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2 • October 25 - 31, 2015 • Brainerd Dispatch By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media C rime drama anthologies are in their heyday just now. With the critical acclaim garnered from Em- my-winning shows such as HBO's "True Detective" and FX's "Fargo," not to mention the BAFTA- and Pe- abody-winning British series "Broadchurch," it's no surprise that more and more showrunners are taking a stab at the format. ABC found great mainstream success earlier this year with "American Crime," starring Timothy Hutton ("Leverage") and Felicity Huffman ("Desperate House- wives"). The show raked in 10 Emmy nominations and one win and, according to critic Dominic Patten in a Deadline review, "marks a resounding flag-planting by net- work television and tells cable that it doesn't own poignant drama on our small screens." No doubt looking to duplicate that success and keep the flag wav- ing, the alphabet network is launching a new crime anthology series this month. "Wicked City" premieres Tuesday, Oct. 27, on ABC. The freshman season takes place amongst the glitz, neon lights and big hair of 1982 Sunset Strip. Ed Westwick brings his devious charm back to the small screen in his first television role since that of filthy- rich bad boy Chuck Bass in The CW's "Gossip Girl." He leads "Wicked City's" season 1 cast as Kent Grainger, a dashing young man whose good looks and charm hide something much darker. As creator Steven Baigelman said during the show's Television Critics Association panel, early '80s Los Angeles "was both the murder capital of the country and also the serial killer capital of the country. People come for fame and recogni- tion, not only to be actors and mu- sicians, but somehow, oddly, serial killers came here as well for that same reason." In the dimly lit bars and clubs of Sunset Strip, Grainger connects with ambitious young women, pos- ing as a Hollywood bigwig who can help launch them to stardom. When he gains their trust and gets them to a secluded area, he kills them. "It was a very loud era," said se- ries star Jeremy Sisto ("Suburgato- ry") in an ABC promo video. "The problem with loudness is that some very dark, nefarious creatures can easily move behind the sound." Things change, however, when Kent meets Betty Beau- montaine (Erika Christensen, "Parenthood"), a young nurse and single mother of two who also happens to harbor sociopathic ten- dencies. Instead of be- coming Kent's next victim, she becomes his love inter- est and partner in crime. It's interesting to see genuine love and warmth com- ing from two such sadistic people, not just for each other but for Betty's children as well. "[He's] not just a straight-up monster," Westwick told Hello! of his multi-layered character. "I mean he is a monster, but there's a lot of other things going on there." "He's a master manipulator and he can become whoever he wants to achieve his goals," he added in the TCA panel. The show's focus is split between the killers and the people trying to track them down. Sisto plays Jack Roth, a seasoned detective who's worked on his share of high-profile cases in the past. He's less than thrilled with his new partner, Paco Contreras (Gabriel Luna, "True De- tective"), who narced on Roth's previous partner and got him kicked off the force. The two finally hit a break in the case when they encounter Karen McClaren (Taissa Farmiga, "Ameri- can Horror Story"), a struggling young journalist looking to write a story on Sunset Strip, and who wit- nessed one of Kent's victims leav- ing a club one night before being murdered. Having met Kent and given him her number, she'll now be used as bait to try to draw in the killer. Evan Ross ("The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1," 2014) rounds out the show's cast as Kar- en's boss, Diver Hawkes, a crime scene paparazzo, while Karolina Wydra ("Crazy, Stupid, Love.," 2011) plays Dianne Kubek, Jack's former flame currently working as an undercover detective on Sunset Strip. The whole of the first season will follow this one case as the killers carry out their nefarious deeds and the detectives work to catch those responsible. The seasons that fol- low will look at entirely different crimes and characters, though some of the cast will appear from season to season. "We will be doing one case per season," Baigelman said during the TCA panel, "and some of our char- acters will find their stories ending in this season, and some of our characters will be moving on to an- other time and another place and another case." With each season taking place in a different decade, the show aims to provide a strong sense of time and place. Historical accuracy is a must for the producers, and judging by the trailer alone, season 1 posi- tively screams of the '80s. "It's really important to us to bring in the real world into our fic- tion and bring out fiction into the real world," Baigelman said during the TCA tour. "When you watch the show, you're not going to watch it from the place of nostalgia, you're actually going to feel like they're there." There's nothing like a good mur- der mystery, and "Wicked City" sounds no less enticing for know- ing whodunit from the get-go. The crime drama anthology premieres Tuesday, Oct. 27, on ABC. Erika Christensen stars in "Wicked City" Murder on the Strip ABC's new crime drama terrorizes the Sunset Strip Cover Story this week Like us on Facebook to receive info and specials at Baxter Country Kitchen www.BAXTERcountrykitchen.com 7788 Fairview Rd, Baxter 218-829-1739 Guest Check on guest checks totaling $18.00 or more (Before Tax) Coupon Exp. 11-8-15 Not valid with any other offers or discounts. One coupon per table, per person, per visit. No cash value. Customer pays all applicable sales tax. Valid at Baxter location only. Off $ 3.00 One coupon per table, per person, per visit. One coupon per table, per person, per visit. $ 1.00 CAFÈ STYLE BEVERAGES REAL EXPRESSO ICED COFFEE & ICED LATTES Not valid with any other offers or discounts. One coupon per table, per person, per visit. No cash value. Customer pays all applicable sales tax. Valid at Baxter location only. One coupon per table, per person, per visit. One coupon per table, per person, per visit. 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