MTV’s confirmed the return of the iconic Ghostface mask for the third season of Scream. The horror series based on the popular film franchise has set Keke Palmer (Scream Queens), RJ Cyler (Power Rangers), Jessica Sula (Split), Giorgia Whigham (13 Reasons Why), Giullian Yao Gioiello (The Carrie Diaries), Tyga (Once Upon a Time in Venice), and C.J. Wallace in starring roles for the upcoming season.
Filming is currently underway in Atlanta on season three of Scream.
MTV’s targeting a March 2018 premiere for the new season which has left behind the casts of seasons one and two. The series, in addition to leaving behind the revamped mask and casts from the previous seasons, will have The Vampire Diaries‘ Brett Matthews as showrunner. Matthews, Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein, Queen Latifah, Shakim Compere, Yaneley Arty, Wes Craven, Tony DiSanto, Liz Gateley, Marianne Maddalena, and Cathy Konrad are executive producing.
Scream Season 3 Cast and Characters:
Keke Palmer will portray Kym, a rebel with a thousand causes, who is a bold and beautiful social activist with a big heart and zero patience for suffering fools. When Kym and her friends find themselves hunted by a killer, she works to flip the script and survive at any cost.
RJ Cyler will portray Deion. A star running back for the high school football team, Deion hopes to secure a college football scholarship that will take him far away from Atlanta, a plan that seems destined to fail when he becomes the target of a masked killer with ties to his past. Someone knows Deion’s darkest secret… and they’ll use it to destroy him.
Jessica Sula will portray Liv, the new girl at school. As a member of the cheer squad and a honor roll student, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders and an ideal life. But as she and Deion grow closer, amidst the murder and mayhem, it soon becomes clear that she has just as many secrets as everyone else.
Giorgia Whigham will portray Beth. Caustic and darkly funny, Beth is the resident Goth girl and a local tattoo artist. As an unapologetic fan of horror films, Beth is outspoken about her encyclopedic knowledge of movie murder… which is sure to come in handy with a killer on the loose.
Giullian Yao Gioiello portrays Manny who is openly gay and loyal to a fault. Usually the smartest person in the room, he’s destined to achieve great things. But his wits are put to the test when he suddenly finds himself in the crosshairs of a killer… which makes his simple goal of surviving high school and moving on with his life seem impossible.
Blake Lively stars in the Open Road Films thriller, ‘All I See Is You.’
Open Road Films’ dramatic thriller All I See Is You offers up an interesting new trailer along with new photos from the 2017 theatrical release. Marc Forster (World War Z) directs from a script he co-wrote with Sean Conway, with Blake Lively, Jason Clarke, Yvonne Strahovski, Danny Huston, Ahna O’Reilly, and Wes Chatham starring.
Open Road Films has set an October 27, 2017 release date.
The Plot: Gina (Blake Lively) and husband James (Jason Clarke) have an almost perfect marriage. After being blinded as a child in a nearly fatal car crash that claimed her parent’s lives, Gina depends on James to be her eyes-a dependence that appears to solidify their passionate relationship. She sees her world in her own vivid imagination with help from James’ descriptions.
Despite her disability, the two enjoy a colorful existence in Bangkok, Thailand where James works in insurance and Gina explores life in a foreign country. It seems the only real hardship this loving couple faces is difficulty conceiving a child but when Gina is given the opportunity to have a corneal transplant and regains her vision, their life and relationship are upended. Gina now sees the world with a new sense of wonder and independence which James finds threatening. It is only when Gina suddenly begins to lose her sight again that she finally realizes the disturbing reality of their marriage and their lives.
Blake Lively and Jason Clarke in ‘All I See Is You.’Blake Lively stars in ‘All I See Is You.’
Warner Bros Pictures and MGM unveiled a new poster for Tomb Raider along with releasing a 15 second teaser video. The full trailer will be online on September 19, 2017 starring Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, The Danish Girl) in the lead role as Lara Croft. The reboot of the video game-inspired action film franchise is directed by Roar Uthaug (The Wave) from a script by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Alastair Siddons.
In addition to Alicia Vikander, the new Tomb Raider cast includes Dominic West (The Affair), Walton Goggins (Vice Principals, Justified), Daniel Wu (Into the Badlands), and Kristin Scott Thomas (Darkest Hour). Graham King produces and Patrick McCormick, Denis O’Sullivan, and Noah Hughes executive produce.
Tomb Raider is set to open in theaters on March 16, 2018.
The Plot: Lara Croft is the fiercely independent daughter of an eccentric adventurer who vanished when she was scarcely a teen. Now a young woman of 21 without any real focus or purpose, Lara navigates the chaotic streets of trendy East London as a bike courier, barely making the rent, and takes college courses, rarely making it to class. Determined to forge her own path, she refuses to take the reins of her father’s global empire just as staunchly as she rejects the idea that he’s truly gone. Advised to face the facts and move forward after seven years without him, even Lara can’t understand what drives her to finally solve the puzzle of his mysterious death.
