. Iris reveals they may not need it and tells the gang she knows how to give the cure to Cicada.
Meanwhile over at Jitters, Sherloque explains to Renee Adler that he’s a master detective and just deduced what he got right about her. She demands he prove it by deducing a customer. Fortunately, Sherloque does so successfully. Smiling, Renee says he can call her sometime.
Sherloque returns to S.T.A.R. Labs, closes the Nora file and opens up Cicada’s file. Nora, spying on Sherloque, smiles in relief.
In the last scene of season five episode 13, we see a flashback of Eobard Thawne telling Nora that if her mission was successful, her secret is safe and they are free to continue what they started.
The Flash Season 5 Episode 13 Review:
Action-packed and suspenseful, episode 13 titled “Goldenfaced” gets the show back on track. And, better still, finally puts Iris back in the role she should be…helping by being an investigative reporter.
The stand-out performances must go to Grant Gustin and Hartley Sawyer as Barry and Ralph trying to pose as criminals to get the tech Team Flash needs to stop Cicada. It’s the fantastic chemistry these two have that makes every scene with them sizzle with energy. The scene in which8 Barry comes up with his alter-ego character The Chemist is truly edgy and intense. Grant again shows just how versatile he is as an actor. Perhaps one of the best and most moving scenes is when Ralph locks Barry in the van. Ralph won’t let Barry cross that line of morals and ethics, and instead goes to cross it himself while Barry bangs on the door and shouts that he wants to have Ralph’s back. Each one is more concerned for the other than themselves.
With Iris discovering Cicada’s weakness, it should be interesting and exciting to see Team Flash go up against Cicada. Let’s just hope their plan doesn’t backfire.
Alyssa Diaz and Titus Makin in ‘The Rookie’ season 1 episode 13 (ABC/Scott Everett White)
ABC’s popular cop drama The Rookie is set to air season one episode 13 on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 at 10pm ET/PT. The episode titled “Heartbreak” was directed by Carol Banker from a script by Vincent Angell.
Episode 13 guest stars include Mircea Monroe as Isabel Bradford, Currie Graham as Ben McRee, Sara Rue as Nell Forester, Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers, and Cameron J. Armstrong as Gino.
The season one cast is led by Nathan Fillion as John Nolan and includes Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, and Richard T. Jones as Sergeant Wade Grey. Titus Makin plays Jackson West, Mercedes Mason is Captain Zoe Andersen, Melissa O’Neil is Lucy Chen, Afton Williamson plays Talia Bishop, and Eric Winter is Tim Bradford.
Series star Nathan Fillion executive produces along with Mark Gordon, Michelle Chapman, and Jon Steinberg.
The “Heartbreak” Plot – The most dangerous day of the year – Valentine’s Day – has the team on high alert, and Officer Nolan invites everyone over for a party now that he is single.
The Season One Plot:
Starting over isn’t easy, especially for small-town guy John Nolan (Fillion) who, after a life-altering incident, is pursuing his dream of being a Los Angeles police officer. As the force’s oldest rookie, he’s met with skepticism from some higher-ups who see him as just a walking midlife crisis. If he can’t keep up with the young cops and the criminals, he’ll be risking lives including his own. But if he can use his life experience, determination and sense of humor to give him an edge, he may just become a success in this new chapter of his life.
Cameron Armstrong and John Billingsley in season 1 episode 13 (ABC/Scott Everett White)Titus Makin, Cameron Armstrong, Alyssa Diaz and John Billingsley in episode 13 (ABC/Scott Everett White)Titus Makin in episode 13 (ABC/Scott Everett White)Titus Makin, Alyssa Diaz, and Cameron Armstrong in season 1 episode 13 (ABC/Scott Everett White)
Fox’s medical drama The Resident continues season two with an episode titled “Stupid Things in the Name of Sex.” Season two episode 14 is set to air on Monday, February 11, 2019 at 8pm ET/PT.
The season two cast includes Matt Czuchry as Conrad Hawkins, Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Randolph Bell, Emily VanCamp as Nicolette, and Manish Dayal as Devon Pravesh. Shaunette Renée Wilson is Mina Okafor, Malcolm-Jamal Warner is Dr. AJ Austin, Jane Leeves is Dr. Kit Voss, and Glenn Morshower plays Marshall Winthrop.
