The Netflix streaming series Altered Carbon will debut online on February 2.
Based on the novel by Richard K. Morgan, the series is set more than 300 years in the future where society has been transformed by new technology. A person’s consciousness can be digitized; human bodies are interchangeable; death is no longer permanent. Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman from The Killing and Suicide Squad) is the lone surviving soldier in a group of elite interstellar warriors who were defeated in an uprising against the new world order. His mind was imprisoned – on ice – for centuries until Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy from The Following), an impossibly wealthy, long-lived man, offers Kovacs the chance to live again. In exchange, Kovacs has to solve a murder that of Bancroft himself.
The ensemble cast includes Ato Essandoh (Copper), Dichen Lachman (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Dollhouse), Kristin Lehman (Motive) and Tamara Taylor (Bones) [among others].
TV viewers were introduced to actress Stana Katic back in March of 2009 when she starred as NYPD Detective Kate Beckett alongside actor Nathan Fillion in the ABC drama Castle, which went on to become not only a fan favorite but also a long-running series for the network.
Katic will be returning to the small screen this Friday in the dark and gripping new series Absentia, where she will portraying FBI agent Emily Byrne, who disappeared without a trace while hunting one of Boston’s most notorious serial killers, and is declared dead. Six years later, though, Emily is discovered held in captivity, with little memory of who kidnapped and tortured her.
Emily is reunited with her family, which includes her retired cop father Warren (Paul Freeman from Raiders of the Lost Ark) and her brother Jack (Neil Jackson from Sleepy Hollow) as well as her husband Special Agent Nick Durand (Patrick Heusinger from Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce and Royal Pains).
She also learns that her young son Flynn (Patrick McAuley from The Conjuring 2) – now a 9-year-old – is being raised by Nick and his…wait for it…new wife Alice (Cara Theobold from Downton Abbey) [Emily was pronounced dead in absentia years before, remember!].
Emily tries to unravel the mystery behind her abduction while reconnecting with her family, but at lot has happened since her disappearance six years earlier. Worse yet, she becomes a suspect herself in a string of new murders that are similar in nature to the serial killer she was investigating before her disappearance.
Without giving too much away, Emily struggles with flashbacks to the torment she dealt with by her kidnapper – some scenes are fragmented but very hard to watch given she was tortured and held captive in a water tank; she has to deal with a troubled brother with his own set of problems; a husband who moved on with a new wife and a son who doesn’t see her as his mother. And, the man convicted of being the serial killer she was investigating, gets out of prison because she was found alive.
Needless to say, this is a much different character for Katic to be playing, but one that she pulls off very convincingly. The storyline is obviously much darker than that of nearly all of the episodes of the 8-season-long Castle but pulls you in wondering whether there is more to Emily than meets the eye, who was behind her horrible six-year captivity and who is really a villain or victim.
The rest of the cast includes Angel Bonanni (Shots Fired) as Boston Police Detective Tommy Gibbs, who is in charge of Emily’s case; Ralph Ineson (Game of Thrones) as Special Agent Adam Radford, Nick and Emily’s boss; Bruno Bichir (Narcos) as Dr. Daniel Vega, an FBI psychologist and profiler and Richard Brake (Ray Donovan) as Conrad Harlow, the prime suspect in the serial killer case.
Here is the trailer for Absenita:
You can learn more about the series Absentia at the show’s website and make sure to watch all 10 episodes of Absentia on Amazon Prime when it debuts on Friday, February 2.
Here is the list of the new programming options to expect on TV this coming holiday week:
On January 29, the season finale of Valor will air at 9 PM on The CW.
Viewers should be forewarned that The State of the Union Address will air on all of the major and many of the cable networks on January 30.
On February 2, the new streaming series Absentia will debut online today on Amazon, starring Stana Katic (Castle), Patrick Heusinger (Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce), Neil Jackson (Sleepy Hollow) and Cara Theobold (Downton Abbey) [among others].