Going explicitly against his final wishes, she leaves everything she knows behind in search of her dad’s last-known destination: a fabled tomb on a mythical island that might be somewhere off the coast of Japan. But her mission will not be an easy one; just reaching the island will be extremely treacherous. Suddenly, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Lara, who—against the odds and armed with only her sharp mind, blind faith and inherently stubborn spirit—must learn to push herself beyond her limits as she journeys into the unknown. If she survives this perilous adventure, it could be the making of her, earning her the name tomb raider.
David Tennant and Michael Sheen star in ‘Good Omens.’
Writer and showrunner Neil Gaiman released the first photos from the set of BBC Two and Amazon Prime Video’s Good Omens starring Michael Sheen (Masters of Sex) as Aziraphale and David Tennant (Broadchurch, Doctor Who) as Crowley. The series also stars Adria Arjona (Emerald City), Nina Sosanya (Sister Mary Loquacious), Jack Whitehall (Mother’s Day), Michael McKean (Better Call Saul), Miranda Richardson (Stronger), Ned Dennehy (Versailles), and Ariyon Bakare (Rogue One).
Filming is currently underway on the six-part series based on Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s critically acclaimed novel. Amazon’s targeting a 2019 release in the UK, followed by a premiere on BBC Two. Douglas Mackinnon (Knightfall, Dirk Gently, Doctor Who, Outlander) is directing and executive producing.
“People have fallen in love with an angel and a demon in a book by Terry Pratchett and me, and they have been excited and nervous to see how they would appear on screen – and I was probably the most nervous and excited of all. This is a first look. Michael Sheen is the best and finest of bookseller angels, David Tennant the coolest and most delightful of demons. Together they are one hell of a double act (or do I mean one made in Heaven?),” said Gaiman.
BBC Studios Head of Comedy Chris Sussman said, “Good Omens has always been one of my favourite books, and it’s hugely exciting not just to be able to bring it to life, but to do so with scripts from Neil Gaiman himself. It feels like a good time to be making a comedy about an impending global apocalypse.”
The Plot:Good Omens takes place in 2018 when the Apocalypse is near and Final Judgment is set to descend upon humanity. According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter Witch (the world’s only completely accurate book of prophecies), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.
So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, and tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth’s mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming war. And…someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.
They are amazing. This is them in the opening scenes, 11 years ago, in St James's Park. David and Michael, demon & angel. #GoodOmenspic.twitter.com/ceK4XYY881
New Line and Warner Bros easily hung on to the top spot at the weekend box office with the record-setting horror film, It. The R-rated feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s bestselling creepy clown novel rang up $60 million domestically over its second weekend in release. It’s now the largest September release in history, and it’s poised to take over the #1 spot on the R-rated horror list from The Exorcist within the next few days. That’s incredibly impressive given the movie’s only been in theaters since September 8th. As of September 17th, It has grossed $218 million domestically.
Coming in second was Lionsgate’s action thriller, American Assassin, based on the Mitch Rapp books by Vince Flynn. Audiences awarded American Assassin a B+ on CinemaScore while critics were not as kind, giving the film mostly negative reviews. American Assassin starring Dylan O’Brien and Michael Keaton sits at just 35% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
After sitting through the press screening for mother!, the weekend’s third place finisher, I walked out not at all sure what I’d just seen. In fact, I was left so unsure that I was unable to write a review. Moviegoers who bought tickets to the film’s opening weekend were also left perplexed, with the film earning a very rare audience-generated “F” score on CinemaScore.
Three key questions sprang to mind following the mother! screening I attended. One, who exactly is the target audience? Two, if this same finished film had been from a first-time director who didn’t have the reputation of Darren Aronofsky, would critics have been as generous in their rave reviews? And three, would this same film have even received a theatrical release without Aronofsky and Jennifer Lawrence’s names attached?
The answer to question one remains a mystery while it would be safe to say questions two and three would generate negative replies.
Woody Harrelson and Frances McDormand star in ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.’
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has increased its odds of being in the running for a Best Picture Oscar after the Fox Searchlight release earned the People’s Choice Award at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Written and directed by Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri stars Francis McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, Lucas Hedges, Željko Ivanek, Caleb Landry Jones, Clarke Peters, Samantha Weaving, John Hawkes, and Peter Dinklage.
Following its festival screenings, the comedy/drama currently sits at 97% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The New York Post calls it a “towering achievement” and Times (UK) says it’s the “pinnacle of McDonagh’s directorial career so far.”
Other Toronto Film Festival winners/honorable mentions to keep an eye on come award season include I, Tonya starring Margot Robbie and James Franco’s The Disaster Artist.
2017 Toronto Film Festival Winners:
Grolsch People’s Choice Awards
This year marked the 40th year that Toronto audiences were able to cast a ballot for their favourite Festival film for the Grolsch People’s Choice Award.
