Thandie Newton and Rodrigo Santoro in ‘Westworld’ episode 9 (Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO)
HBO’s sci-fi drama Westworld will finish up its first 10 episode season on December 4, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT. The season one finale is titled ‘The Bicameral Mind’ and was written by series creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan. Nolan also directed the 10th episode and executive produces the series with Lisa Joy, J.J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk.
Season one has been averaging 11.7 million viewers and was renewed for a second season in mid-November 2016. However, due to the size of the production, HBO may not premiere season two until 2018. The season one cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Jimmi Simpson, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Ben Barnes, Simon Quarterman, Angela Sarafyan, Luke Hemsworth, and Clifton Collins, Jr.
The Bicameral Mind Plot: Ford (Anthony Hopkins) unveils his bold new narrative; Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) embraces her identity; Maeve (Thandie Newton) sets her plan in motion.
Alanna Masterson as Tara, Briana Venskus as Beatrice, and Nicole Barre as Kathy in ‘The Walking Dead’ season 7, episode 6 (Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC)
“Wait! She’s not a bobber…she’s alive,” says Cyndie (Sydney Park) to her young and eager-to-kill-walkers companion, Rachel, when they find Tara (Alanna Masterson) washed up on the shore in the beginning of episode six of season seven of AMC’s horror/drama series, The Walking Dead.
After the intense main theme and opening credits of the show, a flashback shows Tara and Heath (Corey Hawkins) still out on the road, not having much success on finding supplies for Alexandria. Heath is discouraged and still bothered by the attack and all the killing his group did back at The Saviors’ outpost, but Tara is trying to stay positive and tells her friend that “there’s nothing left in this world that isn’t hidden, we just have to find it.”
The next day, the two scavengers come across the remains of a settlement on a bridge. While looking through a massive pile of sand and debris, Tara accidentally releases a large horde of walkers that had been buried in dry cement. (Whoops!) The two struggle to get away from the hungry group of zombies, and during the fight, Tara ends up getting separated from Heath and falls off the bridge into the water below.
Flash forward to Tara still passed out on the beach with Cyndie pulling her from the surf and onto the beach where there’s some shade. Cyndie leaves her two small bottles of water and a dry fish to eat along with her spear for protection. Cyndie makes Rachel promise not to snitch and they head back to wherever their camp is. What they don’t realize is that Tara actually woke up when Cyndie pulled her from the surf and has been playing possum.
She drinks one of the bottles of water and quietly follows them back to their all-women village. (This is never a good sign…look out, Tara!) As Tara is sneaking around the village trying to see if it’s safe, her question is answered when the villagers retrieve their weapons and start shooting at her. Tara makes a run for it but gets cut off by Beatrice (Briana Venskus), one of the hunters.
Tara fights her and ends up getting the upper hand, with the hunter telling Tara to go ahead and kill her, but Tara just knocks her out instead and continues to try to make her escape. She ends up running into Rachel who points her pistol at her and then she’s surrounded by the other villagers all pointing their weapons at her. Tara puts her hands up and says a friendly but nervous “Hi,” to the villagers.
This is when a middle-aged woman named Natania (Deborah May) approaches Tara and decides to take her back to their village because she spared Beatrice’s life and because Cyndie keeps defending her. Back at the village of only women, Tara is handcuffed to a piece of furniture, waiting. Natania and a few companions who appear to be leaders of the Oceanside community ask Tara where she’s from and what she used to do. Tara lies and says she’s been on the road mostly and she’s originally from Atlanta where she used to work on a fishing boat. She’s truthful about falling off the bridge and having a partner who she really wants to return to to make sure he made it off the bridge alive.
Tara also apologizes for scaring them, explaining she was just being careful and looking to see if it was safe to approach them. “Jury’s still out on that one,” the young trapped scavenger says to Natania and her friends as she shakes her hand that’s cuffed. Natania tells Tara that she has them at a disadvantage because she knows where their village is and could tell others about them, putting them in jeopardy. “We usually shoot strangers on sight,” says Natania as she tries to decide what to do with Tara. She leaves with her companions, telling Tara that hopefully one of them will have a brainstorm. Tara sits still handcuffed to the furniture looking very concerned.
Later that night, Tara is taken to have dinner with Natania, Cyndie – who is Natania’s granddaughter – and a few of the other women. Tara thanks Cyndie for saving her life and after a few more lines of conversation asks about the men. Natania tells Tara there was a skirmish with another group and none of the men or male children made it out alive. The survivors fled and created Oceanside. Natania suggests that Tara stay with them and make a new home for herself. She likes her personality and the fact she didn’t kill Beatrice, but she does ask her to come clean about her past knowing that she never worked on a fishing boat.
Tara admits to being with another group and how they have made it a real community where people work together and help each other. She tells them about the raid at The Saviors’ satellite tower after they were threatened. She even suggests that Oceanside could team up with Alexandria. Natania doesn’t seem to like or trust the idea but decides to have Beatrice and Kathy (Kathy Barre) escort Tara back to the bridge. From there, Tara can take them to Alexandria to check it out.
The next day Tara says goodbye to Natania and tells her not to be too hard on Cyndie for breaking her rules because she saved her life. Not long after Tara, Beatrice, and Kathy have left Oceanside, they see a walker in the woods. Tara says she’ll handle it and quickly realizes that she is about to be shot by these women, so she makes a run for it.
As they chase her, Tara ends up in a fight with Beatrice who gets the drop on her but hesitates to kill her. She tells Tara the satellite station she and her friends destroyed was just an outpost and that The Saviors have them all over. She also tells Tara that her friends have no idea what they’ve done. Beatrice says they can’t risk her bringing The Saviors back to their camp because they’re the ones who killed all their men and boys. Just as she’s about to shoot Tara, Cyndie tackles her and knocks her out. (It seems Cyndie followed them after they left).
Cyndie promises to lead Tara to the bridge and help her get across, but she says Tara has to swear never to come back. “Why would I come back?” asks Tara. Cyndie tells her that she has to swear and that people aren’t evil, they just forget who they are and do terrible things to survive while hurting or killing others. Tara answers back that there are evil people in the world. “I know. I’ve seen them,” says the young woman in her most serious voice and finally swears never to come back.
Tara and Cyndie reach the bridge and with Cyndie the sharpshooter shooting walkers in the head, Tara runs across the bridge. Finally, after one particularly close call, Tara makes it to the other side. As Tara is about to travel on, she thinks she sees a walker who might be Heath. After getting a little closer, she realizes it isn’t him. Tara then sees Heath’s glasses on the ground and a tag labeled PPP along with tire tracks leading away. “Maybe that was you,” says Tara with a little hope in her voice.
As the episode ends, Tara makes her way back to Alexandria and is greeted by a sorrowful Eugene (Josh McDermitt). Just seeing the look on his face is enough for her to know something terrible has happened. In the final scene, Tara is sitting on the floor in one of the houses when Rosita (Christian Serratos) tries briefly to comfort her and quickly tells her that they need to turn it around and take it back. Rosita tells Tara they need ammo and guns and asks if she saw anything like that while she was out. Tara stays true to her word to Cyndie and tells Rosita that she didn’t come across anything like that when she was out.
The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 6 Review:
A little slow but with a strong performance by Alanna Masterson, episode six titled “Swear” revealed what Tara and Heath had been up to during the brutal attack and murder of Glenn and Abraham. The episode also introduced a new group of survivors who might end up becoming allies in the inevitable war with Negan and his Saviors.
The stand-out performance goes to, of course, Alanna Masterson as Tara whose never-ending positive outlook is really tested as she makes contact with the “Village of the Deadly Women” and barely escapes being eaten alive by a large horde of walkers. Masterson has taken a character who was originally a member of the Governor’s group and with her friendship with Glenn and truly helping others when she could, has made Tara a sentimental favorite of the cast. It’s impossible not to like her and root for her. Plus, Masterson’s delivery of perfect lines including “That’s a pickle all right,” as she responds to Natania’s dilemma over whether she should shoot this intruder, makes Tara all the more relatable and human.
With the discovery of other survivors with a small armory out there, it’s only a matter of time until Alexandria, Hilltop, Oceanside, and The Kingdom join forces and go up against Negan and his Saviors. Here’s hoping it’s soon.
