Netflix is teasing fans of the critically acclaimed, award-winning series Black Mirror with a series “event” premiering on December 28, 2018. The streaming service just dropped a trippy teaser trailer for Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, a full length film that will apparently allow viewers to select their own adventures.
The “choose your own adventure” concept is hinted at in the teaser trailer. The short trailer’s tagline reads: “Change your mind. Change your life. Change your past, your present, your future.”
According to a report in Variety, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch consists of 312 minutes of footage that viewers can explore.
The interactive film stars Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing), Alice Lowe (Sometimes Always Never), Will Poulter (Maze Runner: The Death Cure), and Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk). David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, 30 Days of Night) directed and Annabel Jones executive produced. Charlie Brooker created the series and writes/executive produces.
Season one of Black Mirror debuted on Netflix on December 4, 2011 with an episode titled “The National Anthem.” Over its four seasons the sci-fi drama has been nominated for 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning six. In 2018 it took home Emmys in the Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special (“USS Callister”), Outstanding Television Movie (“USS Callister”), Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (“USS Callister”), and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie (“USS Callister”). In 2017 the series won Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special (“San Junipero”) and Outstanding Television Movie (“San Junipero”).
Black Mirror has also earned BAFTA, Art Directors Guild, and Producers Guild of America awards.
The Plot:
“In 1984, a young programmer begins to question reality as he adapts a sprawling fantasy novel into a video game and soon faces a mind-mangling challenge. Welcome back.”
A scene from ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’ (Photo Credit: Netflix)A scene from ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’ (Photo Credit: Netflix)
Fox’s The Gifted returns from its winter break with season two episode 10 airing on Tuesday, January 1, 2019 at 9pm ET/PT. The New Year’s Day episode is titled “eneMy of My eneMy” and finds the Mutant Underground at a crossroads.
Season two of the X-Men series stars Stephen Moyer as Reed Strucker, Amy Acker as Kate Strucker, Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker, and Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker. The cast also includes Sean Teale as Eclipse/Marcos Diaz; Jamie Chung as Blink/Clarice Fong; Emma Dumont as Polaris/Lorna Dane; Blair Redford as Thunderbird/John Proudstar; and Coby Bell as Jace Turner. Skyler Samuels plays Esme, Sophie and Phoebe Frost, and Grace Byers is Reeva Payge.
The “eneMy of My eneMy” Plot: The Mutant Underground wrestles with the idea of recruiting the Inner Circle to assist them. Andy considers reconnecting with his family when he learns about his father’s powers, but Lauren may not be as willing to have him back as their parents. Find out if the Mutant Underground and Inner Circle will be able to put their differences aside in order to save John from the Purifiers.
The Season 2 Plot:
Set in the X-Men universe, the family adventure series The Gifted’s first season ended with the Mutant HQ Atlanta Station under attack and ultimately destroyed. With things coming to a breaking point, two mutant factions formed, alliances shifted and relationships were put to the test. Sentinel Services, though weakened by the destruction of the Hound Program and departure of agent Jace Turner, is still hunting mutants.
Season two picks up six months later, with the Mutant Underground at their new HQ in Washington D.C., stuck in the middle of an increasingly polarized nation, as both anti-mutant sentiment and the mutant rights movement are on the rise. The X-Men believed that mutants and humans could live together in peace – now that dream hangs in the balance.
The second season introduces Reeva Payge, a powerful and ruthless mutant who takes over as the leader of The Inner Circle and can emit sonic blasts that scramble minds. Also featured are the Morlocks – known by Marvel Comics fans – a shadowy group of mutants who live underground. In the dawn of a mutant age, new powers emerge and conflicting ideologies determine the future of Mutant-kind.
Arielle Kebbel as Olivia in ‘Midnight, Texas’ season 2 (Photo by Lewis Jacob / NBC)
When Arielle Kebbel jumped on the phone for our interview in support of Midnight, Texas’ season two finale, it was prior to the disappointing news that NBC had opted not to renew the series for a third season. At the time of our interview Kebbel was hopeful the show would stick around and had nothing but praise for fans of the series who consistently tweeted the #RenewMidnight hashtag.
Arielle Kebbel had just returned from Argentina the day prior to our interview and described it as a truly special experience being there and live tweeting while watching the show. “We have the best fans in the world,” declared Kebbel. “I was with fans of the show in Argentina and then I was on Twitter talking to fans in the U.S. and around the world, and it really just gave me perspective on how fortunate we are with this show and the fan base and how invested the fans are with our characters. It really means so much to me because I love Olivia and I love what she’s given me in getting to play her.”
