Moviefone News Moviefone Copyright 2011, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. Moviefone Good old fashioned elbow grease. <![CDATA['Covert Affairs' Season 4 Promo Sees Annie Tracking Moles In The CIA (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)]]>
In HuffPost TV's exclusive promo above, Annie has made a shocking discovery about the security of Langley and turns to Joan (Kari Matchett) and Arthur (Peter Gallagher) with some troubling news. Does it have something to do with the mysterious project Henry Wilcox (Gregory Itzin) enlisted her for at the end of Season 3? Tune in for "Covert Affairs" Season 4 to find out on July 16.

And look out for new characters including Manolo Cardona as Teo Braga, a charismatic, enigmatic Colombian rebel leader with secrets that will impact the CIA; Hill Harper as Calder Michaels, a CIA station chief in Latin America angling for a D.C. promotion; and Michelle Ryan as Teresa Hamilton, "an operative with a shadowy past."

Are you excited to see Annie and Auggie as a couple in Season 4 of "Covert Affairs"?

]]> Mon, 20 May 2013 10:09:11 EDT 3305028 <![CDATA[10 Years After The 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' Finale, 10 Things We'll Always Love About The Show]]>
It's been 10 years since Joss Whedon's TV masterpiece ended -- May 20, 2003 was the last time a new episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" aired -- and we still can't get enough of the show. Buffy's adventures continued on in comic books written by and executive produced by Whedon, but there's still something to say about the world crafted on the series.

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series finale, here are 10 things we'll always love about the show.

What are your favorite parts, moments, characters, episodes, etc.? Tell us in the comments below.

]]> Mon, 20 May 2013 09:41:06 EDT 3305813 <![CDATA['Nikita' Season Finale: Season 4 Plans, Michael's Quest, Owen's Fate And More From Craig Silverstein]]> Spoiler Alert: Do not read on unless you've seen the Season 3 finale of "Nikita," titled "Til Death Do Us Part."

The "Nikita" Season 3 finale left things on a heartbreaking note, with Nikita (Maggie Q) wrongfully accused of assassinating the President (Michelle Nolden) and abandoning Michael (Shane West) and the rest of the superfriends to try and clear her name and take down Amanda (Melinda Clarke) alone.

Thankfully, The CW has renewed "Nikita" for a fourth and final season of six episodes, so HuffPost TV caught up with showrunner Craig Silverstein to discuss where our heroes go from here and how the writers plan to wrap up the series in the final run.

Watching Division blow up was very cathartic, how did it feel for you guys to actually do it?
It was incredibly exciting. [Executive producer] Albert Kim was up on set and sent us an iPhone video of some of the big columns coming down and crushing that briefing room table, which was the bane of our existence throughout the season because it was difficult to get interesting shots in that room. So we all felt oddly cathartic watching that.

Why was it so important to you that Nikita break from the group and isolate herself while attempting to clear her name?
I think it was important because it pushes the character -- it's a good launching place for her character in Season 4 and it also is something that made sense for her to do, being that she's a lone wolf at heart and that she would rather put herself on the line than her friends when something this major is coming down on them.

We know that Michael doesn't ever give up on her that easily. Will finding her be his main drive when we come back?
Yeah absolutely, and as we've seen, he has experience with that. We were always trying to figure out some way that we could put him back on the chase for her, which is a great metaphor for their relationship.

Are you planning on a time-jump to come back next season, or picking up right where we left off?
There'll be a bit of a time-jump, I think. Not too huge though.

We now know that you've got 6 episodes to close the story -- does that feel like enough time to do it justice?
Yeah, because the situation that we go out on is so heightened and so immediate, we can launch into a large event that has pace and stakes right from the start. In theory, it's very concentrated on our characters and the serialization of that, so that we don't have to have missions and clients. The procedural gods you have to bow to in the early season aren't so important and won't take up so much of our time.

We first saw Mr. Jones (David S. Lee) back in Season 2 when Percy was trying to join The Group. How much of this season's plan and beyond was already laid out when you first introduced the character and how much did you figure out as you went?
We always thought that The Group was going to step in in a larger way, but at the network's request we had to hold them off for a while in Season 2 because they represent serialization in a way, they represent a grand conspiracy and that's not where our interests lay at the beginning of Season 3. So we always knew they'd weave back in. Their plot will be the main backbone of Season 4.

Mr. Jones seems to know that he has a very volatile partner in Amanda -- does he really need her, or might their differences cause him to reevaluate the partnership?
He does need her, and what exactly they need her for will be very clear in the first first few shows.

Will we learn exactly how Amanda joined forces with The Group next season, or are there certain bits of backstory that you're going to have to sacrifice because of time constraints?
I think it's a pretty simple explanation: they were making overtures to her ever since she was kicked out of Division but she didn't really care, she was focused on Nikita, and then she found a way that it could dovetail. Her own self-destruction -- which is something that she's pretty much committed to, I think -- was waylaid by having this opportunity given to her by The Group and The Shop to do what she does best, which is mould people and transform them. That's the opportunity they've given her and it would've all worked out extremely well if Nikita had died, but Nikita obviously lived, and she's taking it a lot more seriously than Mr. Jones is.

Owen's (Devon Sawa) story was left very open-ended, can you preview anything about how you see him fitting into next season?
We haven't seen the last of Sam. We didn't want to bring Sam back to the light side too quickly, so we want to keep him out there as a wild card and follow through on some things we may have started up between him and the group and him and Alex [Lyndsy Fonseca] in the last few shows.

Speaking of Alex, I love the path you've opened up for her this season with the UN and tackling human trafficking -- does this mean that she'll revert back to being a public figure and step back from active missions?
She'll step back from active missions only in the way that Bruce Wayne steps back from active missions. She's a diplomat by day and ass-kicker by night.

Now that Division no longer needs overseeing, will Ryan (Noah Bean) still be de facto leader?
No, I think that Michael will be the leader of the on-the-road band and Ryan's talent at spotting the patterns behind grand conspiracies will be put to use to try to pick up on what exactly The Shop is planning.

Might we meet some of Birkhoff's (Aaron Stanford) hacker buddies in the flesh?
Yeah, that's definitely something that we wanted to do. I think that we'll have room to do that in the six.

The president still being alive was a great twist -- will she play a bigger role in the final six or will we see her stuck in the cage and it will all resolve itself towards the end?
I think that'll resolve itself towards the end, but you'll notice in the scene where she's in the cage, you can hear other voices around as well in the room she's in, so what's that all about? She's not the only one there.

I like that you embraced the spy-fi elements even further in the last few episodes, will we see a bigger push towards that in the final six?
Yeah, I think that exactly what The Shop is and what the plan is and how it's a natural evolution of what Division was, is gonna be the major spy-fi element that we deal with.

Those last few scenes with Amanda surviving and Nikita leaving Michael would've been exceptionally cruel if you hadn't got a final season -- were you always fairly confident?
I was confident, I had a feeling different from the feelings I had at the end of 1 and 2.

What were you most proud of in Season 3 and what would you change in hindsight?
I guess I really thought that the episode in which Michael lost his hand was awesome and I think that was my proudest moment in the season. And if there's a regret, it's that we knew there'd be an outcry so we thought we had to give his hand back quickly, but my regret is now, looking back, I realize we could've extended that story and had him with the bionic hand for much longer and could've made a lot more out of that.

Any hints for the fans in terms of what they can expect next season?
I would say that if the theme of the first season was the price of revenge, and the second season was home and the theme of the third season was family, then the theme of the final season is identity and it's really about Nikita once and for all in a battle for asserting her identity of exactly who she is versus what other people have tried to label her as.

What did you think of the "Nikita" Season 3 finale and what are your predictions for the final run? Weigh in below!

]]> Fri, 17 May 2013 21:00:00 EDT 3294761 <![CDATA['Scandal' Finale Shocker: Intel On Season 3, Fitz And Olivia, Jake's Fate And Joe Morton's Role]]> "Scandal" finale closed the climactic second season with the show's biggest bombshell yet: the mysterious Rowan (Joe Morton), the B613 boss who has been threatening Cyrus (Jeff Perry) and giving Jake (Scott Foley) his orders, is also Olivia Pope's (Kerry Washington) father. Move over, Darth Vader.

"When we read it, we were just really blown away," Washington told The Huffington Post on the red carpet for the Television Academy's "Scandal" live table read on May 16. "What's funny is that the writers do that to us every week and then we pay it forward [to the audience]."