Emilie de Ravin, Colin O’Donoghue and Jennifer Morrison in ‘Once Upon a Time’ (Photo by Jack Rowand/ABC)
After taking a short break, ABC’s Once Upon a Time returned with the ninth episode of season six airing on November 27, 2016. The episode titled ‘Changelings’ finds sisters battling each other, Aladdin making a life-changing decision, and Gold still set on being a part of his son’s life no matter what. Plus, the reason Rumple hates fairies is finally revealed.
Episode nine begins with Gold (Robert Carlyle) being interrupted by the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) as he threatens a fairy. She wants to know why he despises them so, and he changes the subject by reminding her she needs to kill her sister or they can’t be together. They can rule as partners if she gets rid of Zelena. But first, he needs to send a message via a fairy. He ages the captured one up and sends her back to Mother Superior.
Mother Superior (Keegan Connor Tracy) and the gang discuss Gold and the Evil Queen’s plan, and Belle (Emilie de Ravin) knows Gold’s end game is their son. He’s going to use the Shears of Destiny to sever their son’s ties and corrupt him. Belle believes Gold is trying to scare her and that’s why he’s revealing his plan.
Back in Fairy Tale Land, Rumple tosses a baby in a basket to Belle to be taken care of. He says the child is his now and Belle’s stunned he stole a baby. Gold doesn’t even know the child’s name and warns her the baby’s not going to be around for long.
In Storybrooke, Belle looks through books at the library and finds one with instructions on how to defeat the Dark One. Page one says to follow the strand and when she closes the book, a red strand of ribbon appears on the floor. She follows it into a cave and it leads her to the Shears of Destiny. When she tries to pick them up, they disappear. She realizes she’s in the dream world again and sees her son. They hug and he says he’s there to warn her about Gold’s plan to cut the strand (which represents his fate) as soon as he’s born. He says the answer to saving him is inside her, but she must do so quickly.
Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) is excited over her students’ grades, but Princess Jasmine (Karen David) is too distracted and worried about the lamp Aladdin found to think about teaching. They both know genies are unpredictable and their magic comes at a high price, but Snow reminds Jasmine it’s never too late to be a hero.
Belle’s still in the library but now Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) and Emma (Jennifer Morrison) have arrived to help her. She tells them about her dream and shows them the book she was reading. Hook immediately recognizes the ink in the book is squid ink which can stun Rumple. When he’s stunned, they can get the shears from him. Although Belle wants to help, Hook and Emma don’t want to put her in jeopardy.
Back in time, Belle has bonded with the baby and tries to steal it away before Rumple can do anything with it.
In Storybrooke, the Evil Queen pays a visit to Zelena (Rebecca Mader) and Zelena immediately realizes Gold sent her. Zelena knows she’s in deep trouble, kisses her baby, and confronts her sister. They step outside to do battle with magic and as the Evil Queen attempts to kill her sister, Regina shows up and holds their shared heart in her hand. The Evil Queen grabs her chest in immense pain. If Regina crushes their heart, then Zelena will live. Of course, that also means she and the Evil Queen will die but Regina’s willing to do what it takes to save her sister.
Regina demands to know why she’s attacking Zelena, and Zelena reveals Rumple made the Evil Queen kill her if she wanted to be in a relationship with him. Regina tells the Evil Queen Gold lied to her, and she figures out the Evil Queen has a hole in her heart that she’s desperate to fill.
Hook shows up at Gold’s shop, telling Gold he wants to stop him from ruining the life of another of his sons. As Gold begins to attack Hook, Emma stuns him and they quickly begin their search for the dagger or the shears. As they’re searching, Emma has another disturbing vision of her death. She’s weakened by the vision and neither notices Gold is no longer stunned and has left the shop.
Gold’s now at the library and he tells Belle that dried squid ink isn’t powerful enough to hold him. He swears he won’t lose another son and he has brought the fairy dust with him that will age Belle so she’ll immediately deliver their baby.
In another flashback, we see Belle reading a note about the Black Fairy. It’s yet another trick pulled off by Rumple who deliberately led her to the tower room and to the note. She can read fairy, he can’t, but now he knows what the note said. He takes the baby and locks Belle in the tower.
In Storybrooke’s library, Belle tries to escape, but Gold stops her. She tells him it doesn’t have to be like this and he replies that it does. He has decided he’s a man no one can love, but he can start over with this son. Maybe their boy will love him. Belle says she just wanted him to try, and Gold said that’s what he’s been doing. She warns him that if he uses the magic fairy dust, he’s not just pushing her away. He’ll be losing her forever. Surprisingly, he doesn’t use the dust after she asks him if that’s a price he’s willing to pay.
Lana Parrilla in ‘Once Upon a Time’ (Photo by Jack Rowand/ABC)
Regina heals a cut on her sister’s face while Zelena admits she should have been the one to reach out and apologize. Regina confesses she was actually at Zelena’s to find a cure for an aging spell, and Zelena wonders why she even bothered saving her. Regina reminds her that’s what heroes do, even if the person they save has hurt them. And now the siblings are back to fighting about Robin’s death. The wound is still fresh and Regina tells Zelena she can never forgive her. She’ll pity her, hate her, and spare her life, but she won’t forgive her.
Over at the Charming house, Princess Jasmine rubs the lamp and two gold bracelets fall to the floor. There isn’t a genie inside the lamp which means she can’t get back to Agrabah. Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz) picks up the bracelets and slaps one on his wrist while Jasmine tries to stop him since that means he’ll become a prisoner of the lamp. He’s okay with that, and he’ll model his behavior after the greatest genie they ever met. He places the second bracelet on his wrist and is sucked into the lamp.
The Evil Queen is back at Gold’s shop and she sees that he didn’t use the fairy dust on Belle. She tells him she knows he’s just using her, just like Regina said. The Evil Queen says Belle will always realize that Gold is not the man she wants him to be and that after she has their baby, she’ll leave and Gold will be alone. That will be just like what happened with Baelfire. (That’s a pretty low blow, even for the Evil Queen!) Gold tells her not to question him again and sends the Evil Queen away.
Flashback to Fairy Tale Land and Belle’s still stuck in the tower. She calls out for help and the Blue Fairy arrives to save the day. Belle tells her about the baby who’s in danger, and Blue explains the Black Fairy has a dark heart and steals children. Rumple will be trying to lure the Black Fairy out and Blue needs Belle to save the baby, so she sets Belle free.
Over at Granny’s diner, Hook and Emma pledge to keep Belle safe. Hook then pulls Emma aside to discuss what she saw in her latest vision. She tells him the sword that was used to kill her had a red jewel at the bottom of it. Just then Belle breaks her tea cup and her stomach rapidly expands. She begs, “Please no!”
Returning to the saga of the stolen baby, Rumple says an incantation to the night sky and the Black Fairy arrives. Belle watches from the woods as the Black Fairy lands near the baby. Rumple freezes her with squid ink and asks her why, since she steals babies all the time, she abandoned the one child who was hers. Rumple is that child and this is definitely not a happy mother-and-child reunion. She didn’t give him a name, and he demands to know why he was abandoned. She says she chose power over love and then tells him he’ll have to keep on wondering before flying off. Belle picks up and cradles the baby, protecting it from Rumple.
In Storybrooke, Belle is being taken care of by the fairies and Mother Superior. Emma is assisting with the birth as Belle enters the dream world to visit one more time with her son. He tells her she knows what she must do in order to stop Gold from using the Shears of Destiny, and she hugs him tightly telling him she loves him more than anything. He swears he’ll never forget it and reminds her not to forget the book.
Belle’s baby boy has arrived and Belle asks Mother Superior for help. She wants her to be his fairy godmother and to take him somewhere safe. Emma doesn’t understand what’s going on, but Belle wants her boy safe until this is all over. She believes that time will eventually come, and Mother Superior agrees to deliver the boy to safety.
Hook hands Belle the book she asked for and Belle makes Mother Superior promise to read it to him. She says goodbye to her baby boy and calls him a “hero for all time.” Gold enters the house and watches as Blue flies off with their baby, accusing Belle of abandoning their son. She tells him it’s over and there’s nothing left for him to say, and when he asks for his child’s name, she refuses to reveal it. Gold says he’d never hurt her but promises he will find their son.