The “Stupid Things in the Name of Sex” Plot: When Conrad’s attempt to surprise Nic with a lavish Valentine’s Day dinner is foiled, he gives the reservation away to someone who could really use it. Mina and Devon distract themselves from all Valentine’s celebrations by trying to figure out how their seemingly healthy neighbor has suddenly passed away. Meanwhile, Kit gives dating advice to a sex-injured patient, Irving hits a crossroads in his not-so-secret relationship with Nurse Jessica, and Bell decides to celebrate the day in the OR.
The Season 2 Plot:
Season two finds star resident Dr. Conrad Hawkins continuing to make difficult calls in the best interests of his patients. But, having rekindled a romantic relationship with nurse Nicolette “Nic” Nevins, the two now must face unresolved issues from their past. Conrad’s father, Marshall Winthrop, has taken over as head of Chastain, and comes into direct conflict with the hospital’s newly minted CEO, Dr. Randolph Bell.
Meanwhile, Dr. Mina Okafor continues to work with her larger-than-life mentor, Dr. AJ Austin. However, the skills of new ortho surgeon Dr. Kitt Voss could lead Mina on a different path. First-year resident Dr. Devon Pravesh becomes intrigued by new medical device rep Julian Booth, whose presence at the hospital will upend business as usual for everyone there.
The CW’s new addictive sci-fi drama, Roswell, New Mexico, ended episode three with Max slamming the ground and causing the lights to go off in Roswell. Season one episode four kicks off with a flashback to sisters Liz (Jeanine Mason) and Rosa (Amber Midthunder) doing sisterly things. Rosa helps Liz get ready for a date and Liz confesses she’s no longer a virgin. She also reveals she’s not sure if Kyle’s really a nice guy.
Rosa empathizes with her sister but reminds her there’s a cage around her heart for a reason. “People don’t need other people. We need armor,” says Rosa causing Liz to wonder who hurt her. The conversation ends with Rosa offering his sister a gorgeous – and sexy – red dress.
Michael (Michael Vlamis) and Isobel (Lily Cowles) pay a visit to their brother, Max (Nathan Dean Parsons), aware he’s the one who blew out the transformers while in a rage. Max claims to be over his rage and because the transformers are out, he’s prepared a care package to take to town. Max is surprised to learn his siblings haven’t received his voice mails (cell service is out), and he tells them Liz knows Rosa was killed by an alien. Now it’s Michael’s turn to throw a mini-rage.
Max tells them he’s going to confess because if she keeps digging, she’ll learn everything. Isobel has another option: she’s going to use her powers to convince Liz to leave.
Over at the Crash Down Café, Liz is busy working but takes time to talk to Rosa’s ex, Frederico (E.J. Bonilla). She wants to know about a ring she found and wants to know if they got back together before she died. They didn’t, and he doesn’t know who she might have been seeing.
Liz’s dad, Arturo, chases Frederico from the diner. Liz’s line of questioning has been cut short but seemed to be a dead-end anyway.
Master Sergeant Jesse Manes (Trevor St. John) meets with Sheriff Valenti (Rosa Arredondo) and she’s unwilling to work with him. She doesn’t know why the power’s out and doesn’t want his help.
Back at Max’s place, Isobel explains how it feels to get inside a human’s head. Michael believes this will ultimately help Liz and it will make her forget how she feels about Max. Cam (Riley Voelkel) arrives to break up the discussion, reminding Max he’s expected at work. Before he heads off, Max gives Isobel the go-ahead to erase Liz’s memories and send her on her merry way.
Over at the hospital, consequences of the blackout are evident. It’s running on generator power and a young boy who was injured as a result of the traffic lights being out desperately needs a pacemaker. The lack of reliable power means the boy may die.
Liz confronts her dad about how he treated Frederico and while they’re arguing he suffers a heartache. She doesn’t call 911 because she can’t risk her father being picked up by ICE. Instead, she brings him to the hospital where Dr. Kyle Valenti (Michael Trevino) takes care of him. He assures Liz that because the computers are down, her dad’s paperwork won’t make it into the hospital system.
Kyle changes the subject to a possible job opportunity, but Liz claims she’s not staying in town. However, when she looks at her dad hooked up to machines, she seems to reconsider.
Max finally finds time to talk to Cam about their date at the drive-in that was interrupted by Liz. He apologizes for not being himself and admits it’s because of Liz. Since Liz is leaving town it’s over. Cam agrees to let him make it up to her with lots of Tequila and no less than three orgasms. (Seriously in love with Cam at this point.)