The Grolsch People’s Choice Award:
Winner — Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
First runner-up: Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya
Second runner-up: Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name
The Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award:
Winner: Joseph Kahn’s Bodied
Second runner-up: Craig Zahler’s Brawl in Cell Block 99
First runner-up: James Franco’s The Disaster Artist
The Grolsch People’s Choice Documentary Award:
Winner: Agnès Varda and JR’s Faces Places
Second runner-up: Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!
First runner-up: Long Time Running by Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas De Pencier
International Jury Awards
Toronto Platform Prize
For its third year of the Platform programme of director’s cinema, the Festival welcomed an international jury comprised of Chen Kaige, Malgorzata Szumowska, and Wim Wenders.
Winner: Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country
Jury remarks: “This is a spiritual epic taking place in 1929 in Australia’s Northern Territory. It is a great saga of human fate, and its themes of race and struggle for survival are handled in such a simple, rich, unpretentious and touching way, that it became for us a deeply emotional metaphor for our common fight for dignity.”
Speaking about their deliberations, the Jury statement added: “We saw twelve films from all over the world that took us into very different universes of the soul and to extremely different places on our planet. We were thankful to be able to see these films and we very much appreciated that actually exactly half of them were made by women. TIFF is leading the way, we feel. As we only had one award to give, we had to be quite radical. We also limited ourselves to only one special mention, even if other films might have imposed themselves for best acting, writing or directing.”
Awarding a special mention to Clio Barnard’s Dark River, the Jury said: “This film deeply rooted in the Yorkshire countryside convinced us, as its characters and actors, its photography, its story and its sense of place were all so utterly believable and controlled, that we were totally taken by it.”
FIPRESCI Prizes
Winner – Discovery: Sadaf Foroughi’s Ava
Winner – Special Presentations: Manuel Martín Cuenca’s The Motive (El Autor)
The Festival welcomed an international FIPRESCI jury composed of jury president Jonathan Rosenbaum (USA), Robert Daudelin (Canada), Martin Horyna (Czech Republic), Ivonete Pinto (Brazil), Marietta Steinhart (Austria), and Jim Slotek (Canada).
NETPAC AWARD
Winner: Huang Hsin-Yao’s The Great Buddha+
Jury remarks: “The NETPAC Jury awards The Great Buddha+ for depicting the interface between the haves and have-nots, with black humour and style, innovating with noir in representing the social reality of Taiwan today.”
City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film
Winner: Wayne Wapeemukwa’s Luk’ Luk’l
Jury remarks: “The award goes to a striking debut film that disrupts borders – of form and content and suggests new cinematic territories. This beautifully realized film offers a unique Canadian perspective, made with real compassion, insight and remarkable characters from Vancouver’s East Side.”
Honourable mention to Sadaf Foroughi’s Ava.
Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film
Winner: Robin Aubert’s Les Affamés
Jury remarks: “A hybrid art-house film that proved to be something of a revelation. Wonderfully scripted and perfectly cast, this film managed the rare feat of featuring genuinely interesting and well-rounded characters; surprising dramatic and comedic moments with well thought-out multi-generational female roles (who were totally badass) while also dealing with poignant and contemporary issues, set against a striking rural backdrop and hundreds of ‘ravenous’ zombies.”
Honourable mention to Simon Lavoie’s The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes).
Eric McCormack as Will Truman, Debra Messing as Grace Adler, Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland, and Megan Mullally as Karen Walker in ‘Will & Grace’ (Photo by Chris Haston/NBC)
It’s taken NBC a decade, but Will & Grace is finally returning to the network’s primetime lineup on September 28, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT. NBC’s ordered a 16 episode season nine (or season one, if you’re just counting the new stuff) as well as a 13 episode season 10 (or season two). All the fan favorites are back including, of course, Eric McCormack as Will Truman, Debra Messing as Grace Adler, Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland, and Megan Mullally as Karen Walker. James Burrows, director of Will & Grace‘s first eight seasons, is also returning to helm the two new seasons.
Will & Grace was created by writers/executive producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick. Burrows, Tim Kaiser, Alex Herschlag, Tracy Poust, and Jon Kinnally also executive produce.
In support of the return of the 16-time Emmy Award-winning series, NBC’s released a trailer and photos from the brand new season of the beloved comedy series.
Eric McCormack and Debra Messing (Photo by Chris Haston/NBC)Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland, Debra Messing as Grace Adler, and Megan Mullally as Karen Walker (Photo by Chris Haston/NBC)Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally (Photo by Chris Haston/NBC)Debra Messing as Grace Adler and Eric McCormack as Will Truman (Photo by Chris Haston/NBC)
The 2017 Emmy Awards host Stephen Colbert kicked off the September 17th live broadcast on CBS with a song about how the world’s a little better on TV. Global warming, politics, and the general craziness of the world are all made better by television, suggesting even treason’s better on TV as he sat in a car with The Americans stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys. Colbert did not steer away from politics, and much of his opening monologue featured jabs at Trump who has stated/tweeted that he believes he deserved an Emmy for The Apprentice. Colbert also used the opening bit to thank first responders, caring neighbors, and nuns with chainsaws for all they’ve done to help those affected by the recent hurricanes.
