Did you watch the new ABC crime drama Red Widow this weekend? I think the ratings weren’t great. The short ads I saw everywhere teased a Marin County housewife and mother, whose drug-smuggling beloved was in debt to a dangerous gangster, taking over for her husband after his murder. And I thought: This is way past Weeds. Who the heck would do that?!
So I confess, my expectations were low, though I’ve adored Goran Visnjic’s incipient evil ever since The Deep End (2001) with Tilda Swinton. However, I might’ve been more interested from the start if they’d told more about Marta Walraven, the main character played by Radha Mitchell. You can view what I think’s a more illuminating trailer below:
Aha! She’s not just an innocent carpool leader—she grew up in a Russian mob family! Now that at least makes more sense, vis-a-vis her entanglement, her inability to cut and run, and why she’d think she had any chance of surviving that world.
By the way, another interesting fact is that this new series is another international TV remake: it’s based on a Dutch show called Penoza. Here’s a short clip from that one, just because it’s interesting to see the original ages and hotness levels of the actors playing the couple and how the husband’s death unfolds. No crane shot over a bloodied driveway—simply awesome final eye rolls from the hospital bed instead. “Reanimate!” sounds so much more promising than “Clear!” Anyway, the subtitles are in Dutch, but you’ll get the gist.
Red Widow’s premiere is apparently a wild conglomeration of drama, action, and soap opera (which you can still watch at ABC.com or presumably from their app). People who’ve seen the second episode say the show picks up steam, and IMHO, later episodes are almost always improved by losing painful amounts of backstory. However, I think we may miss the departed hubby Evan Walraven (Anson Mount) who did, as many have noted, bring the epically flowing mane-age and beardwork that we appreciate so much in Sons of Anarchy.
And now I must ask...are there any new crime shows that have already fizzled for you or changed your (viewing) life? Did you check this one out, and could it earn its way into your weekly rotation?
