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TV Spoilers & Speculation Corner: 12/21/11

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  • December 21, 2011
This entry is part 25 of 26 in the series Spoilers 2011: Part 2

Spoilers 2011: Part 2

The U.S. remake of Being Human returns with a second season on January 16. SyFy has been putting out previews of it for about a month now. We will start reviewing it again when it comes back off its interseason hiatus. Also, Grimm returns on January 6.

This week, we have spoilers for Once Upon a Time,  Doctor Who and Supernatural:

Once Upon a Time (Sunday nights, 8pm, ABC)
By Heather S. Vina

SpoilerTV has up the full set of promotional photos for episode 1.08, “Desperate Souls”, here.

ABC also released their official description for “Desperate Souls”:

“REGINA AND MR. GOLD TAKE OPPOSITE SIDES WHEN EMMA RUNS FOR PUBLIC OFFICE, AND RUMPELSTILTSKIN TRIES TO TRACK DOWN A POWERFUL SOURCE TO KEEP HIS SON FROM FIGHTING IN A MEANINGLESS WAR, ON ABC’S ONCE UPON A TIME

“Brad Dourif (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) Guest Stars as an Old Beggar.

“‘Desperate Souls’ – Regina and Mr. Gold play dirty politics and take opposite sides when Emma runs for a coveted Storybrooke public office against Sidney. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale world that was, Rumpelstiltskin tries to track down the ultimate power source in order to help his son avert the horrors of a meaningless war, on Once Upon a Time, SUNDAY, JANUARY 8 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

“Once Upon a Time stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret, Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold, Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen/Regina, Jared Gilmore as Henry Mills, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/John Doe, and Raphael Sbarge as Jiminy Cricket/Archie Hopper.

“Guest starring are Meghan Ory as Ruby/Red Riding Hood, Patti Allan as Miss Ginger/Blind Witch, Beverley Elliott as Granny, Giancarlo Esposito as Sidney/Mirror, Dylan Schmid as Baelfire, Conner Dwelly as Morraine, Kate Bateman as Mother, Mark Gash as Father, Ty Olsson as Hordor, Brad Dourif as Old Beggar, Michael Phenicie as The Duke, C. Ernst Harth as Burly Man/The Ogre, David-Paul Grove as Doc and Gabe Khouth as Sneezy.

“‘Desperate Souls’ was written by Jane Espenson and directed by Michael Waxman.”

Hmmm…considering Gold is all about maneuvering things so that they will best serve him, I’m guessing he’s hoping that having in office a Sheriff who owes him a favour will be a good thing for him. And frankly, I think he doesn’t like the idea of Regina having that much power.

Kristin at E!Online has some spoilers up in her latest spoiler column:

“mrsjmanders: loving Once Upon a Time but one thing is bugging me…when will Emma totally buy into the fairy-verse?!
“If there is one person that could convince Emma (Jennifer Morrison) that all this fairy-tale stuff is true, it’s adorable believer, Henry (Jared Gilmore). And consulting producer, Jane Espenson, says their relationship is going to grow even more this season: “This is a woman who’s never thought of herself as nurturing. And suddenly there’s this kid that needs her. You’re going to see later on this season when she starts to realise she needs him. And that’s a big turn for her.” Is that cagey writer code for: “She’ll completely believe in a former fairy-verse” turn? Perhaps.

“Fotreya: Any Once Upon a Time spoilers? Something about the Beauty & the Beast episode?
“Let’s just say that Belle (Emilie de Ravin) and Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle) have a very interesting relationship. Speaking of the little creep, did you know he has a son? Yes, really! In the show’s Jan. 8 episode, Rumpelstiltskin attempts to track down the ultimate power source in order to help his son avert the horrors of war. Could this have something to do with his baby obsession? Hmm….

