‘Vampire Diaries,’ ‘Smallville,’ ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ more: Find out what’s coming next in the Spoiler Room

Image Credit: Prashant Gupta/FX; Jack Rowland/The CW; Quantrell D. Colbert/The CWAnother week, another batch of scoop, Roomies. Before we dig in, I want to say thanks to everyone who tweeted #SpoilerRoom since last week. Remember to continue sending over any burning questions about upcoming episodes of your favorite shows to @EW or @EWSandraG. Too shy, you say? Direct messages work, too. And now, without further ado…

‘SONS OF ANARCHY’: JAX’S BIG DECISION
On Nov. 16's can’t miss episode, the race to rescue Tara continues, and Jax experiences doubts in his quest to retrieve Abel.

SCOOP:
* Gemma goes to drastic measures to save baby Abel. In fact, even longtime Gemma fans might look at her a little different after this one.
* Jax makes a terrible mistake that costs lives.
* Someone does not make it out of the kidnapping situation alive. The answer might surprise you.
* @zsazsaZavia asked via Twitter: “Will Jax find out about Tara’s pregnancy from her or a 3rd party?” I can confirm he does find out next week…and it’s not from Tara.

‘BROTHERS & SISTERS’…AND MOTHERS

Luc’s mother pops in for a visit, leaving lots of broken dishes and spirits in her path on the Nov. 15 episode.

SCOOP:
* Luc’s mom puts the moves on two men. Both of them upset Nora.
* Someone gets fired.
* The names Captain Happy, Little Big Man, and The Magnificent Seven will work their way into Brothers & Sisters fan fiction for years to come.
* @rvictoria302 asked on Twitter if the nurse from last week was going to become a long-term love interest for Justin. Maybe the two non-medical professionals he makes out with in this episode can answer that…

‘BORED TO DEATH’: INAPPROPRIATE DOLL POKING
On Sunday’s episode, Ray battles a stalker who makes anatomically correct voodoo dolls. You may become excited about this episode now.

SCOOP:
* Someone quits their job.
* Jim Gaffigan does a mind-blowing guest spot as a therapist who is evaluating George.
* Love is in the air for two people. One romance is new, the other is old.

‘TERRIERS’: NO ONE IS SAFE
On the Nov. 17 episode, we flashback to the case that made Hank lose his job

SCOOP:
* Following their breakup, Britt and Katie make a heartbreaking decision: Who gets Winston. Someone is left in tears (other than us, that is).
* We see Britt and Hank’s first meeting. (It will make you love them both even more.)
* Looking ahead to the Nov. 24 episode, the battle against the Zeitlin machine of evil will result in a jaw-dropping death and leave us worried about another person’s safety

SIDE DISHES

@Kelly_OConnor asks: How long until we get back to the Darkseid plot on Smallville? That needs to ramp up soon, right?
For the answer to this one, we asked Lindsay Hartley — wife of Green Arrow Justin Hartley — who guest stars on tonight’s episode as the clawed (and crazy!) Mad Harriet. “There is a story of Darkseid coming, and that’s at the end of the [episode],” she teases. Send all thanks her way.

Kaitlin asks: Got anything on NCIS?
We do indeed: Ziva’s getting some competition! In next week’s episode, Israeli actress Sarai Givati guest stars in a two-part episode (the first half airs Nov. 16) as a Mossad officer who took Ziva’s place when she left to join NCIS. She comes to America to help track down an assassin and is pegged “new Ziva.” Explains Givati, “There’s a bit of tension there, and it gets to high levels. But there’s a good ending!” How good? Girl fight good.

Aimee asks: On Vampire Diaries, Alaric has been on Jenna duty and hasn’t been seen much in action this season. We miss him. When will he get to come out and play?
Mark Dec. 9 on your calendar. Go ahead, I’ll wait…. Okay, now read what executive producer Julie Plec tells us about this “little rendezvous” of bromantic proportions: “One of my favorite relationships on the show is Damon and Alaric and their buddy comedy shtick, and we get to see that in full effect in episode 11.” Plec also admitted that it has been a challenge finding a place for Alaric after the Isobel storyline came to a close last season. “His storyline was wrapped up for a while and it’s taken us longer than we wanted to jumpstart a new chapter for him. Hopefully, we’ll be able to crack that soon and really get to show him off, because we think he’s awesome.” Another reason to circle that date: There’s a full moon.