Isobel and Michael hit the bar looking for someone she can practice on before she peers into Liz’s mind again. She decides Maria (Heather Hemmens) the bartender is the perfect target. Maria has always hated her, and Isobel is determined to use her powers to find out why.
Maria wants Michael and Isobel to leave, but instead Isobel takes a seat at the bar. Isobel hands over $100 and asks for a psychic reading. Maria grabs her hand and feels that Isobel’s husband wants a child, but she doesn’t. She reveals Isobel thinks the baby might be a freak and ruin their perfect life. Maria stops but Isobel urges her to open her mind and continue the reading. Isobel gets Maria to reveal why she hates her. “Because Rosa hated you. If she hadn’t, maybe she wouldn’t have walked away the night she died,” explains Maria under Isobel’s influence.
Isobel has Maria show her what she means, and we see a flashback to the night Rosa died. Rosa and Maria are sitting at the bar when Rosa sees Isobel. She leaves after asking Maria not to tell Isobel she’s been there.
Back to real-time and Isobel falls from the barstool. Michael comforts her as her nose bleeds. She seems out of it.
Max, in a professional capacity, and Kyle, also in full doctor mode, attempt to be civil as Max checks in on the hospital. The tension’s palpable as they discuss career choices, both claiming they went down their chosen paths to help people. Kyle feels helpless because of the young boy’s condition and Max reminds him they’re just men and can’t play god, although he promises to say a prayer.
Frederico returns to the café with Rosa’s backpack. He’s had it since a week before she passed, and he only took the pills and cash. It looks like she was packing to leave town and he points out that she bought a bus ticket for Los Alamos set to leave the day after she died. In with the ticket is a note that reads: “The first step is the hardest. I’ll always be by your side.”
Back at the hospital, the boy’s condition deteriorates and he needs surgery immediately. They use the defibrillator but can’t operate with the power failing. Max leaves the room, angry he can’t do more. He runs into Cam in the hallway and he’s in quite a mood. When she asks if he’s okay, Max replies, ‘No. People here are suffering and what do we do? We brought a few water bottles at them. Why don’t we throw some paper towels at them while we’re at it?” (Love the way you worked in that reference, Roswell writers!)
Max, talking mostly to himself, talks about how he’s always done the bare minimum. He’s laid low and now the town is suffering. He storms past Cam, determined to fix part of the problem. Max makes it to the electric panel and places his hand on it, charging the system. The lights spring on throughout the hospital as Kyle smiles when told the OR is being prepped for the boy.
Cam finds Max knocked out down in the electric room. He claims he got shocked and when she looks at the panel, she sees a pattern reminiscent of a lightning strike.
Liz goes through their yearbooks, attempting to match the writing on the note. She finds what’s she looking for but is shocked and drops the yearbook.
Kyle shows up at Liz’s house, delivering her dad and ready to talk about a treatment plan. Liz is on the floor still holding the note. She’s obviously still shocked by what she found. Liz explains she compared the note to the writing in her yearbook and Rosa’s but found nothing. Then, she compared the writing to the dedication pages written by the students’ parents. The writing matched that of Kyle’s dad!
“Your father, the town sheriff, was having an affair with my teenage drug-addled sister,” says Liz.
Kyle, understandably, refuses to believe it. Kyle demands to know if she’s doing this just to clear Max’s name. What she’s found will ruin his family and Liz finally decides her sister would never have hooked up with a cop. Plus, he couldn’t have killed her because he wasn’t an alien.
Kyle then has a secret of his own to disclose; his father knew about the aliens among them. He knew the crash was real and that some aliens survived it back in 1947. Liz continues to assure him she was wrong about his dad and Rosa, but Kyle doesn’t believe her. He wonders if his dad got too close to the truth and something happened to Rosa because of it.
Liz doesn’t want Kyle to lose his dad twice, telling him he doesn’t deserve that. They kiss but then she pushes him away. She doesn’t think he wants to do this because she’s a mess. However, Kyle thinks maybe they both need a distraction. One of the perks of being an adult is recreational sex and Liz apparently agrees as they both shed their shirts and fall into bed.
Liz and Kyle get dressed after their recreational sex play and he asks if she’s considering staying. She admits she is but won’t talk about whether the decision has anything to do with Max while she’s just wearing a bra.
