Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Chi McBride has been promoted to series regular on Hawaii Five-0. He plays Captain Grover, who recently moved his family from Chicago to Oahu and heads up the island’s SWAT team. (Tim Kenneally at The Wrap)

SPOILER ROOM (with Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

‘SCANDAL’: COLUMBUS SHORT TEASES HARRISON’S BACKSTORY

As last week’s episode of Scandal proved, just when you think we’ve learned everything there is to know about the characters on this show, yet another crazy secret about their past comes to light. And soon, teases Columbus Short, it’ll be Harrison’s turn when an upcoming episode teaches us just how this Gladiator earned his armor. “You’re going to see a different side of Harrison — a more edgy, dark, and very, very interesting side of Harrison,” he says. “I was talking to [executive producer] Betsy [Beers] about this, but how did he start buttoning his armor? Harrison never lets himself get worked up, and when he does, he kind of always pulls it back together. Why is that? What is it in him that he never let himself go Incredible Hulk? It’s because of something in his past. He lost it and made a mistake and did something he regretted in the past.”

And the challenge was one Short was more than up for, considering Harrison has been such an enigmatic character up until this season. ”Where Harrison’s going is so special and so interesting,” he says. “I’m excited to see where it goes.”

Meanwhile, creator Shonda Rhimes and the writers are hard at work on the midseason closer, which she says will — as we probably expected — blow our minds. “What I love about how we’re gonna sort of close out 2013 with these characters is I feel like where we started at the beginning of the year and where we’re taking it by the end of 2013, they’re in such completely different places,” she says. “It’s so surprising in terms of all of them, really, and where they all end up by the end of the season. I feel like hopefully we’re gonna have another one of those moments where people are going to be saying, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe they’re going there.’”

‘ARROW’ EP ON ‘BERICITY’

If your heart broke for poor Felicity after Oliver and Isabel’s hook-up, you’re not alone! But rest assured, she’s not going to spend the next batch of episodes crying into a bucket of Häagen-Dazs. As it has been reported, Barry Allen, who debuts in the Dec. 4 episode, is going to be catching Felicity’s eye, and while loyal Olicity shippers might not be excited about that news, Andrew Kreisberg is confident they’ll win you over yet.

“I think that as many people are shipping Olicity, halfway through episode 8, there are going to be just as many people shipping Bericity,” he says. “They’re amazing together…we always know Grant [Gustin] was destined to be Barry, but once we saw him and Emily [Bett Rickards] together, it was even more clear because they’re just so good together.”

As for Oliver and Felicity, Kreisberg says they will remain on unsure ground. “I think they’re taking baby steps toward feeling each other out about the possibility of maybe one day that maybe something maybe could possibly maybe be something more than friends and co-vigilantes,” he said, laughing at his extra-cautious phrasing. “They’re as star-crossed, in a way, as Oliver and Laurel. But star-crossed is a good thing for a superhero. It means we need a lot more episodes to get to that.”

Q&A SECTION (with Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

Question: Any McGee scoop? I don’t feel like he’s gotten enough to do on NCIS lately.– Jacinda

Sandra: “He’s going to play a really big part after the holidays,” EP Gary Glasberg assures me. “And Delilah’s still around. He’s got his work cut out for him in some stuff coming up.” And speaking of the holidays, you won’t want to miss the Dec. 17 outing. It’s a nail-biting hour that will find the team trying to crack the case of a strange outbreak occurring within military families. “It’s an Abby-centric story. So it’s Abby and Carol [Meredith Eaton] and Palmer really focused in the lab to try to focus on what’s going on,” Glasberg teases. There’s also a “really, really loving” story involving Vance, who is celebrating his first Christmas without his wife.

Question: So I’m in love with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., especially the relationship between Skye and Agent Ward. Their chemistry is amazing. Are we going to see anything happen between them anytime soon? -Jillian

Sandra: Well, if you saw Tuesday night’s episode, you know there’s a chance that Ward may have spent the evening with, ahem, another member of the team, and I’m guessing he and Melinda weren’t up all night braiding each other’s hair. Regardless of the complications that this possible Mayward hook-up could cause, Chloe Bennet says she’s on board for any and all Skyward action. “The chemistry is obviously there, and they’re terribly perfect for each other, is what I like to say,” she says. “They’re so opposite and so similar in the same way. They’re both kind of loners and they’re both kind of out for themselves, but they both have such big hearts and they both genuinely want the best — they just go about it in different ways. So yes, I definitely ship Skye and Ward!”

Question: I missed The Blacklist this week. So can you get me through this show-less week with a little scoop? — Liliana

Sandra: I hear there’s a two-part story coming up soon. According to Diego Klattenhoff, who plays Agent Ressler, “Episodes 9 and 10 are going to be big. We’re definitely going to have a big episode.” In fact, he says, “I would say it’s our best episode of the season so far.” Let’s just say this: I hear the episode involves Red in the hands of someone who isn’t very happy with him. But how does Red get kidnapped while he’s being tracked? Well, that gets, gulp, dealt with.

Question: HOLY TWIST, Sleepy Hollow!! The whole Headless Horseman twist was just awesome. I LOVE THIS SHOW. Please give me some scoop! — Amy

Sandra: According to Mark Goffman, if you want to be shocked, just wait until the season finale. “The best I can say is it’s going to be epic,” he says. “[It’s] a pretty spectacular finish, which is going to leave all of our characters in a very precarious place.”

That’s it. Enjoy!