“Natalievana: Have we seen the last of Sheriff Graham on Once Upon a Time?
“Why must you bring up our recently deceased fictional boyfriend? And so close to Christmas?! Have you no heart? Yes, we have seen the last of Sheriff Graham (Jamie Dornan), but that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of the Huntsman, his fairy-tale counterpart.”

I’m looking forward to the growing relationship between Henry and Emma, as it’s one of my favourites. I’m also curious about the relationship between Belle and Rump. I wonder if she might be one person he didn’t take advantage of?

TVLine announced that Amy Acker (Angel) will be making a guest appearance in the new year. She will be playing a love interest for Grumpy, both in the fairytale world as Grumpy and in the real world as Leroy. I wonder if she will be an original character or a fairytale one?

A repeat of the Snow/Charming-meet episode (“Snow Falls”) aired this past Sunday and received a 1.2/3 with 4.420 million viewers. Not great repeat numbers, since it lost to repeats of Fox’s animated duo, The Simpsons and Allen Gregory, but since it’s a repeat during the holidays, hopefully, the network isn’t putting too much weight on those numbers!

Doctor Who (Saturday nights, 9pm, BBC America)
By Heather S. Vina

Only four more days to go! The BBC has released some stills for the Christmas special. You can find them here.

SpoilerTV has up teasers for the Christmas special and three sneak peeks for the episode. I have to admit that I did not read them. Too spoilery for me for this particular show!

In an interview, producer and writer Steven Moffat mentioned that there will be no more two-parters in this coming season.

The biggest news out there right now about the show, though, is Moffat confirming that the Ponds – Amy and Rory – will no longer be the Doctor’s Companions. There’s no word on the new Companion (or Companions) who will be joining the Doctor next season, but we do know that Amy and Rory will be making a guest appearance in the Christmas special and a guest appearance in the new season, but that will be it and the Doctor will move on to a new person in his life. You can find a report of the announcement at a screening of the Christmas special, here.

I’ve expected this since the end of last season, and the reports that Amy and Rory were only making an appearance in the Christmas special. While I will miss them, I do think it’s time for them to leave and I appreciate that they are leaving on a positive note for the characters. Hopefully, they won’t change that come their appearance next season, but we’ll see! Either way, I’m very curious to see the next Companion the Doctor will have. Hopefully, they will be a great addition!

Supernatural (Friday nights, 9pm, CW)
By Paula R. Stiles

Very slow newsweek, what with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles heading home for the holidays on the 18th.

I know we talked about this, already, but not in the formal article (since the announcement came out after last week’s column went up). The official synopsis for 7.11 is up:

“#Supernatural 7.11 synopsis (Jan. 6) “Adventures in Babysitting”

“ONCE UPON A TIME ACTRESS MEGHAN ORY GUEST STARS — Still reeling after what happened to Bobby (Jim Beaver), Dean (Jensen Ackles) becomes dangerously obsessed over finding a way to take down Dick Roman (guest star James Patrick Stuart). Meanwhile, Sam (Jared Padalecki) decides to help a teenage girl (guest star Madison McLaughlin) look for her father (guest star Ian Tracey), a hunter who has gone missing. Sam traces his last steps to a truck stop where the help (guest star Meghan Ory) turns out not to be so friendly. Jeannot Szwarc directed the episode written by
Adam Glass.”

As I said before, I am very happy to see veteran Canadian actor Ian Tracey on the show (finally) and I definitely hope that the comments the actress (McLaughlin) who plays his daughter has made about doing scenes with both Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles mean that we might get some of Tracey working with Ackles, or even his character surviving the episode. The brothers could use some new hunter allies and the show might balk at killing off a child character (or orphaning her so she had to ride with Sam and Dean). Also, while I’m totally “meh” about ever seeing Dick again, except maybe his head as a garnish on a platter, I’m all for seeing Dean become “dangerously obsessed” with whacking any and all Leviathans. Go straight to Crazy Town, Dean. It suits you.