@killedthelights asks: Sadly, it looks like Baze is getting pretty serious with that Emma chick on Life Unexpected. Got any hope for us Cate/Baze fans? Any great moments coming up?
According to Lux herself, Britt Robertson, there’s always hope. “I think they are the type of people who will ultimately be together. Life just hasn’t thrown them in the right circumstances to make that happen.” Look out for major growth in episode 13, the last episode of the season (and most likely the series). “You’ll see that their relationship grows in epic proportions,” Robertson teased.

Mel asks: What do you have on Hot in Cleveland?
One word: proposal. Jane Leeves, who plays Joy on the TV Land sitcom, tells us the “offer” (um, how romantic) comes in the Jan. 19 season 2 premiere. In related news, have you seen the show’s impressive list of upcoming guest stars?

Julie (from New Orleans) asks: Is Memphis Beat going to continue filming in New Orleans? We love having them here!
Yes, though the show is looking to beat the heat by starting production on new episodes earlier in the year. DJ Qualls, who plays officer Davey Sutton on the cop show, tells us that they start filming new episodes in January after co-star Jason Lee “brought the hammer down” on the issue.

That’ll do it for this week, spoilerphiles. Keep tweeting those questions, and I’ll meet you here in the Room again next Friday.

(Additional reporting by Lynette Rice, Nicholas White, Mandi Bierly, and Carrie Bell.)

More Spoiler Room and TV Scoop:
‘House,’ ‘Dexter,’ ‘Burn Notice,’ ‘Human Target’: Spoiler Room
‘Vampire Diaries’ scoop: Tyler’s full moon transformation, the midseason cliffhanger, and the next chapter
‘Vampire Diaries’ scoop: Katherine’s diabolical master plan, her history with Klaus, and Damon’s chest
‘Glee’ scoop: New Directions and Mr. Schuester to fight back against Kurt’s bully
‘Community’ scoop: Malcolm-Jamal Warner enrolls in NBC comedy!

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'Smallville': Down Memory 'Lane'

While this week’s episode of Smallville, titled “Abandoned,” was promoted for the guest appearance by Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane’s mother, it was other actors who dominated the hour.

Hatcher, who of course played Lois in Lois & Clark, appeared in a brief scene at the start of the episode as Lois’ dead mother, Ella — Erica Durance’s Lois watched a videocassette of a message her mother left her, before dying of cancer. In the recording, Ella offered a comforting message to Lois from beyond the grave, but also warned her that losing a parent can leave “a hole in a person’s heart.” This set up the other themes of the evening.

The bigger story line of the night involved Tess, who encountered Granny Goodness (Christine Willes), an evil orphanage owner. (Smallville is doing a good job of utilizing the New Gods characters, such as Granny, created by Jack Kirby.) Granny reawakened lost memories in Tess, who was revealed to have been left by her parents in the care of the dictatorial, abusive Granny. Although Tess escaped her clutches until this evening, Granny had raised a batch of damaged, angry young women led by Harriet (Lindsay Hartley, wife of series regular Justin Hartley, in a leather outfit with Wolverine-y claws). Mad Harriet and her sisters-in-villainy briefly trapped Clark, rendering him helpless in the presence of their “green fire rocks” — i.e., Kryptonite.

Meanwhile, Lois decided that her mother’s words about lost parents applied as much to Clark as to her, so she journeyed to the Fortress to try and force a reconciliation between Clark and his Kryptonian dad, Jor-El. Julian Sands re-appeared in that role, as did Helen Slater as mom Lara. The pair delivered a message of love and compassion for Lois to convey to Clark.

In a scene that stood outside the rest of the episode, Granny met with Desaad and Glorious Godfrey, with Desaad proclaiming that they now formed an “unholy trinity” that would “prepare the way for Lord Darkseid.”

The hour was a hodgepodge of scenes without much flow, yet virtually every one of them was key to the Smallville mythos, including the hour’s two surprise endings.

First, Clark showed us an engagement ring he has for Lois — she doesn’t yet know what a lucky girl she is. And finally, Tess discovers her real identity: she’s Lutessa Luthor, the illigitimate child of Lionel Luthor and Pamela Jenkins.

Once again, the hour was held together chiefly by the fine performances of Tom Welling and Durance, and the promise of more revelations to come as Smallville hurtles ever-closer to its series conclusion.

What did you think of this week’s Smallville?

Twitter: @kentucker

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'Smallville': Father knows best?

