Matt's Inside Line: Scoop on Castle, Scandal, NCIS, Vampire Diaries, Beast, Haven and More!
Will Castle be able to nail Valentine’s Day? Will Supergirl raise hell on Haven? When will Beauty give her Beast a buss? And first and foremost: What the Huck?! Read on for answers to those questions plus teases from other shows.
Scandal | I Scandalpaced this week’s column because I just screened tonight’s midseason finale, which yet again proves that just when you think you’ve got the tiniest bead on what’s going on, you realize you simply do not. Yes, you will get the full (and incredible) story on Huck’s involvement in the shooting – and how a random act of kindness threatens to finger him for the assault. (As for Fitz’s status… let’s just say that a funeral plan is getting handed around. Eep.) Also in the compelling hour: Acting POTUS Sally Langston gets an “interesting” visitor soon after making camp in the Oval Office – and then herself drops in on Verna to deliver a threat; Cyrus catches James in a big lie; Abby slaps someone, twice; and, perhaps most shocking, someone shouts at Olivia, “Get your ass back here now!” – and lives to tell about it. One more tease: At hour’s end, Langston is invited to make a very difficult decision. (Come back after the episode to predict Sally’s choice!)
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Castle | Remember (of course you do) how Rick let down Kate by obliging her wishes and not coughing up a Christmas gift? That “oops” will be revisited as the couple celebrates their first Valentine’s Day together. In that February sweeps episode – the same one guest-starring Firefly alum Gina Torres as the star of a Real Housewives-like reality mess – “Castle and Beckett are talking about what they got each other, and there’s a subtle competition between the two of them,” shares show boss Andrew Marlowe. And as Rick strikes to make good on his Yuletide faux pas, “That in and of itself brings its own complications…. Let’s just say that some wild hijinks ensue as he tries to deliver her present.” Hmm, bigger than a breadbox? Or (ahem) tiny enough to fall down a sewer grate?
RELATED | Castle Exclusive: Gina Torres on Board for Show’s Latest Firefly Reunion
Haven | Smallville alum Laura Vandervoort kicks off her two-episode arc this Friday, starting with Season 3′s penultimate episode, and this much viewers have gleaned about her heretofore top-secret role: She is playing Arla, the wife of James Cogan (aka The Colorado Kid) — a neat trick since sooo many years have passed and she looks… well, like a twentysomething Laura Vandervoort. The actress describes Arla as someone who is “out for vengeance” yet is also “a true romantic who has been hurt.” The stone-cold revenge-seeker in her, though, promises to show fans “someone they haven’t seen me play before,” she raves. (I’ve seen this run’s final two hours, and Arla plays a pivotal role in some wiiiild stuff that goes down, as Audrey debates her fate/date with The Barn.)
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The Vampire Diaries | Joseph Morgan says that when Klaus ultimately reunites with the currently staked Rebekah, we should “expect turbulence” between the sibs. “Obviously, she is not going to be happy with Klaus!” he laughs. Assaying the duo’s dynamic – namely the differences that drive a wedge between them – Morgan says, “To a certain extent, part of Klaus wishes she could be the bloodthirsty, fabulous vampire that he wants her to be, but she’s so desperate for love that she comes across as weak to him. And she’s been used against him as one of his weaknesses.” As a result, he previews, “We’ll see that dynamic become more and more complicated — as sibling relationships are.”
RELATED | Exclusive: NCIS Casts Young Abby for Origin Episode Full of ‘Prizes’ for Longtime Fans
And now, some reader questions:
Will we see a kiss between Beauty and the Beast’s Cat and Vincent anytime soon? — @FlamingJets
I brought your question (and the dozens just like it, sent via Twitter!) to EP Sherry Cooper, and she said that Vincat fans waiting with bated breath for a proper (or better yet improper) kiss “are going to be pleased”… at some point during the back half of Season 1. “And we’re all pleased, too!” she shared. “Watching [an upcoming episode], I was all aflutter. I mean, we wrote it and I was like, ‘Kiss her!’”
I love “Tiva” and all but is NCIS ever going to continue on with McGee’s father drama? They need to. –Morgan
They need to, yes – and they will. “It’s coming,” promises showrunner Gary Glasberg. “We were originally sort of planning for it to fall in February, but I think it may be a bit later. We’re in the middle of writing it as we speak, and I’m excited to see who we come up with” to play the esteemed Navy admiral. Make your casting suggestions in comments!
Why isn’t January Jones on the SAG Awards cast list for Mad Men? I hope this isn’t a spoiler about Betty leaving the show. –CCA
Have no fear, it’s just a technicality. Per Page 14 of the Screen Actors Guild Award eligibility requirements, any nominated ensemble “shall be defined as those actors who have appeared in more than half the episodes originally aired during the eligible calendar year” — and sadly Betty’s Weight Watchers meetings kept her off-camera too much.
If there’s a show you’d like the Inside Line on, email mattmtvguy@gmail.com, and maybe it’ll get some love the next time around! (With reporting by Vlada Gelman)
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