Back in Fairy Tale Land, Belle delivers the baby Rumple took back to the worried parents.
The Evil Queen’s waiting for Gold when he returns to his shop. He tries to send her away, but she says she’s going to enjoy watching what happens since he poisoned his love. She confirms she’s the one who dosed Belle’s tea but claims he forced her hand. The Evil Queen is fully aware Belle won’t believe he didn’t do it and he swears he’ll make her pay for what she’s done. Gold tells her he plays a long game and she’s just a pawn, and the Evil Queen wishes him good luck finding his son. “I hear fairies make wonderful mothers,” she says before walking out of the shop. Angry, Gold starts tearing up the shop.
Hook meets up with Emma at Granny’s and says Belle’s doing fine. Emma really wants to know what happens to her in the future, so she and Hook return to Gold’s shop hoping to find the sword from her vision. It’s there and as she touches it, she sees her death again. She picks it up again and they wonder why it’s in Gold’s shop. They hope the sword will lead them to who’s responsible for her death so they can stop him/her.
Paul Wesley (‘Stefan’) steps behind the camera to direct The Vampire Diaries season eight episode six, marking Wesley’s fifth episode at the helm. Alan McElroy wrote the script of the episode titled ‘Detoured on Some Random Backwoods Path to Hell’ and set to air on December 2, 2016. In addition to Wesley, The Vampire Diaries final season cast includes Ian Somerhalder as Damon, Kat Graham as Bonnie, Michael Malarkey as Enzo, Candice King as Caroline, and Matt Davis as Alaric.
The ‘Detoured on Some Random Backwoods Path to Hell’ Plot: STEFAN MAKING AN UNEXPECTED SACRIFICE — When her children become the focus of the Siren’s latest plan, Caroline (King) takes drastic measures to ensure nothing gets in the way of keeping her family safe. In a race against the clock, Stefan (Wesley) pledges to do everything he can to save the twins, while tensions between Alaric (Davis) and Caroline boil over, leading them to face some harsh realities about the future of their family. Meanwhile, when Enzo (Malarkey) finds himself unable to fight off Sybil’s (guest star Nathalie Kelley) latest move, Stefan dives into his subconscious and along the way, sets off a chain of events that leaves him faced with a life-changing decision. Zach Roerig guest stars.
Thandie Newton in ‘Westworld’ season 1 episode 9 (Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO)
HBO’s sci-fi drama Westworld served up a penultimate episode that answered one major question while leaving multiple storylines dangling. Airing on November 27, 2016, season one episode nine titled ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier’ began with Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) requesting Maeve (Thandie Newton) bring herself back online so they can talk about why she acted outside of her storyline and killed Clementine. Maeve lies and says Clementine was moving toward guests with harmful intent, and Bernard examines her programming and discovers all the changes to her code.
Before Bernard can tell Dr. Ford about it, Maeve grabs his arm and lets him know she’s aware he’s also a host. Bernard is confused and Maeve is able to freeze him since she can now control other hosts. She speaks to him while he’s unable to move, instructing him to clear her for the park. He does so, and she tells him to find out the whole truth because knowing just part of it is horrible. He leaves the room and wanders past naked, offline hosts, unsure of what he is.
Logan (Ben Barnes) and the Confederados have William (Jimmi Simpson) and Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) tied up back in camp. Logan claims he’s not angry about being left behind when William and Dolores took off, and William tries to convince Logan that Dolores is unlike other hosts and needs to be taken out of the park. She remembers things and thinks for herself. Logan can’t believe William wants to take Dolores home with him, and Dolores repeats the word “out.” She wonders why everyone wants to be in the park if the outside world is so wonderful. Logan’s impressed with her reasoning and decides to help William…but not how he wants. With William still tied up, he pulls Dolores to her feet.
Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) walks through the storage room with the decommissioned hosts and enters his secret room where Bernard is waiting for him. They discuss Dr. Ford’s control over Bernard, and Bernard says he looked at his own code and it appears it was written by Arnold which means there might be a different end game. He’s also concluded that Dr. Ford killed his own brother. Bernard demands access to his history because he wants to look through his memories for Arnold to see if he can determine Arnold’s purpose. Bernard pulls out a gun, hands it to Clementine, and explains that after the lobotomy, they failed to reset her directives so she can hurt humans. Bernard has programmed Clementine to respond only to him, forcing Dr. Ford’s hand and making him open Bernard’s programming so he can view all his memories.
In his memories, Bernard recalls moments with his dying son, his wife, and with Theresa. He pauses the memory on Theresa, sees her death, and then relives killing Elsie. He comes out of his memories with a shock, angry at what Dr. Ford forced him to do to Elsie. He wants back inside his memories again because he still needs to find any trace of Arnold.
William is forced to watch as Dolores is felt up by Logan’s new buddies. Logan reminds William he was supposed to be marrying his sister, and he’s not going to let him throw it all away. William continues to claim Dolores is special while Logan grabs Dolores and tells William it’s time for a wake-up call. He instructs one of the men to hold her and stabs Dolores in the stomach. He pulls her skin apart to show her mechanical interior. Dolores falls to her feet, telling Logan there is beauty in this world with Logan responding that her world was built for people like him. She grabs a knife and slashes him across the face. She then picks up a gun, shoots a few men dead, and takes off running. They give chase and she stumbles to the ground, and then she hears, “Remember.” She looks around and as she stands up, her wound is completely healed.
Night falls and Hector (Rodrigo Santoro), Armistice (Ingrid Bolso Berdal), and the gang are at camp trying to figure out how to open the safe. Maeve shows up, aims a rifle in Hector’s direction, and tells him she knows all about his history. She also says his men are about to kill each other over the safe and that ultimately he and Armistice will kill each other. It’s their ending…always has been, always will be. And then it happens just like Maeve predicts, except she saves Hector.
She wants him to join her in breaking into hell to rob the gods blind. He doesn’t react or seem to understand and she opens the safe, revealing it’s completely empty. She tells him it’s always empty and they’re all just games to the masters who pull their strings. Hector realizes he’s been here before and they’ve kissed before. He agrees to go with Maeve but first comes a little romantic interlude. Maeve tells him getting to hell is easy as she burns down their tent while they’re still inside. They have sex as they go up in flames.
Logan tries to make peace with William who’s still tied to a chair. He keeps trying to explain to his future brother-in-law that Dolores was never alive, and William acts like he can’t believe he got caught up in the park. Logan sets him loose and tells him, like Vegas, what happens there, stays there. Logan thinks this is just an intense bonding adventure and William grabs his bottle, takes a swig, and then they hug.
Meanwhile in a different camp, Teddy (James Marsden) still has an arrow in his shoulder and the Man in Black (Ed Harris) is still tied up to a rock. Angela (Talulah Riley) removes the arrow while across the campfire the Man in Black tells Teddy he f**ked them both by having a memory glitch. Wyatt’s men are also around the campfire but Wyatt isn’t there. Teddy remembers Wyatt went missing on maneuvers and came back with strange ideas.
Teddy has a flash of memory that shows him walking through the town and shooting all the soldiers. He remembers he and Wyatt killed every soldier and then Wyatt shot the general. Angela asks if he’s positive that’s what happened. He searches his memory again and this time sees himself as a marshal who shot everyone dead. In his memory he sees Angela trying to comfort her husband before he shot her in the head. Teddy shakes his head no, and Angela tells him the next time he’ll be by Wyatt’s side fighting with him. She then stabs him in the stomach, telling him he’s not ready but might be in the next life.
Angela tells the Man in Black the maze isn’t meant for him and then knocks him out by hitting his head against a large rock. When he wakes up the next morning, there’s a rope around his neck tied to a horse. If the horse moves, the Man in Black will be pulled up into a tree and hung. No one is around to save him, so he works his way over to Teddy’s dead body and grabs the knife. Just as he’s being hauled up, he’s able to cut the rope and save himself. In a bizarre twist, Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) arrives in the park and asks the Man in Black if he’s considered a different type of vacation. She tells him Theresa is dead and the Man in Black says there’s no way her death was an accident. Charlotte is there to ask for his vote on the Board to push out Dr. Ford. He tells her he doesn’t want any more interruptions and sends her away.