"I knew all along," Morton smugly revealed to a packed house during the cast Q&A that followed the table read.

"When Joe Morton walked in the room for the very first episode that he appeared in, I almost had a heart attack, because I grew up in a household where Joe Morton is a great American hero," Washington said. "He is the first guest star that we've had that I literally called home about." (Foley feigned indignation at this point, to which Washington responded that her family members were bigger fans of "Brother from Another Planet" than "Felicity.")

"Every week I would say to Joe, 'Oh, I really hope we have some scenes together,' and he would smile and go, 'Do we? Do you think we do?'" Washington laughed.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, creator Shonda Rhimes conceived the character as a means of giving the audience some insight into who Olivia is outside of work. "I've been toying with [Rowan being Olivia's father] a lot since the beginning of the second season. A lot of it was about revealing some of Olivia's past and about revealing who Olivia's father was in general, what that meant and who her mother was."

“There’s a lot of talk in the room about why Olivia has such man issues. She makes very, very, very bad choices,” Rhimes told EW. “Part of bringing [Rowan] on was to open up her world a little bit, but it also revealed another piece of Olivia’s past.”

But since Rowan has been playing puppet-master for half the season, that means he's responsible for orchestrating a lot of questionable -- if not downright life-threatening -- situations for his daughter. "B613 did seem to be trying to kill her, kind of," Rhimes conceded to THR. "At the very least, Rowan was trying to get Jake to have sex with her and then make a tape of it, which seems creepy on many levels, right? At the very least that's a little disturbing on many, many levels. I don't know if they were trying to kill her, that's up to interpretation."

Rhimes confirmed that there wouldn't be much of a time-jump between the end of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3, telling THR, "I was really adamant about the fact that if we were going to end the season with the idea that Liv has been somehow outed by some unknown force and we meet her dad, we couldn't then just say we're going to jump ahead and cheat the audience of what all that meant."

The executive producer also teased that there was originally a scene towards the end of the episode that would've shown Olivia and Fitz rekindling their forbidden romance after Olivia insisted that she couldn't leave her team at Olivia Pope and Associates, "but the problem with it was that Olivia put the white hat back on and emotionally you had felt like she had found her inner core after losing it so badly. It felt like a cheat; that we were cheating her out of trying to do something good," Rhimes told TV Guide.

Still, as Rhimes pointed out to THR, "There's no forever in Shondaland," and while Fitz and Olivia might be separated for now, that might not always be the case. As Tony Goldwyn told us on the red carpet, "He loves Olivia more than he loves being president, he believes that his destiny is to be with Olivia. But he loves being president and he does feel that that's part of his destiny as well. He wants to find a way to have his cake and eat it too, and is very determined to do that. But he chose, and he chose her, and that's real."

Speaking to TV Guide, Rhimes observed that "[Mellie] took him back in the end, but that was a little bit like a boy coming home to his mama, wasn't it? It wasn't a romantic coming home. That's going to be a very interesting dynamic when we come back next season."

"Fitz has this weird relationship with Mellie, because I appreciate her, I have deep respect for her intellect and her potential, and yet I have contempt for her blind ambition," Goldwyn told HuffPost TV before the table read. "I love her and I hate her and I admire her, I have very complicated feelings about her, and yet … she's the mother of my children so I honor her as such. I feel like Fitz is determined, if he can set Mellie on a path towards the truth, then this will all get sorted out, because he feels like their relationship was corrupt from its beginning. He's committed to reality, he's willing to face that. He's committed to Olivia, he's committed to forcing Mellie to deal in reality, and ultimately I think he would want Mellie to be happy. He doesn't hate Mellie."

Bellamy Young admitted that Mellie is still holding out hope that Fitz will love her the way she loves him, telling us on the red carpet, "What we do in long relationships is assume that the other person doesn't change; we still operate from a place that when we fell in love with them, they thought and acted like this. And I think Mellie's guilty of that in so many ways, and Fitz has been transformed by this love with Olivia. So he really is a different person now and Mellie can't accept it. Mellie is still in the ring, still punching away, trying to get her love back. She doesn't quite accept that you cannot force someone to love you."

Fitz has said and done some pretty terrible things this season, and yet Mellie has continued to pine for him, so we asked Young whether there's anything Fitz could do that would change her feelings towards him. "Like life, we never know what's around the bend in these scripts, and I don't know," she admitted. "I will never say never. I know her love for him is so deep and so true, but I think Mellie's open to evolution. I hope that she finds peace in her heart one way or the other. I know that love can transform, so maybe she can love him in different ways and accept that he doesn't want to be her partner in this life. What I know for sure is that Shonda will think of something so much smarter than I would ever think of."

After half a season of lies and manipulation, the finale saw Jake reveal himself to be a hero at heart, saving Olivia's life once more before surrendering to Rowan and allowing himself to be thrown into the hole that caused Huck (Guillermo Diaz) to lose his sanity, as we saw in "Seven-Fifty-Two."

Before the episode aired, Foley admitted, "Everybody who we know who's been in B613, from Huck to Charlie [George Newbern], they all seem to want out, they all seem to be in a position where they don't like their job. And maybe Jake's in the same position -- if they want out, why wouldn't he? They seem like they loved their jobs at one point. I think Jake has, to a degree, taken matters into his own hands in regards to what both Fitz and Rowan have asked him to do, and I think we'll see the consequences for that, and that may or may not end Jake as we know him."

He wasn't lying -- and while Rhimes wouldn't reveal anything about Jake's ultimate fate at the Q&A, Foley's character seems far too compelling to be relegated to the hole forever, especially since it seemed like Olivia was finally starting to come to terms with her own feelings for him in the finale. "It's complicated -- it's a complicated relationship, for sure," Washington laughed on the red carpet.

For his part, Foley is hoping Jake will get the chance for a proper interaction with Huck, as they're both B613 rebels who care for our head Gladiator. "I think that'd be interesting, to have the two of them sit down and hash it out. Who loves Olivia more, Huck or Jake? Fitz needs to go back to his wife and calm down," he teased before the panel.

For more on the "Scandal" finale, head over to THR, EW and TV Guide.

What did you think of the "Scandal" season finale? Do you want to see more of Jake? Do you think Rowan was really trying to kill Olivia? Are you still rooting for Olivia and Fitz? Weigh in below!

]]> Fri, 17 May 2013 17:58:37 EDT 3296634 <![CDATA['Arrow' Tommy Shocker: Cast Talks Season Finale And Where They'll Go In Season 2]]> Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 1, Episode 23 of The CW's "Arrow," titled "Sacrifice."

Were you devastated by Tommy's (Colin Donnell) death in the "Arrow" season finale? You're not the only one.

"I haven't been able to bring myself to watch it because Colin is like one of my best friends. It's been the most morbid two months ever," Colton Haynes told The Huffington Post at The CW 2013 upfront red carpet, noting he's gone to almost every Broadway show Donnell has been in. "He's going to be missed."

Even worse, Haynes received news that he was being promoted to a series regular in Season 2 at almost just before Donnell found out about Tommy's exit. "I called him with my good news that I was going to be joining the cast full time. We celebrated and within two days, he found out his news," Haynes said. "It's sad. That's why I haven't brought myself to watch the finale yet, 'cause for me, it's not over."

Moira Queen may have inadvertently been responsible for Tommy's death, but actress Susanna Thompson was similarly heartbroken when she heard of Donnell's departure. "[I'm] devastated. Not only for the show, but as a personal devastation. I love Colin Donnell. He's a kindred spirit ... We come from theater backgrounds," she said. "He's a very philosophical person, as am I, and after we cried about it, we both know that it's not going to stop his career. He's already moving on to wonderful things. It's just unfortunate that we're not going to share more of him. He's an amazing talent."

Star Stephen Amell admitted that the news was painful, but that objectively, he understood the writers' reasoning. "I found out I think four or five episodes before we finished our season. After the producers told him, they told me. Then, he and I chatted and, you know, purely from a creative standpoint, from a story-telling standpoint, it's fascinating," he said on the red carpet. "It changes everything on the show, but man, personally, it was a tough pill to swallow ... Everyone loves Colin. Seeing the crew's reaction after we shot our last scene -- it was just sad."

Still, one of "Arrow's" most admirable traits is its desire to keep things grounded in reality, which means no supernatural resurrections that could undermine the high stakes. The season has already seen Oliver's island mentor, Yao Fei (Byron Mann) mercilessly killed, but no death could've had more impact than Tommy's, as executive producer Marc Guggenheim pointed out in our post-finale interview.

