Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Emily Wickersham (The Sopranos and The Bridge) has landed a role on NCIS, playing Bishop, a bright, educated, athletic, attractive, fresh-faced, focused and somewhat socially awkward new agent. She has a mysterious mixture of analytic brilliance, fierce determination and idealism. There is a potential for this character to take over for departing Ziva David, but that is speculation at best right now. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

British actor Treva Etienne (Terminator Salvation and Pirates of the Caribbean) has joined the cast of Falling Skies where he will play Dingaan Botha, who will be very involved with the 2nd Mass. The series will return to TNT next summer. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor James Frain (The White Queen and True Blood) will appear in multi episodes of the new FOX thriller Sleepy Hollow, playing Rutledge, a modern-day nobleman who will interrogate Ichabod, who is being passed off as a “visiting Oxford professor,” about his past. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NBC is developing an as-yet untitled thriller-family drama based on the Linwood Barclay novel “Never Look Away” that centers on an award-winning journalist whose wife goes missing. His life is turned upside down as he discovers the truth about his wife, the town they live in, and even himself. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC Family is developing a horror-laced series from writer Jeff Dixon called The Final Girls that would revolve around a group of girls who have, in essence, survived their own personal horror stories and are brought together by a mysterious older woman, to be played by Jamie Leigh Curtis, to channel the stress and scars of their experience for some greater good. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of the CSI franchise, has sold a drama pilot called The Bounty to ABC that will look into what happens a woman’s family is murdered. She inspires America to create the largest bounty in history for the killer’s capture. (Tim Molloy at The Wrap)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Hot Trailer: Great Expectations

Extended Thor: The Dark World Trailer

Q&A SECTION (with Natalie Abrams and Adam Bryant at TV Guide and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Question: Thanks for the Revolution scoop, but what’s going on with Monroe this season? — April

NATALIE: The deposed leader of the former Monroe Republic is drowning his sorrows in, well, sex — as is Charlie, who, thankfully is not sharing Monroe’s bed. But the horndogs will cross paths early on. Unfortunately, their meeting will be even more devastating for Charlie than that time that he, you know, tried to kill everyone she loves.

Question: What can you tell me about Lisa Edelstein’s character on Castle. Does she actually come between Castle and Beckett? — Kyle

ADAM: I wouldn’t say that Rachel McCord is actively scheming to tear the lovebirds apart, but she doesn’t necessarily see their relationship as a good thing. “McCord views Castle as a threat to Beckett,” Edelstein tell us. “He is hampering her potential.” That said, Edelstein says that she eventually warms to our favorite mystery writer. “She’s not an enemy of Castle’s,” she says. “She gets who he is, but she also knows what her job is. … McCord has made mistakes of her own, and that’s why she feels qualified to help Beckett avoid doing the same thing.”

Question: Do you have any scoop on The Originals? — Janette

NATALIE: Klaus’ daddy issues will resurface when Sebastian Roche returns in a flashback as Original father Mikael Mikaelson. “We’ll certainly get a better idea of why Klaus has turned out the way he has,” Joseph Morgan tells us. “One scene in particular, filmed in the woods in the dead of night, will hopefully help people to empathize a little more with this bloodthirsty, murdering sociopath I play.”

Question: What the heck was that horned thingy at the end of Sleepy Hollow?! — Jerry

NATALIE: “That’s a great question!” executive producer Alex Kurtzman says. “It’s going to be one of the driving questions of the first season.” The producers call the horned monster “The Blurry Man,” and say that he is responsible for unleashing Headless. His unique appearance is actually inspired by a famous figure, but don’t go poring through your Bible to find him.

Question: What else can you share bout the NCIS: Los Angeles premiere? — Shelley

ADAM: If you thought that Sam and Deeks’ torture in the finale was hard to watch, sorry, the brutality ain’t over yet. More than one team member will be shot in the first episode, which also features a dismembering and a really gross (if clever) ploy involving a large chunk of skin. But it’ll all be worth it in the fight against Sidorov and Janvier. By the end of the hour, one will be dead and the other will be locked away.

