The Daily Star - Stay Tuned
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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, September 26, 2014 18 By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media T hese days, you're proba- bly seldom given pause when you tweet about the concert you're at or post a shot of your meal at the restau- rant you like to frequent. With everyone and his dog running rampant on social media, we've all made ourselves ex- tremely accessible to our friends and family, but that gi- ant window into our lives can't always be a good thing. CBS's new series is going to have the masses scrambling for the privacy settings on Face- book pages everywhere. "Stalk- er" is a suspense thriller about — you guessed it — stalkers. More specifically, it's about the people who investigate inci- dents of stalking and put a stop to them before the threats get really out of control. The psy- chological drama premieres Wednesday, Oct. 1, on CBS. The network's lineup is al- ready pretty laden with crime and suspense, so execs must figure you can't have too much of a good thing. "Stalker" will be joining prime-time heavy- weights such as "Person of In- terest," "The Good Wife," "NCIS" and "Criminal Minds" on the roster this fall, and if the pilot's anything to go by, it's likely to be just as compelling as its fellows. The series is centered around the LAPD's Threat As- sessment Unit. It takes a look at different aspects of stalking and intimidation, showing fic- tionalized versions of things that actually happen to people in real life. In fact, CBS presi- dent Nina Tassler calls the se- ries "the scariest drama the network has ever aired." The detectives look into cases of voyeurism, cyber harassment and romantic fixation; deter- mine what kind and degree of threat the victim's under; and respond before the stalking and intimidation can turn into something worse. Enter Lt. Beth Davis (Maggie Q, "Nikita"). A victim of stalking herself, Davis is an expert in the field, strong and focused, and doesn't take any guff. That makes wise-mouthed Det. Jack Larsen (Dylan McDermott, "American Horror Story") a per- fect foil for Davis, his new boss. Larsen has recently moved to Los Angeles after transferring from New York City's homicide division. He's got a strong per- sonality and a certain swagger that have gotten him into trou- ble before, along with some du- bious past behavior that will ac- tually prove useful in his new position. There's a certain mys- tery to Larsen; he's trying to change from the man he's been in the past, yet at the same time, the very transgressions he's trying to leave behind are what will give him valuable in- sight into the minds of the creepy culprits he's after. Rounding off the team are detectives Ben Caldwell (Victor Rasuk, "How to Make It in America") and Janice Law- rence (Mariana Klaveno, "True Blood"). The youngster of the group, Caldwell lacks the level of experience his teammates have, but he's nevertheless ea- ger to learn and play his part. Smart as a whip, Lawrence is a key member of the team, and her exceptional brain power will prove to be invaluable. We'll get a look at how the team works together and com- plements one another, while also getting to know them as people dealing with their own lives and obsessions. The show is a long time coming. The seed was planted in executive producer Kevin Williamson's brain years ago, following the slasher flick "Scream 2" (1997), which he wrote and developed. After having an experience with an "overzealous fan," he learned about the real-life Threat Man- agement Unit, on which the work of "Stalker's" Threat As- sessment Unit is based. The Threat Management Unit was formed following a number of high-profile stalking cases in California, including the death of actress and model Rebecca Schaeffer. In 1989, Schaeffer was fatally shot on her doorstep by Robert John Bardo, an obsessed fan who had been stalking her for three years and obtained her home address through a private de- tective agency. Twenty-five years later, tech- nology and social media have made it that much easier for stalkers to locate the objects of their obsession, and that's a huge part of what Q hopes "Stalker" will address. "Everyone can be a stalker," Williamson added during the summer Television Critics Asso- ciation media tour. "Everyone can be a victim. It's a very com- plex show. We are making an entertaining show, but I do also hope to raise awareness." Slasher elements aside, "Stalker" promises to be a real eye-opener in terms of what can potentially result from oversharing on social media. There's something to be said for exercising one's right to pri- vacy after all. Catch the series premiere of the suspense thrill- er Wednesday, Oct. 1, on CBS. Dylan McDermott stars in "Stalker" Bar your doors 'Stalker' may be 'the scariest drama' CBS has ever aired Featurestory