Back in the control room, a tech receives a signal from Elsie. She’s in an area in the park where no one is supposed to be. Ashley (Luke Hemsworth) heads up to the park to check it out and can’t find the signal. He calls the control room but all he gets is static on the line. Just then Ghost Nation members show up and walk toward him menacingly. They don’t obey his command to stop and he’s attacked.
Logan wakes up disoriented to find his fellow Confederados dead, many of whom were torn to pieces. William apparently did it, telling Logan he finally understands this place is a game. He killed all these men and now he wants Logan to help him find Dolores, threatening him by placing the knife to his neck.
Bernard’s back in his memories again, watching his son die in the hospital. He also sees Maeve dead on the floor after her daughter’s death, and in his memories he wonders why Maeve was accessing her memories. Dr. Ford tells him not to seek answers to questions best unasked, and Bernard recalls all of Dr. Ford’s explanations for hosts accessing their memories. Dr. Ford tells Bernard that Arnold wanted to create consciousness and the hosts hear their programming as an inner monologue. Dr. Ford calls the human mind a foul, pestilent corruption, and Bernard’s mind is supposed to be purer.
Dr. Ford explains the hosts were made in Dr. Ford and Arnold’s image and are cursed to make the same mistakes. Bernard wants to know why they gave him a child and had him die and why he returns to the day of the child’s death. All hosts have a backstory and the tragic ones work best, explains Dr. Ford, adding that he gave Bernard a backstory that’s an homage. Bernard wants to access his memories again so he can see Arnold, demanding to be allowed to return to the very beginning – his first memory.
He asks to be sent back and Dr. Ford does, sending Bernard once again into the room where his son died. Bernard tells the child to come back to life and he does. Bernard realizes his son is a host and this is all a lie. The pain is a lie, Charlie’s death is a lie, and revisiting it is the only thing holding him back. He tells Charlie he has to let him go and Charlie says, “Open your eyes.” Bernard does and he’s back to the day he was created. He sees a younger Dr. Ford and then takes his first step off the gurney. Dr. Ford not only taught him how to act, down to how to clean his glasses, he also modeled Bernard after his brother. Bernard is a robot version of Arnold!
Evan Rachel Wood in ‘Westworld’ (Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO)
Back in the park, Dolores is alone and heading back to the area she painted while on the train with William. She walks through the small town once again and hears the church bells ring. She enters the church and is wearing the dress she always wore while on her family’s farm. She sees hosts crying, speaking to people who aren’t there, and acting insane. She takes a seat in the confessional and the seat moves downward. It’s actually a hidden elevator and as she steps out, she sees a vision of the hallway littered with dead bodies. The setting changes and now she sees hosts in rooms acting normal. She’s passed by Arnold in the hall as Dr. Ford calls out to him. Dolores follows Arnold, opening a door and taking a seat in a chair. Bernard/Arnold walks in and she tells him she followed the maze and it didn’t bring her the promised joy; it brought her pain and terror. She wants his help, telling him he’s the only one who can help her. He says, “Remember,” and she remembers he can’t help her because he’s dead. He’s just a memory because she killed him. She returns to the present, heads back up in the elevator and into the church, and this time she doesn’t see any other hosts. She hears footsteps outside and it’s the Man in Black. (She thought it was William.) She looks horrified as he approaches.
Bernard’s plan is to find all the sentient hosts and set them free. Dr. Ford wonders if the hosts will trust him, and Bernard becomes more confused as he realizes they’ve had this talk before. Dr. Ford says Bernard is actually the real danger to the hosts, not him. Bernard instructs Clementine to pull the trigger and kill Dr. Ford, but she can’t. She puts the gun down and Bernard figures out there’s a back door built into the hosts’ codes. Dr. Ford had hoped Bernard would be his partner again and that’s why he let him access his memories. He instructs Bernard to take the gun from Clementine and kill himself, ending the nightmare once and for all. As Dr. Ford leaves, he tells Bernard he never should have placed his trust in humans.
Moana (voiced by Auli‘i Cravalho and Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) in ‘Moana’
Families were thankful for Moana over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, turning out to see the animated comedy in theaters to the tune of $81 million. Disney’s latest family-friendly animated film’s huge domestic opening earned it second place on the list of all-time best five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekends. Only Disney’s Frozen, which rang up $93 million over the 2013 Thanksgiving holiday, performed better.
Unfortunately, Thanksgiving wasn’t particularly bountiful for either Allied or Bad Santa 2. Allied pulled in slightly less than projected while Bad Santa 2 managed only half of what Bad Santa grossed over its first three days in theaters in 2003. However, it was Warren Beatty’s Howard Hughes film, Rules Don’t Apply, that was the weekend’s biggest disappointment. Rules Don’t Apply‘s $1.5 million three-day take ranks as the worst wide release opening of the year.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the Star Wars prequel which explores the creation of the Death Star, has released a new trailer titled ‘Trust.’ Directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla), Rogue One‘s cast is led by Felicity Jones and Diego Luna, and includes Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. John Knoll and Jason McGatlin executive produced, and Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel served as producers. Tony Gilroy and Chris Weitz wrote the screenplay from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be released in theaters on December 16, 2016.
The Plot: From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.
“Maybe it’s time you started fearing me,” says Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) to one of Alchemy’s followers as her powers bring out more of her dangerous, darker side and she begins her transformation into Killer Frost in The CW’s comic-book inspired fantasy action series, The Flash.
Season three episode seven begins right where episode six left off, with The Flash (Grant Gustin) caught in the clutches of Savitar and pinned against the subway wall as the huge evil speedster tells the hero that he is a god. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) wrestles free of two of Alchemy’s followers and although he can’t see what’s holding Barry, he fires blindly in the general direction. Even though he hits Savitar, the bullets seem to have little to no effect. Savitar tells Flash he’s going to take him on a run and races all over the city so fast it’s even a blur to Barry.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Team Flash is trying to monitor Barry’s movements but they’re confused by the speed. Savitar stops at the waterfront and begins to beat Barry who it seems is no match for the giant silver monster. H.R. (Tom Cavanagh) suggests that Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Caitlin use their powers and help Barry fight whatever it is he’s being beaten up by. Iris (Candice Patton) asks Cisco to use his powers to open a portal to the waterfront. Caitlin starts to say it’s too dangerous, but Iris pleads for her to help Barry.
Back at the waterfront, Savitar is getting ready to finish The Flash off when Cisco and Caitlin arrive, and Caitlin uses her powers to freeze Savitar making him finally visible and stopping him. He lets go of The Flash and after a few moments breaks free of the ice and speeds off. Cisco checks on Barry and Barry’s just cold after being exposed to the ice.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin is taking care of both her patients. She tells Cisco he shouldn’t try to travel via portal anytime soon because his brain is reacting the same as if it had a mini-stroke. He should just take a couple of aspirin and he’ll be fine. Barry thanks Caitlin for saving his life and she reminds him he’s saved her many times. Caitlin checks on Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) who’s still in the cocoon after touching the stone, and as she walks out of the room her eyes flash crystal blue for a few seconds.
Joe wants to cut Wally out, but Caitlin shoots that idea down by saying it might be too dangerous for Wally. Joe heads out, upset and resentful that this is happening to Wally, and goes to interrogate the captured follower of Alchemy. “When my master rises, the human race will be judged and you will not fare well,” says the loyal follower just before Joe starts squeezing his already busted nose. Joe’s interrupted by Caitlin who tells him that Wally is out of the cocoon, doing okay, and he should talk to his son.
As Joe exits, Caitlin slips into the interrogation room. Avoiding the security camera, Caitlin uses her powers to freeze and destroy it. She asks the follower how she can find Alchemy. Not getting the answers she wants, Caitlin uses her powers to torment the acolyte who screams out in pain, causing the detectives to start banging on the door. Realizing she needs to leave unseen, Caitlin uses her powers to make a thick frosty mist in the room so that when the detectives enter they don’t see her slip out. She seals the door shut with them inside. She’s almost out when Julian (Tom Felton) sees her in the hallway and asks her to stop. He notices the frozen door and turns back to see Caitlin with now crystal blue eyes, white locks mixed in with her brunette hair, and her hands steaming from cold ice. “You need to come with me,” says Caitlin in a cold and threatening voice.