The season two/series finale airs on Friday, December 28, 2018 and although there aren’t any episode nine spoilers in the following Q&A, the events of episode eight are discussed. Make sure you’ve watched season two through episode eight before reading any further.
If season two boiled down to just a short take on Olivia’s journey, how would you describe it?
Arielle Kebbel: “I think being willing to feel and work through the pain from the past to finally let it go and make room for new experiences and new possibilities to build her future life, instead of holding onto the pain of her past.”
Season two episode eight’s scene in which you’re telling Manfred to look at you as he’s about to lose his head is, I believe, your finest scene in the series. How difficult was it to perform that scene?
Arielle Kebbel: “Thank you, you just gave me chills. You know, honestly when I read that…we’d been kind of warned. We had heard of things that were happening throughout the season but obviously getting the script and reading it the first time through I had this like ‘oh shit’ moment. (Laughing) I heard it was coming but it’s different when you read it. I was like, ‘Okay, I got to do this.’
I just knew that eye contact was going to be everything, you know? It was that moment where as an actor I can’t think about the tears; I can’t think about the emotion. I can’t think about trying to be angry or sad. I just have to look at this person’s eyes and know that it’s that life or death moment where you don’t even have time to think. You just connect to that person and look in their soul. That’s just what I did. I just had to be so connected to his and then trust that whatever was going to happen was the right emotion for that moment.
I think he and I both felt great about it afterwards. We were exhausted from filming it 900 times! Because that’s the other thing – you have to redo it god knows how many takes. But I think we both felt great about it walking away from the scene that night. I hope everyone watching it feels what we felt while we were filming it.”
Dylan Bruce, Arielle Kebbel and Peter Mensah in ‘Midnight, Texas’ season 2 episode 8 (Photo by Karen Kuehn / NBC)
It’s interesting that in the first season Olivia was physically strong and physically intimidating. In the second season she’s still strong in that way but she’s more mentally and emotionally the heart and soul of season two than season one. Did you feel that as you were reading the scripts?
Arielle Kebbel: “Yes. Well, thank you for noticing that because that was my goal for this season so yay! Check that one off the list. (Laughing) It was interesting. I loved everyone I worked with in season one and I thought Monica Breen did an incredible job bringing these characters to life from Charlaine Harris’ book series. But that being said, season one she had a lot of work to do because she had to set the groundwork for all these characters. That was what season one was. So, who is Olivia? She’s an assassin. She’s a badass. She has so much pain it’s unbearable so Lem leeches it. We had to get through all of those first layers to just tell the story of who these characters are in Midnight and who Olivia is in Midnight. Now in season two, we get to peel back the layers even more and go on this emotional journey with these characters, especially Olivia.
I had a conversation early on with Eric (Charmelo) and Nicole (Snyder), our showrunners for season two, talking about, ‘You know, season one we stayed pretty close to the books. What’s the plan for season two? Are we still doing that because if so that means Olivia’s dad is coming and he’s the enemy of season two?’
They very quickly told me, ‘No, season two is about healing for Olivia.’ Honestly, it caught me so off guard. We were still months away from filming – we were in prep – and it really knocked me on my ass. I remember being like, ‘Okay…’ In my head, mentally, I was preparing.
I honestly thought we were going to stay close to the books and they were going to say her dad is going to come and he’s going to be the archenemy of season two. And so hearing that, honestly in that phone conversation everything changed for me. I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t know what’s coming episode to episode but I know my job is going to be this season to crack open. But I’m going to have to crack open in a way that’s authentic to Olivia, which is very different because she is this badass.’
It was fun for me. It was fun for me to find these different layers in Olivia and have her be willing to find a new strength, be willing to be vulnerable and let go of these past wounds and be willing to fill her heart with new things. In episode five she chooses her new life with Lem and the Midnighters over her father and her past and her history and her pain. And that was a big turning point for her.
I think that I’ve been through a lot this year with my family, personally, and it was really healing for me to get in touch with some fears and wounds that I had in my personal life and kind of throw those feelings into this storyline. There were definitely moments where I felt like I was healing as Olivia was healing, and maybe vice versa. Who knows? Sometimes it’s a really blurry line. But that was very special to me and I really thanked Eric and Nicole numerous times for that because I didn’t know that’s how season two was going to go. But now that it did go this way, I’m so thankful for it.”
Has there been anything a fan has told you that you’ve internalized and put into Olivia after hearing how they were affected by the character? Maybe something you’ve added based on how the fans receive her?
Arielle Kebbel: “I wouldn’t say based on how the fans receive her because a lot of times, going back to that scene with Manfred, I have to be so in the moment I can’t think about how people will react to it. If I’m doing it for them down the line, then I’m taking myself out of the moment. I can’t really afford to think about that; I have to just stay connected to what she’s feeling and what’s happening in front of her.
