I had an opportunity to see an advanced screening of season 2 episodes of ABC The Catch as well as interview Sonya Walger and Showrunner & Executive Producer Allan Heinberg. A special thank you goes out to Walt Disney Studios for providing press materials as well as sponsoring my trip and accommodations to the Be Our Guest Event. Opinions expressed are that of my own.
I have to admit that when “The Good Wife” ended, I was feeling quite a hole in my evening shows. Actually I pondered if I would be able to fill that empty spot in my Television viewing. However, after binge watching Season 1 of The Catch on ABC, I have learned to love another television drama. In fact, I am slightly addicted!
To give you a little background on the series, THE CATCH is a sexy, scintillating game of cat and mouse between L.A.’s top private investigator, Alice Vaughan (Mireille Enos), and the man she loves, Benjamin Jones (Peter Krause), the world’s most formidable con artist.
Last season Alice found out that her entire romance was constructed as part of an end game con. However through a few twists and turns, this couple on very opposite sides of the law, found that they could still make their relationship work.
(ABC/Richard Cartwright) PETER KRAUSE, MIREILLE ENOS
Not only did viewers explore their relationship, but we got to meet Ben’s gang of thieves including Rhys and Margot as well as get acquainted with the co owner of Alice’s PI business AVI, named Valerie. Along with this introduction, we met the practice’s employees as well as a member of the FBI on Ben’s trail named Agent Doa.
At the beginning of season two, our con man Ben has gone from committing the ultimate betrayal to performing the ultimate sacrifice, when he turns himself in to the FBI to save Alice from wrongful imprisonment. The story has continued to grow and gets more involved from there.
(ABC/Richard Cartwright) PETER KRAUSE, MIREILLE ENOS
So now that you have the back story, here are 5 Reasons Why I Watch THE CATCH On ABC!
1.The Romance Between Alice and Benjamin –
Alice (Mireille Enos) and Benjamin (Peter Krause) have this almost star crossed lovers vibe going. They are not always on the same side and there is so much working against them (he is a criminal and con man). However you can’t help but want them to make it work, because they have such great chemistry.
(ABC/Bob D’Amico) ABC’s “The Catch” stars Sonya Walger as Margot
2. Margot Bishop-
Margot (Sonya Walger) is a BAD GIRL seductress that you can’t help but love. Her moral compass is all over the place and at moments you think she can redeem herself, and then there she is totally becoming vicious again. She is definitely a complex character. I am excited to see where her potential friendship with Alice will go in season 2, as well as a budding relationship between her and an unexpected AVI team member.
3. The Twists –
There are always back end deals going on during THE CATCH. Just like Benjamin’s Character on the show, nothing is quite what it seems. I just wonder if Rhys will stay on the somewhat straight and narrow or eventually back stab Ben, and will Margot reunite with her family and who exactly is trying to kill her, as well as what is going to happen to Alice’s brother Tommy (T. R. Knight)!?! These mysteries keep me coming back for more.
(ABC/Richard Cartwright) ROSALIND CHAO, JOHN SIMM, ABRAHAM LIM
4. The Cons –
It is amazing what Ben and Rhys can get themselves into and I am interested to see what happens as they partner with the FBI. Plus, I can wait to see what scenarios they create and the identities (along with costumes) they take on complete their tasks.
(ABC/Richard Cartwright) JOHN SIMM, GINA TORRES
5. The Story Lines –
Their romance grabbed my attention, now want to know if there will eventually be a wedding between Alice and Ben. Plus, what is happening between Danny, Sophie, and Tommy, will they keep up the love triangle. We will have to see if Tommy can stay out of trouble (and imprisonment) long enough to find out!
As you can tell, I am immersed in a different world of international intrigue, romance, as well as complex characters. THE CATCH just keeps me coming back for more!
(ABC/Bob D’Amico) ABC’s “The Catch” stars Peter Krause as Benjamin, Mireille Enos as Alice, Sonya Walger as Margot, John Simm as Rhys, Rose Rollins as Valerie, Jay Hayden as Danny and Elvy Yost as Sophie.