Joe returns to S.T.A.R Labs to see that Caitlin lied to him about Wally who’s still in the cocoon. Barry races to the CCPD and finds out from a detective that Julian was kidnapped by a female meta but they don’t know her identity and are searching for her. Barry goes back to S.T.A.R. Labs and H.R. gets Cisco to remember how they tracked Captain Cold using the satellite to track temperature drops. They do the same thing and find Caitlin at a cold food storage facility. The Flash races over while Cisco and the gang monitor from the base.
Caitlin makes Julian do a trace on the internet to find any of Alchemy’s followers, and he finds two with the clues Cait gives him. As she starts to think about what she’s doing, Cait’s eyes go back to being their original lovely brown and she says out loud to herself, “What am I doing?” Julian decides to use his computer to send a message to the CCPD asking for help and giving his location. Cait realizes what he’s up to and destroys the computer. She’s about to use her powers on Julian when The Flash speeds in and stands in front of Julian. He tells her to stop and she warns him to leave. Julian tells him to stop her, but The Flash knocks Julian out instead. Now that it’s just the two of them, Barry asks Caitlin what she’s doing and pleads for her to let him help her. She tells Barry she needs to find Alchemy so he can take her powers away.
Team Flash is listening in back at base and feels bad for Caitlin. “I don’t think it works like that,” says Barry. “You don’t know that it doesn’t,” answers back a desperate Caitlin. “You and I have been through too much together to let each other down now. Please let me help you,” pleads Barry. “Just like you helped your mother?” she replies coldly with her eyes returning to crystal blue. Caitlin reminds Barry he keeps messing with everyone’s lives and they’re left to pick up the pieces because of his mistakes. She then tells Cisco, who’s listening back at S.T.A.R. Labs, how all of this is happening because of Barry creating Flashpoint and that’s the reason his brother, Dante, is dead. Barry is both hurt and taken aback by her behavior but knows it’s her powers messing with her mind. This is when CCPD and SWAT show up and start to fire upon Caitlin. The Flash speeds out of the room with Caitlin, and Caitlin creates a large icicle and stabs Barry in the triceps telling him even with his fast healing it will be a few hours before he will be up to full speed again. She leaves, telling him not to follow her.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco is upset but wants to focus on finding Caitlin. He hacks Julian’s computer and finds the two names and addresses of Alchemy followers that Caitlin is sure to visit. Cisco tells Barry to stay put because he’s wounded, saying he’s done enough and he will stake out one of the locations while H.R. and Joe stake out the other.
While Joe and H.R. are sitting in Joe’s car watching for Caitlin, H.R. starts talking and realizes Joe is worried about Wally being in the cocoon and possibly coming out with powers but evil. H.R. tells Joe how much Barry respects and looks up to him, which leads to Joe saying Barry needs to listen to him more. This causes H.R. to tell Joe that Barry’s real superpower is not his speed but his hope; the hope he inspires and how he always seems to believe they will be able to work everything out okay in the end.
Caitlin shows up at the house Cisco is staking out and Barry and Iris get an alert from the satellite back at base. Caitlin confronts the Alchemy follower telling him if he doesn’t answer her questions, she will hurt him and his family. He tells her that he doesn’t know who Alchemy is but reveals it’s really Savitar who’s the master. He tells Caitlin that Savitar showed him the future and she was there so glorious and powerful and that his master has big plans for her. This partly scares and intrigues Caitlin who’s losing her inner struggle to keep Killer Frost under control. She hears Cisco call to her from outside and goes out to face him. “I see you brought your toys,” says Caitlin, looking and sounding more like Killer Frost than herself now. Cisco tells her he doesn’t want to fight and just wants to help her. She warns him she’s Killer Frost now, and he says she’s Caitlin Snow to which she beings to hurl deadly icicles at him. (It appears she’s not really aiming at him but just near him.) Cisco takes cover behind a tree and tries to use his energy vibe to knock her down but misses. The Flash arrives with a bit of a limp and draws her fire. Killer Frost ices the street so he loses control and ends up falling right in front of her. “How’s the leg?” she asks with a smirk on her face. The Flash knocks her down using his injured leg and lying on the street next to each other, Killer Frost says “That was cold, Flash, but not as cold as this!” She gets up onto Barry, straddles him, and delivers a deadly icy kiss that begins to freeze him. Cisco runs up and vibes another shot at her, this time hitting her and knocking her off Barry. Cisco tells Barry to vibrate because it will warm him up and it works.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin wakes up in a cell. She tries to act like she’s herself again but her voice, crystal blue eyes, and white locks give away she’s still Killer Frost. She then becomes verbally vicious, especially toward Barry saying how for a hero he sure does let a lot of people close to him die, bringing up Eddie and her beloved Ronnie. Barry says it’s her powers affecting her mind and she’s sick. She replies, “I’m broken,” which causes Cisco to tear up and Barry to look away, feeling guilt. She asks for them to let her go and she’ll let them get back to their miserable lives. Barry tells her they’re not abandoning her, and she yells at him that he did this to her as he closes the door and locks her in.
Barry goes off to sulk but Iris won’t let him, telling him that none of this might actually be his fault. Caitlin might have developed these powers without Flashpoint. She also tells him that even though he doesn’t feel like it, they need him to lead. That’s when an alarm goes off and Cisco, Barry, and Iris rush into the room where the cocoon holding Wally is to see Joe and H.R. trying to cut him out of it. Barry yells for Joe to stop but he doesn’t and Barry, realizing the cocoon is about to explode, speeds everyone away just in time. After the smoke clears, Wally is standing there vibrating at different speeds and looking lost. He then speeds out and is gone.
Barry knows Wally is going to need a biochemist and Caitlin is the only one who can help. He tells Caitlin/Frost what happened to Wally and that he’s going to need Caitlin Snow MD to help him. “So, you came here to try to talk some sense into me?” asks Frost with an eerie smile. “No, I came to let you go,” replies Barry. He unlocks the cell door and Frost, uneasy and distrustful, steps out. “For a smart guy, that was an awfully dumb move,” says Frost. “Like I said, you’re free to go,” answers back Barry. “What’s the catch?” asks Frost. “You have to kill me,” replies Barry. This alarms Iris but Cisco tells her he thinks it’s going to be okay. Frost asks if The Flash wants to fight her and he tells her no, he’s not going to fight her but if she wants to leave this room, she is going to have to kill him. “Don’t think I won’t,” snarls Frost. “Then do it,” answers Barry.
Killer Frost creates an icicle and points it threateningly at Barry’s heart. Barry asks her what she’s waiting for, and Killer Frost begins to look unsure and uncomfortable. “C’mon, live up to your name Killer Frost. I want to see some killing,” taunts Barry to a Frost who is now looking worried and weak. Barry says if she insists on being a villain, then she has to kill her friends because nothing matters anymore. “C’mon, kill me, Caitlin,” continues Barry as he grabs her arm and pulls the icicle closer to his heart. Caitlin tries to pull it a little and her face shows her starting to look sad. “You can’t do it. You can’t. Because underneath all that cold, you’re still you,” says Barry as Caitlin’s eyes change from crystal blue back to brown. Caitlin drops the icicle and bursts into tears, collapsing into Barry’s arms and saying his name. He tells her, “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Caitlin changes back into doctor mode and creates a neural compound for Barry to inject into Wally which will get his mind and body linked up correctly. With a little help from Joe who figured out Wally is at his old home, it works.
The next day, Wally speeds around the training area of S.T.A.R. Labs happy he’s now a speedster and anxious to go out with Barry to help fight crime. Joe and Iris tell him to slow down and that first Caitlin needs to run tests on him to make sure he’s okay. Joe asks if she’s up for it and she answers, “Being a doctor? Always.” Joe gets a buzz that Julian is awake at the hospital. Caitlin, wide-eyed, says he knows she kidnapped him. Barry tells her it will be all right, that he’ll talk to Julian and convince him not to inform on her. “It’s going to be okay. I promise,” says Barry, smiling at his friend. She smiles back, trusting Barry to protect her. On his way out, Barry visits Cisco and asks if he wants to talk but Cisco says no. Barry tells him he’s his best friend and asks if they’re going to be okay. Cisco answers honestly and tells him he doesn’t know.