Judging by reactions on Twitter, viewers were split over the surprise Emmy Awards appearance by ex-Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Spicer appeared on the stage during Colbert’s opening monologue, complete with a podium, declaring, “This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period.” A quick cut to Melissa McCarthy in the audience found her indicating his impersonation was on point. However, Colbert did follow Spicer’s appearance up a few minutes later with a jab at the former Trump Press Secretary, pointing out Robert De Niro and saying his Wizard of Lies film is actually the Sean Spicer Story.
Among the more memorable moments of the 2017 Emmys was The Handmaid’s Tale‘s Ann Dowd’s reaction to hearing her name read as the winner in the Supporting Actress in a Drama category. Dowd appeared genuinely shocked and overcome with emotion when her name was announced and she tearily made her way through her acceptance speech. Emmy winner This Is Us star Sterling K. Brown proclaimed himself first and foremost a fan, claimed his co-stars were the best white TV family a brother has ever had, and was in the middle of delivering one of the better speeches of the night when he was cut off, while Nicole Kidman’s acceptance speech for Big Little Lies, which touched on female driven projects and domestic abuse, was allowed to continue despite being over the designated limit. John Oliver lightened the mood a bit when he was on stage to collect his two Emmys, following up presenter Dave Chappelle’s shout-out to DC Public Schools by asking fans to tweet the #DCPublicSchools hashtag to get it trending. Oliver also thanked Oprah, simply because he felt like he should given that she was seated in the front row.
Dolly Parton joked about a vibrator, something no one expected to ever hear referenced by Parton at the Emmys, while on stage with her 9 to 5 co-stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. Tomlin and Fonda recalled how in the film they were not going to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot, adding that also applies to 2017.
More importantly, history was made during the 2017 Emmys as Atlanta‘s Lena Waithe became the first African American woman to win as a comedy writer for her work on Master of None. Donald Glover’s Emmy win for directing the comedy series Atlanta made him the first African American to win in that category. And Riz Ahmed broke new ground as the first Asian man to earn an acting Emmy for his incredible performance in HBO’s The Night Of.
Overall, Saturday Night Live, Big Little Lies, and The Handmaid’s Tale were 2017’s big winners. Westworld, Stranger Things, and Feud were snubbed, although each won awards during the Creative Arts portion of this year’s Emmys.
2017 Emmys Nominees and Winners
Drama Series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
WINNER: The Handmaid’s Tale
Stranger Things
This Is Us
Westworld
Comedy Series
Atlanta
Black-ish
Master of None
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
WINNER: Veep
Limited Series or TV Movie
WINNER: Big Little Lies
Fargo
Feud: Bette and Joan
The Night Of
Genius
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Viola Davis – How to Get Away with Murder
Claire Foy – The Crown
WINNER: Elisabeth Moss – The Handmaid’s Tale
Keri Russell – The Americans
Evan Rachel Wood – Westworld
Robin Wright – House of Cards
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
WINNER: Sterling K Brown – This Is Us
Anthony Hopkins – Westworld
Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys – The Americans
Kevin Spacey – House of Cards
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson – Black-ish
Aziz Ansari – Master of None
Zach Galifianakis – Baskets
WINNER: Donald Glover – Atlanta
William H. Macy – Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent
Lead Actress in a Comedy
Pamela Adlon – Better Things
Jane Fonda – Grace and Frankie
Allison Janney – Mom
Ellie Kemper – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
WINNER: Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep
Tracee Ellis Ross – Black-ish
Lily Tomlin – Grace and Frankie
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie
WINNER: Riz Ahmed – The Night Of
Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock
Robert De Niro – Wizard of Lies
Ewan McGregor – Fargo
Geoffrey Rush – Genius
John Turturro – The Night Of
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Carrie Coon – Fargo
Felicity Huffman – American Crime
WINNER: Nicole Kidman – Big Little Lies
Jessica Lange – Feud
Susan Sarandon – Feud
Reese Witherspoon – Big Little Lies
Supporting Actor in a Drama
Jonathan Banks – Better Call Saul
Ron Cephas Jones – This Is Us
David Harbour – Stranger Things
Michael Kelly – House of Cards
WINNER: John Lithgow – The Crown
Mandy Patinkin – Homeland
Jeffrey Wright – Westworld
Directing for a Drama Series
“Witness,” Better Call Saul – Vince Gilligan
“Hyde Park Corner,” The Crown – Stephen Daldry
“The Bridge,” The Handmaid’s Tale – Kate Dennis
