NBC’s given the new drama series Timeless a prime timeslot after the popular singing competition series The Voice. Timeless, starring Matt Lanter, Abigail Spencer, Goran Visnjic, Paterson Joseph, Sakina Jaffrey and Claudia Doumit, will air on Mondays at 10pm ET/PT during the upcoming 2016-2017 season.
The series was created by Eric Kripke (Supernatural, Revolution) and Shawn Ryan (The Shield, The Get Down) and is executive produced by John Davis, John Fox, Marney Hochman, Kripke, and Ryan. Neil Marshall (The Descent, Game of Thrones) directs and executive produces, with Kripke and Ryan serving as writers.
‘Timeless’ Poster (Photo by: NBCUniversal)
The Timeless Plot:Timeless is an action-adventure series in which a mysterious criminal steals a secret state-of-the-art time machine, intent on destroying America as we know it by changing the past. Our only hope is an unexpected team: a scientist, soldier and history professor who must use the machine’s prototype to travel back in time to critical events. While they must make every effort not to affect the past themselves, they must also stay one step ahead of this dangerous fugitive. Can this handpicked team uncover the mystery behind it all and end his destruction before it’s too late?
Logan Lerman and Sarah Gadon in ‘Indignation’ (Photo Credit: Courtesy Roadside Attractions)
Roadside Attraction and Summit Entertainment unveiled the trailer for Indignation, based on the bestselling novel by Philip Roth. James Schamus adapted the book for the screen and made his feature film directorial debut with the drama that wowed audiences at the Sundance Film Festival and is already generating Oscar buzz. Logan Lerman (Fury, Noah) leads the cast that includes Sarah Gadon (11-22-63), Tracy Letts (Elvis & Nixon), Linda Emond, Danny Burstein, Ben Rosenfield, Pico Alexander, Philip Ettinger, and Noah Robbins. Indignation opens in theaters on July 29, 2016.
The Plot:Indignation takes place in 1951, as Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman), a brilliant working class Jewish boy from Newark, New Jersey, travels on scholarship to a small, conservative college in Ohio, thus exempting him from being drafted into the Korean War. But once there, Marcus’s growing infatuation with his beautiful classmate Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon), and his clashes with the college’s imposing Dean, Hawes Caudwell (Tracy Letts), put his and his family’s best laid plans to the ultimate test.
Michiel Huisman and Iain Glen in ‘Game of Thrones’ (Photo: Macall B. Polay/courtesy of HBO)
HBO’s Game of Thrones season six episode four included one stunning, mind-blowing scene after another. Episode four now springs to the top of the (short) list of this season’s episodes, with Daenerys once again walking through fire, Cersei and Jamie teaming up with an enemy to plot the defeat of a huge threat, and Sansa Stark completing her lengthy journey to Castle Black to finally reunite with Jon Snow. Sansa also proved she’s completely transformed from the spoiled child first introduced in season one to a powerful and determined woman. Littlefinger returned, Tyrion struck a deal with slave masters, Ramsay Bolton provided viewers with yet another reason to hate him, and Queen Margaery was finally allowed to meet with her brother in episode four airing on May 15, 2016 and titled ‘Book of the Stranger.’
The Recap:
Edd (Ben Crompton) questions Jon Snow (Kit Harington) about his intentions and Jon says he’s heading south. Edd’s understandably angry Jon is going to leave the Night’s Watch, but Jon says he pledged his life but because his brothers killed him, he’s now free of that vow. A horn sounds interrupting their discussion. The gate opens and in rides Sansa (Sophie Turner), Brienne (Gwendoline Christie), and Podrick (Daniel Portman). Sansa sees Jon for the first time in years and Jon approaches her slowly, then they quickly close the gap of the last few steps and embrace in a long and lengthy hug. Inside, they reminisce about food, Winterfell, and how they both wish they never would have left. Sansa admits she spent a lot of time thinking about what an ass she was to him as a child, and he tells her she was young. Still, he laughs and admits she was “occasionally awful.”
Sansa asks for Jon’s forgiveness and he gives it to her, even though he believes there’s nothing to forgive. She asks where he’s going and he says they’ll leave together because if he doesn’t watch over her Ned’s ghost will murder him. Sansa says the only place they can go is home, but Jon doesn’t think the Boltons will let that happen. This new, empowered Sansa says they’ll take it back from them and Jon reminds her he doesn’t have an army. Sansa asks about the Wildlings, knowing the Wildlings won’t be safe on this side of the Wall if the Boltons rule the North. And besides, they owe Jon their lives. He’s tired of fighting but Sansa says they have to fight for their home. If he won’t help her take back the North, she’ll do it herself. (I’m now #TeamSansa.)