Barry visits Julian at the hospital, telling him he’ll do anything if he doesn’t tell the detective Caitlin kidnapped him. He implores Julian to do him this favor, saying she’s a good person and one of the best he knows. Barry tries to convince Julian that Caitlin doesn’t deserve to be punished. Julian says he thinks he got knocked out harder than he thought and really doesn’t remember much. It turns out, however, that his silence does come with a price. He demands Barry quit his job as a CSI, saying he has no business being in law enforcement since he’s choosing his friends over justice. Barry agrees to the deal and lingers in earshot to make sure Julian keeps his end of the bargain when the detective interviews him.
Back at the CCPD, Barry is packing up his stuff when Iris and Joe come in asking what happened and why he resigned. Barry tells them about the deal he struck with Julian. Iris and Joe are upset but Barry calms them down by telling them there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do or give up to keep them, Wally, Caitlin, and Cisco safe. They leave to get dinner and as Barry carries his personal items out of his lab, lightning strikes outside.
The last scene of the episode has Julian, still in the hospital, hearing a voice. He starts running, trying to get away from the voice. He heads outside and sees Savitar who tells him he needs him to be his prophet, Doctor Alchemy, again.
The Flash season 3 episode 7 review:
Emotional, powerful, and action-packed, episode seven titled “Killer Frost” is hands-down the best episode of the season thus far and one of the best episodes of The Flash series, period. It has everything one could hope for in a superhero fantasy action show. The fight scenes between Barry and Caitlin aka Killer Frost are well choreographed and the deadly icy kiss scene is a very cute and effective homage to Batman Returns where Catwoman (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) licks and kisses Batman (played by Michael Keaton). The special effects are stunning, with Caitlin’s icicles and freezing abilities looking great.
There are three stand-out performances in the “Killer Frost” episode. The first mention goes to Danielle Panabaker for her heartbreaking and scary performance as Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost. She gives an award-worthy performance as the desperate and terrified Caitlin looking for anything to stop her from becoming the deadly Frost, and she’s equally chilling (pun intended) as Frost who’s up for hurting people to get what she wants and to keep them out of her way but not actually killing. Panabaker also shows brilliantly the inner struggle between the good and caring Caitlin and the cold and unfeeling Frost. This critic was rooting for Caitlin all the way.
The second stand-out performance of the episode was given by Grant Gustin as Barry who carries the guilt he feels for what’s happening to Caitlin and refuses to lose one of the people he loves the most to evil. The scenes between Gustin and Panabaker are the best in the episode and some of the best work they’ve done on the show. They have incredible chemistry together; the scene in the pipeline where Barry tells Caitlin to kill him and she finally comes back to being herself and collapses in his arms sobbing is full of suspense and emotion.
Carlos Valdes also delivered a terrific performance, displaying so many emotions that his character’s going through from being scared of losing Caitlin to Killer Frost to the horrible truth that Barry could be the one who is responsible for his brother’s death by creating Flashpoint. His scenes are more subtle but ring true every time.
With Team Flash on the mend, Wally now a speedster, and hopefully Caitlin being able to master her powers and stay in control, here’s looking forward to the special crossover episode next week and Team Flash working together to stop Savitar and Doctor Alchemy.
Andrew Garfield and Shin’ya Tsukamoto in Paramount Pictures’ ‘Silence.’
Paramount Pictures and Martin Scorsese are launching Silence late in the awards season game, with most critics’ groups unable to watch a screening prior to voting for the best of 2016 in feature films. The studio and Scorsese also held off on releasing a full trailer until the last minute, dropping it just a month prior to the film’s theatrical release. The cast of Silence is led by Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), and Liam Neeson (Taken), with Tadanobu Asano (Thor), Issey Ogata (The Sun), Ciaran Hinds (Game of Thrones), Yosuke Kubozuka (Go), and Yoshi Oida (The Pillow Book) co-starring. Silence, based on the novel by Shusaku Endo, will open in theaters on December 23, 2016.
The Silence Plot: Martin Scorsese’s Silence tells the story of two Christian missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who face the ultimate test of faith when they travel to Japan in search of their missing mentor (Liam Neeson) – at a time when Christianity was outlawed and their presence forbidden.
Shahadi Wright Joseph, Garrett Clayton, Dove Cameron, Maddie Baillio, Ariana Grande, Ephraim Sykes, and Derek Hough star in ‘Hairspray Live! (Photo by Maddie Baillio/NBC)
NBC’s Hairspray Live! is currently in rehearsals with the ensemble cast hard at work preparing for a live airing of the popular musical on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 at 8pm ET. Hairspray Live! stars a mix of musical theatre veterans and young actors, including newcomer Maddie Baillio who earned the role of Tracy Turnblad at a casting call with over 1,000 hopefuls. With the live musical production just a few weeks away, Baillio joined Dove Cameron (‘Amber Von Tussle’), Garrett Clayton (‘Link Larkin’), and Ephraim Sykes (‘Seaweed’) on a conference call to discuss their characters, their co-stars, and why they love being a part of Hairspray Live!.
What is the best part of being cast in Hairspray Live! and what does it mean to you?
Garrett Clayton: “I’ve always wanted to do the show but I think what’s really cool about this – and we’ve all kind of said it, we really have – I guess we’re obsessed with each other as a cast. We’re all like super stoked that we get to work with such like fun, awesome, cool people.”
Maddie Baillio: “My favorite thing I think about playing Tracy is that she’s like the ultimate underdog so everyone can relate to her. So, I’m happy to be that for everyone.”
Ephraim Sykes: “I think I’m excited to play Seaweed because he’s so close to home to me. Like, my first love has always been music and he also has a mindset that is about everybody’s the same, everybody’s together, love, and he’s able to bridge gaps of hate and misunderstandings and sort of find his way through, bring people together through music and dance. That’s what I love to do the most.”
Dove Cameron: “I am super stoked to be a part of this production in general, speaking about things that are still extremely relevant in 2016 and more relevant than I think any of us could have even guessed going into this. It became more relevant as production went on, you know, regarding everything going on politically and the way that things are starting to move these days. We’re all very pleased and blessed to be able to speak on that in such a positive light in a way that keeps things going with a cast that is bringing the eyes of a younger generation towards that message.
We definitely have a lot of stars in this, but a few younger (ones) that bring a young demographic, which is beautiful. It’s always a beautiful thing to pump out a positive message to the generation that will become our new adults in a couple of years. That’s something that I think all of us are very excited for. And, yes, definitely just in general this cast, I mean you couldn’t get any better. We never want to go home at the end of the day and we’re all excited to be at work at the start of the day. What more could you ask for?”
Maddie, you’ve had the opportunity to meet with some of the previous actresses who have played Tracy. What advice have they given you?
Maddie Baillio: “Yes, so about a week after I was announced that I got the part of Tracy, I was in New York and Marissa Jaret Winokur, who played Tracy on Broadway and got a Tony for the role, she reached out to me and said that she was in New York watching Matthew Morrison’s play. She invited me to come over so we could just chat for a second, and that one second turned into four hours. We just sat on this couch and she just talked and I just soaked it all up. She gave me a lot of advice, actually. One of the best pieces of advice she gave me was that Harvey (Fierstein) is always right; always listen to Harvey. And, she was so true about that. She was like, ‘You won’t want it to be that way but it is that way. That’s just the way it is.’
I spoke with Ricki Lake, who was the original Tracy in the John Waters film. She told me to always just say yes to everything, to every opportunity. She said that sometimes you’d say yes to things but then, like, she’d wake up the morning of and decide not to do it. She said that really bit her in the butt. So just to always say yes to everything – to everything. They gave me a lot of good advice. And, they’re going to make cameos in the show!”
What was the audition process like and how did you hear about Hairspray Live!?
Maddie Baillio: “I was in New York for two years for college and I saw an open casting call ad on Facebook that there was going to be a big open audition for Tracy for Hairspray Live. And this was one of my dream roles, so I really wanted to do it but I was also really, really nervous because it was my first professional audition. It was my first audition outside of school. I decided at 3am the morning of the audition to get up and get ready and go do it. And on the sheet – on the ad – it said that you should also prepare a short portion of ‘Good Morning Baltimore,’ so I prepared my short portion on the subway ride to Telsey & Company, which is the casting agency where they were holding the audition in New York.