"You can't be afraid to go there. You have to present real danger when people are watching. If everything always works out at the eleventh hour, that's not dynamic," Amell reasoned.

As for where the characters will go from here, Haynes previewed that, since they're picking up Season 2 after a time-jump, "The characters you've grown to love over this season, there's a few that could turn into the characters that you hate right off the bat. I think it's going to be a really big shock to people."

As well as teasing that "the world's getting bigger" in Season 2, Amell observed that "[Oliver and Laurel] had Sarah and that was a wedge and now they have Tommy [being gone] and that's a wedge as well. We're going to find everybody in a very different place -- I mean, literally, figuratively and emotionally in a different place."

Thompson also had a couple of teases to tantalize fans until October: "Oliver and Moira will be in a much more honest place and communicating. I do know that I'll probably start in an orange jumpsuit. Hopefully it will be couture. I'm curious about the various relationships because they've all been broken now ... I have a feeling that where we find Oliver at the beginning [of Season 2] is at a devastatingly low, low place -- withdrawn from his whole life."

Thankfully, even when he's down, Oliver will still have his trusty partners Diggle (David Ramsey) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) by his side -- and certain fans are definitely rooting to see a little more from Oliver and Felicity's relationship ... "If Oliver has the gumption to suit up, I see her again -- and even more so -- as an important part of the team," Amell said of Felicity. "And there might be some aspects of Oliver Queen, not the Arrow, where I might need Felicity's help."

And he might even add another sidekick to the roster -- as fans of the comics know, Roy Harper has a very important role to play in the mythology of Green Arrow. Haynes wouldn't say too much, merely admittting, "Roy's obsession with The Hood has obviously forced him to go a little crazy, but then obviously with The Glades going under, he's had to take a different route. But, you never know ... Roy could be something that he's not ... I know that I'm going back into working out ... I think that Roy is going to be faced with something really hard right off the bat ... Something's going to be thrown at him -- possibly from Oliver, possibly from Thea -- that's going to make him have to choose in a way."

What did you think of the "Arrow" finale, and what are your hopes for Season 2? Weigh in below!

]]> Thu, 16 May 2013 18:45:15 EDT 3288597 <![CDATA['Arrow' Finale: Season 2 Plans, Oliver's Evolution And How The Shocking Death Will Change Everything]]> Spoiler Alert: Do not read on unless you've seen the Season 1 finale of "Arrow," titled "Sacrifice."

The shocking "Arrow' finale saw Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell) make the ultimate sacrifice to save ex-girlfriend Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), ending the season with a heartbroken Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) mourning the death of his best friend as half of Starling city crumbled around him. So where does the hit CW show go in Season 2?

HuffPost TV spoke to executive producer Marc Guggenheim about the events of "Sacrifice" and the plans for Season 2, which will return to Wednesdays at 8 p.m. in October, per The CW's new 2013-2014 schedule.

Tommy was the one character who I absolutely wasn't worried for going into the finale -- so congratulations on totally shocking me.
Thank you! If Twitter is any indication, we managed to surprise a lot of people and that’s really hard to do in today’s day and age. It’s the internet and Andrew [Kreisberg] and I had both done a lot of pre-interviews and we had even spoiled the fact that someone would be dying and I’m really gratified that we were able to surprise people. It’s a very rare thing, so it’s been fun for me.

Is he really, 100 percent dead? No Lazarus Pits or "Buffy"-style misdirects where next season we'll open on a funeral and then he'll walk out completely fine?
The only thing I will say is what I said to Colin Donnell after he filmed his last scene, and that was, “I’m really glad this show does flashbacks.” But no, there will be no miraculous Lazarus Pit-like device. Poor Tommy’s gone, unfortunately.

How did you come to the decision that Tommy needed to be the one to make the ultimate sacrifice?
It was really hard. At the end of the day, it worked out for what we refer to as the creative map that, of all the characters, it’s Tommy’s death that impacts everybody. Obviously Oliver and Laurel the most, but even Thea [Willa Holland] because of their closeness and Moira [Susanna Thompson] because she’s now responsible for the death of Oliver’s best friend, and Lance [Paul Blackthorne], who knows that Laurel loves Tommy ... it’s the one character whose death impacts everybody. And that’s really what you’re looking to do. When you kill off a character, you’re closing off a variety of storylines because there’s no story to be told with that character, and the only reason to do it is to open up new storylines and more storylines by killing off a character than you have by keeping them alive. Tommy’s death will reverberate throughout the whole of Season 2, and there are even some things we have planned for the middle and end of Season 2 that would not be possible or wouldn’t have the same weight if Tommy had stayed alive.

I like that he was allowed to die a hero instead of going a Lex Luthor or Harry Osborn route as many were anticipating.
I think if you look back to even the pilot, one of our favorite tricks is to lean into what people expect and then do the opposite.

Oliver told Tommy that he didn't kill Malcolm (John Barrowman) -- was that an act of mercy in his final moments, telling him what he wanted to hear, or is Malcolm actually still around? Because he looked pretty down for the count.
That was 100 percent an act of mercy, that was him telling him what he wanted to hear, knowing that Tommy was gonna die. He definitely had to get some comeuppance for all the chaos he had wrought.

How will Tommy's death serve to motivate Oliver next season? After finding out Oliver's secret, Tommy really tried to hold Oliver accountable for killing people, so will that impact the way Oliver does things from this point on?
I don’t want to spoil too much about Season 2, but the whole of Season 2 is about Oliver changing the way he does things and you’ll hear us talk a lot about making the transition from vigilante to hero. That whole transition and evolution would not have happened but for Tommy’s death. It’s a huge part of Oliver’s drive and character arc for Season 2.

Tommy told Laurel that he loved her before he died -- I can't imagine that's something that she can easily get over, even now that she and Oliver are back on track. Will there be hesitation or guilt over their getting back together?
I don't want to say too much, but obviously Tommy’s death is going to have huge repercussions on what she thinks about Oliver, it’s going to have huge repercussions on what she thinks about The Arrow, it’s going to have huge repercussions on what she decides to do with her life, because obviously CNRI is gone. So Laurel stands at a crossroads and what she decides to do next is in large part because of what happened with Tommy. All of the characters will be dealing with Tommy’s death in their own way and they’ll be making some life decisions based upon that loss.

Roy (Colton Haynes) and Thea didn't actually manage to unmask The Hood this season, but we saw Roy saving people and being very heroic in the finale. Does he feel like he still needs The Hood or might he take matters into his own hands regardless and decide he doesn’t need a mentor?
All those questions are going to be answered in the early episodes of Season 2, that’s a big piece of the early going of Season 2.

Are you thinking that you might do a time-jump when you come back, or are you planning on picking up pretty much right where you left off?
We’ll probably do a time-jump only because one of the things we’ve tried to do over the course of Season 1, one of the rules we’ve had for ourselves is that we’ve played the passage of time between episodes as realistically as we can. For example, the gap between Episodes 9 and 10 was six weeks and we passed six weeks on the show. We’ll be looking to pass time, because we always want the episodes taking place around the same time they’re being aired. We will fill that passage of time but we are continuing to publish the "Arrow" digital comic through June and we’re gonna end Season 1 of the digital comics with a two-parter that takes place during the finale and in the time after the finale. Some stuff you otherwise wouldn’t get to see on television you will get to read about in the digital comic. [Look for the "Arrow" digital comic finale here on June 12.]

Do you still intend to tell the island storyline over a span of five seasons, or do you see yourselves accelerating it?
It’s still the plan to tell it over five years. The only thing that would cause us to recalculate that is … the show’s ratings could stay exactly the same; we could become an even bigger hit in Season 2 in which case we’d be like "maybe we’ll last longer than five years!" or we could totally tank and be like "oh my god, are we gonna get cancelled after two years?" So you’ve got to leave yourself open in terms of what the long term prospects of the show are, but so far, there’s nothing in our ratings that has us second-guessing the plan to go for five years for the flashbacks.

What was the biggest lesson you learned over the course of Season 1?
There were so many lessons. When we did Episodes 7 and 8 without the flashbacks ... I think we thought the show could sustain itself without the flashbacks, and some people consider the two-parter some of our strongest episodes, but my personal feeling and I think Andrew and Greg [Berlanti] feel the same way, is the show is just so much more resonant and so much more interesting and three-dimensional with the flashbacks, so one of our biggest lessons was have the flashbacks in every episode. Another huge lesson was have the opening moments of an episode be action-packed or very suspenseful -- open strong, that was another big lesson for us. And finally, we went in with this plan of "we’re gonna tell a lot of story and we’re gonna burn through plot very quickly and there’ll be development after development after development," and I think that resonated with the audience, so that was less of a lesson and more that we were very gratified to see that that instinct paid off.