Things started out so well on Smallville this week. Clark and Lois, fresh from the intimacy they shared at the end of last week, were — at the suggestion of Lois, that minx — about to engage in some porch-swing sex (I know, I was pretty shocked myself ). Then who should arrive but Lois’ father, the General Sam Lane (Michael Ironside) and sister Lucy (Peyton List).

Grumpy General was in full military camouflage and in full-on anger mode right from the start. He not only interrupted our happy couple with a lot of bluster about how super-heroes “incite violence” and “commit acts of terrorism”; he was also backing the “Vigilante Registration Act.”

Now before you yelp that this Registration Act is a rip-off of a recent Marvel Comics story line, I’ll remind you that this kind of legislation has existed before in the DC Comics universe, in everything from Infinite Crisis‘ “New Earth” storyline to the New Frontier miniseries to (the admittedly out-of-continuity) Watchmen. Anyhoo, the General is a backer, and he had a grudge against Clark. Why? Because he’d had a government investigation conducted (!) and possessed photos of Clark with cousin Kara in her costume, which in the General’s mind meant Clark was a dirty collaborator with superheroes, including the Blur.

The parallel militaristic story line followed the return of Rick Flag from The Suicide Squad, who invoked patriotism and freedom as well in opposing the Registration Act — he’d set his sights on demolishing the General, launching a General-seeking missile while reciting some of the lyrics to “The Star Spangled Banner.” Decorating the edges of the hour were Green Arrow and Tess, arguing and becoming friends again in the Watchtower while monitoring much of this stuff. (This material felt like some dutiful labor that had to be worked in to excuse Chloe’s ongoing absence.)

I suppose this episode, titled “Ambush,” was partly a holiday-themed edition: after all, the General and Lucy had shown up to share a Thanksgiving meal with Lois. But its best moments centered on father-daughter issues. Ironside’s interpretation of the General was to play him rather over-the-top, and so it fell to Erica Durance to convey the painful pull and pluck it requires to put aside the powerfully controlling instincts a child has to obey a domineering parent. (“That’s an order, young lady!”) Their face-off was better than all the rockets bursting in air, or the Blur-fast rescues.

This was, like last week’s “Harvest,” an uneven episode with, as I’ve detailed, some fine emotional moments. And given how good Durance has been this season in particular, I’m really looking forward to next week, when Teri Hatcher appears as Lois’ mother.

How about you?

Twitter: @kentucker

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‘Charlie’s Angels’: ‘Smallville’ producers talk their reboot’s creative approach, casting, and… a dog named Bosley?!

Image Credit: James Devaney/WireImage.comMiami is officially the hottest crime-fighting town on television. See: CSI: Miami, Dexter, and Burn Notice. Since you can’t have too many guardian angels keeping the peace in Miami (especially now that evil pro basketball racketeer LeBron James lives there, not to mention the occasional mischief making visit from those Kardashian sisters), TV’s sexiest and clearly most sinful setting will soon be home to the three more sentinels: Charlie’s Angels, a new television version of the classic 70s action drama slated for next year on ABC. Guiding the project will be the guys who successfully put young Clark Kent on the road to Superman in Smallville, the producing team of Al Gough and Miles Millar. Drew Barrymore—who produced and starred in two big screen translations—will serve as exec producer. Why set the show in the present-day Miami? In order to help the new show distinguish itself from its predecessors while remaining true to its core values. “Sun and surf are in the Charlie’s Angels DNA,” says Gough. “But we didn’t want to revisit Los Angeles, since that was done in both the original TV series and the movie series.”

ABC (the network home of the original Charlie’s Angels) and Sony (the studio owner of the franchise) have been keen to relaunch the Charlie’s Angels franchise, which premiered in 1976 with Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson in the leads. (Fawcett left after the first season and was replaced by Cheryl Ladd.) At one point, Lost exec producer Carlton Cuse had been recruited to help develop a new version of the show. Last fall, Josh Friedman, exec producer of Fox’s now-defunct Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, was tapped to write a pilot script, but it was never produced. Gough doesn’t want to give too many details away about the angle he and Millar are taking on Charlie’s Angels, but he would say this: “It won’t be campy or retro. The characters are real and emotionally grounded, but they still like to have fun, wear great clothes, solve crime and kick some serious ass. There are three new angels and one mysterious Charlie—and he’s still on the box, not skyping or teleconferencing.” Charlie’s lack of physical presence could be a source of mystery in the show, as Gough adds the following: “Yes, there is a reason why, and no we won’t tell you now.”