Liz confides in Kyle that something broke in her when she lost Rosa. She thinks figuring out what happened will make her feel almost whole again.
As Kyle gets ready to take off, he tells Liz he’ll investigate his father’s past.
Max, no longer in uniform, walks the streets and is headed toward the café. It’s night and no one is around…except Kyle who’s leaving the café in a happy mood. They chat briefly and then Max continues his walk to the café.
Liz is inside cooking something and although the place is closed, the door’s unlocked. Max walks in and Liz looks uncertain (and maybe a little guilty). Max says, “So Kyle, huh? Did you tell him about me?”
Liz admits she did tell Kyle about him because of the mark he left on her, which Kyle saw, and because she was angry. She believes Kyle won’t do anything, but Max is having none of it. Liz broke his trust.
Liz says she hates that he’s hurting and wants to believe him that he didn’t kill Rosa. She has a cage around her heart and uses it as her armor. “I have never wanted anything as much as I want to believe that you didn’t hurt my sister,” confesses Liz. However, she still thinks he’s lying about something.
Max asks her how she really feels about him. She replies that she feels a lot of things but mostly she feels “terrified in all kinds of ways.” That’s the only truth she can give him. He then asks if she believed him when he told her he loves her. She does believe that, and he hopes she’ll take that with her wherever she goes next. She reaches out but he backs away. “Goodbye, Liz,” says Max as he heads to the exit. (This show is breaking my heart and the chemistry between Nathan Dean Parsons and Jeanine Mason is smoldering!)
Jesse Manes and Cam meet over a drink and he has a proposition for her. He brings up someone named Charlie who he apparently wants to hold over her in order to get access to the sheriff’s department.
Liz’s dad makes it downstairs and claims to be feeling better. She apologizes for being distant and then serves up churro pancakes. She has boy problems (I’ll say!) and needs his advice.
Elsewhere, Isobel’s still in bad shape. She’s sweating, her nose is still bleeding, and she’s still unsure why Rosa hated her and avoided her on the day she died. Michael reminds her they made a deal about that night. They don’t talk about it and they don’t ask questions.
A short while later, Michael and Isobel are sitting in the back of the truck as Max walks up. He informs them Kyle knows about him and that he was wrong to ever tell Liz the truth. Their secret is going to spread.
Isobel reveals she can’t change Liz’s mind; she’s simply not strong enough. Michael decides he’s going to be the one who takes the fall for Rosa’s murder. He’s going to confess because he’s the one who killed the little girls. (Way to sneak in a huge revelation in the final scene.)
The Pretty Little Liars spinoff/follow-up has a confirmed premiere date and Freeform’s debuted the official trailer. Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists will join Freeform’s primetime lineup on March 20, 2019. The spinoff will air on Wednesdays at 8pm ET/PT.
Season one of the series is based on characters from Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars novel and the novel The Perfectionists.
I. Marlene King (Pretty Little Liars, Famous in Love), Charlie Craig (Pretty Little Liars, The 100), Leslie Morgenstein (Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries), Gina Girolamo (The 100, The Originals), and Joseph Dougherty (Pretty Little Liars) serve as executive producers. The first episode was directed and executive produced by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum (Relationship Status).
The cast is led by Pretty Little Liars fan favorites Sasha Pieterse as Alison and Janel Parrish as Mona. Sofia Carson (the Descendants franchise) plays Ava, Sydney Park (The Walking Dead) is Caitlin, Graeme Thomas King (The Widow) is Jeremy, and newcomer Eli Brown plays Dylan. Kelly Rutherford (Gossip Girl) stars as Claire Hotchkiss, the matriarch of the Hotchkiss family. And Hayley Erin (General Hospital) fills out the cast in a mysterious, unnamed role.
The Plot:
Everything about the town of Beacon Heights seems perfect, from its top-tier college to its overachieving residents – but nothing in Beacon Heights is as it appears to be. When the high-stakes environment pushes the residents to a breaking point, someone snaps and kills someone. As they work together to solve the murder mystery, it soon becomes clear that behind every Perfectionist is a secret, a lie – and a needed alibi.
Eli Brown as Dylan, Sofia Carson as Ava, and Sydney Park as Caitlyn in ‘Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists’ (Freeform/Allyson Riggs)
