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2 • May 26 - June 1, 2019 • Brainerd Dispatch By Sarah Passingham TV Media T he formula of the police procedur- al gets a spiritual new twist when "The InBetween" premieres on NBC on Wednesday, May 29. The drama series follows Cassie Bedford, por- trayed by Australian actress and co- median Harriet Dyer ("Love Child"), who experiences uncontrollable vi- sions of the future and the past and visits from spirits desperately seeking her help. To make use of her unique talents, she assists her father, Det. Tom Hackett, and his former FBI part- ner as they tackle the most compli- cated crimes in their city. Together they follow her visions and seek jus- tice for those who have contacted Bedford through the "inbetween." The reason behind Bedford's in- volvement in criminal investigations is her father's belief that her psychic gift can be used for good. Det. Hack- ett is portrayed by British actor Paul Blackthorne, best known for his role of Quentin Lance in "Arrow." Of the cast, Blackthorne is the most experi- enced with TV clairvoyants as he guested in an episode of psychic dra- ma "Medium" in 2005. As for Dyer, she may be a new face to North American audiences, but she has a long list of acting credits, in- cluding dramatic and comedic roles in her home country of Australia. She is best known for portraying Patricia Saunders in the hospital drama "Love Child" and April in the cop comedy series "No Activity," which was adapted for North American audienc- es by CBS All Access in 2017. Dyer's comedic experience has served her well, particularly in series that strong- ly rely on the authenticity of its char- acters to work, such as "The Other Guy," on Australian streaming service Stan. This same authenticity will no doubt help ground a performance as abstract as a medium for "The InBe- tween," which could certainly be- come over-the-top in less capable hands. The lone American in the main cast is Justin Cornwell, who recently starred in TNT's "I Am the Night." As Hackett's partner, former FBI agent Damien Asante in "The InBetween," Cornwell portrays an outsider who's new to the father-daughter supernat- ural crime-fighting team of Hackett and Bedford. This isn't Cornwell's first time channelling a cop character; he starred as Det. Kyle Craig in the "Training Day" series inspired by the 2001 film of the same name. Everything old really is new again. There was a heyday for psychic, clair- voyant and medium-centred televi- sion in the mid-2000s, with shows like "Medium" and "Ghost Whisper- er," that ended soon after we entered the 2010s. Though that was the end of mediums on scripted network television for that decade, the craze was kept alive with reality TV. "Long Island Medium" almost immediately filled the gap for avid fans of the genre when it premiered in 2011 and, perhaps as a signal that mediums are back yet again, "Holly- wood Medium" be- gan on E! in 2016. Since we live in an era of reboots, it's notable that a fan favourite on the spook- ier side of the super- natural was brought back from the dead earlier this year on CW with the reincar- nation of "Charmed." Three makes it a trend, so the CBS All Access reboot of the supernatural classic "The Twilight Zone" must also be counted here. Judging from the trailer for "The InBetween" released by NBC, the series seems to be leaning into the horror genre to set itself apart from other procedurals and to give a fresh twist to the psy- chic drama. In the trailer, Bedford is visited by spirits that appear not only as they lived, but also as gro- tesque versions of themselves, pre- sumably as they died. With a string of recent horror hits, such as "It Fol- lows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary," performing incredibly well at the box office, there is undoubtedly an audi- ence for supernatural horror on the small screen. The series brings many popular genres together, from the police pro- cedural to the supernatural drama to some hints of horror influence. "The InBetween" brings a new per- spective to the evergreen procedur- al, but it's not just a gimmick. The twist of the supernatu- ral makes the real- istic plots of investigating crimes feel even more real by showing what a detective would be imagin- ing, psychic or not, while working a case. Bedford is directly visited by desperate spirits, but any detective can be haunted by what they expe- rience during investigations. Despite its supernatural elements, "The In- Between" seems to be a reaction to the recent popularity of true crime content, both on screen in shows like the HBO drama "True Detec- tive" and the Netflix documentary series "Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes," and more widely in podcasts such as "Serial." Veteran executive producer Moi- ra Kirkland created "The InBe- tween," wrote its pilot episode and serves as executive producer for the series. She is known not only for producing network television hits such as "Madam Secre- tary" and "Arrow," but she also produced the series "Me- dium" and three episodes of the 2003 reboot of "The Twi- light Zone." From behind the scenes to those on the screen, the people involved in bringing "The In- Between" to life couldn't be more suited to the task. Don't miss the series premiere of "The InBetween" on Wednesday, May 29, on NBC. Crossing over Medium drama 'The InBetween' premieres on NBC Cover Story this week Paul Blackthorne in "The InBetween" Conan In China, an Avengers fan cried so hard during the movie, he was hospitalized. Doctors ordered him to get some rest and never watch "The Notebook." Marvel announced that "Endgame" is the fourth and final Avengers movie. Marvel's exact words were, "we're sick of money." The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon What a weekend! We had "Avengers: Endgame" in theaters, and the Battle of Winterfell on "Game of Thrones!" It was the first time kids had to tell their parents, "OK, that's enough screen time." I wanna say happy birthday to Spongebob Squarepants, who just turned 20. You can tell he's getting old, because today they changed his name to SpongeBob DadJeans. Jimmy Kimmel Live Instagram is testing out a new thing. Starting later this week, Instagram is going to start hiding the "like" and "view" counts from some users. But not here in the United States — in Canada. They figured, in case anyone gets mad, they'd rather it be Canadian mad than American mad. The other thing people were mad about was the big battle scene on "Game of Thrones," which was so dark, a lot of viewers watching on TV couldn't even see it. It was like listening to a very violent podcast. Late Night With Seth Meyers A movie theater in Nashville recently changed the name of the film "Hellboy" on its marquee to "Heckboy" because it is located across the street from an elementary school. Even worse, on Sunday afternoon they had a showing of the classic Bond film, "Octo-hoo-hah." Samsung has announced that to make it easier for users to watch smartphone videos, it will begin selling a TV that can pivot between orientations. Upon hearing that, Mike Pence threw out his TV. Late Laughs HomeCareandHospice byKNUTENELSON 218.454.1542 | knutenelson.org What doyou do when mom or dad need more help thanyou can provide? Callus.

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