I got there at 6:45 thinking that I was going to be one of the first girls in line because it started at 10am, and I was 343 in line and there were over 1,000 girls there by the end of the day. I sang my short portion of ‘Good Morning Baltimore’ and I thought I nailed it, and then they asked me to sing the end of the song, which I did not know so I made up a lot of the words. But, they still asked me to do a callback a couple of days later. And then four callbacks later, I got the part. So I am living my dream. I’m so thrilled and blessed to be a part of this amazing cast.”
Garrett Clayton: “I had been poking and prodding my reps when I found out the show was even happening. I kind of let the notion go that I was not going to be able to audition just because nobody ever thinks they’re going to get their dream part. The production asked me to send in a self-tape. It took me about a week to make the tape that I was solid and felt good about sending. And after about two months of hearing that I’m still in the mix, they set up a callback with the whole team behind it that ended up getting canceled because somebody couldn’t make it to LA, so I figured somebody else got the part.
Then about two weeks after that, they e-mailed me the night before and said, ‘Can you come to a dance audition?’ And it was with Brooke (Engen), the assistant choreographer, and we FaceTimed with Jerry Mitchell, the choreographer. He watched me do a little bit of ‘Nicest Kids.’ About two weeks later, they offered me the part, which is kind of a little bit surreal because at the time I was…the night I found out I got it I was at A Chorus Line at the Hollywood Bowl. I was just checking my phone on the way to the bathroom and my reps kept freaking out saying, ‘Call us,’ and ‘Kiss Today Goodbye’ came on. So me, as the big theater nerd that I am, had a little bit of an emotional moment because I was listening to ‘Kiss Today Goodbye’ at A Chorus Line at the Hollywood Bowl when I got Link.”
Ephraim Sykes: “Mine is not so quite involved. It was really weird. My agent gave me a call, I think it must have been early July or something like that, maybe even late June or so, very early on saying that they would like you to send in a tape for Seaweed. I was doing Hamilton at the time and I was just like (doing) a bunch of other parts. I thought there was no chance in hell that I’d be cast in this, honestly. I was like (they’d cast a) superstar name because I heard that Ariana Grande was going to be in it. I had heard that Jennifer Hudson was going to be in it, all these other people.
I was like, ‘There’s no way in this world that this is going to happen for me, and I don’t even know if I can sing that high,’ because his song’s like kind of crazy. So, I actually turned it down at first. I was like, ‘No, I think I’ll hold off because I’m in the middle of a crazy eight-show-a-week and I don’t feel like killing myself for something that I didn’t think I would really get. Cut to literally maybe two months later, like early August and I get a call from my agent again saying, ‘Hey, Ephraim, casting really would like to see if you’d just send in a tape, just submit. They just want to see and hear you do this.’ Because I guess they were having a hard time finding somebody or matching somebody up with tiny Ariana. So I was like, ‘Okay, well I guess I’ll give it a shot.’ So I feel like because they asked me again, they would have to at least consider me or have to at least look at my tape and not just throw it out the window.
So I was in my living room (and) I had one of my best friends come over. I was like, ‘Look, man, we’ve got one take for this because I don’t know if I can sing it twice.’ I happen to collect records, like old records, and I have them hanging all over my wall. We were going to shoot it in my apartment – badly lit. You guys have to see this audition tape; it’s really terrible. So my friend shot it for me. I went ahead and just screamed it out one time. He was like, ‘All right man, I think that was it,’ one take and sent in my tape with that song and the audition material and sides. And literally like a week later, the day that I stopped doing Hamilton, I found out that I got this part and I collapsed. So, that’s what happened.”
Dove Cameron in ‘Hairspray Live’ (Photo by Brian Bowen Smith/NBC)
What have the rehearsals been like and have you had any time to kind of just bond as a cast?
Dove Cameron: “We’ve had so much time to bond as a cast.”
Garrett Clayton: “It’s the best. When we decide to do stuff together, it’s like wicked fun. It’s so exciting.”
Maddie Baillio: “Yes, I’ve been in rehearsals. I did two weeks of rehearsals in New York and this is like my fifth week here, and literally every night after rehearsals for the past couple of weeks we’ve all gotten together and like watched a movie or had game night. We have had so much cast bonding.”
Ephraim Sykes: “I second everything she just said. We like to go to each other’s houses and meet people’s moms together and play crazy games. We are bonding so much, and truly our actual friendships and relationships are transmitting straight to the stage and to the camera, I think.”
Dove Cameron: “Yes, that’s definitely something that we’ve all really remarked on. And then especially because we have such a diverse cast, in terms of sex and age range and background and experience. You know, it’s not necessarily something that you would expect from this particular group of people just because it is so diverse. It’s not like a sitcom where it’s only four or five people and they’re all sort of the same age or whatever. It’s a very interesting, fun, wide cast, and we’ve all fallen madly in love with each other. We’re FaceTiming each other, dinner every day, sleepovers, all that fun stuff. It’s the best. It’s exactly what you would want.”
Ephraim Sykes: “She’s right. And it feels a bit like theatre camp.”
Garrett Clayton: “It does. It feels like a really weird drama program where everybody is way too experienced and wicked famous. So we’re all kind of having these weird moments where we take a step back, and I’ve noticed each person kind of like has a moment where they have to catch their breath and realize where they are and who they’re with. It’s really magical.”
Dove Cameron: “Mine for me was when Harvey Fierstein was teaching me how to accurately stuff my bra. You know what? Everybody has their moment in life. That was mine.”
If you could take any one prop or costume home, what would it be?
Garrett Clayton: “Maybe my blue suede shoes for ‘It Takes Two.'”
Maddie Baillio: “Yes, I would take Garrett’s blue suede shoes.”
Dove Cameron: “Yes, I think all of us would take Garrett’s blue suede shoes.”
Ephraim Sykes: “No, I got this crazy, ridiculously extra blue suit that I want to just to hang somewhere like in this suit hall of fame. It’s between that and my switchblade.”
Dove Cameron: “I want all of Amber’s wardrobe because I’m one of those people that would wear strange (outfits). I would go to the supermarket in like full-on ’50s garb – or ’60s garb. So I really love Amber’s baby blue dress and her yellow dress and all that. I don’t know. I really like all of Corny’s wardrobe. I’d probably take Corny’s outfits or maybe Ari’s gum. I don’t know, there’s a lot, you know? A lot of good stuff.”
What was your feeling coming in and working with Jennifer Hudson, Ariana Grande, and Kristin Chenoweth?
Maddie Baillio: “I am still such a big fan girl of everyone here. I have to remind (myself) literally every day that these are just people. But my first Broadway show that I saw was Wicked and this is before I knew that I could like print out lyrics online or that there was karaoke. So I bought the cast album and that night I went home and I wrote down every single lyric of every single one of the songs that Kristin Chenoweth sang. That was like a big deal for me and that was when I really, really fell in love with musical theater.
Kristin Chenoweth is playing one of my like arch-nemeses in the show, so that’s insane. And then Jennifer Hudson during her huge song – she’s grasping my hand and singing – she’s singing to my face and my hair’s flying back; I’m getting really excited just thinking about everyone in the show right now.”
Ephraim Sykes: “I still am freaking out a little bit every day when I think about who I’m standing next to, especially when I get to hear them. Like the first day I met Ariana Grande was in Capitol Records at the studio and she comes in and she’s like, ‘Hi.’ And they’re like, ‘Okay, let’s get behind the piano and sing something.’ I’m like, ‘I will not. No, like what do you mean?’
It still makes me quite nervous. Honestly, my mom being Jennifer Hudson, I had the same moment as Maddie. She’s holding my hand singing ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’ and just like crushing it because she’s singing this ridiculously high note. I kind of hide my notes. I don’t know if you know what it means to try to hide your note while you’re singing, but I was trying to hide.
But they’re such cool and down-to-earth and real people, and they inspired me to completely just trust myself. And, I am who I am. I am who I am for a very specific purpose, even when I don’t know what that is. So they’ve shown me how to trust myself and just give whatever I’ve got and keep having fun. But, yes, I’m crapping myself.”