Sir Davos (Liam Cunningham) asks Melisandre (Carice van Houten) where she’ll go and she says wherever Jon Snow wants her to go; she serves him now because he’s the Prince that was promised. He asks about Stannis and Melisandre says he was defeated. Just then Brienne comes up to fill Davos in on the battle. She reminds him they met previously when she was King’s Guard to Renly Baratheon. Staring daggers at Melisandre, Brienne says she loyally served him until he was killed with blood magic. She doesn’t forget or forgive and Stannis admitted to the dirty deed right before she executed him. With that, she walks away.
And now we finally get to catch up with Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) who arrives as Lord of the Vale Robin Arryn is practicing archery. He’s horrible. Lord Royce wants to know why Sansa is now married off to Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) and Littlefinger explains it was because they were set upon by people who obviously knew who he was transporting, hinting it was Royce who tipped Roose Bolton’s men off. Robin wants to throw Royce through the moon door but leaves it up to Littlefinger. Littlefinger thinks he deserves one more chance and Robin agrees. Littlefinger tells Robin Sansa has escaped Winterfell and is probably heading to Castle Black with the Boltons probably hot on her tail. Robin believes they should help her and Littlefinger tells Lord Royce to gather the knights of the Vale to join the battle. (It’s about damn time!)
Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) explains to Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) and Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) why he’s invited their enemies to Meereen to discuss Daenerys. The wealthy leaders backing the rebellion land and meet with Tyrion and Varys (Conleth Hill) and demand Daenerys leave Slavers Bay, and Tyrion says Daenerys won’t stay there forever because she’ll soon be heading west. An argument ensues about slavery and Tyrion says they don’t need slaves to make money. There aren’t slaves in Westeros and his family is rich. Tyrion proposes there will never be slavery in Meereen again, but the other cities will have seven years to abolish the practice. Slaveholders will be compensated at a fair price if they cut off their support of the Sons of the Harpy altogether. He brings in whores as a parting gift, telling them to give freedom a chance. Shortly thereafter, a group of men representing Meereen meet with Tyrion, Grey Worm, and Missandei and are upset the enemies have been brought into the city. They don’t trust Tyrion but do trust Grey Worm. Still, they’re upset they’ve made a deal with the slavers at all. Grey Worm says he’s not a politician but they should take any chance at peace. Missandei confirms she doesn’t trust their enemies but says, “We make peace with our enemies, not our friends,” quoting Tyrion. After the meeting, Grey Worm expresses his anger at being used, and both Grey Worm and Missandei are upset Tyrion’s allowing the other cities to have seven years to end slavery. Grey Worm explains the wealthy slavers look at him not as a man but as a weapon and they look at Missandei and see a whore. Tyrion says they’ll underestimate him and he’ll use that to his advantage but Grey Worm isn’t so sure that will be the ultimate outcome.
Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) and Daario Naharis (Michiel Huisman) is still tracking Dany, but Jorah is struggling to keep up. It doesn’t help that Daario is getting on Jorah’s nerves by talking about sleeping with Dany. Finally in position to see what’s going on, Jorah and Daario look out over the Dothraki settlement and Jorah knows Dany’s been taken to the place they take all of the widows of Khals. He tells Daario they need to leave their weapons behind (you can’t take them into the sacred city) and if they’re caught they can just say they’re traders. There are 100,000 Dothraki and they won’t be able to fight their way out anyway, and Daario reluctantly agrees, kissing his favorite knife before handing it over. As he does, he notices the greyscale on Jorah’s arm and says he’ll put the knife down himself.
It’s nighttime when they arrive in the city and their first encounter with the Dothraki doesn’t go well. The lie doesn’t work and a fistfight breaks out. Fortunately, Daario didn’t leave the knife he loves so much behind and stabs a Dothraki who’s strangling Jorah. They can’t leave a body behind with a stab wound so Daario smashes his head in to cover the method of killing.
Emilia Clarke and Souad Faress in ‘Game of Thrones’ (Photo by Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO)
Meanwhile, the other widows are gossiping about Daenerys (Emilia Clarke). Some don’t believe a Khal should breed with a foreigner. She’s warned she can’t run from the Dothraki, but she says she never would. She’s allowed outside to relieve herself along with another young widow she’s made friends with. Daario and Jorah find her, but Dany says they’ll never make it out alive. She has a plan and needs their help. She asks the young widow not to betray her and she agrees.
