Cliffhangers to be Resolved This Season

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September 7, 2008

The New Season | Television

It’s Time to Learn Who Was Killed and Who’s in Love

By MIKE HALE

THE fall television season, that ever more ungainly beast, has begun its two-month slouch onto our screens. As always, it’s the new shows that get the attention and draw the questions: Will “Fringe” be as good as “Lost”? (Not likely.) Will there already be a cancellation before the premiere of “Surviving Suburbia” on Nov. 2 makes the fall schedule complete? (I wouldn’t get too attached to “Do Not Disturb.”)

But most of the schedule is made up of returning shows, and in this post-strike season that’s more true than ever. So for the viewer more interested in the fates of Mohinder and McDreamy than in “Knight Rider” and “90210,” here are some questions that were left hanging by the shows you already care about.

THE SHIELD (FX) With Vic, Shane and Ronnie on the run from the Armenians and Claudette’s lupus getting worse, who will survive the final season, which began last Tuesday? No spoilers here regarding shocking early-season deaths (or the lack thereof), but it shouldn’t surprise anyone to hear that Dutch (Jay Karnes) will become too involved with a young suspect and his mother, played by Frances Fisher.

TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (Fox, Monday) Just how badly was the good terminator, Cameron (Summer Glau), damaged in the S.U.V. explosion that ended Season 1? Not surprisingly, her wiring was affected more seriously than her synthetic skin: she’s still the hottest deadly android on television. And Ms. Glau’s unnerving performance is still the best thing about this show, though that may change if the writers keep trying to humanize her.

HOUSE (Fox, Sept. 16) Will prime time’s most unhealthy, obsessive love affair — the one between Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) and Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) — survive the fact that House was instrumental in Wilson’s girlfriend’s death? Early episodes are inconclusive, but we all know that they’ll patch things up somehow. In the meantime, House auditions several Wilson surrogates, including a private investigator (played by Michael Weston, David’s abductor on “Six Feet Under”) who understands House too well.

SUPERNATURAL (CW, Sept. 18) Did Dean (Jensen Ackles) have a good time in hell? The spikes through his flesh, after he forfeited his soul in last season’s finale, would seem to argue against it. But we won’t find out right away: apparently he returns to surface in the Season 4 opener with no memory — yet — of his time down below.

HEROES (NBC, Sept. 22) Can the show get back on track after a scattered and disappointing second season? The bad news is that multiple new characters are being added. The good news is that one of them will reportedly be played by Robert Forster, which immediately raises the overall level of acting by about 15 percent. A plot note: fans of the fetching Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) may be upset at the news, reported by TV Guide, that he will be getting very close to the death-dealing Maya (Dania Ramirez).

LAW & ORDER: SVU (NBC, Sept. 23) Who’s the new assistant district attorney now that Casey Novak (Diane Neal) has been dismissed? Her name is Kim Greylek, and she’s played by Michaela McManus (“One Tree Hill”). More important question: Is this the season Olivia (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot (Christopher Meloni) finally hook up? Let’s all hope not.

CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS, Sept. 24) Another show that ended its season with an exploding S.U.V., “Minds” left its fans wondering which F.B.I. agent’s vehicle had been made a target of terrorists. This is one of the most closely guarded cliffhanger secrets of the summer; the only thing I’ll tell you is that it wasn’t being driven by Mandy Patinkin.

GREY’S ANATOMY (ABC, Sept. 25) So many questions here: Will Derek (a k a McDreamy) return from that season-ending walk and settle down with Meredith? Are Alex and Izzie for real this time? Will Cristina finally buy another ticket in the hookup sweepstakes? That last question will apparently be settled by the addition of Kevin McKidd (“Journeyman”) for an extended run as the latest randy doctor on the Seattle Grace staff. As for Izzie, played by Katherine Heigl, the most persistent rumor on the blogs this summer was that she will be found to have a brain tumor. Which would explain a lot of Izzie’s behavior over the first four seasons.

ER (NBC, Sept. 25) Another exploding vehicle (this time an ambulance) left the fates of Linda Cardellini’s and Mekhi Phifer’s characters up in the air. But the real question about this venerable medical drama is how it will make some noise in its 15th and final season. The answer appears to be: by giving Angela Bassett her first regular television role (not counting four episodes of “Alias” in 2005) as the new boss of the emergency room. She’s just one of a number of new faces on this revolving-door show, including Courtney Vance, Ms. Bassett’s real-life husband, as her character’s husband and Shiri Appleby, Julian Morris, Victor Rasuk and Emily Rose as interns.

CSI (CBS, Oct. 9) Who will replace William Petersen’s Gil Grissom as the show’s central character? That question seemed to be answered last month when the producers hired a movie star, Laurence Fishburne, to play a new member of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. But those same producers have said that it will be Marg Helgenberger and George Eads, who have been with the series from the beginning, and not Mr. Fishburne who will be stepping to the front after Mr. Petersen leaves the cast at midseason.

AMERICAN IDOL (Fox, January) This isn’t a fall show, but one of the biggest questions of the season will be how the new arrival Kara DioGuardi fits into the psychodrama of the “Idol” judges’ table. Early indications are that she’ll play the earnest, practical angle, which could intrude on Randy Jackson’s territory, though she’s also delivered this Paula Abdul-worthy quote: “You have a very unique opportunity to be able to give somebody some of your insight.” One thing to count on: Simon Cowell’s airtime won’t be reduced.

TORCHWOOD (BBC America, 2009) Are Owen and Tosh gone for good? A news release for Season 3 — actually a five-part, one-week mini-series — didn’t mention Burn Gorman or Naoko Mori, so it looks as if those two original team members are gone, at least for now. One likely compensation: more Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd).

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/arts/television/07hale.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=television&pagewanted=print

[Sylph]

LA Times has a feature on this, too.