Garrett Clayton: “Well, literally everyone has been a homie so I’m not worried about that. I guess I didn’t know what to expect, really, but my favorite way of explaining listening to Jennifer sing – and everyone in this group has heard me say this – it’s like I imagine my skin peeling off my face with her and her incredible voice. When she sings I just feel it’s like when a plane is taking off and your skin is shaking and the water is running off against the side of the window and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, this is happening.’ But instead of me being inside the plane I am the plane and Jennifer is the wind hitting me.”
Dove Cameron: “I had already obviously worked with Kristin before as her daughter strangely enough, first time around, in Descendants, so I had already fallen madly in love with her. I’d already been through my process of being like, ‘You’re Kristin Chenoweth and I can touch you and look at you every day and accost you with my many fangirl questions.’ So that part I had been through. But I had no idea what to expect from Jennifer or Ari. And both of them – and I keep telling my mother this – have turned out to be like the most normal, adorable, down-to-earth, down to hang. They seek you out. It’s not like they’re not incredible and accessible. It’s like no, they are really good friends. Good friends like not of mine, but just like good friends in the world. They are good friends to the people around them.
They’re really caretaking people. And yet they don’t walk around in the world like world-famous vocal divas. You wouldn’t even know unless they were just ripping in front of you and ripping their faces off, which they do. That’s kind of like a moment in time as well. You sort of have to stop and be like, ‘I’m glued to this spot.’ It’s definitely been an education in all ways, professionally and personally.”
What was your relationship with Hairspray before you got this role and how has that changed?
Maddie Baillio: “When I was like nine or 10 I went over to my friend’s house and I’d always call my mom if I was going to watch a movie with my friend that was overrated G, because I was really sheltered. So I called my mom and asked her if we could watch this move called Hairspray. It was the original John Waters film and she said, ‘No, no, no, no,’ because there’s like so much making out in the show. So I didn’t even see the original Hairspray until two months ago. But I saw the 2007 film and I fell in love with Tracy’s spirit, and I loved how funny the show was.
But our Hairspray, while rehearsing for our Hairspray we’re not just focusing on the funny and the campy parts of the show. We’re really, really, really focusing on the real relevant parts of the show which is going to make our Hairspray unlike any other Hairsprays ever seen.”
Dove Cameron: “My relationship with Hairspray…so this is funny and it’s always great looking back on real-life circumstances and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I can actually say that in an interview.’ I went and I saw the 2007 version of Hairspray in theaters, which means I was really young and I was doing theater camp every day for Les Mis. I went with my whole little baby cast afterward. Yes, very little baby cast. It was like a children’s production of Les Mis. The most darling children you’ve ever seen. It was like these 11-year-olds dying. But we all went to go see Hairspray because it was right down the street from our theater – our tiny, tiny little theater. I loved it so much that I went back again that night and again the next week.
I went out and I bought the poster, like the gigantic seven-foot poster, and I hung it up on my wall. It was the only thing other than a Green Day poster up on my wall. I loved it so much. I was obsessed. I bought the soundtrack. It was my favorite musical forever. So, this is a really cool thing for me, you know? My little baby theater camp brain is kind of exploding.”
Dove, you’ve become a person associated with spreading positivity and being a light for people, but you’re taking on some villainous roles. How do you get in the mean girl mindset if it’s so different from you?
Dove Cameron: “I believe that everybody has that kind of like sweet spot of their true essence. Everybody has that concentrated version of themselves that is like…I always imagine it to be this sort of golden pool of light or energy or liquid. It’s like that’s them. It’s like their essence. I sort of picture it like in their tummy or their chest cavity. And you can always tell when someone is really in their pocket; in their vibe when they’re emanating their true selves. They’re like really putting out a pure version of their energy. That’s why I love performers and performing and being around artists so much, because they kind of live in that zone. And like a mean character or someone who is intense, because I would definitely call Amber a villain. I would definitely say that she’s very mean.
I would say that Mal is sort of complex. Like Garrett said to me the other day, she’s the anti-hero. But to play a character that’s, yes, a little far away from my personality or something that I don’t really have access to, in my range of daily emotion I think it just sort of relies on tapping into their golden thread of who they are and what makes them – because I have that. Everybody has that. Directors always say to make a character your own, you have to play yourself as you would play that character. And that’s the only thing that’s going to differentiate you from the next girl who walks in the room. You can’t play it how you think they want it to be played or how she’s going to do it, you have to play it in a way that only you can.
I have to sort of tap into my golden pool of energy that is authentic to me. But then just play that light through the lens of someone who was brought up by a mother who stunted her growth emotionally and told her the only way that she was going to win was by stepping on other people. And you know, she’s sort of animalistic. She definitely has like a screw loose. You just have to tap into your own and then filter it through a filter of a character. But, again, Amber is just kind of crazy. Like, she’s just uncomfortable. She’s very off-putting. But I don’t know if I actually would even call her a villain. I think that she’s just messed up.”
How are you similar to your character and how are you different?
Garrett Clayton: “I think Link really enjoys dancing and performing and wanting to share that which he knows about himself and feels most comfortable doing, with the world. I think where we’re different is he has to learn that sometimes the right thing isn’t always the easy thing to do. And, there might be consequences. Whether they’re good or bad, you have to stand up for the right things. And me as Garrett, I learned that when I was younger. But I think this is where Link is having to learn it now, so that’s where we’re different and the same.”
Maddie Baillio: “I think I’m like Tracy in the fact that she’s like the ultimate optimist. She sees a rat on the street and she thinks it’s the coolest thing in the world. And something that’s different is that when I was younger, I was bullied a lot and I let that stop me from doing things that I really wanted to do. And Tracy, she never lets anything stop her and she’s bullied constantly. So because she doesn’t let anything stop her, she gets the guy and she gets to be on the show and she changes the world. I think a good message for every kid out there is just don’t let anyone stop you.”
Dove Cameron: “Well, I am different from my character in practically every way. I would never say she’s misunderstood because I think she has a pretty clear message that is very understood throughout the production. You know, I sort of believe that everybody in life, I don’t really believe in bad people. I think that there are good people who have things happen to them. We all start at like a baseline and then what happens in our lives affects how we perceive the world and ourselves and everything around us. With Amber’s circumstances and how she was brought up and how her mother lived vicariously through her, I think that anyone would sort of grow up and turn out to be the person that Amber did.
I can relate to her in the sense that I’m a product of my environment. I think that my environment just happened to be much healthier. But, you know, I’m very driven and very goal-oriented, but I would never say that I relate to her in too many ways.”
Ephraim Sykes: “I definitely would say I’m very similar to Seaweed in that again, I love music. Music is my first and true love. And, I love dancing. It’s therapeutic for me. Music and dancing are things that make me feel good, literally from the inside out. I love people and I don’t see any kind of colors. You know, I don’t know about difference. I don’t care who you are or how you think. If you’re cool people, I’m cool people. Let’s hang out.
I think the only thing that makes me different is I think Seaweed is a bit more outgoing. He saw an issue with Tracy (and) immediately and reached out to her and invited and included. And I was a little bit more outgoing, and I don’t want to say of a performer than I am, but he’s a bit more of an extrovert. Like I said, my art and my craft for me sometimes can be very therapeutic and I can be kind of introverted with it. And I kind of can want to keep it to myself. I’ll like dance in the corner and I might not make a move to make sure I actually go over there and get her to bring her in to then change the story. So I think that’s the only thing that makes us different is just a bit more activism if you will, and extra effects of readiness – these words that I’m making up – than I have in my own life.”
Dove, how did previous versions influence your version of Amber?
Dove Cameron: “I tend to want to put my own spin on a character while also treading lightly in terms of the relationship with the fans. You know, you definitely want to honor past incarnations. But I’ve seen a lot of productions of remakes of just anything, you know, a variety of things, and I’m sort of like, ‘If I’m going to go see it again, I want to see something different.’ And you know you never really want to see an actor – at least I don’t – do the exact same thing as someone else because that was the last person’s interpretation. Art is supposed to be forever living and moving and breathing and growing, so I try to do both in whatever project I’m in. I will definitely be trying to do that here.
I think (with) Amber I’m taking a more comedic route with her. Comedy is something that I have had a lot of fun with in my career, and so I tend to skew in that direction anyway.”