Septa Unella escorts Margaery (Natalie Dormer) to the High Sparrow and she kneels before him. He asks what she would do if he allowed her out and she says she’d go to her brother, husband, and family. He says she’d be seeking out sin and talks about growing up as the son of a cobbler and how he spent dozens of hours working on a single pair. He used the money to try to attain the same lifestyle as someone highborn but eventually set out on the path to righteousness after one particularly wild night of wine and women. He left the lifestyle behind and never went back. High Sparrow asks for her hand and says he’ll lead her to her brother. He does, and Loris is in horrible condition. She tells him he has to stay strong, but he says he can’t. She tells him he’s the future of their house, but he just wants the pain and this punishment to stop. Margaery says she’s only been allowed to see him to help tear him down but if she does that, they win. He says let them – just make it stop.
The Grand Maester is meeting with King Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) about the High Sparrow and won’t leave when Cersei (Lena Headey) tries to send him away. He only leaves when Tommen tells him he’s excused. Cersei wants to talk to her son about a few things, but Tommen warns her they have to be careful in dealing with the High Sparrow and they can’t antagonize him further. Cersei demands he look at her and think about what they did to her – the King’s own mother. Tommen understands she doesn’t like Margaery, but Cersei says that’s not important. Margaery must command respect because she’s a Queen, and the High Sparrow has no respect for Kings, Queens, or anyone in power. Tommen reveals he spoke to the High Sparrow but did so in full secrecy and isn’t supposed to talk about what was said but as he starts to talk, the scene cuts to Cersei and Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) breaking up the small council meeting. Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg) reminds Cersei and Jamie they should have figured out by now they’re not welcome or recognized as being in authority.
However, the siblings reveal Tommen’s been meeting with the High Sparrow about Margaery and Sir Loras and believe the High Sparrow’s done this on purpose to make them all bicker among themselves instead of seizing power back. The future of the Seven Kingdoms rests in the High Sparrow’s hands, and next up is a walk of atonement for Margaery where she’ll repent her sins just like Cersei was forced to do. Olenna won’t let that happen and Cersei agrees. Jamie wants Olenna to bring her army, the second largest in Westeros, into the city and rescue Margaery before the walk of atonement and take her back into crown custody. When the Tyrell armies come, the King’s Guard will stand down and take no action at all. Everything will be over before anything horrible can happen. Jamie and Cersei want the High Sparrow in custody (or preferably dead) and his followers destroyed. Civil war will break out if it doesn’t go as planned, but Olenna says many will die no matter what they do. “Better them than us.”
Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) sails home and his sister, Yara (Gemma Whelan), can’t believe he’s back. He says he escaped and she’s angry her men died trying to rescue him. She risked everything for him and he betrayed her. He apologizes and says Ramsay broke him into a thousand pieces and she tells him Ramsay sent one of those pieces (his penis) home to them. Theon only returned home because he has nowhere else to go, and his sister thinks he’s back because he heard their father died and so he believes he should rule the Ironborn. He doesn’t want to be king and she asks what he wants. He says, “You should rule the Iron Islands. Let me help you,” which is exactly what she wanted to hear.
Osha (Natalia Tena) is shown into Ramsay’s chamber where he’s calmly peeling an apple. He asks if his banners with a flayed man worry her, and she only asks if he eats them after. Ramsay chuckles and says, “No,” and she replies, “Then I’ve seen worse.” She says the Starks put her in chains and that’s why she served them, and she believes she’s owed money for taking care of Rickon. But Ramsay believes Rickon is now his and doesn’t need Osha anymore. She comes on to him and he seems to be into it, telling her she’s a much better talker than Theon Greyjoy. As she’s on his lap secretly reaching for a knife, he says Theon told him all about the Stark boys and who the woman was that helped them escape. She knows the gig’s up. He stabs her in the neck and she falls to the floor and bleeds out. He wipes the knife clean and calmly goes on peeling his apple with it.
Back at Castle Black, Sansa, Brienne, Tormund, and Jon Snow are enjoying a hearty meal, with Tormund making eyes at Brienne. Edd apologizes for the food and a letter arrives for the Lord Commander. It’s addressed to Jon Snow, telling him he’s a traitor for allowing the Wildlings past the Wall. The letter is signed by Ramsay Bolton and says Jon should come to Winterfell and that he has his brother locked up in the dungeon. He also says Rickon’s direwolf’s skin is covering the Winterfell floor and that he wants Sansa back. If he brings her back, the Bolton army won’t come to the Wall and slaughter the Wildlings living under Jon’s protection. He will skin them alive if Jon doesn’t…and then Jon stops reading, saying it’s more of the same. When he won’t continue, Sansa grabs the letter and reads, “You will watch as my soldiers take turns raping your sister. You will watch as my dogs devour your wild little brother. Then I will spoon your eyes from their sockets and let my dogs do the rest. Come and see.” It’s signed Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, and Sansa tells Jon that’s because Ramsay’s father is dead and that Ramsay killed him. Tormund wants to know how many men Ramsay has and Sansa believes it’s 5,000. Tormund says the Wildlings have 2,000. The rest are too old or just children and can’t fight. Sansa says Northern families will fight for Jon if he asks. They have to go back to Winterfell and save their home and their brother. Jon shakes his head in agreement.