But, I definitely would say that, and I’ll go back to the phone conversation, I think the biggest turning point for me was that first phone conversation months before we were filming when Eric and Nicole said this season is about Olivia healing. I remember taking a big gulp and being like, ‘Oh, shit!’ because I knew as Arielle and I knew as Olivia that it’s sometimes a lot easier to be strong and tough and forceful than to be willing to feel feelings. I felt like, ‘Oh shit, here we go. I’m going to have to really feel feelings this season and we’ll see how that goes.’”
Were you able to offer any suggestions for Olivia’s story for season two?
Arielle Kebbel: “They’re great at taking suggestions and I think they really learned to trust us with knowing our characters. There’s definitely stuff like on the day where we’re filming where it just feels like I should be saying this and not this. They’re like, ‘Yeah, of course.’
On the days where we were filming it was a true collaboration. We’d work through things in rehearsals or even when we were filming different takes, they’re totally open to change and shifting lines around and cutting things and adding things, which feels great because that’s not always the case on other shows.
But as far as the massive story points, that was between Eric and Nicole and the writers room. We’d always have conversations about it and they’d give us a heads up about certain plot points. They’d also ask us if we want to know or not, because there’s certain things I did not want to know. […] To me, that’s life and I don’t want to know what’s happening a week from now. I don’t want to know because it would alter how I am in this moment.”
The Orville returns to Fox’s primetime lineup on December 30, 2018 at 8pm ET/PT following the NFL on Fox doubleheader. In support of the show’s season two premiere, Fox has released a batch of photos from episode one along with a brief plot description.
Season two episode one is titled “Ja’loja” and stars Seth MacFarlane as Captain Ed Mercer and Adrianne Palicki as First Officer Kelly Grayson. Penny Johnson Jerald is Dr. Claire Finn, Scott Grimes is Lt. Gordon Malloy, Peter Macon is Lt. Cmdr. Bortus, Halston Sage is Lt. Alara Kitan, J Lee is Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr, Mark Jackson is Isaac, Chad L. Coleman is Klyden, and Jessica Szohr plays Talla.
Seth MacFarlane created the series and serves as a writer and executive producer. Brannon Braga, David A. Goodman, Jason Clark and Jon Cassar also executive produce.
The “Ja’loja” Plot: As The Orville heads towards Moclus for a unique ceremony, Kelly surprises Ed with some news, Gordon asks for John’s help in getting “game” and Claire turns to Isaac for parenting advice.
The Orville Season 2 Plot:
Seth MacFarlane’s hit space adventure series, The Orville, returns for more journeys into new worlds. Set 400 years in the future, the series follows The U.S.S. Orville, a mid-level exploratory spaceship. Its crew, both human and alien, face the wonders and dangers of outer space, while also dealing with the problems of everyday life.
In Season Two, the ship’s crew will meet never-before-seen aliens and face old adversaries, the Krill. They’ll make first contact with a new civilization and revisit the planet Moclus. Ed (MacFarlane) and Kelly’s (Palicki) relationship also will take a new turn – all of which points to a season filled with adventure, mystery, romance and, as always, some poignant social commentary.
CBS’s popular dramatic series MacGyver returns from its winter holiday break with season three episode 11. Airing on Friday, January 4, 2019 at 8pm ET/PT, the first episode of the new year was directed by Carlos Bernard from a script by Jim Adler.
Guest starring in season three episode 11 are Seamus Dever as Griggs, Jimmy Gonzalez as Hadley, Doug Savant as Waller, Clint Jung as Samrozi, Alexandre Chen as Yovan, Shani Atias as Zahra, and Jonathan Wesley Horne as Marco. The guest cast also includes Asad Durani, Aunik Zaman, Sarah Al-Sherri, Nikolay Nedyalkov, Amaris Merlin, and Dash Kolos.
Season three’s cast is led by Lucas Till as Angus “Mac” MacGyver. George Eads plays Jack Dalton, Tristin Mays is Riley Davis, Justin Hires is Wilt Bozer, and Meredith Eaton plays Matty. Reign Edwards has a recurring role as Leanna Martin.
The “Mac + Fallout + Jack” Plot – Mac and Jack hit the road for a weekend of relaxation in Las Vegas, but their mini-vacation is cut short when someone from their past abducts them and locks them in a concrete room. Also, Matty tasks Riley, Bozer and Leanna with stealing a diamond encoded with terrorist intel from a princess in Milan.