The Netflix streaming series Altered Carbon will debut on February 2, starring an ensemble cast that includes Joel Kinnaman (The Killing), James Purefoy (The Following), Ato Essandoh (Copper), Dichen Lachman (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Dollhouse), Kristin Lehman (Motive) and Tamara Taylor (Bones) [among others].
Also on February 2, the Cinemax drama Strike Back will return for a fifth season at 10 PM, starring a new team including Daniel MacPherson (The Shannara Chronicles and APB), Roxanne McKee (Dominion), Warren Brown (Luther and Liar), Alin Sumarwata (Neighbours), Nina Sosanya (Love Actually) and Katherine Kelly (Class).
The Lifetime original movie The Simone Biles Story: Courage to Soar will debut on February 3 at 8 PM, starring newcomer Jeanté Godlock in the lead role and Tisha Campbell-Martin (My Wife and Kids).
On February 3, My Secret Valentine is the new Hallmark Channel movie that will debut at 9 PM, starring Lacey Chabert and Andrew Walker.
Lastly, This Is Us will air a special episode on February 4 on NBC after the Super Bowl airs.
Trying to figure out what to watch tonight? Be it new episodes of the TV season, reairs of cable series or a movie, here are some suggestions:
4 PM: Braveheart movie on BBC America
5:50 PM: The Bodyguard movie on Cinemax
6 PM: Thor movie on Syfy
7 PM: Winter’s Dream movie on Hallmark Channel (Encore) Victoria on Masterpiece on PBS (Reair) The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials movie on FX
7:09 PM: La Bamba movie on Encore
7:30 PM: The Grammy Awards on CBS (Special)
8 PM: Counterpart on Starz (NEW) Faith Under Fire: The Antoinette Tuff Story movie on Lifetime (Encore of DEBUT) Braveheart movie on BBC America Jack Reacher: Never Go Back movie on EPIX
9 PM: Victoria on Masterpiece on PBS (NEW) Counterpart on Starz (Encore) A Country Wedding movie on Hallmark Channel (Reair)
10 PM: The Alienist on TNT (Encore) Counterpart on Starz (Encore) The Dark Knight movie on Cinemax Star Trek movie on EPIX The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials movie on FX
There were a handful of new episodes of Friday night dramas airing on the major networks last night.
Here is how those dramas fared in the overall ratings last night:
8 PM Shows: Blindspot (NBC) [NEW] – 3.7 million viewers Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW) [NEW] – 678,000 viewers
9 PM Shows: Taken (NBC) [NEW] – 3.2 million viewers Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC) [NEW] – 2.2 million viewers Jane the Virgin (The CW) [RETURN] – 664,000 viewers
What did you watch on TV last night? Please share.
Trying to figure out what to watch tonight? Be it new episodes of the TV season, reairs of cable series or a movie, here are some suggestions:
5:10 PM: The Fate of the Furious movie on HBO
5:30 PM: Pretty Woman movie on AMC
6 PM: Love in Paradise movie on Hallmark Channel (Reair) Miss Congeniality movie on Freeform A Knight’s Tale movie on VICE
6:10 PM: Me Before You movie on EPIX
8 PM: Blindspot on NBC (NEW) Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl movie on AMC Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children movie on Cinemax The Hunger Games movie on TNT
9 PM: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC (NEW) Jane the Virgin on The CW (RETURN) Taken on NBC (NEW) Hailey Dean Mystery: Dating is Murder movie on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (Reair) The Light Between Oceans movie on Showtime
The primetime landscape for the major networks last night was a little lighter than usual with repeats airing on NBC and a pre-emption on CBS, but there were still a handful of new episodes of some of the Wednesday night dramas.
Here is how those dramas fared in the overall ratings last night:
8 PM Shows: The X-Files (FOX) [NEW] – 3.9 million viewers Riverdale (The CW) [NEW] – 1.4 million viewers
9 PM Shows: 9-1-1 (FOX) [NEW] – 6.4 million viewers Dynasty (The CW) [NEW] – 557,000 viewers