Dany is brought in to learn her fate. She doesn’t have a voice in the vote but she speaks anyway. She calls them small men unfit to lead the Dothraki and declares herself fit to lead them instead. They laugh at her and threaten her with rape until the point where there is nothing left of her. She smiles and turns over the flaming lanterns, setting the khalasars on fire. She stands and silently watches them burn as they try the doors and find they’re locked in with her (thanks to Daario and Jorah). After they’ve burned, she emerges from the flames naked and unscathed. Exiting the building, she looks out over the Dothraki who have surrounded the temple. They bow at her feet. Jorah and Daario, who is completely in awe, approach slowly and kneel right in front of her.
Vive Les Frasers!! The sixth episode of Starz’s Outlander season two, Best Laid Schemes…, is a pivotal sequence of events. I like to think of it as a bridge episode in a way. So many explosive things will happen in 207 (benefits of being a book reader too). This series of events is certainly laying the cobblestones for the disasters and triumphs to come. So let’s get down to laying that path out for you.
We open, almost where we left off, with Jamie (Sam Heughan) contemplating the argument and decision to NOT duel with Captain Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies). Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix) comes in still talking about the plans for the duel. Jamie has to tell him that the duel is off; he has sent word to recant the challenge. Murtagh is angered and asks why. Jamie asks that Murtagh trust him as to the reason and to leave it alone. This is a very natural course of things. In the book Murtagh never knows that Claire (Caitriona Balfe) is from the future, Jamie is the only Highlander who knows the whole story. Anyway… Murtagh bounds out of the room, grumbling all the way. Secrets in a household can be disastrous, and feel like betrayal. Never a good thing.
Claire went early to the L’ Hospital des Anges. She sees the Royal Executioner, Monsieur Forez (Niall Greig Fulton), and assists with a patient who has died. He goes through the enjoyable {insert sarcasm here} task of telling Claire what it means to do a successful drawn and quartered execution. Ghastly conversation, and for a woman so far along in pregnancy too. MEN! In the book, he does give these gruesome details, but it is at the Fraser home and to both Jamie and Claire.
Mother Hildegarde (Frances de la Tour) is not so out of the loop as you might think. If the trio are caught it is the exact description of what will happen to them. Claire understands this all too well and turns pale on the spot. The stress this woman is under will spell disaster, mark my words! But in the show he is in the hospital telling his art to distracting detail for a different reason.
The show’s point to this conversation is that the current victims are practitioners of the dark arts within the city. The King is on the hunt for heretics. Claire goes to Master Raymond (Dominique Pinon) after the Executioner suggests she go see him straight away. She gives Master Raymond the warning. He tries to brush it off but Claire presses her concerns with the point that the executioner is involved. He is very touched by her concern and does warn her that she has put herself at risk in the effort.
We next see Claire and Jamie sitting in front of the fire, Jamie absently rubbing Claire’s feet. I have to admit a sharp elbow went into my husband’s ribs at this. Jamie is looking absently off while doing his heavenly task for a very far along pregnant Claire. The way to a man’s heart might be his stomach, but the way to a woman’s heart is by her feet. A good foot massage…AAHHH heaven!
Jamie reveals what he was thinking, and it was about Claire asking for a life in their last argument about the duel. She was begging to save Frank, not Black Jack. Jamie tells her what most men would; she chose him of her own free will so he doesn’t really give the consideration to Frank directly like Claire does. He does admit that he wants to leave a place for Claire to flee to safety should it become necessary. Quite amazing he could think that far ahead in the heat of a passionate argument. He wants her to be able to go back to a man who will love her and take care of her and the baby. He exacts a promise from her. She has to promise to go back through those diabolical stones and to Frank should the time come. She promises but is very taken aback by the entire conversation. I’m sure Jamie was no less taken aback by her request for BJR’s life.