The MacGyver Plot:
“MacGyver, a reimagining of the classic series, is an action-adventure drama about 20-something Angus “Mac” MacGyver, who creates a clandestine organization within the U.S. government, where he uses his extraordinary talent for unconventional problem-solving and his vast scientific knowledge to save lives. Joining his team on high-risk missions around the globe is maverick former CIA agent Jack Dalton; Riley Davis, an unpredictable computer hacker with a chip on her shoulder; Wilt Bozer, Mac’s roommate and the newest agent on the team; and Matty Weber, a legend in Covert Ops and the director of operations at the Phoenix Foundation.
Under the aegis of the Department of External Services, MacGyver takes on the responsibility of saving the world, armed to the teeth with resourcefulness and little more than bubble gum and a paper clip.”
It looks like Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out is going to rival his Oscar-winning feature film directorial debut in thrilling audiences. Universal Pictures dropped the first trailer and poster for Us on Christmas Day because what better time to freak people out than when they’re celebrating the holidays.
Peele wrote, directed, and produced the 2019 thriller. Jason Blum, Sean McKittrick, and Ian Cooper also produced, with Daniel Lupi and Bea Sequeira executive producing.
Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and Winston Duke (Black Panther) lead a cast that includes Shahadi Wright Joseph (Hairspray Live!), Evan Alex (Mani), Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale), Tim Heidecker (The Trial), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Get Down), and Anna Diop (Titans). Madison Curry, Cali Sheldon, and Noelle Sheldon also star in the horror film.
Us is set to open in theaters on Friday, March 15, 2019.
The Us Plot:
After sending shockwaves across contemporary culture and setting a new standard for provocative, socially-conscious horror films with his directorial debut, Get Out, Academy Award®-winning visionary Jordan Peele returns with another original nightmare that he has written, directed and produced.
Set in present day along the iconic Northern California coastline, Us, from Monkeypaw Productions, stars Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide Wilson, a woman returning to her beachside childhood home with her husband, Gabe (Duke), and their two children (Wright Joseph, Alex) for an idyllic summer getaway.
Haunted by an unexplainable and unresolved trauma from her past and compounded by a string of eerie coincidences, Adelaide feels her paranoia elevate to high-alert as she grows increasingly certain that something bad is going to befall her family.
After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers (Moss, Heidecker), Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home. When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the silhouette of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway. Us pits an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves.
Poster for Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ (Photo Credit: Universal Pictures)
“Are you even more ruthless than you used to be?” asks an incredulous Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) to Dick Cheney (Christian Bale), a question that earns more than a few chuckles from audiences of writer/director Adam McKay’s new political comedy/drama, Vice.
Vice jumps back and forth in time while chronicling the life and career of Bush’s Vice President, Dick Cheney. The film is inspired by true events and provides a look at Cheney’s backstory prior to his involvement in politics through his period as one of the country’s most powerful VPs. As portrayed in the film, Cheney was a hard-drinking unimpressive young man forced to shape up and get his act together or else he’d lose his girlfriend, Lynne (Amy Adams). Lynne tells him as much in one of the film’s strongest scenes.
Cheney, determined to learn all he can about the political arena, becomes Donald Rumsfeld’s personal assistant. The quiet and watchful Cheney learns all he can and when Rumsfeld ends up in the White House as part of the staff, Cheney follows him in.
Over the course of his career in politics, Cheney becomes the Secretary of Defense under one administration and the Chief of Staff under another. Later, when it appears Cheney is finished with politics and has transitioned into private industries as the CEO of Halliburton, Texas Governor George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) calls asking Cheney to be his Vice President in his quest for the White House.
After making it clear to Bush he would be the one to actually handle the more mundane duties such as foreign policy, the military, and energy, Cheney agrees to joining the ticket as VP. When Bush wins the election, Cheney begins to use his power to change the landscape of politics and the world.
Written and directed by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Anchorman), Vice is a political satire with a top-notch cast and some stand–out performances. Unfortunately, it’s attempts at comedy miss their mark. The film is all over the place, leaping back and forth in time for no other reason other than to be different. The confusing time shifts ruin the film’s pacing and don’t allow it to settle into a comprehensible rhythm.
The best performance in the film is delivered by Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney. Adams portrays Lynne as a determined, supportive, far-right Republican wife. The film shows that without Lynne’s help, love, and drive, Cheney would never have reached very far in politics. She steals every scene she’s in and has terrific chemistry with Bale. (Adams and Bale previously worked together on American Hustle and The Fighter.)
Christian Bale delivers an intriguing performance as Cheney when he’s portraying the younger version of the man trying to climb the political ladder and striving to make his wife proud. But when Bale portrays an older Cheney as the VP, his performance becomes more of a caricature of the man.