There’s a new CW People’s Choice Awards promo that includes a few new (very quick) shots of 7.11 and 7.12, with Dean telling Eliot Ness, “Am I an untouchable now?” (You all know that joke, right?), Sam and a girl doing…something that could be sexy or violent (Take your pick), Dean pointing at his own eyes with a gloved hand and then shooting up a place in front of a war poster, and Dean rocking out in front of a surfboard. It amuses me that only Ian Somerhalder gets named in the “Best Actor” category, yet scarcely gets a shot or two after a rather extended montage of Jensen Ackles. Pictures sure speak a thousand words!

The full Supernatural sketch from Mad is up. It’s not any better than the shorter clip, I’m afraid.

Finally, ratings for the repeat of “Hello Cruel World” were 0.3/1 and 922,000 (The show was preempted in some markets). Also, DVR+7 results are in for “Death’s Door” and Supernatural went up to 1.1, as usual. Nope. No loss of total audience demo.

Don’t forget that Supernatural comes back with 7.11, “Adventures in Babysitting”, on January 6, 2012. There are no Supernatural episodes for the next two weeks between now and then, not even repeats.

We’ll be back next week with more spoilers. Stay tuned and check out our reviews of Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Torchwood, The Event, Once Upon a Time, and Supernatural.

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9 Comments

  1. hannah says:
    December 21, 2011 at 5:16 am

    Happy holidays, Heather and Paula! You guys rock!

    @Heather- I think it was stupid of the writers to kill off the Sheriff like that. His character had a lot of potential and from what I heard, a big fan following. And Regina’s been winning a lot recently so I don’t see the point of showing us that again. Nice to know Supernatural’s not the only show that kills off popular characters just because. About the other spoilers, there sure’s a lot going on with Rump. I kind of hope the writers don’t reveal too much about him. Some characters are more interesting the less you know about them.

    @Paula- I noticed that Jensen’s pretty face was all over the PCA promo. I just might have rewatched it a few times. Okay, maybe more than a few.

    I’m surprised by how much some fans hate the 7.11 episode synopsis. Sounds like they feel that Dean being motivated by revenge is trashing the character and they don’t get why Dean would be more depressed now than before. Personally, I think it’s great to see more exploration of Dean’s character and to have him be the one be tied to the mytharc for a change. It also doesn’t bother me in the least that Sam’s doing okay while Dean’s not. I don’t think it makes him stronger or better than Dean, just different. Sam doesn’t personalize morality/guilt/responsibility for others/failure like Dean does. Stuff rolls off Sam a lot easier while Dean stores it up in spades. As long as the writers don’t drop the ball with this arc, I can’t wait to see how Dean go all dark. Jensen playing out of control Dean-yum.

  2. Cassieo says:
    December 21, 2011 at 12:50 pm

    Hi paula and Happy Holodays to all. personally I think Dean being motivsted to Kill the leviatians is a good thing. I doubt he will go THAT overboard, but it’s better than seeing him whine about not caring about anything.

    As for the 7.12 promo, SOOOOOO glad it’s Dean that goes back in time. I think before the spoilers had said that only one bro goes back, and I really thought sending Sam back would be a mistake. Do NOT nned another boring Sam-centric eppie. Ackles can do a GREAT comedy routine with Elliot Ness and the untouchables…and no I don’t get the untoucnable’s joke….I’ve lead a sheltered life.

  3. elena says:
    December 21, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    Hey, how come “Once” gets so many cool promo photos and we can’t get even a few decent ones for SPN?

    The CW PCA promo did have some great Jensen shots, although I’m stumped as to why they pushed the other shows so heavily. I can understand TVD but I don’t think RInger and Nikita were even nominated, were they? If I only watched the first half of the promo, I wouldn’t even know SPN was on the CW since it doesn’t show up until near the end. The CW really does have a lousy marketing dept as far as I’m concerned. I know SPN’s the old war horse now but it’s not like it was treated much better when it was a young war horse. Oh well, as long as it gets renewed, I’ll be a happy camper.