What did you think of the "Arrow" finale, and what are your hopes for Season 2? Weigh in below!

]]> Thu, 16 May 2013 13:50:21 EDT 3287672 <![CDATA['Supernatural' Season 8 Finale Recap: Nothing Is As It Seems In 'Sacrifice']]>

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 8, Episode 23 of The CW's "Supernatural," titled "Sacrifice."

Well played, Jeremy Carver.

While some "Supernatural" finales have been full of non-stop stress and heartbreak (I'm looking at you, "Devil's Trap" and "No Rest for the Wicked"), a large portion of "Sacrifice" was a calm, well-plotted affair, deftly written but light on tension.



Then, all hell broke loose -- or, more accurately, all heaven. As many of us suspected, Metatron was not quite as innocuous as he first appeared, and the "trials" he had Castiel undertake were actually part of a spell to expel all of the angels from heaven and make them mortal. This resulted in a truly spectacular final scene which saw hundreds of angels falling from the sky like comets, their wings dramatically burning away as they hit the ground. Kudos to the FX team for creating one of the most artful and striking images in "Supernatural" history. Now, Castiel and the other angels are human and trapped on Earth, a result of Castiel once again putting his trust in exactly the wrong person, albeit for the right reasons.

Thankfully, unlike past mistakes, he actually turned to Dean for help this time around, which certainly saved Sam's life (and Cupid's), if not Castiel's grace. While Naomi was undoubtedly a bad egg for much of the season, it was good to see that she had a change of heart before Metatron's Keyser Söze reveal. (That character description makes perfect sense now, doesn't it?) I can't wait to see how Castiel deals with the loss of his grace and quest to defeat Metatron next season, but it was mostly just a relief to see him and Dean on the same page again, communicating honestly and allowing Dean to call him out on some of the bad habits Metatron has been encouraging. ("Talk first, stab later.")

But while the new world order for the angels will undoubtedly drive some compelling stories next season, the real meat of the episode came from Sam and Dean's quest to close the gates of hell.

The beginning of the episode didn't feel rushed, per se, but it certainly didn't waste time, since Carver ably demonstrated the cardinal screenwriting rule of "show, don't tell" instead of getting bogged down in needless exposition.

It's sad that so much of this season has felt the need to spell things out for the audience to the point where efficient, concise storytelling seems more like an aberration than just good structure. I missed Carver's scriptwriting voice the most out of all of the show's departed writers after he left in Season 5, and watching his episodes only serves to highlight some of the other shortcomings in the writers' room, although there are still a number of writers who thankfully do have a great grasp on the show's tone and pacing.

In typical Winchester fashion, a lot has been left unsaid this season, but when the going got tough, we were treated to yet another gut-wrenching Winchester chick-flick moment, which no finale would be complete without. Sam's insecurities have always driven him to do questionable things -- as Dean pointed out: Ruby, killing Lilith, freeing Lucifer, not looking for him in Purgatory, it's a pretty spectacular list -- but at the end of the day, our overachieving younger Winchester has always been desperate for Dean's approval, just as Dean has always sought John's.

While the first half of this season seemed geared towards helping Dean rediscover his identity and sense of purpose after seasons of doubting himself and believing that he was worthless, the second half of the year has been geared towards doing the same for Sam, helping him to let go of his craving for a normal life (at least for now) and realize that the Winchesters have a destiny that goes far beyond fixing someone's air conditioner at a motel and pretending to be ordinary.

Crowley insisted that he always defeats the Winchesters because they put emotion ahead of common sense, but it's their humanity that ensures their victories, because neither of them can ever turn away from the family business when there will always be someone to save -- a sacrifice that's truly worth making for the greater good.

Right now, closing the gates of hell can wait because the brothers have each other, but clearly, Sam still had some lingering insecurities about his capabilities and his brother's faith in him (which were kind of valid, given some of Sam's past judgment calls). Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki played the hell out of that scene, as usual, and though it somewhat reaffirms their oft-mocked codependency, it seemed fitting, given that their relationship will always be the heart of the show. I'm glad that Sam acknowledged that he's let Dean down numerous times in the past (especially in terms of Purgatory), and though it's not quite an overt apology, the emotion was there. Now, it seems like the brothers are truly on the same wavelength again, and hopefully it means that all of the petty backstabbing and sneaking around will finally be behind them.

Mark Sheppard was once again at his scenery-chewing finest this week, with his spectacular ode to HBO proving one of the season's highlights, let alone the episode's -- but he truly excelled in Crowley's quieter moments, when it seemed that the demon's humanity was actually returning. His raw and understated desire for forgiveness was an unexpectedly poignant moment. I'm intrigued to see whether Sam's injections will actually have a lingering effect on him even though the trial wasn't completed, or whether he'll revert back to tyrannical form.

Alaina Huffman will be sorely missed as Abaddon, and I only hope that whoever the demon shows up in next will have even half her sassiness and snark. It was great to see the brief return of Kim Rhodes as Sheriff Jody Mills, too -- and even more of a relief that she actually survived. The fact that Sam and Dean met Crowley in Bobby's junkyard was a subtle but surprisingly affecting choice, also.

While the episode answered a lot of lingering questions about the motivations of the angels, the nature of the trials and the solidity of the brothers' relationship, it didn't address some of the inconsistencies that we've seen this season, such as the mysterious figure watching Sam in the premiere (I guess we're just supposed to assume it was Amelia's husband); the gaffe about the Grand Canyon; Sam not looking for Dean in Purgatory (Sam's reasoning on that one was always a little too murky); Kevin's description of Metatron as an archangel; and how Crowley actually managed to capture Kevin when he was so well-hidden (why weren't the windows broken?!). I know some viewers had grand theories about timeline resets and that Sam and Dean's perceptions were being altered, but at this point, it just seems as though these were common plotholes, mistakes or character choices, which is a little disappointing, but not altogether unrealistic for a show that's been running for eight seasons. Employ better use of the Superwiki next season, writers!

Overall, though, Season 8 lived up to its fan-made moniker of "Season gr8," and was a huge improvement over the sloppiness and depressiveness of Seasons 6 and 7. The brothers seem well and truly united and refocused on the family business, Castiel and Crowley both have a number of potential paths for character evolution next season, and we have a new and surprisingly creepy big bad in the form of Metatron. It'll be a long summer, but I can't wait for Season 9. What say you?

]]> Wed, 15 May 2013 22:03:23 EDT 3283455 <![CDATA['Arrow' Season Finale: Willa Holland On Whether Thea Could Die And Becoming Speedy]]> "Arrow" season finale airs on Wed., May 15 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW, and no one is safe as Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) prepares to destroy the poorest part of Starling City, The Glades, by setting off a man-made earthquake. The finale episode summary hints that Thea Queen (Willa Holland), the sister of vigilante Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), will put herself "directly in the line of fire for Malcolm's devious plan" while racing to find her boyfriend Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), who lives in The Glades.

In The Huffington Post's recent interview with shfowrunner Marc Guggenheim, he previewed that "everything [the show has] been working up towards since the pilot all comes to a head [in the finale]," which includes "Oliver, Tommy [Colin Donnel] and Laurel [Katie Cassidy]; Tommy’s dad; Tommy’s choice -- does he choose to join with his dad or join with Oliver? [And] Moira [Susanna Thompson] and her relationship with her children as all of her demons come to light."

Cassidy herself confirmed that "you'll see everyone at some point in danger ... Everybody has to fight for themselves and everyone is experiencing something close to them or something that has been important to them that is in jeopardy."

With that in mind, we turned to Willa Holland to find out exactly how much danger Thea might be in during the "Arrow" season finale, her favorite part of her relationship with Roy, and whether we might see her embracing the comic book legacy of Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy any time soon.

The episode description is pretty overt in saying that Thea's in serious danger in the season finale, so how dire is her situation?
Thea definitely gets herself in the line of fire, as they say. It’s kind of known that after the last episode that aired, what's going to happen is most likely something majorly catastrophic. It's not going to be just one isolated event between a few people. It's going to be containing a mass amount of people. So she just throws herself into the line of fire and risks herself to go and find Roy and try and save him.