The next morning, they continue on with the scheme (hence the title to the episode) of trying to thwart the shipment of wine for Charles Stewart (Andrew Gower). Poor Jamie gets to be a test dummy of sorts to Claire’s concoction to fake Small Pox. Claire proves her point about it being possible to fake the symptoms in the crew so the cargo could get destroyed again. Murtagh is still mad about all the intrigue, he likes a much more direct approach. Murtagh storms out and stalks the front courtyard. Jamie and Claire decide now is the time to tell him about her and the REAL reason for the situation they are in. Murtagh accepts the explanation but adds a nice little punch to the jaw for Jamie’s trouble. He says he should have trusted him from the start. There is that Godfather understanding for ye…lol.
The next morning, Jamie and Fergus (Romann Berrux) head out to infect the warehouse staff, covertly of course, with the herbs and things that Claire has cooked up. After getting them off on their journey Claire heads back inside to see Murtagh writing on a paper. Murtagh looks uneasy when he is caught by Claire. He shows her it was years that he was writing down. All the years of her life before coming to the past. They have an exchange about the future and what she knows. Murtagh asks, in an inadvertent way, about when they will die. She doesn’t know those particulars, but Murtagh gets that any knowledge of the future is a huge burden to bear. I love those little sensitive moments when Murtagh is compassionate and lets it show.
Jamie and Fergus accomplish their task of “infecting” the crew, more like afflicting the crew. They make it back to Paris successfully. Jamie is soon called to the brothel urgently by the Prince, and the dashing and dastardly Le Comte St. Germain (Stanley Weber) is there as well. They report the dreadful news of the men in St. Germain’s warehouse being stricken with an unknown illness. Okay, I have to say it. Is it NOT totally sexy when Stanley Weber shouts in French…ooo lala! Right, we don’t like him. Back to business…
They ask Jamie to take the cargo and transport it himself from the La Havre harbor. He is hesitant but agrees to the task. What else could he do? Now the scheme has to be to hijack the shipment during transport. Enter Murtagh and hired thugs. Murtagh is too funny, fussing about the French attire that he has to wear. So Suzette (Adrienne-Marie Zitt) offers to relieve him of his attire {giggle snort}. Jamie and Claire retire to their bed as well. Such a cute scene this is…. Jamie feels the baby move for the first time. He speaks directly to the baby and says that he canna wait to meet his wean.
The next evening Claire is at Louise de Rohan’s (Claire Sermonne) having dinner with her and a gaggle of ladies, gossiping…. naturally. Claire’s mind is on Jamie and Murtagh, they are actively involved in this highly risky move to hijack the shipment. Le Comte St. Germain is riding in the lead wagon, Jamie is riding in the second wagon. A masked Murtagh and hired highwaymen ambush the caravan and take the wine. St. Germain and Murtagh square off at pistol point.
Jamie knows he has to do something or Murtagh is likely to be shot right in the face. Jamie jumps to the front wagon and pushes St. Germain off the wagon to the ground. Murtagh fires making it look like Jamie saved his life. Jamie jumps on Murtagh and they play the part well. Murtagh finishes by knocking Jamie unconscious by pistol-whipping him. St. Germain buys the acting and later tells the Prince that Jamie saved his life. But the cargo is lost.
The scene turns back to the gaggle of ladies, and Claire finally gets a snoot full. She leaves the gathering and heads to the hospital. She starts to exhibit exhaustion and Mother Hildegarde forces her to stay the night at the hospital and rest. Mother notices that Claire is bleeding a bit. Fergus takes word to Jamie that Claire is staying the night at the hospital under the Mother’s care. Fergus does not tell him that she is bleeding, largely because he does not know this key fact.
In the book, Jamie is aware that Claire is placed on bed rest at this point because she did start to bleed a bit. In the show, he is not aware of this development. Jamie is still at the brothel with the Prince and St. Germain. St. Germain is rightly upset and taking much of his ire out on Jamie. The Prince calms him, amazingly enough, but the Prince is in great distress at this turn of events and what it means for his cause. Jamie tries to comfort him, but the Prince dissolves into tears.
Jamie finally gets home in the early hours of the morning. Jamie and Fergus sit down to breakfast after Fergus relays where Claire is. Suzette bursts in with distressful news that Prince Charles has raised a fuss at the brothel and refuses to pay his debt there. Jamie has to run back to the Prince’s side at the brothel to settle the situation before there is a need for the police. Fergus goes with him since Murtagh has been sent to Portugal to sell the wine that was just hijacked. Jamie goes to attend to the situation about the Prince and Fergus does a bit of exploring. He just so happens to step into the wrong room. He picks up a vile from the bedside table just in time to turn to see a man shut the door and the red coat hanging on the chair. NOT GOOD!!! You don’t see the man, but book readers know EXACTLY who that is and what happened in that room. Can you guess?