Why did the Smallville producers want to make Charlie’s Angels their next big TV project? “Because after tackling Superman, the pop culture third rail didn’t scare us anymore,” jokes Gough. “We were approached by Sony Television, and to be honest, we initially found the prospect very daunting. The question when approaching any reboot is ‘Why now?’ How do you make it relevant for today’s audiences? Miles and I believe we figured out a way to do that. We pitched it to our partners Leonard Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen, who have been the caretakers of this franchise, and they really liked it. More importantly, ABC got excited about it.” Cynics may roll their eyes at yet another Hollywood reboot of a classic entertainment brand (hello, Hawaii Five-O)-—and Gough gets it. Still, he hopes viewers will give the show a chance. “We realize that we have a big target on our backs,” he says, “but we hope to surprise people and bring a whole new generation to Charlie’s Angels.”

As for the actresses who play these new century TV Angels, there have been reports that producers are looking for a multi-ethnic trio. Gough will only say that the casting process has begun. “The timetable is NOW,” he says. “Seriously, we started this week with our casting director John Papsidera (The Dark Knight, Inception). We now have the arduous task of seeing hundreds of potential Angels.” Will a recognizable star voice intone the part of the mysteriously distant Charlie? Gough is keeping mum on that one. (Dynasty’s John Forsythe, who died earlier this year, did the honors in both the first TV series and the movies.) The team is also hunting for someone to play Charlie’s liason to his do-gooding damsels, Bosley, played in the first TV series by the late David Doyle and represented in the Drew Barrymore films by Bill Murray and Bernie Mac. Gough says that in a “huge departure from canon,” the new Bosley will be… a dog. “KIDDING,” says Gough. “Unless the test audiences hate the real Bosley we cast, and then we are totally going the pooch route.”

The fundamental appeal of Charlie’s Angels? It’s about three smart, capable women who not only save the day, but also have each other’s back. It’s about friendship. It’s about teamwork. And you only have to deal with your boss via speakerphone! I think that appeal is timeless.”

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'Smallville': A fine 'Homecoming'

I’ll admit that when I saw that the 200th episode of Smallville was called “Homecoming” and would involve James Marsters as Brainiac 5 taking Clark Kent on trips into both the past and the future, I sighed, rolled my eyes, and prepared myself for some mushy tedium. After all, not many TV shows, let alone one as freighted with mythology as Smallville is, can pull off time-jumping without becoming absurd, or a mere clip-job-with-some-new-bits.

What a pleasant surprise, therefore, to see that “Homecoming” was a lot of fun and another example of how deftly the final season of Smallville is juggling so many story-lines and characters. The key one this week was James Marsters’ Brainiac, now Brainiac 5, a Legion member who traveled back from the future to help Clark out of what’s become the thing that’s preventing him from fulfilling his promise. That would that darned “darkness” the season has been invoking so frequently.

Brainiac 5 took Clark through glimpses of his past, particularly the death of his father, Jonathan. “The darkness is the past,” Brainiac 5 told Clark — that is, it’s Clark’s dwelling on the past, his feelings of unworthiness, that are sabotaging him. Later in the hour, Brainiac 5 added that “fearing the future” was the other part of the “darkness,” and that Clark didn’t need to be afraid of that.

Why? Because, Brainiac 5 showed Clark and us, Kent would grow up to become Superman and the “nerdy,” bespectacled adult Clark Kent, who, we also saw, shared a wonderful future with a radiant Lois Lane. And the exchanges between Clark and Future Clark were pretty delightful.

Speaking of delightful, Erica Durance continues to give one of the most charming performances on TV these days. She pulled off the extended joke about no one remembering Lois at the high-school reunion, a running gag that could have been a groaner but was saved by Durance’s various reactions to being snubbed. And her final dance with Clark conveyed the appropriate dreaminess necessary, complete with their mutual declarations of “I love you.” (Durance has begun to remind me of what I think of as the ideal Lois Lane — the one drawn in the comics by the great Kurt Schaffenberger.)

This week’s Smallville didn’t abandon last week’s Oliver Queen coming out as Green Arrow plot. Ollie gave his first media interview, a jarring one in which he lashed out at “arm-chair bloggers [who become] critics instead of leaders.” Well, I guess billionaires are sensitive to the press they receive.

The key point Smallville wanted you to come away with this week was that Clark has now made peace with his past (depicted this night in the scene at his father’s grave site) and can shake off his adolescent insecurities and grow into the man he’s destined to be. On that level, it was a success.

What did you think?

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