WINNER: “Offred (Pilot),” The Handmaid’s Tale – Reed Morano
“America First,” Homeland – Lesli Linka Glatter
“Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers,” Stranger Things – The Duffer Brothers
“The Bicameral Mind,” Westworld – Jonathan Nolan
Writing for a Drama Series
“The Soviet Division,” The Americans – Joel Fields, Joe Weisberg
“Chicanery,” Better Call Saul – Gordon Smith
“Assassins,” The Crown – Peter Morgan
WINNER: “Offred (Pilot),” The Handmaid’s Tale – Bruce Miller
“Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers,” Stranger Things – The Duffer Brothers
“The Bicameral Mind,” Westworld – Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Louie Anderson – Baskets
WINNER: Alec Baldwin – Saturday Night Live
Tituss Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ty Burrell – Modern Family
Tony Hale – Veep
Matt Walsh – Veep
Supporting Actress in a Drama
Uzo Aduba – Orange Is the New Black
Millie Bobby Brown – Stranger Things
WINNER: Ann Dowd – The Handmaid’s Tale
Chrissy Metz – This Is Us
Thandie Newton – Westworld
Samira Wiley – The Handmaid’s Tale
Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Vanessa Bayer – Saturday Night Live
Anna Chlumsky – Veep
Kathryn Hahn – Transparent
Leslie Jones – Saturday Night Live
Judith Light – Transparent
WINNER: Kate McKinnon – Saturday Night Live
Directing a Comedy Series
WINNER: “B.A.N.,” Atlanta – Donald Glover
“Intellectual Property,” Silicon Valley – Jamie Babbit
“Server Error,” Silicon Valley – Mike Judge
“Blurb,” Veep – Morgan Sackett
“Groundbreaking,” Veep – David Mandel
“Justice,” Veep – Dale Stern
Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Bill Camp – The Night Of
Alfred Molina – Feud
WINNER: Alexander Skarsgard – Big Little Lies
David Thewlis – Fargo
Stanley Tucci – Feud
Michael Kenneth Williams – The Night Of
Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Judy Davis – Feud
WINNER: Laura Dern – Big Little Lies
Jackie Hoffman – Feud
Regina King – American Crime
Michelle Pfeiffer – The Wizard of Lies
Shailene Woodley – Big Little Lies
Variety Talk
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
WINNER: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Late Show with James Corden
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Outstanding Television Movie
WINNER: Black Mirror
Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Sherlock: The Lying Detective
The Wizard of Lies
Directing for a Variety Series
“Hamilton,” Drunk History – Derek Waters, Jeremy Konner
“The (RED) Show,” Jimmy Kimmel Live – Andy Fisher
“Multi-Level Marketing,” Last Week Tonight With John Oliver – Paul Pennolino
“Episode 0179,” The Late Show With Stephen Colbert – Jim Hoskinson
WINNER: “Jimmy Fallon,” Saturday Night Live – Don Roy King
Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special
WINNER: “San Junipero,” Black Mirror – Charlie Brooker
Big Little Lies – David E. Kelley
“The Law of Vacant Place,” Fargo – Noah Hawley
“And the Winner Is …,” FEUD: Bette And Joan – Ryan Murphy
“Pilot,” FEUD: Bette And Joan – Jaffe Cohen, Michael Zam, Ryan Murphy
“The Call of the Wild,” The Night Of – Richard Price, Steven Zaillian
Reality Competition Series
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Project Runway
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
WINNER: The Voice
Writing for a Comedy Series
“B.A.N.,” Atlanta – Donald Glover
“Streets on Lock,” Atlanta – Stephen Glover
WINNER: “Thanksgiving,” Master of None – Aziz Ansari, Lena Waithe
“Success Failure,” Silicon Valley – Alec Berg
“Georgia,” Veep – Billy Kimball
“Groundbreaking,” Veep – David Mandel
Writing for a Variety Series
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
WINNER: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Late Night With Seth Meyers
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Saturday Night Live
Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special
WINNER: Big Little Lies – Jean-Marc Vallée
“The Law of Vacant Places,” Fargo – Noah Hawley
“And the Winner Is …,” FEUD: Bette And Joan – Ryan Murphy
“Einstein: Chapter One,” Genius – Ron Howard
“The Art of War,”The Night Of – James Marsh
“The Beach,”The Night Of – Steven Zaillian
Variety Sketch Series
Billy On The Street
Documentary Now!
Drunk History
Portlandia
WINNER: Saturday Night Live
Tracey Ullman’s Show
Sam Heughan and Romann Berrux in Starz’ ‘Outlander’ season 3 episode 2.
I must start this recap with a question. Does that Outlander season three title card where Claire is drilling into a man’s skull give anyone else the full body shivers and a massive headache besides me? But, I digress…
Season three episode two is simply titled “Surrender” and, as with last week’s inference, both Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) must do some emotional and physical surrendering to their situations. The main concepts of what occurs to each are reasonably in line with the book account in Voyager. Some of the applications of the plotlines do have a level of invention to them. I’ll explain as we go.