Claire returns home. The staff all give her concerned looks, but she does not notice this at first. She asks for Jamie and poor Suzette tries not to have to tell her. Claire sees his hand guard laying on the bed. Suzette has to admit that Jamie has gone to the woods and she spills the story of a fight at the brothel with an English Officer. Claire is actively in pain with the baby; she is clutching her stomach when she whispers that Jamie promised not to duel BJR. She forces Magnus (Robbie McIntosh) to take her to the woods where they are dueling. He does so, but Claire is in great distress about the duel and the baby. She gets to the site but knows she cannot cry out to Jamie or she could cost him his life. She has to stand and watch as her nightmare comes true: the duel between Jamie and Frank’s life through Jack Randall.
Claire tries to cry out when they pause and have a verbal exchange, but the pain in her stomach takes the words. Jamie stabs BJR right in the family jewels (Tulach Ard) just as Claire starts bleeding profusely and drops to the ground. She gets enough breath to cry out and Jamie sees her just as the police arrive to arrest the gathering. Claire tells Magnus to take her to the hospital and Mother Hildegarde, Jamie is taken away, and BJR is lying on the ground bleeding from his man sack and passes out. Could this be a more suspenseful place to stop the episode? I don’t think so!! I know what happens, but you will have to either read the book to catch up or watch the outcome next week.
Ryan Eggold as Tom Keen in ‘The Blacklist: Redemption’ (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)
NBC has officially revealed the title along with new photos from The Blacklist spinoff, The Blacklist: Redemption. The network’s given a series order to the dramatic spinoff set to star Ryan Eggold reprising his role from The Blacklist as Tom Keen, Famke Janssen reprising her role as Susan Hargrave, Edi Gathegi back as Matias Solomon, and Tawny Cypress as Nez Rowan.
Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath are on board as writers and executive producers, with John Fox and John Davis also executive producing. Michael Dinner (Justified) directs.
The Plot: In this thrilling new spinoff of NBC’s breakout hit series, undercover operative Tom Keen joins forces with Susan “Scottie” Hargrave (Famke Janssen), the brilliant and cunning chief of Grey Matters, a covert mercenary organization that solves problems governments don’t dare touch. While on the hunt for Liz’s attacker, Tom secretly discovered that Scottie is actually his biological mother. Now, as they team up to employ their unique skills and resources in a dangerous world of deadly criminals, Tom begins his own covert mission to find out more about his shadowy past.
Ryan Eggold as Tom Keen and Famke Janssen as Susan “Scottie” Hargrave in ‘The Blacklist: Redemption’ (Photo by Virginia Sherwood/NBC)
‘Running Wild with Bear Grylls’ (Photo by: NBCUniversal)
NBC announced the new set of celebrities who will be roughing it with Bear Grylls on Running Wild with Bear Grylls. Joining the expert survivalist for the upcoming season will be Vanessa Hudgens, Nick Jonas, Julianne Hough, Lindsey Vonn, and Courteney Cox. Running Wild with Bear Grylls is executive produced by Grylls, Ben Silverman, Chris Grant, Laura Caraccioli, Viki Cacciatore and Delbert Shoopman.
Season two of the NBC reality series averaged 4 million viewers and featured celebrities including President Barack Obama, Kate Hudson, Drew Brees, Michelle Rodriguez, and Ed Helms. Season one’s celebrities included Zac Efron, Channing Tatum, Deion Sanders, and Ben Stiller.
In season three, airing this summer, Vanessa Hudgens (Grease Live, Sucker Punch) will be surviving in the wild of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Nick Jonas (Kingdom) will also be roughing it in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on his episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls. Dancing with the Stars‘ Julianne Hough will be traveling to Africa for an episode and Courteney Cox (Friends, Cougar Town) will joining Grylls in Ireland. And Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn is also venturing into the wilderness of Ireland this season.
Sleepy Hollow fans have the answer they’ve been waiting for: Fox will be bringing back Sleepy Hollow for a fourth season. The supernatural drama spent the final episodes of season three killing off major characters, including lead actress Nicole Beharie who played Abbie Mills. Beharie had wanted off the series but that didn’t lessen the negative response from fans after Abbie was killed off in the season three finale. The death of her character was also thought to have spelled the end for the series because the chemistry between Beharie and Tom Mison (who plays Ichabod Crane) has always been what drives the series. However, the season three ratings were high enough at 4.8 million average viewers that Fox opted to renew the series for another season.
In addition to Mison, Sleepy Hollow stars Lyndie Greenwood as Jenny Mills, Jessica Camacho as Sophie Foster, and Lance Gross as Daniel Reynolds. The series premiered on September 16, 2013 and was co-created by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Len Wiseman, and Phillip Iscove.