What have you most enjoyed about their relationship and the new maturity it's added to Thea as a character?
I love Colton so much. He's amazing and I’ve been asking the writers to bring in a very good-looking boyfriend for Thea, but also something to take her out of the house, something for her to do. And they definitely have done that and it's helped her grow up a lot in the last couple of episodes. She's on what I like to call a virtuous path now. She's finally getting her head slowly screwed onto her shoulders. It's not completely tight yet, but it's been getting on there and it's nice to see her finally grow up and actually hone herself as a woman and make her own decisions -- which are very hard decisions, and she's making them quite properly.

Can you preview anything about who else, besides Roy, Thea might have scenes with in the finale?
Most of my scenes are with Roy. There is actually one of my favorite scenes in the entire season that's in the finale. I don't want to spoil it to much, but let's just say there's been a lot of hints towards "Speedy" and my character turning kind of vigilante-esque along with Ollie and The Arrow. I'm not 100 percent sure that's going to be happening in the next couple of seasons, but there's definitely a nice large hint in the last episode. Kind of like a little fun spoof. It was a lot of fun to film.

The writers have been dropping fun hints and teases about Speedy all season long. Are you itching to pick up a bow and arrow?
I am ready and waiting to go. I have told the archery coach that whenever she is free, I'm totally down to get lessons. I've been going to the gym a lot trying to get myself physically fit, to prove to them that I can kick some ass. [Laughs.] But I've had talks with writers and our producer Marc [Guggenheim] and I definitely agree with this theory of theirs that in order to do justice to everything that Oliver went through on the island that made him turn into the Arrow, we wanted to develop all of our characters a little bit stronger. We just wanted to do justice to what we believe could take somebody into that place [of becoming a vigilante]. We don't want to just throw them into [being a crime fighter] just willy nilly. We kind of want to build them up a little bit and give them reasons to get that way.

So your favorite scene involves a little ass-kicking, but not a bow and arrow?
I wish it involved a bow and arrow. I can say it doesn't involve a bow and arrow, but it's so awesome. It was just so fun to film. That's all I can say. It was one of those things that we were filming at 5:30 in the morning. We had to be finished at 6 a.m. It was the last shot we could do. Normally everybody would be like, "Oh, God, let's get out of here -- finish it, finish it!” But the entire crew and all of us were just like, “Oh my gosh, finally we get to do this part!”

The show has been great about throwing us curveballs and putting an interesting twist on things we think we can predict. Is the finale the same? Even though we think Thea's the one most at risk, could it pull the rug out from under us?
Oh, there's definitely a lot of twists in the finale. Obviously, I can’t spoil anything, but when I read Episode 22, let's just say ... we knew that we were doing 23 episodes, but when I read 22, I was like, “How is this not the finale? Where can we go with this? This is going to be insane. This is going to be the most insane episode ever." And literally, when I got 23, we were all shaking in our boots. I stole a sneak peek of it before I was even allowed to and I just skimmed to one page and saw something awesome and I was like, “Oh my God, yes!” It's so jam-packed. It's so awesome. All I can say is tune in, because it's worth it.

Does it end with a cliffhanger? Are fans going to be screaming, "Noooooooo!" at their televisions by the end of the hour?
There's definitely going to be some “nooooooo!” moments. There were for me when I read the script. The show is definitely “Arrow" -- it's definitely revolving around Oliver -- but it is kind of ensemble-based, so for some characters, there will be cliffhanger-esque things. There will definitely be those “Oh God why? Oh God no!” kind of moments. That is all over it. And there are also those gripping-the-person-you're-sitting-next-to or digging-your-fingernails-into-your-couch moments. It's awesome.

Thea and Roy have been on a quest to find out The Hood's identity for the past few episodes, but how would Thea actually feel if she was faced with the truth about Ollie?
I think it really depends where Thea is at the time when she finds out. It really depends how steady things are going in her own life, as well as how her relationship with Oliver is doing at that moment.

We've definitely talked about it, me and the writers, and we're all on the fence about whether or not she can be completely accepting -- which I think is the lesser chance, because I really think she would be resentful of him for keeping this secret from her because the whole reason why she was reluctant around him [when he got back from the island] was just because he was being not open and completely distant and they used to be so close. This is obviously a major secret, but I think it may even create a wedge between them ... I think it all just depends on where she is in her life at that moment.

You're no stranger to shows with passionate fanbases after "The OC" and "Gossip Girl," so how do "Arrow" fans compare to your previous experiences. Is there a difference in the interactions?
There definitely, definitely is. I have to say, If am quite happy and so very honored every single time somebody comes up to me about this show. It’s something so unexpected. “The OC” and “Gossip Girl” were cult hits -- I had a feeling that they were going to make their waves. “The OC” was already a huge hit when I hopped on to it and then “Gossip Girl,” because it was coming from the creators of “The OC,“ I knew it was going to be a huge thing. But “Arrow” was something I hopped onto in the beginning and it was like this little baby and we had no idea. We obviously worked our asses off on the pilot and it took 17 days to shoot and then, before we started actually shooting the series, we knew we had to squeeze 17 days into eight days. But it became this amazing thing so quickly and it's been an honor to be a part of it. I'm so excited when people come up to me about it and the fans are so very enthusiastic about the show, because they’ve been fans of Green Arrow and the comic books for so long. It's amazing.

The "Arrow" season finale Wednesday, May 15 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

]]> Wed, 15 May 2013 10:00:44 EDT 3277238 <![CDATA['HIMYM' Mother Revealed In Season Finale: Who Is The Mother Beneath The Yellow Umbrella? (VIDEO)]]> "How I Met Your Mother" finally revealed the woman beneath the yellow umbrella in the season finale -- and it's someone you've probably never heard of.

After eight seasons, the mother turned out to be an actress by the name of Cristin Milioti. Milioti has had guest spots on "30 Rock" (she was "sexy baby" Abby Flynn) and "The Sopranos," but is perhaps best known for her Tony-nominated role in the Broadway musical "Once."

Naturally, she was spotted with a yellow umbrella at a train station paying for a ticket to Farhampton, which "HIMYM" fans learned in the season premiere would be a pivotal place for Ted and his future bride.

“It was a pretty big umbrella to fill, casting the title role in a series that's been on the air for eight years,” says Carter Bays, executive Producer and co-creator of "HIMYM" said in a statement. “And yet Cristin Milioti is, against all odds, exactly what we were looking for. She made us laugh on '30 Rock,' she made us swoon in 'Once,' and her ukulele skills are no joke. We're thrilled to welcome her to the 'How I Met Your Mother' family, and look forward to getting to know her –- and the character she plays –- much better in the coming final season. And to all the fans, on behalf of all of us writers, cast and crew: Thank you for sticking with us on this wild journey. Our ninth season will tell the epic story of the longest wedding weekend ever. We hope you like it. Next stop, Farhampton ...”

It remains to be seen how exactly the character will evolve in the show's ninth and final season, but Bays statement hints that Milioti will have a substantial presence in "HIMYM" Season 9.

"We didn’t want it to be a big famous star because we didn’t want the wider audience to have associations with whatever actress this would be, where it’s like, 'Oh, it’s Anne Hathaway and I think blank of Anne Hathaway ... ' You’re waiting years to meet this woman, and it’s like, 'Oh, he’s in love with Amy Adams just like the rest of America is.' The whole idea is that Ted’s never seen this woman before, so it better feel that way to the audience," "HIMYM" co-creator Craig Thomas said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "Cristin Milioti is she’s a fantastic actress .. but she hasn’t done a ton of big TV parts or bigger film parts. It seems so much more interesting and so much more Ted to find someone special and unique and new, someone that we haven’t seen before."

What did you think of the finale? Were you pleased with the "HIMYM" mother reveal? Weigh in below and share your predictions for the final season!

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 21:07:45 EDT 3269435 <![CDATA['Sleepy Hollow': Fox Debuts New Trailers For 'Almost Human,' 'Dads,' 'Rake' 'Us And Them,' And More Fall Shows]]> Fox unveiled its new 2013-2014 schedule at its upfronts presentation to advertisers, and debuted trailers for many of its new shows, from high-concept dramas "Sleepy Hollow" and "Almost Human" to male-skewing comedies "Dads" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" starring Andy Samberg.

The network also revealed plans for the return of "24" as a limited series titled "24: Live Another Day," and its development of "Wayward Pines" from M. Night Shyamalan, described as an intense, mind-bending thriller in which nothing is what it seems.