NOTE: It should be noted that actress Daniela Ruah (who plays Kensi) in NCIS: Los Angeles recently revealed she expecting a baby with her fiancé who just happens to be the brother of her co-star Eric Christian Olsen aka Deeks aka her maybe new boyfriend in the show IF the powers that be go in that direction – who knows if they will, though. It will be interesting to see how or if Daniela’ real life pregnancy will be written into the show and how that will be handled between their on-screen characters.

Question: Dude. Justified. Hit me. —Don

Ausiello: For Season 5, the FX drama is going back to the Cuckoo Crime Family From Hell conceit popularized by the Bennetts of Season 2 (RIP, Mags). This time around, we’ll be introduced to the white trash Florida-based Crowe clan, led by the sexy, charismatic and ruthless fortysomething patriarch Dale. Officially, the Crowes run a gator farm. Unofficially, they deal drugs and murder people and stuff. Dale’s inner circle includes sister Wendy (the public face of the family) and younger brother Danny (described as a romantic sociopath).

Question: Let’s assume Kate takes the job in DC on Castle. How long might the stint last before she returns to the 12th precinct? —Megan

Ausiello: If she takes the job in the nation’s capital — and that’s still a big if — I’ll hazard a guess that she’ll stay put for somewhere between two and five episodes.

Question: Do you have any info on NCIS, Castle or The Mentalist? –Jang

Ausiello: I choose Door No. 2! Lisa Edelstein told our Matt Mitovich that, regardless of how her character — a federal agent who factors into Beckett’s career conundrum — gets on with Kate, she and Stana Katic became the fastest of friends during her three-episode guest-starring turn. “I really didn’t want to do an arc on a show without really investing as much as I could in it, so I walked onto that show with a lot of ideas and wanting to create a real character — and Stana was psyched about that,” the House alumna happily reports. “Those things can go many different directions,” she adds with a laugh, “so I was really happy that she was so gracious.”

Question: Nikita scoop, please? Am I right to assume these last six episodes are going to blow us away? —Steph

Ausiello: Yes, you are absolutely, 100 percent right to assume that. You would also be absolutely, 100 percent right to assume that our titular heroine, who went MIA in the finale, will rejoin the team sooner versus later. “The first episode starts with her on the run,” previews co-star Lyndsy Fonseca. “And by the end of it, she’s back with the team.” Bonus Scoop: We hear Nik is keeping company with a pretty rough crowd during her time on the lam.

Question: Loved Sleepy Hollow and thrilled it did so well in the ratings. Got anything on Episode 2? —Henry

Ausiello: Though he very much died in the premiere, we have by no means seen the last of John Cho’s Andy.

Question: Please tell me that you have something about Zoe and Wade’s future in Season 3 of Hart of Dixie? Will they be back together at some point? – Lindsey

Ausiello: I’m sure they’ll get back together at some point. But for now, my hunch is Zoe will have her hands full with Josh Cooke’s new Joel character, whom Dixie creator Leila Gerstein says will be around “for a major arc.” Gerstein doesn’t outright confirm that Joel is coming in as a love interest for ex-Manhattanite Zoe, but her description of him as a “New Yorker moving to Bluebell” paints a pretty conclusive picture, no?

Question: I love Chris Carmack on Nashville. What can you tell me about Will’s love life this season? —Andy

Ausiello: You already know that Will is going to spend some time trying to figure out what his heart really wants, but showrunner Dee Johnson says that despite their awkward encounter on the couch last season, none of Will’s angst will involve Gunnar. “They worked through it, shockingly and admirably,” she tells TVLine. “I don’t think we’re in a situation going forward where he’s going to be pining for Gunnar. They’re friends. Genuine friends.”

Question: I’d love some scoop on the Miles/Rachel dynamic on Revolution this season. Any
movement with these two? —Claire

Ausiello: “It’s going to go back and forth a bit, as those things do,” Billy Burke shares with a wink. As Season 2 opens — dropping a big piece hint along the way that things were hot-n-heavy ‘tween the two in the past — “It’s a little chilly, and then it warms up a bit,” Burke says. “And then things ensue that cause another rift.”

That’s it. Enjoy!