The season four plot:Sleepy Hollow returns for a groundbreaking fourth season full of supernatural creatures, inexplicable events and the search for the truth about the lives of Witnesses.
Michael Fassbender stars as Tom Sherbourne and Alicia Vikander as his wife Isabel in DreamWorks Pictures poignant drama ‘The Light Between Oceans.’
Get your tissues ready… DreamWorks Pictures has unveiled the first full trailer for the dramatic film The Light Between Oceans and it’s a tear-jerker. Written and directed by Derek Cianfrance (The Place Beyond the Pines), the film is based on M.L. Stedman’s bestselling novel and features Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Bryan Brown and Jack Thompson. The Light Between Oceans opens in theaters on September 2, 2016.
The Plot: M.L. Stedman’s debut novel takes place on a remote Australian island in the years following World War I, where a lighthouse keeper and his wife are faced with a moral dilemma when a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a two-month-old infant. When they decide to raise the child as their own, the consequences of their choice are devastating.
Meghan Trainor’s been added to the list of performers set to take the stage during the 2016 Billboard Music Awards on May 22nd. Trainor joins a list of confirmed performers that includes Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, DNCE, The Go-Go’s, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes, P!nk, Rihanna, “Kia’s One to Watch” Troye Sivan, Britney Spears, Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign, Nick Jonas with Tove Lo, and Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani. Madonna will also appear on the awards show performing a tribute to Prince.
The 2016 Billboard Music Awards will air live on the East and West Coasts for the first time in the show’s history. The broadcast kicks off at 8pm ET and 5pm PT on ABC. Ludacris and Ciara are this year’s hosts.
Meghan Trainor’s currently in the news over a photoshopping incident involving her new music video for the single, “Me Too.” She requested the video be taken down after discovering her waist had been digitally slimmed down. Talking to Good Morning America, Trainor said, “When it was up, I saw my fans posting clips of this dance scene and I was like, ‘Why are the fans messing with my waist?’ and then I looked at my video and I was like, ‘It’s my own video.'” The original unaltered video is now back online.
Trainor just released her new album, Thank You, which featured the lead single “NO.” “NO” has already achieved Platinum status and “Me Too” will begin receiving airplay on May 16th.
Kate Beckinsale in ‘Love & Friendship’ (Photo credit: Bernard Walsh, Courtesy of Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions)
Kate Beckinsale once again teams with indie auteur extraordinaire Whit Stillman for Love & Friendship, their first collaboration since 1998’s The Last Days of Disco. Based on a Jane Austen epistolary novella, the film is Stillman’s first period piece, though it fits perfectly into his catalogue as yet another “comedy of mannerlessness,” with Beckinsale deftly navigating the American director’s characteristically verbose, fleet-footed dialogue even better than she did eighteen years ago.
Beckinsale plays Lady Susan Vernon, a devious, aristocratic manipulator who uses her charm and impenetrable, mannered facade to weasel her way into the arms of a wealthy scion, Reginald De Courcy (Xavier Samuel). His sister Catherine (Emma Greenwell) sees through Susan’s schemes and tries her best to intercept the Lady’s advances, but to no avail; Susan is an upper-crust force of nature not to be reckoned with.
Austen’s social satire is as potent as ever, but Stillman injects enough of his signature urbane sense of humor to make the old feel new again. The film’s greatest boon, however, is Beckinsale, who’s so magnetic and eloquently charismatic that she commands undivided attention without lifting so much as a white-gloved finger.
We spoke to Beckinsale about working with Stillman on Love & Friendship, which is out in select cities this weekend.
Kate Beckinsale Interview:
What attracted you to the script? Whit had you in mind for Lady Susan from the beginning.
“I was in Bulgaria on another movie and I read the script. I thought it was great. I thought, Whit’s done something in the style of Jane Austen. I loved it, and I loved the work we did the last time we worked together. I know that he has a particular relish for a diabolical female. It’s a pleasure to work with somebody who gets such a bang out of that.”
Was reuniting with Whit after all these years something you’d been hoping for? A pleasant surprise?
“Whit sort of went subterranean for a lengthy period of time, so I really didn’t know if that was something to even hope for, to be honest. Whit is a very interesting creature. He could easily pop up in any other career…I honestly believe Whit can do anything. The first movie we did together was the first American movie I had ever done, and it’s the first time I’d ever had to do an American accent on film. The thing about Whit is, he is sort of Jane Austen in that respect. He was, at that time, specializing in a very particular strata of social milieu, which was absolutely unfamiliar to me, being from England and not having been to America at all. I felt very unqualified.