Below, find the new promos and descriptions for Fox's new shows, then hit the comments to let us know which shows you're looking forward to most.

"Sleepy Hollow" (Mondays at 9 p.m. ET)



From co-creators/executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the thrilling new action-adventure "Sleepy Hollow" is a modern-day retelling of Washington Irving’s classic. Ichabod Crane (Tom Miso) is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to find that the world is on the brink of destruction and that he is humanity’s last hope, forcing him to team up with a contemporary police officer (Nicole Beharie) to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers.

"Almost Human" (Mondays at 8 p.m. ET from late fall)



Executive-produced by Emmy Award winner J.J. Abrams and creator J.H. Wyman and starring Karl Urban and Michael Ealy, "Almost Human" is a high-tech, high-stakes action drama set 35 years in the future, when police officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids. An unlikely partnership is forged when a part-machine cop (Urban) is forced to pair with a part-human robot (Ealy) as they fight crime and investigate a deeper cover-up in a futuristic new world.

"Rake" (Thursdays at 9 p.m. midseason)



Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Greg Kinnear makes his broadcast television series debut in the bold new legal drama "Rake," created by Peter Duncan and executive-produced by Peter Tolan and Michael Wimer. Kinnear is Keegan Deane, one of life’s great addicts, a brilliant and frustratingly charming criminal defense attorney, whose chaotic and self-destructive personal life often gets in the way of his professional one. Keegan takes on the cases that nobody else will touch, ruled by a resolute optimism, belief in justice and dogged determination to defend those who seem beyond redemption –- much like himself.

"Us & Them" (Midseason TBD)



Based on award-winning BBC series "Gavin and Stacey" and starring Emmy Award nominee Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel, "Us & Them" is a new single-camera ensemble comedy about a young couple, whose path to happily-ever-after is complicated by the screwed-up circus of people closest to them.

"Dads" (Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET)



The new live-action, multi-camera comedy from Emmy Award winner Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, the team behind “Ted” and "Family Guy," stars Seth Green and Emmy Award nominee Giovanni Ribisi as two successful gaming entrepreneurs –- and childhood best friends -– whose lives get turned upside down when their pain-in-the-neck patriarchs (Martin Mull and Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Peter Riegert) move in.

"Enlisted" (Fridays at 9:30 p.m. ET from late fall)



Starring Geoff Stults, Parker Young and Chris Lowell, "Enlisted" is a new irreverent and heartfelt single-camera comedy that follows three brothers getting to know each other again on a small Florida Army base and the group of misfits who surround them.

"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET)



From Emmy Award-winning writer/producers of "Parks and Recreation" and starring Emmy Award winners Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" is a new single-camera workplace comedy about what happens when a hotshot detective (Samberg) gets a new Captain (Braugher) with a lot to prove.

"Gang Related" (Midseason TBD)



Gritty new fast-paced drama "Gang Related" follows Ryan Lopez (Ramon Rodriguez), a rising star in Los Angeles' elite Gang Task Force -- led by Sam Chapel (Emmy Award winner Terry O'Quinn) -- who teams up with longtime Task Force member Cassius Green (RZA) to take on the city's most dangerous gangs, including one he has an allegiance to.

"Surviving Jack" (Midseason TBD)



"Surviving Jack" is a new single-camera ensemble comedy based on best-selling author Justin Halpern's autobiographical book, "I Suck at Girls." Set in 1990s Southern California, Emmy Award nominee Christopher Meloni stars as a man becoming a dad, as his son (Connor Buckley) becomes a man, in a time before "coming of age" was something you could Google.

Which new Fox shows are you planning on checking out this fall? Weigh in below!

]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 17:26:38 EDT 3268965 <![CDATA['Once Upon A Time' Season Finale Recap: A Softer Side Of Hook In 'And Straight On 'Til Morning']]>

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 2, Episode 22 of ABC's "Once Upon a Time," titled "And Straight On 'Til Morning."

The Season 2 finale of "Once Upon a Time" didn't quite have the climactic impact of the curse being broken or magic sweeping down upon Storybrooke in an ominous cloud, but the character-driven hour still proved a satisfying denouement for an ambitious -- if uneven -- year.

Greg and Tamara are still far too hammy for my tastes, with Tamara's motivations still unclear, but the revelation that the duo are somehow working for Peter Pan was an intriguing morsel, given that the pair are so vehemently anti-magic. Obviously there's an intermediary who gives the pair their marching orders, since they told Hook they don't know exactly who's in charge, but it's interesting that their holy crusade to eradicate magic stems from a decidedly magical source -- is Pan just trying to eliminate the competition by offing magical folk? And why the interest in Henry, prophesied so long ago that Pan's shadow was snatching kids from Victorian England in the hope of getting its hands on him? I can't wait to see how Rumplestiltskin's story ties into Pan's, since he sounds like an adversary that Rumple actually considers a threat (a consideration I don't think he's ever really given to Regina, given that he taught her all of her tricks).

It will be interesting to see how much screen time the show devotes to Neal, Philip, Aurora and Mulan next season, given that Sarah Bolger and Jamie Chung were both cast in pilots that were picked up (ABC's "Mixology" and NBC's "Believe" respectively) but since they're both part of ensemble casts, perhaps the timing will work out. Since Mulan's face was covered in their brief finale scene, it seems like scheduling conflicts may have already reared their ugly heads.

Still, from a storytelling standpoint, it was good to see Rumple galvanized towards a noble cause in his son's memory -- although the fact that he could flip from attempting to murder his grandson without hesitation in the episode's opening minutes to embarking on a suicide mission to rescue him by the finale's end was a little disconcerting. It's not so much that I don't believe that Rumple is capable of good intentions, so much as the fact that we've seen our villains attempting to be heroic and then changing their minds when the going gets tough numerous times over the past two seasons, so I don't believe Rumple is entirely reformed just yet.

The same goes for Regina, although finally seeing her take responsibility for her actions was long overdue, and her plea to Emma to allow her to die as Regina instead of The Evil Queen was a beautiful and well-earned moment. As repetitive as her storylines can be, Lana Parrilla always sells the emotion behind Regina's actions, and at her core, this is a woman who is truly desperate to be loved and accepted, but who never really had the tools necessary to achieve that happiness, thanks to her mother. She's always tried to take the easy, scorched-earth approach, but being willing to sacrifice herself for Henry and to prove that she has goodness in her heart was a welcome step in the right direction. I just hope she can maintain that path to redemption next season, since her decisions to erase Henry's memories, and, y'know, murder Greg's father in cold blood and then gloat about it, were pretty unconscionable.

One of the most fascinating aspects of "OUAT" is how willing we are as viewers to give villains a pass for their terrible deeds, despite some truly irredeemable behavior (both Regina and Rumple have murdered a whole lot of people, leaving aside all of the lies, manipulation and emotional blackmail). Is it simply because the actors are so compelling? Rumple's reunion with Belle and subsequent farewell were undeniably affecting, and Robert Carlyle had a number of stand-out moments throughout the hour.

While it was great to see such developments from Rumple and Regina, the episode really belonged to Colin O'Donoghue's Hook. While his intentions were far from honorable when he rescued Bae -- and later surrendered him to the creepy Lost Boys -- it was also an hour that showed us his humanity like never before.

While "The Crocodile" never really gave us enough time to invest in the relationship between Hook and Milah, subsequent moments have helped illustrate Hook's deep love for her, and the finale certainly emphasized that care when it seemed as though Hook genuinely wanted to try and be a father for Bae. Of course, his heartfelt offer to change was somewhat undermined by the fact that Hook had obviously arranged for the Lost Boys to come and grab Bae long before their parting conversation, so it's debatable whether he would've tried to fight them off or given Bae up regardless, had their talk gone in a better direction, but it was nice to see a softer side of our roguish captain. He was clearly affected when Emma told him of Neal's "death," enough to turn back to try and help save the day, so it would be nice to see him develop into a slightly less mercenary character next season, and I'd love to see more of his dynamic with Neal/Bae now that he's all grown up.

With our core characters on the way to Neverland, it will be interesting to see how next season is structured -- it seems unlikely that we'll be spending much time in Storybrooke (which I can't say I'm too upset about, given that the Charming family and its evil adversaries/in-laws have always been the most interesting part of the show), and watching the unlikely group dynamic should make for interesting stories. Unlike Snow and Emma's extended sojourn in the Enchanted Forest, which overstayed its welcome by keeping our main cast separated for too long, it will be nice to see the gang adventuring together in Season 3, especially if we get to see more of "Once Upon a Time's" decidedly ominous-sounding version of Peter Pan -- now let's get to dream-casting who should play him! (And with all this talk of mermaids, will we finally get to see Ariel next year?)