The writing feels a bit heavy–handed and the constant intrusive narration detracts rather than enhances the movie’s attempt at insight into Cheney. But by far where the film truly fails is in not bringing to the screen any new information and insight into its main character. Unfortunately, Vice is nothing more than an empty character attack on an unpopular politician.
GRADE: C
MPAA Rating: R for language and some violent images
Warner Bros Pictures’ Aquaman finished in first over a crowded box office weekend. Not even one of the best reviewed films of the robot shape-shifting Transformers franchise could hold off Jason Momoa as the underwater superhero. Audiences gave Aquaman an A- score according to Cinemascore, and it’s just barely holding onto a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
While Aquaman matched its pre-release estimates, Universal’s Welcome to Marwen absolutely bombed during its first three days in theaters. Welcome to Marwen starring Oscar nominee Steve Carell (Foxcatcher) and directed by Oscar winner Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) was slammed by critics and audiences apparently weren’t thrilled with the PG-13 drama either. Welcome to Marwen currently has a rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling it “gooey dreck” (US Weekly) and “an inexcusable, tone-deaf misfire” (MovieFreak.com).
Disney’s long-awaited sequel to Mary Poppins got an early jump on the pre-Christmas weekend, opening in 4,000+ theaters on December 19th. Mary Poppins Returns‘ five day domestic gross of $31 million included $22 million over the December 21st weekend. Audiences embraced the lively musical, awarding it the same grade as Aquaman.
Up next: Vice starring Christian Bale as Dick Cheney opens in theaters on Christmas Day. Holmes and Watson starring Talladega Nights and Step Brothers co-stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly also enters theaters on December 25th.
“From Warner Bros. Pictures and director James Wan comes an action-packed adventure that spans the vast, visually breathtaking underwater world of the seven seas, Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa in the title role. The film reveals the origin story of half-human, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry and takes him on the journey of his lifetime—one that will not only force him to face who he really is, but to discover if he is worthy of who he was born to be…a king.”
Sophie Skelton (Brianna Randall Fraser) and Richard Rankin (Roger Wakefield) in ‘Outlander’ season 4 episode 8 (Photo Credit: Starz)
Okay, let me start this recap with WOW! A classic episode of action and plot progression awaits you with Starz’s Outlander season four episode eight. I’m sure Herself is just as excited to see it as the fans. All the players are in the past now, and they just so happen to have all visited Wilmington, hence the title of the episode.
The town of Wilmington is the place to be as the episode begins. We start with Roger (Richard Rankin) still frantically searching for Brianna (Sophie Skelton). He’s showing her picture to everyone in the village, and just so happens to run into Fergus (Cesar Domboy) though neither realizes who they’re speaking to, of course. After his frantic search yields nothing, Roger sits down in a tavern for a pint.
Fergus returns to his apartment where Marsali (Lauren Lyle) and the baby are being visited by Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe). In the book, Claire wasn’t with Jamie in Wilmington, and he was not there for a play after being summoned by Governor Tryon (Tim Downie). Fergus got in one of his classic mishaps with the law and Jamie was there to sort it out. In the show, we’re treated to a play instead of a trial.
Claire and Marsali go to the kitchen to get lunch together and they talk of motherhood. Only Jamie knew of Brianna in the colonies, so Claire obviously was thinking of her in the conversation but did not mention her to Marsali.
Roger’s in a state of distress while he takes in a pint of ale. Notice I didn’t say “enjoying a pint of ale.” He’s enjoying nothing while he’s searching for Bree. He accidentally spills some of his drink on the picture they had made at the Scottish festival that he was showing around town. Instead of dabbing the liquid away, he wipes it – horribly smudging the picture.
Just as he’s about to leave the tavern, he hears Brianna’s voice. She’s asking for a way to get to Cross Creek, and when she turns around Roger’s there. They embrace and hold each other as if they both were to melt into the earth on the spot.
Suddenly, Brianna realizes he’s there and she didn’t want him to be. In the book, she provides the reason for that sentiment but they don’t explain it in the show. She left him behind as an emotional anchor to pull her back through the stones when the time comes.
Roger grabs Bree’s arm to take her outside, just as Bree’s handmaid, Lizzie (Caitlin O’Ryan), comes down the stairs to see him tugging Bree along behind him out the door. Lizzie witnesses a tense discussion through the window but cannot hear what they say. Even though Bree said she loves Roger in the exchange, his grabbing of Bree’s arm to take her to a nearby barn distresses Lizzie as she watches Roger tug Bree out of sight.