At the end of the last episode, Jamie was delivered to Lallybroch, far closer to death’s door than the beloved physical door to his home. The books do explain a bit about what occurred in his physical recovery, but the show breaks the story up a bit and jumps right to what happens six years later. Over that time, Jamie has had to outsmart the British and fade into the Scottish lands around his home. He has turned into a hunter, hermit, and recluse, both physically and emotionally.
In the book, we get to see Jamie’s story in more of a straight timeline, but that’s not so easy to do in a TV show. There is a certain rhythm to a TV program that a book doesn’t have to fit within. AAAHHHH the freedom of the written word between the front and back flaps… Yes, focus on the story at hand, sorry!
The show opens at Lallybroch and three of the lads – Fergus (Romann Berrux), wee Jamie (Rhys Lambert), and Rabbie MacNab (Stuart Campbell) – hunting something in the pigeon loft. You’ll remember in the first season they took in Rabbie because his father was beating him. In this episode, and in the book, his mother comes to work in the kitchen at Lallybroch as well.
In the book, the abusive father got angry after Jamie gave him a taste of his own medicine with his fists. Jamie was turned in to the Watch, which is how he ended up at Wentworth near the end of the first season. In the show, in the episode “The Watch,” they came on their own and events happened that led to Jamie’s capture. In the book, the tenants who live on Lallybroch lands killed Rabbie’s father, so they took in Rabbie’s mother, Mary MacNab (Emma Campbell-Jones), as a kitchen maid for the family.
Back to the boys’ mischief… They’re in the pigeon loft hunting for something and they find it: a pistol. All weapons were outlawed after the rising failed, so it was hidden for a good reason. Fergus gets to bragging about his fighting at Prestonpans to wee Jamie. How quickly he forgets about how shook up he was after he killed that soldier. Naturally, he didn’t tell that part. They hear soldiers coming up to the house and run to see what’s going on.
The Redcoats hunting for the Dun Bonnet in 1752 are very harsh in their treatment of Ian (Steven Cree) as the boys run up. You might get a slight shock to hear a Scottish accent come out of the Redcoat manhandling Ian. He’s the harshest of the lot and I think he’s doing a bit of overcompensating to prove his loyalty to the crown, but that’s just my opinion. His name is Corporal MacGregor (Ryan Fletcher). A very pregnant Jenny (Laura Donnelly) comes out the door to speak with the soldiers. Jenny and Ian both assure the officers that Red Jamie is not and has not been there. They try to convince the soldiers that no traitors to the Crown have been anywhere about the Lallybroch lands. They take Ian anyway, just for good measure.
As they ride away with Ian in the carriage, you see the Dun Bonnet hidden way back in the trees. Jamie is watching over things on the Lallybroch lands, for his tenants and his family. Jamie hunts for meat to feed them through the famine that gripped the Highlands after the rising. Lallybroch people fared better than most of the other estates, in no small part to Claire telling them to plant potatoes and Jamie being around to hunt and supply meat when he could.
After Jamie takes down a stag with an arrow, he shows up at Lallybroch with it draped over his shoulders. As he enters the main courtyard, he sees a woman picking herbs from the herb garden. As she turns, Jamie sees Claire smiling at him. Then suddenly it becomes Jenny, very swollen with her latest bairn. Jamie’s shaken but attempts to hide it. With it being six years since Culloden, he still cannot move on without Claire’s presence. He’s retreated deep within himself, partially due to his solitude in a cave in the hills, but also because of his pain and inability to fully move past the loss of Claire.
We also pick up with flashes of Claire’s existence in 1948 after she had wee Brianna. Claire is a sensual woman, and in the books she speaks of how alone she feels at various times without the touch of her husband. Before she and Jamie were married in the first book, she spoke of the longing for Frank’s touch. Now that she’s more in love with Jamie than she was with Frank, she’s desperately longing for Jamie’s touch. We see her laying in bed next to Frank (Tobias Menzies) while fantasizing about Jamie, and applying a little personal attention to appease the flesh that longs for him. This scene you will need to see for yourself…just a word to the wise… SEE IT! You get naked Jamie as a treat. (Fodder for us all to play a little fantasy game.) He gives a steel blue look of “ready or not here I come” that will get the blood churning everywhere but the brain, if you catch my meaning.
Claire comes back from her fantasy and sees Frank laying there. With eyes wide open, you can see in her face she realizes she cannot just live in fantasies. She’s going to have to embrace her life as mother and wife in the present day in 1949.