What did you think of the "Once" Season 2 finale? What are your hopes for Season 3? Who would you like to see as Peter Pan? Weigh in below!

]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 05:52:34 EDT 3265292 <![CDATA['Once Upon A Time In Wonderland' Spinoff Picked Up By ABC]]> "Once Upon a Time's" Alice-centric spinoff, "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" has been picked up by ABC, showrunner Adam Horowitz announced today.




In Victorian England, the young and beautiful Alice (Sophie Lowe) tells a tale of a strange new land that exists on the other side of a rabbit hole. An invisible cat, a hookah smoking caterpillar and playing cards that talk are just some of the fantastic things she’s seen during this impossible adventure. Surely this troubled girl must be insane and her doctors aim to cure her with a treatment that will make her forget everything. Alice seems ready to put it all behind her, especially the painful memory of the genie she fell in love with and lost forever -- the handsome and mysterious Cyrus (Peter Gadiot). But deep down Alice knows this world is real and just in the nick of time, the sardonic Knave of Hearts (Michael Socha) and the irrepressible White Rabbit (John Lithgow) arrive to save her from a doomed fate. Together, the trio will take a tumble down the rabbit hole to this Wonderland where nothing is impossible.

The standalone, self-contained series will likely bridge the gap for viewers while "OUAT" is on hiatus, in an effort to avoid reruns of the serialized fantasy drama.

22-year-old Sophie Lowe will play Alice, "who has a generous heart but carries the scars of a long hard life," while Michael Socha will co-star as the Knave of Hearts, "a sardonic adventurer, a man of action, a loner and a heart-breaker." Peter Gadiot also stars as "Cyrus, Alice's mysterious love interest."

Barbara Hershey's Cora will also appear, as executive producer Adam Horowitz recently admitted, "We can’t imagine visiting that time in Wonderland and not seeing Cora as the Queen of Hearts." John Lithgow will lend his voice to the White Rabbit.

Horowitz and fellow EP Eddy Kitsis promised that they have no plans to recast Sebastian Stan's fan-favorite Mad Hatter, telling The Huffington Post and other reporters during a recent roundtable interview, "If Sebastian has a week [between other commitments], we’ll take it ... [But] he could be free when 'Wonderland' wraps. We’d love to have him back."

They also shared a little more context for the series. "'Wonderland' takes place post-curse, so the pilot of 'Wonderland' actually starts when magic comes and the wraith happens, and then it runs concurrent," Kitsis told reporters. "So we are in Wonderland post-Queen of Hearts. And just like we saw in the Enchanted Forest, we saw pockets that were saved.”

Fans might also get to see Rose McGowan reprise her role as Young Cora, as Kitsis admitted, "I still feel there are more Cora stories to be told, both young and old ... Even though she is dead, she is very much alive in our hearts."

ABC picked up a number of comedies for the 2013-2014 season: "Super Fun Night" starring Rebel Wilson; ensemble "Mixology"; Malin Akerman's "Trophy Wife"; family comedy "The Goldbergs" and "Back in the Game" starring James Caan. On the drama side, in addition to "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Wonderland," ABC picked up drama "The Returned"; David Zabel's "Lucky 7" and "Betrayal"; the Christian Slater/Steve Zahn vehicle "Mind Games" and Sofia Vergara-produced "Killer Women."

ABC canceled an additional five series from the 2012-2013 season: "Body Of Proof," "Happy Endings," "How To Live With Your Parents," "Malibu Country" and "Red Widow," which join the previously canceled "666 Park Avenue," "Don't Trust The B---- In Apartment 23," "Last Resort," "Private Practice" and "Zero Hour." On a more positive note, the network renewed "Castle," "Grey's Anatomy," "Last Man Standing," "The Middle," "Modern Family," "Nashville," "Once Upon A Time," "Revenge," "Scandal" and "Suburgatory." ABC has not confirmed the reported fates of "Family Tools" and "The Neighbors."

Pilot Pickups For 2013-2014:
NBC's new dramas and new comedies
Fox's new dramas and new comedies
CBS' new dramas and new comedies
The CW's new dramas

Are you excited for "Once: Wonderland"?

"Once Upon a Time" airs its Season 2 finale on Sunday, May 12 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

]]> Fri, 10 May 2013 18:16:03 EDT 3241283 <![CDATA['Once Upon A Time' Season Finale: Colin O'Donoghue Previews Hook's Journey In 'And Straight On 'Til Morning']]> Season 2 finale of "Once Upon a Time," which sees Storybrooke and all its inhabitants teetering on the brink of total destruction thanks to Tamara (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Greg (Ethan Embry) and their hatred of magic. Meanwhile, in flashbacks, we'll learn exactly how Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) and Bae (Dylan Schmid) first got to know each other in Neverland.

To preview the "Once Upon a Time" finale, The Huffington Post spoke to O'Donoghue about exploring a "deeper layer" of Hook, his dynamic with Bae and whether he thinks the pirate can ever move past his hatred of Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) and call a truce.

Co-creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis promised that the finale would be very Hook-centric in terms of the flashbacks, so what can you reveal about "And Straight On 'Til Morning"?
At the end of last week’s episode, you saw Hook pull Bae out of the sea and bring him aboard the Jolly Roger. Obviously, Hook doesn’t know who this boy is at the time. So you get to see Hook and Bae’s interaction and how they knew each other from Neverland. It’s a very interesting relationship that they have.

We saw a fairly ominous version of Peter Pan's shadow in last week's episode. Does that signal that we might see a more villainous Pan and a more heroic Hook than what the original story suggests?
What Eddy and Adam have done so well on the show is take a story that we all know -- whether it be, in this case Neverland, or the Enchanted Forest or Wonderland -- and they put a spin on it, so it’s quite different from the place that we read about or grew up knowing about. It’s not the Neverland that you will have known before. There’s always a slight twist. The way that they have made Hook, he’s not a completely outwardly evil character. He’s motivated by revenge, because Milah [Rachel Shelley] was killed and his heart was broken. So you see a slightly different side to Neverland.

We know that time works differently in Neverland. Can you say what length of time the flashbacks encompass, whether the story takes place over a matter of days or months or longer?
I hadn't really thought about that. I guess it's over days, if you can class them as days in Neverland. As you say, time works in a different way. What you do see is Hook and Bae and their relationship -- that's what's really intriguing. It's more about how they know each other and what went on there ... Hook pulled Baelfire onto his boat and you get to see how Neal learned [certain things]. It's a really interesting dynamic because obviously, Hook was in love with Baelfire's mother and hates his father.

In the extended preview for the season finale, we see Tamara and Greg ask Hook if he's willing to die for his cause. Although Hook says yes, does he really mean it, or is he starting to reevaluate his partnership with these people?
Hook is interesting. He’ll use people to get what he wants. As long as Greg and Tamara in some way can help him, then he’ll stick with them. But if he feels the relationship should be over then he’s happy to end it and try a different route.

A couple of episodes ago, Hook shared a great scene with Regina [Lana Parrilla] where he pointed out that a quest for revenge just leaves you empty and alone once it's completed. Is he coming towards a place where he realizes that he should focus on something other than killing Rumplestiltskin?
I think it would be interesting to see where Hook could go as a character if he’s not totally motivated by wanting revenge. I’d be quite interested to see how that would work out. I think he’s a complex enough character, because he does have the capability to love, as we saw with Milah, and to be compassionate and friendly, as well as being nasty, cruel and self-serving. So he’s a little bit more complicated. It’ll be interesting to see where he would go as a character if he wasn’t totally motivated by the want of revenge.

Do you think there's any way Hook and Rumplestiltskin could call a truce after everything that's happened between them and all the damage they've done to each other?
It would be interesting to see. Who knows if that’s possible? It could be. As with everything on this show, what you see sometimes, there’s a little bit more behind it. There could be more behind it. Even if they did [call a truce], who knows where that would go in the future?

What do you think will surprise fans most about the finale?
I think people can expect a really fantastic finale with quite a few twists and turns. Definitely fans won’t be disappointed. You get to see a sort of deeper layer to Hook. I think some people will be surprised by what they see. You get to see Hook’s interaction in the town with people a little bit more. You get to see Neverland. You get to see some of Hook in Neverland and the Jolly Roger. It’s a really big, epic episode.