In the barn they, naturally, are getting rather frisky. However, Brianna stops the passion mid-grope, given this was the place where Roger had stopped things the night of the festival. He said he wanted all of her or none at all. Good timing to throw it back in his face I suppose; thousands of miles and 200 years later. She admits that this time she will marry him. He doesn’t have a ring, but she has the bracelet he gave her. Roger explains he has an idea of being handfasted together, which is a temporary marriage for a year and a day. They would need to get formally wed before that time ends to remain married. Brianna agrees to do the ceremony right then.
At the theater, none of which is in the book, Jamie and Claire are introduced to several people in the higher society in North Carolina. The Governor introduces his trusted associate, Edmund Fanning (Samuel Collings). Claire notices the man’s grimacing rather sharply and based on the symptoms he describes, our trusted surgeon extrapolates the condition very astutely.
In keeping with the times, the men of the gathering don’t want to hear Claire’s opinions about Mr. Fanning’s care nor what she thinks would solve the condition. Our heroine has learned her timing a bit better after more than 20 years, so she bites her retort off for the moment. She is dutifully sent with the wives after exchanging a knowing look with Jamie. (As I mentioned in a previous recap, in the book it was the backwoodsman Myers who had the condition of a hernia that wowed the crowd when Claire demonstrated her skill before the esteemed gathering at River Run.)
Claire chats with the Governor’s wife, Margaret Tryon (Melanie Gray), and she points out a very surprising visitor among the gathering. This meeting is also not part of the book, but I did find it interesting to include in the show. Claire is privileged to meet George (Simon Harrison) and Martha Washington (Elizabeth Appleby). As everyone is called into the seating area for the play to begin, Claire has a moment to explain the significance of Washington to the country’s future to Jamie.
Over in the barn, Roger and Bree perform the handfasting ceremony after arranging the room a bit. It’s a very sweet and charming Scottish tradition.
Back at the tavern, Lizzie inquires after Brianna’s return and is concerned she hasn’t come back.
As everyone takes their seats for the play to begin, Governor Tryon lets slip to Jamie he has a plan in place for that very night to stop the conflict with the Regulators, unaware Jamie’s godfather is leading them. The Governor even knows that Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix) is their leader. Jamie’s very concerned but can’t do anything at that moment.
Murtagh’s watching the road and ready for the carriage filled with tax money, or so he thinks, to roll by. Instead of money, the carriage is full of soldiers.
In the barn, Roger and Bree begin the wedding night ritual of two flesh becoming one. It’s not the slightly stumbling, very scared of each other, scene we witnessed when Jamie and Claire consummated their marriage. Roger makes sure one last time before officially taking her body that she truly wants to have him always. She begs yes please, and they get down to business immediately. In the book, the pair end up having sex four times over the course of the night. We’re not so treated in the show to all that, but not disappointed in the show’s outcome either.
Inside the theater, spectators of the play are expected to interact with the actors on the stage, so some are shouting out things as the play goes on. Jamie continues to squirm in his seat knowing that Murtagh is in danger.
Murtagh and his band are lying in wait for the carriage to come along on the road.
Once more to the barn we go and the pillow talk between Bree and Roger is too cute. She asks if he enjoyed it; he asks if it hurt since it was her first time. Bree eventually kick-starts round two in a way similar to Claire’s in their wedding episode, which makes for an interesting symmetry between the couples.
Caitriona Balfe (Claire Randall Fraser) and Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser) in ‘Outlander’ season 4 episode 8 (Photo Credit: Starz)
While the play continues, our quick-witted Jamie concocts a plan. He elbows the poor Mr. Fanning and it causes his hernia to come near to bursting. Claire immediately takes charge despite several protests from males in the room, the Governor among the dissenting voices. Jamie quietly explains the dangers to Murtagh to Claire, and she says she’ll try to buy Jamie as much time as possible.
Claire starts ordering men around, much to the Governor’s dismay and protestations. The men all do as she says in order to save Mr. Fanning’s life.
Jamie heads outside to find a way to get a message to Murtagh and runs into Mr. and Mrs. Washington leaving the play. They assist Jamie in getting to an inn, though they have no idea they’re aiding him to counteract the Governor. Jamie uses the excuse of retrieving Claire’s surgical tools from the inn.
Claire continues her orders while also providing ongoing explanations. She begs for assistance from the Governor and he grudgingly obliges. Claire cuts her patient while four men, including the Governor, hold him down. Claire must push the hernia back into place which makes the patient shout and lurch. Once the protrusion is back inside, the man calms immediately and Claire can close the incision. A town doctor comes running in and accuses Claire of butchering the man. The Governor defends her against the accusation and declares she has the situation well in hand.