This time, it was a bit different because it was more my territory. I started out doing Jane Austen, and I’m English, so…[laughs] It was a little bit easier. There were seventeen, eighteen years in between [films], and people sort of have a lot of life happen to them in that time. But I think, essentially, we’re the same people. There’s something quite comforting about that.”
Talk about the dynamic between you and Chloë Sevigny.
“I remember being really blown away by her when I first went out to New York. She was so unbelievably cool. I suppose my notion of what cool-to-the-bone people were like was kind of shattered by Chloë. I thought they’d be kind of closed-up and look like how everyone looks in Warhol pictures. Untouchable. She’s so candid and so goofy. She’s so very much herself at all times, even if she’s falling over or whatever it is. She’s cooler than everybody else. She cops to everything in a way, which I realized was the sort of kernel of why she is so cool. Having never been cool–and still, not really–I found that illuminating. I think we’re quite different actresses. We prepare differently. And yet, for some reason, the scenes really spark between us. We really like working together.”
Whit is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever spoken to, interview or not. What’s it like being in a working, creative partnership with someone like that?
“We had a sort of epistolary relationship at first through back-and-forth emails. Given that I’m, at base, an academic more than anything else, Whit asked for my notes on the script and of course I sent back a small thesis. [laughs] He’d harass me with these notes for ages, and I’d prepare them like I would anything at university.
He has a weird obsession with background actors. I remember that from Last Days of Disco. You’ll have your most involved scene with the most dialogue and possibly a dance as well and god knows what else is going on, and when you get to the end, Whit would be going, ‘Well, there’s a gardener in the back…’ You go, ‘Well, you’re not looking at me at all!’ This time around, I was prepared for it. He’s also got an amazing gift for what is truly funny. It might be that the gardener is funnier than you. He’s usually not wrong.” [laughs]
You have three movies coming out this year. How do you move so nimbly from a vampire warrior to an English coquette as an actress?
“I decided to go to university as opposed to drama school. I started working when I was sixteen, so I felt a little underprepared at the beginning. I thought, I may be working professionally, but I need to treat this as a sort of apprenticeship. My big thing that I wanted to do was to do as many different things as possible. I was able to keep this up for a pretty long time. What I didn’t factor in was that doing a play at the Royal Court or doing a small French movie that nobody sees or a movie like this movie…they’re not exactly the same weight as an Underworld movie is. The clue is if you’ve got an action figure and people dress up as you for Halloween. It freights things a bit more. I’m thinking, ‘Here I am, moving nimbly between genres, and I’ve done 45 movies! Only four of them have been Underworld.’ I don’t think that’s what other people’s perception is. It started out as a sort of apprentice thing, but actually, I think you want to stay a little bit scared as an actor. A little, ‘Oh shit, can I do this?’
That’s what doing the first Underworld movie really was. I would go into meetings and there would be a part that was, like, a policewoman or something. They’d go, ‘Well, she’s really period-drama,’ or, ‘We smell crumpets on her,’ or whatever. I thought, I’d better do something that gives me a bit more edge. Underworld had legs like you wouldn’t believe. It’s not really what I’m comfortable doing, but it seems to be weighted a bit more. It’s a slightly schizophrenic position to be in, to be best known for the thing that is the least [within] your skill and comfort zone. That’s been a bit strange.”
What kind of roles are you most comfortable with?
“I’m very drawn to characters like [Lady Susan], who are difficult or diabolical or tricky, but they’re also very charming. As an actor, you’ve got to find that balance. I liked that in Last Days of Disco and I liked that in [Love & Friendship]. It’s a really fine tightrope to walk. Whit seems to be the king of this. They’ve got a lot of color in them, those parts.”
This character could have easily become sinister to the point where the audience turns against her. I think you manage a very delicate tightrope walk.
“I think the thing you don’t want is for it to be arch and have that sort of mustache-twiddling, I’m-a-villain thing, you know? Whit is so sensitive to nuance. The script that he wrote…I didn’t feel that [Susan] was like that. I think if your sensibility and the director’s are very similar…it wasn’t like we were like, ‘Ooh, watch out! She’s coming off like too much of a bitch here.’ I found it very important to be aware of the social situation she was in. This character, who’s an intelligent, charismatic woman with a healthy sexual appetite, would be doing just fine in 2016. She’d have an extremely high-powered job and she’d have a few lovers. The trouble is, she has all of these qualities, and yet she’s in this kind of constraint of this society where it is sort of impossible to have that kind of lifestyle unless you’ve secured yourself a husband. I think the way I’d describe her is that she’s very much somebody who wants to have her cake and eat it too.”