Claire comes bobbing into the living room in the morning with wee Brianna, several months older now. She sits down after putting the baby in the playpen to look at the paper. She’s reading an article on Ireland winning their freedom and she isn’t paying attention to what Bree is doing. Suddenly, she hears the baby making a bit more noise than a second ago and looks to see that she has turned over for the very first time, a baby milestone parents always wait for. Frank comes downstairs just then in a towel because the water turned cold so he was going to check the boiler. He encounters Claire’s exciting praise of Brianna, they both share a moment of joy, and then Claire gives him a look. Those who have read the books know exactly what the look means. She does still have feelings for Frank, they are just not as strong as what she felt for Jamie. But, she must resign herself to the present; there is no way to get to Jamie. He’s dead for all intents and purposes.
The Dun Bonnet skulks back to his cave after leaving Lallybroch. The cave is very difficult to find, and that’s just the way it should be. Jamie is cutting a fish he caught when he hears a brief whistle attempting to be a bird. He whistles back and it’s Fergus coming to see him. Fergus brought the gun they found in the pigeon loft and wants Jamie to teach him how to shoot. Jamie and Fergus fight about fighting…or that is to say Fergus wants Jamie to teach him to fight, but Jamie refuses. Fergus calls Jamie a coward and Jamie tells him to take the weapon back and not touch it again.
Caitriona Balfe in Starz’ ‘Outlander’ season 3 episode 2.
Jamie comes back to the house a short time later, maybe the next day or so, to look at the ledgers while Ian is still away and hears Jenny giving birth. In the book, Fergus didn’t find any weapon or argue with Jamie about it, but he did go up to the cave regularly to take food and supplies. Jamie was insistent he would be there when Jenny gave birth, and Jamie doing the ledgers was a reasonable excuse for him to show up at the delivery in the show. In the book, Jamie is outside doing Ian’s work while Jenny delivers the newest Murray.
The boys see a raven and it’s a superstitious bad omen in the Highlands to have a raven around while a woman gives birth. In the book, Jamie fires the shot that brings the Redcoats. In the show, Fergus retrieves the weapon from the pigeon loft and kills the raven dead. Either way, the Redcoats tear through the house looking for it after they hear the report from the shot.
Jamie’s upstairs holding the baby with Jenny sitting up in bed by the time the Redcoats show up. Jenny says they were to call the new bairn after his Da, Ian. Jamie’s heading out of the room with the baby because his sister’s nagging about him needing a new wife gets on his nerves when the soldiers burst into the house. He runs into a nearby room with the baby and Jenny is left to confront the soldiers on her own, and just after giving birth. Women are strong and capable, and Jenny is a perfect example of that.
The damn Scottish Redcoat soldier, MacGregor, yanks the blanket off Jenny to look for the weapon. They realize she just gave birth and start asking about the baby. In the book, this is the time wee Jamie bursts in and starts making a scene at the Redcoats because Jenny says the baby died, which of course is a lie because Jamie’s holding him. In the show, Mary MacNab comes in with the weapon so they’ll stop their searching of the house. She could have gotten in very serious trouble, but the soldiers let it go. The residents of Lallybroch have dodged a figurative bullet this time.
In 1949, Claire wakes up in the middle of the night in the bed she and Frank share. She gently touches his face and it wakes him. She says she misses her husband, and they have sex. The encounter is different from before Claire went through the stones. Frank can tell that Claire is not solely thinking of him.
The British bring Ian back. Ian is smart and does nothing to further provoke the soldiers. Fergus is not so wise. After the Redcoats leave, Fergus heads out to the cave. The Redcoats are not so covert in following him. You can’t exactly be camouflaged in a red coat in the green woods. Fergus encounters the soldiers, one of the two is the horrible MacGregor, and they chase Fergus. Jamie does see some of this activity from high on a nearby hill. The soldiers eventually catch Fergus and MacGregor chops off Fergus’ hand. Jamie is left to stand by and watch. If he had done anything, they would capture him and kill everyone at Lallybroch. One hand for the life of many…that is Jamie’s choice. In the book, Fergus is caught taking Jamie some food and wine. The result is the same. Jamie takes off his belt and makes a tourniquet like Claire would have done, and it saves Fergus’ life.
After Jenny gets Fergus settled in bed, she is downstairs talking with Jamie. For the first time, he withers into tears and drops to the floor. Jenny wraps her arms around him to give him her strength. This is the first crack in the internal wall he has built for himself. The stages of grief are obvious as we watch Jamie. He goes up to Fergus’ room to check on him, and Fergus is surprisingly upbeat. He reminds his Lord of the bargain they struck in France should Fergus be injured in his Lord’s service. Jamie said he remembers perfectly and will take care of Fergus for the rest of his life. Fergus ends up making Jamie smile for the first time in a very long time.
Back in 1949, Frank and Claire are entertaining a neighbor couple. For a moment, you get a glimpse of how the couple were prior to Claire’s disappearance for three years. Claire instigates a sexual interlude right in the middle of the living room after their company has left for the evening. In the middle of everything, Frank stops and demands that Claire open her eyes. He accuses her of fantasizing that he is Jamie. I would imagine this is a thought that has hit anyone who’s been on the receiving end of a partner’s infidelity, or at least Frank feels it as infidelity, wondering if their partner is truly thinking of someone else.