Jamie heads back to the theater on a horse while in the woods the carriage arrives at the spot of the ambush.
Everyone looks on as Claire painstakingly sews the opening closed. What started out as everyone appalled at Claire’s cutting the man open, ends with applause for her display of skill and most certainly saving the man’s life.
Fergus manages to reach Murtagh just as the band’s about to attack the carriage. Fergus warns the carriage is full of soldiers, not money, and is a trap for them laid by the Governor. This is the first time Murtagh sees Fergus grown-up but believes his warning because he knew Jamie sent him, as always. Fergus reveals there’s a spy among Murtagh’s men.
In the barn where Bree and Roger are back to pillow talk, it comes out that Roger knew about the obituary reporting the death of Jamie and Claire. Brianna’s extremely angry he didn’t reveal this information to her himself. She gets even madder when Roger spills the beans that he and Fiona spoke of the situation and determined it best not to tell her. Brianna’s most angered by Roger attempting to take away her choice of going back in time or living in ignorance of their deaths. The inevitable words that will soon be regretted ensue. They leave the barn on very hard terms; Roger saying if she wants him to go back, he will, and Bree saying no one is stopping him from going. With that, Roger leaves the barn. I guess the honeymoon is over already.
Leaving the theater, the Governor and Jamie share a ride in a coach. One of the other men in the coach admits to seeing Washington and his wife leave the theater early. Naturally, the Governor assumes Washington gave the Regulators the warning.
Brianna gets dressed and returns to the inn/tavern where she has a room with Lizzie. As she enters the tavern, there’s a table of men playing cards. None other than Steven Bonnet (Ed Speleers) is about to bet Claire’s silver ring (in the book it was the gold one) as he grabs Bree’s arm to blow a kiss of luck on the bet. Bree recognizes the ring, of course. Bree asks if he knows her mother’s whereabouts since he has her ring. Bonnet replies that he doesn’t know where she is, but he’ll make a trade for the ring.
In the book, Brianna went to Bonnet’s boat to attempt to buy the ring back for her mother. In the show, Bonnet charms Brianna into a side room where he forcibly takes his cost of the ring through a pound of her flesh. Everyone in the tavern can hear the struggle and rape but do nothing to stop it.
By the time Brianna comes out of the room, after Bonnet gave her the ring and leaves, the tavern room’s cleared out. Brianna heads upstairs with blood coming out of her nose and looking very much the worse for the events. In the book, the rape and her time with Roger happened a few days apart. In the show, these events occurred on the same night, making it one of the best and worst nights of her life. It also saw her mother save a man’s life, and her father save several men’s lives. Extremely eventful day for all.
The next episode will also be full of events the fans are eager to witness. I won’t give away any spoilers, but I must admit I will be impatient to see it.
Jaime Ray Newman as Patience and François Arnaud as Manfred in ‘Midnight, Texas’ season 2 episode 8 (Photo by Karen Kuehn / NBC)
The penultimate episode of NBC’s supernatural drama Midnight, Texas season two aired on December 21, 2018 and left fans stunned with its incredible, shocking twist. Episodes one through seven of season two built toward a big showdown with the season’s big bad, and events in episode eight shook the town to its core.
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains details on season two episode eight. Do not…I repeat…do not read any further until you’ve watched the episode. Don’t spoil the experience of witnessing the events of “Patience is A Virtue” by learning the twists in advance. You’ve been warned.
François Arnaud took time out of his busy holiday season to answer my questions about what was easily the most game-changing episode of Midnight, Texas. Season one laid the groundwork for a second season that further explored the relationships of the interesting collection of characters who call Midnight, Texas home. Arnaud’s justifiably proud of the show’s second season, and in our interview he discussed Manfred’s journey and how the show truly found its footing in the season two. He also shared insight into filming the pivotal scene in which Manfred lost his head.
When did they break the news they were going to cut off Manfred’s head?
François Arnaud: “I think pretty early on, actually. I just didn’t know how they were going to write it in.”
Obviously they had to do a mold of your head. What was that process like?
François Arnaud: “It was incredible. It took a minute. (Laughing) It took two hours to do it right. And then when it came back, it looked like the fetus version of me. And then they made it up and added some hair to it. It was really jarring to see it on the day.
(Laughing) It was quite upsetting, actually, to see my head just bounce.”
Did they let you keep your fake head?
François Arnaud: “You know what? You just reminded me, actually. Before they did the cast I said, ‘I’ll only do it if you put it in writing that I can go home with my head.’ (Laughing) I threatened not to show up. They’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah,’ and they sent me an email confirming I can keep the head. And then when I saw it, I was like, ‘I don’t want it. Too weird!’