The "Once Upon a Time" Season 2 finale airs Sunday, May 12 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

]]> Fri, 10 May 2013 09:47:33 EDT 3250891 <![CDATA['The Carrie Diaries' Renewed: The CW Greenlights Season 2 For For 'Sex And The City' Prequel Series]]> The Carrie Diaries" has been renewed for Season 2.

Executive producer Josh Schwartz tweeted his congratulations to the cast and crew of "The Carrie Diaries" shortly after it was renewed:




Candace Bushnell, who wrote the book that "The Carrie Diaries" is based on, also tweeted her excitement:




And stars Katie Findlay, Brenda Dooling and creator Amy B. Harris also tweeted about "The Carrie Diaries'" renewal:










Although the "Sex and the City" prequel series was considered a long-shot for renewal given its ratings struggles, The CW has chosen to show patience with the teen dramedy, which is based on Candace Bushnell's novel of the same name.

A recent Deadline report suggested that "Carrie" was a contender for renewal based on its strong online streaming viewership, with audiences finding the series via Hulu and the CW's website instead of through traditional means. The network also showed faith in the series when they canceled "Cult" on April 10 and chose to schedule "Carrie" repeats in the failed show's Friday timeslot.

In addition to "The Carrie Diaries" being renewed, The CW also picked up "Nikita" for a fourth season. The newly-renewed shows join previously renewed series "Arrow," "Supernatural" and "The Vampire Diaries," which were given early pickups from The CW in February.

The CW also picked up four pilots to series: "Tomorrow People" from "The Vampire Diaries" executive producer Julie Plec and "Arrow's" Greg Berlanti; "The 100," starring "Lost's" Henry Ian Cusick and "Grey's Anatomy's" Isaiah Washington; "Reign," which reveals the untold story of Mary, Queen of Scots' rise to power; and "Star-Crossed," which stars "Friday Night Lights'" Aimee Teegarden and "90210" alum Matt Lanter.

Pilot Pickups For 2013-2014:
NBC's new dramas and new comedies
Fox's new dramas and new comedies
CBS' new dramas and new comedies

]]> Thu, 9 May 2013 18:37:35 EDT 3042910 <![CDATA['Supernatural' Season 8, Episode 22 Recap: The Past Comes Back To Haunt The Winchesters In 'Clip Show']]>

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 8, Episode 22 of The CW's "Supernatural," titled "Clip Show."

Although the playfully titled "Clip Show" didn't quite showcase the greatest hits of "Supernatural," it did take us on a brief trip down memory lane, revisiting Tommy from "Wendigo," Jenny from "Shut Up, Dr. Phil," and dearly departed Sarah from "Provenance."

On the one hand, I've been itching to see where some of the more memorable characters from seasons past have ended up -- I think I've name-dropped Michael from "Something Wicked" and scene-stealing Missouri more than once, and despite the fact that Julie Benz is now on "Defiance," I personally like to pretend that Layla somehow survived her terminal diagnosis from "Faith." On the other, these three characters were brought back for the sole purpose of dying, so I'm relieved that the show didn't twist the knife by killing off more than one beloved guest star.



I'll admit, as sassy as Sarah was in "Provenance," she was never a character I was desperate to see more of, so the emotional impact of her death didn't really hit me, but the loss certainly had the desired effect on Sam and proved that Crowley (who has vacillated between untrustworthy but jovial "devil we know" and murderous arch-nemesis enough that both the audience and the Winchesters tend to underestimate him) truly means business this time. Mark Sheppard's epic monologue as the Winchesters scrambled to save Sarah was truly a tour de force performance, managing to mock the boys' family motto, undermine their mission and cynically point out the emptiness of their lives in one smug tirade.

Dean's determination to complete the trials was likely to be steadfast regardless of whether or not Crowley had offed one of his former love interests -- if anything, the desire for revenge probably would've made him go kamikaze that much more quickly -- but in choosing the empathetic Moose's former flame, Crowley had Sam's resolve wavering faster than you can say "you're too precious for this world." Eyes on the prize, Sammy -- think how many more lives can be saved with the gates of Hell closed for good!

Sarah's demise also continued Sam's long-standing tradition of giving the kiss of death to anyone he's romantically linked to. Amelia should be sleeping with one eye open.

Preying on all the people the Winchesters have saved is a fascinating and long-overdue concept for the show to explore, given that one of the series' best episodes, "What Is and What Should Never Be," hinged on the idea that all the lives the brothers have saved make their own sacrifices worthwhile. That uneasy balance, weighing the good of the many against the good of the two, has always been a central struggle for the Winchesters given everything they've lost, and sounds like it will be a question that the boys have to face head on in the finale.

While it was satisfying to see the brothers as a united front (though judging by Sam's expression in the last scene, they might not stay that way), Team Free Will was still operating on emergency power, with Dean and Castiel's bromance on the back-burner. Dean was still in a huff over Castiel's decision not to trust him with the angel tablet (which, in hindsight, was quite the blunder), but Castiel was doing his best to soothe his BFF's bruised ego by going on a conciliatory grocery run for beer, jerky, toilet paper, Busty Asian Beauties and pie, in what was one of our dorky angel's most hilarious scenes to date. I was also amused by Dean's complete 180 from accusing Sam of always letting him down earlier in the season to insisting that "Sammy always comes through" just to try and guilt-trip Castiel. True familial emotional blackmail, which is a pretty reassuring sign, when you think about it.

While I think it would've been hard for Dean to resist that kind of peace offering (the guy sure is a sucker for pie), Castiel's plan was derailed by the appearance of Metatron, who did not prove himself entirely trustworthy this week. As one eagle-eyed viewer pointed out in the comments last week, "A Little Slice of Kevin" identified the holy scribe as an archangel, while in the last two episodes, Metatron has described himself as a pencil pusher from the secretarial pool, and not capable of any ass kicking.

Although this could be a continuity error, given that the season's theme is supposedly "perception," I'm not yet prepared to take Metatron at face value. His eagerness to push Castiel into supposedly completing the angel tablet trials seems far more like he's asking this naive "warrior" to do his dirty work for him, playing on Castiel's guilt for murdering the other angels. It would've been far better if Castiel had been able to pause and turn to the Winchesters for advice, but much like his ill-advised alliance with Crowley, Cas is letting his need to atone cloud his better judgment, once again trusting a more knowledgable business partner without really knowing all the facts.

Perhaps there are warring factions and Naomi doesn't have all the power, or perhaps Metatron is playing an even longer con. While Castiel's faith in people is one of his most endearing qualities -- especially since he's obviously feeling guilty for not trusting Dean and now feels the need to overcompensate -- at this point, after everything he's been through and everyone who's manipulated him, a little cynicism could be healthy. Metatron could pull any old yarn out of his ass and call it a trial, but without Kevin deciphering the angel tablet, who's to say that killing a Nephilim is anything official, or that the waitress is the only one on earth? On that subject, it's intriguing that a combination of human and angel DNA is physically stronger than a pure angel, and it would be nice to delve further into that biology next season. Her silvery eyes were a nice touch.

(Sidebar: I'm also hoping that last week's Grand Canyon mention was a purposeful sign of something more nefarious going on with our season-long theme, along with the discrepancies regarding Henry Winchester, given that Jeremy Carver wrote "In the Beginning." I know many of us were rooting for a slightly more interesting explanation for Amelia, and I still haven't given up on that idea.)

The Men of Letters storyline continues to add further depth to the mythology, and Father Thompson's method of curing a demon was well executed (makes you wonder what other time-saving tricks the MoL have stashed away in their files). The experiment was suitably creepy, but returning a demon's humanity does raise the troubling question of what happens to the person the demon is possessing -- does it leave two souls in one body, with the host trapped under the former demon's consciousness, or does it destroy the host's soul altogether? Given the ease of the demon killing knife and the Colt, I do miss the morality of the show's earlier seasons, when Sam and Dean were far more likely to hesitate before murdering both the demon and the person it's possessing, preferring to use exorcisms first. Obviously, the stakes are higher now than they were in Season 1 or 2, but it's still an ethical debate I'd like to see more of.

It's a relief that the show has righted itself after the distractingly uneven "Taxi Driver," and "Clip Show" was another solid and engaging hour, making it frustratingly difficult to predict where the season finale might go, or what Season 9 might involve, aside from the fairly safe bet that the angels and heaven will play a bigger role. What did you think of the episode, and what are your predictions for the finale?

"Supernatural" airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.

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