    Yeah, I’m not very keen on Leviathan Dick either. I prefer creepy evil, not sleezy corporate evil. I wish the show would rediscover its horror roots and stop with the social commentary already. Blood! Gore! Things that go bump in the night! I miss those. heck,I’d settle for black goo at this point.

    Otherwise, I’m liking what we’ve heard for the post hiatus spoilers. It’s so refreshing to hear stuff about Dean again! After Comic Con, I was expecting a Samcentric repeat of last season. Even when Sam’s hellpain rears its head again, it’s not sounding likely to dominate the whole storyline. Why the show runners couldn’t find a balance between the brothers’ storylines in every season, I’ll never understand.

  4. Crowley_Gal says:
    December 21, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    Paula, they just released the summary for episode 12

    JASON DOHRING (“RINGER,” “VERONICA MARS”) AND NICHOLAS LEA (“THE X-FILES”) GUEST STAR; DEAN GETS STUCK IN THE ‘40S — Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) tangle with the God of Time (guest star Jason Dohring), who sends Dean back to 1944, where he is immediately arrested by none other than the one and only Eliot Ness (guest star Nicholas Lea). While trying to figure out how to retrieve his brother, Sam is surprised by the reappearance of an old friend. Phil Sgriccia directed the episode written by Robbie Thompson (#712).

  5. Lily says:
    December 21, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    Sam is surprised by the reappearance of an old friend.

    I wonder who the old friend could be? Any ideas?

    • Paula R. Stiles says:
      December 21, 2011 at 10:07 pm

      @Crowley_Gal
      I saw it, thanks.

      @Lily
      The current betting pool is on Jody Mills, since Kim Rhodes talked about coming back for another appearance and it was supposed to be from around this time (Plus, it would be rather odd to build up Mills’ relationship with Bobby and not have her show up in the aftermath of “Death’s Door”). I am guessing, from the pattern of previous time-travel episodes, that Sam will be in it about as much as Bobby was in “Frontierland”. Which is understandable. I don’t see the audience wanting to watch Sam do research in the present day when the draw of the story idea is monster-hunting during WWII with Eliot Ness. And if one of them has to go back in time, I’d rather it be Dean. It wouldn’t hurt to give Sam a few more episodes where he’s trying to save Dean while Dean is off doing the crazy, attention-getting stuff, as it would mean Sam putting his money where his mouth is regarding having Dean’s back. And I wouldn’t have to watch any more episodes like “Unforgiven”.

  6. Ginger says:
    December 22, 2011 at 11:50 am

    “…it would mean Sam putting his money where his mouth is regarding having Dean’s back. And I wouldn’t have to watch any more episodes like “Unforgiven”.”

    Amen to that.

    Yeah, I’m thinking Jody Mills, even though I don’t consider her as an “old friend” to the brothers, since they have only met her once. But, then, Sam did do the wet work on her ghoul son, so I guess that works, and it sets her up to return in future episodes to expand on the relationship with Bobby.

  7. Lily says:
    December 22, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    Thanks Paula! Jody Mills makes sense. Like Ginger, I never thought of her as a friend to Sam. Sam’s friends tend to be trouble so this would be a welcome change. I agree about Dean doing the crazy because he is so great to watch. I just hope there is a payoff in the end and not a dead end as has happened before. Unforgiven was a disaster of an episode. I hope we never get one like that again!

    • Paula R. Stiles says:
      December 23, 2011 at 12:00 am

      @Lily
      I can certainly understand your concern. No storyline, no matter how fascinating, can be drawn out forever without a payoff. Look at all those series that have a couple with lots of chemistry, yet they never quite get together. Eventually, the audience gets frustrated and bored. The stuff with Dean and his madness feels the same way. I don’t mean that it needs to be wrapped up or given a definitive ending, but it does need some forward movement and some payoffs, without build-up here and there and then a lot of fizzling out.