I was like, ‘What am I going to do with it?’ I thought of all the pranks I could pull on the people who have wronged me, though. Like, send it to them in a box or something.”
Or you could use it as part of a cool Halloween costume. You could do a two-headed costume.
François Arnaud: “That would be really good, just a sleeping me on my right shoulder. I think they made two. I think the showrunner, Nicole Snyder, wanted one. I think they made two because I don’t think it’s that much more expensive than making one. I think the whole process is what’s costly and time-consuming. To make a second one I don’t think is that complicated.”
Speaking of showrunners, how did it feel to have different showrunners this season?
François Arnaud: “You know, it felt great. Well, I think just going back for a second season is just nice for everyone because you get to learn from the mistakes in the first. You know, you get to watch it as opposed to making a movie, for instance, where you can’t really fix things. I mean, that’s it; it’s done and it’s out there.
It took so long between filming the pilot and the first season airing, and then between that time and when we actually got to go back to film the second season, we had time to reflect on the work that had been done and find newfound motivation, like a new angle. It certainly allowed me to embrace, I guess, the tone of the show and lean into more…not necessarily camp…but a little bit more the fun of it, the tongue in cheek aspect that we all thought was there in the first season but was maybe a little too subtle.
A few people didn’t know that we were in on the joke. We’re like, ‘Yeah, we know it’s funny.’ And so, yeah, just make that a little bigger. Embrace the thrill ride. And just going from crazy, affecting drama to just like outright silliness.”
The second season also got a lot sexier.
François Arnaud: “Yeah, a lot sexier. That’s what the network and producers wanted. (Laughing) That wasn’t my fault! It got darker and I think it got funnier, too.
Nicole and Eric (Charmelo) were writers on the show. They were in the writers room on the first season so they weren’t completely foreign to what Monica (Owusu-Breen) had set up. They just started where we left off but with renewed energy. I think it was a good thing.”
Just prior to Manfred losing his head he mouths messages to his friends and at the end makes eye contact with Olivia (Arielle Kebbel). It’s a powerful moment. How difficult was it playing that particular scene?
François Arnaud: “I guess it’s harder for the people watching. Having to react to that is hard. How do you even put yourself in those shoes of someone who witnesses their friend losing his head? That’s insane. But they were all great. You just rely on each other. Everyone is suffering in one way or another in that scene, and then we’re locking eyes and relying on each other.”
A lot of TV shows like to kill off major characters so it’s no surprise Midnight, Texas is doing it. But, what about the loss of Creek and the Rev? Did they warn you not to get too attached to the Manfred/Creek relationship?
François Arnaud: “No. Sarah (Ramos) who plays Creek and Yul (Vazquez) who played the Rev were maybe my closest friends during the first season, so it was a little hard to see them go away. But I knew that was going to be the case. I’m just glad they were able to write it in a way that felt natural and warranted, and not disloyal to the characters themselves or the story. I feel they found ways to do that.
Whenever I’ve been on a show where I have to leave for one reason or another, I’m like, ‘Oh, I get to die,’ or, ‘I get to play heartbreak.’ You know, it’s part of how it goes. I never decided to pursue this career to do the same things forever. It’s always part of it, saying goodbye to characters, saying goodbye to cast members, saying goodbye to a world that you’ve lived in is just part of what we do. And the fact that we know it’s going to come to an end one way or the other at some point is part of why it feels important when you do it. So, it’s okay.”
With Manfred you were able to basically play a multitude of characters. Did that help make each episode feel really fresh?
François Arnaud: “Yeah, either through possessions or even in the first episode of season two I’m like a different version of Manfred, an evil version of Manfred with demon cancer. I guess it’s challenging but it’s really just a lot of fun. It’s part of why I was interested in playing the character is that it would never feel too comfortable. Yeah, you just dive in every time and see what happens. You risk being over the top and ridiculous, and you kind of have to go there.
That’s what we really found with the show this year is that you don’t know if you’re crossing over that line until you get to it. You have to risk going there. On paper, some things that happened in episode seven and eight I was like, ‘It’s so out there.’ Like the mythology is so out there and it’s different from the books and first season.”
How far in advance did you know about this season’s plot twists? How much did they tell you and did you want to know in advance what was in store?
François Arnaud: “Yeah. Early on I even expressed certain desires I had for this season. Like, exploring more of Manfred’s anger which they certainly did in episode one. And then it’s not that I need to know but Nicole and Eric were particularly keen to let us in – for me at least. I knew that I was going to have a love affair with Patience. I knew that she was going to be betraying me. I guess I thought Kai was going to be evil, too. I thought they were both in on it.”