So what should you expect from Season 2 of THE CATCH? I got an opportunity to chat with Sonya Walger (“Margot” aKA Penny from Lost) and Showrunner & Executive Producer Allan Heinberg (credits Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal) and this is what they had to say.
Will Margot’s and Alice’s relationship change this Season?
Sonya shares, “Alice and Margot discover they have perhaps more in common than they thought, and there’s a begrudging mutual respect while still there’s a lot of wariness because, Margot is Margot, you want to be careful of that. That was one of the things- those beautiful therapy scenes that Allan wrote us in season one…Margot had this moment of realizing they were both betrayed by the same guy.”
She continued, “They actually have all this common ground and that moves into season two where they realize they’re both strong, empowered, intelligent women who can go toe-to-toe, and neither one is going to stand down. When they realize neither one is going to stand down, then they have to work together. I love the relationship, I obviously just love doing scenes with Mireille, it was fun.”
How far in advance do you know what is happening in the script?
Sonya the elaborated, “I have the most collaborative show runner in the world, I have as much information as Allan has. So if he knows, ‘hey, you’re gonna hook up with so and so, and it may turn ugly’, then that is the information that I have.”
Allan then added to Sonya’s comment, “…sometimes giving an actor too much information, if you know too much about what’s coming down the road…it’ll pull you (the actor) away from the present moment. I think a lot of showrunners withhold in order to protect the actor to keep them present in the moment. But because we’re cooking this up together, and because I want her (Sonya) as invested and her writer’s mind is so strong… I will tell them as much as I know…”
(ABC/Image Group LA) Allan Heinberg is the Showrunner and Executive Producer of ABC’s “The Catch.”
What else can we expect in Season 2 of THE CATCH?
It was revealed that Gina Torres (Agent Justine Diaz) will be a fixture on the show, Allan shared, “When we brought Rhys on full time, Pete Krause was like all right, ‘we’re okay now. I’ve got my partner”…”now there’s a comedy trio with Gina joining them this year…”
Allan then explained how the characters are evolving, “What’s interesting on the show is the heroes and villains are clearly drawn at the front of it. He’s a bad guy who took all for money. She’s someone who was victimized because she fell in love. Then it shifts so quickly so that even someone like Margot Bishop who kills people for a living- by her own admission- becomes someone you actually feel for, and root for…”
Sonya added, “It’s a rare and great thing to work with somebody as collaborative as Allan which is part of why the characters do evolve and change. There’s so much back and forth. There’s room to just keep writing what they need to write. There’s actually room to see what you’re doing well and then write to that.”
PHOTO CREDIT CORALIE SERIGHT LOVEBUGSANDPOSTCARDS.COM
Allan then explained, “I knew we had to reinvent the show completely in this second season. … I think everybody thought we were doing The Fugitive, ‘I don’t want her chase him for ten episodes’…season two, we’ve gotta spin everything around, and if we are lucky enough to get a season three, we’re gonna do it again.”
He continued, “It’s going to be the same characters you love, but new dynamics…THE CATCH is always spinning the dynamic a little bit, like (for example) what two characters have never had a scene together? Let’s try to figure out how to do that. How the season started was, I really wanted more Margot and Alice. What happens when Margot walks in the AVI for the first time. I want to watch that show, and then Margot ends up hiring the person she was trying to kill seventy-two hours ago. We are lucky that we get to reinvent this story every 10 episodes, which is fun”.
About Thursday Night’s Episode ABC THE CATCH – “The Dining Hall”: Alice discovers some very hard truths about her brother Tommy and Val is forced to dig into her past in order to help with his case. Meanwhile, relationships are tested as Margot and the AVI team have to navigate their current realities, and Ben and Rhys’ latest con may turn out to be a little too risky, on “The Catch,” airing THURSDAY, MARCH 23 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EST), on The ABC Television Network.
Learn more about the series by visiting THE CATCH, and on social at the hashtag #TheCatch on Twitter twitter.com/ABC_TheCatch, Instagram instagram.com/abcthecatch, and Facebook facebook.com/TheCatchABC.
I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Carlee @ FLL
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