Ian and Jamie talk about Fergus losing his hand, and Ian obviously has a unique understanding since he lost his leg below the knee in France. Ian also makes a highly astute point about Jamie also missing something. It wasn’t a limb like he and Fergus; Jamie lost his heart, also known as Claire.
Jamie realizes the soldiers are not going to stop, so he tells his sister to turn him in for the reward money. In the book, he does the same thing but has another tenant on the property turn him in. The estate needs the money because the hunting has become scarce after several years and the crops have dried up since they had a drought. (They don’t really go into that in the show.) Jamie is done running, and he can provide this one last service for his tenants. His sister is scared they’ll hang him, but Ian said they’re not hanging Jacobites anymore. He will only be imprisoned, as if that’s any better. Sheesh…men!
Jamie returns to his cave and prepares to have his sister turn him in to the soldiers. Mary MacNab brings him some food and helps to cut his very long hair and beard. We have our much less hairy and devastatingly handsome Jamie back on the outside at least! Mary ends up offering herself to Jamie for physical pleasure. She tells him they both need the physical touch of someone again. She has been without a man’s touch for a long time as well. She feels it is the only service she could do for her Laird. Jamie surrenders to her touch, but not without one of his tears that just breaks your heart.
Claire reads the front page of the paper in the 1950s where Truman appointed the first female Treasury Secretary and decides she wants to return to medicine. She realizes it’s what will help her to feel closer to whole again. She had thrown herself into the life of wife and mother but knew she was not complete. She enrolls in Harvard Medical School. She encounters the typical male distaste for her presence in such activities, but she also discovers she has a partner in the shunning by the other male students. There is a black male student also new to the school. She and Joe Abernathy (Wil Johnson) become fast friends.
That night as Claire and Frank go to bed, we’re presented with the double beds in their bedroom which is reminiscent of The Dick Van Dyke Show. I guess they found a solution to their challenges with intimacy.
Jamie arrives to the front courtyard of Lallybroch to be captured by Redcoats, just as they had planned. Everyone played their part well in making it look like Jenny turned her brother in for the money. The Redcoats take him away and give her the bag of money for the capture. (I think I’m down half a box of Kleenex at this point.) So, Jamie physically surrenders and has finally emotionally surrendered to his situation. He has survived and must survive to find a different future.
Claire passes a Scottish piper as she’s headed into the college for her next class. She stops, and you can clearly see what is on her mind – Jamie. She gives the piper money and continues with her new life as well. She has physically and emotionally surrendered to her present and is determined to become a doctor. Being one of the few females in the profession at the time, she certainly will need the focus and determination to succeed. But, of course, we know she has it. Claire will do anything she sets her mind upon. Tulach Ard!
The CW’s set an October 9, 2017 premiere date for their new dramatic action series, Valor, from executive producers Bill Haber, Anna Fricke, and Kyle Jarrow. The new one-hour military drama will be added to the network’s Monday primetime lineup at 9pm ET/PT, airing after season three of Supergirl which airs at 8pm.
Valor season one stars Christina Ochoa (Animal Kingdom), Matt Barr (Sleepy Hollow), Charlie Barnett (Chicago Fire), Corbin Reid (How to Get Away With Murder), W. Trè Davis (Shades of Blue), Nigel Thatch (Selma) and Melissa Roxburgh (Star Trek Beyond).
The Plot: An elite unit of U.S. Army helicopter pilots called the Shadow Raiders is sent on a top secret mission to Somalia, a mission that goes terribly awry. Only two members of the team return safely: Warrant Officer Nora Madani (Ochoa), one of the unit’s first female helicopter pilots, and her commanding officer, Captain Leland Gallo (Barr), while the whereabouts of their comrade Jimmy Kam (Davis) are unknown.
Now back in the U.S., Madani and Gallo are the only ones who know the truth about what really went wrong in Somalia. Nora’s boyfriend, First Lieutenant Ian Porter (Barnett), suspects she’s not telling him the full story, and Jess Kam (Reid), Jimmy’s wife and Nora’s friend, is frustrated and furious at being kept in the dark. Meanwhile Thea (Roxburgh), the enigmatic CIA officer charged with investigating the failed mission, has her own suspicions about what occurred.
With Nora still recovering from a gunshot wound she suffered during the mission, the commander of the Shadow Raiders, Col. Robert Haskins (Thatch), grounds her from flying. But when it’s discovered that Jimmy is alive and being held captive by a group of ruthless terrorists, Nora is determined to join Gallo back in the cockpit to rescue their friend. As preparation and training intensify, Nora and Gallo grow closer, and soon find themselves torn between duty, honor and desire as they wonder who they can trust, and whether the secrets they’re hiding will help save Jimmy… or put them all in terrible danger.
