Extraordinary and supernatural beings stand their ground in ‘Midnight, Texas’

from The Brainerd Dispatch TV Week July 23rd 2017

by Brainerd Dispatch and Echo Journal

Andrew Zimmern chows down on America’s early eats

By Shona Dustan TV Media

Hollywood has been turning novels into big- and smallscreen sensations for decades, and while specialty cable channels may seem to have that market cornered at the moment (see “Game of Thrones,” “Outlander” and oh so many more), NBC is about to give them a run for their money.

The peacock network has chosen a series by author Charlaine Harris as their subject matter, which is a pretty great way to hedge their bets — Harris’s addictive Sookie Stackhouse novels (also known as the Southern Vampire Mysteries) served as the basis for HBO’s incredibly popular “True Blood,” so this new series should come with a built-in and very eager audience.

“Midnight, Texas” premieres Monday, July 24, on NBC, and is based on the literary trilogy of the same name. Once again, Harris uses her novels to weave a complex web of mystery and drama, using characters with supernatural qualities as her protagonists. The series stars broody Canadian hunk Francois Arnaud (“Blindspot”) as Manfred Bernardo, a man on the run from his mysterious past. Bernardo is a psychic who, through his dead grandmother, Xylda (Joanne Camp, “Manhattan”) can communicate with other deceased individuals, sometimes with terrifying results.

Late Laughs

Conan

Led by Xylda to a tiny Texas crossroads town called Midnight, Bernardo is told by his ghostly gram that he’ll be safe there.

“Safe” probably isn’t the right word, but he certainly finds a sense of purpose and belonging. Midnight, Texas, you see, is a haven town for others like Bernardo — supernatural humans inhabit the hamlet, and they take care of each other, protecting one another from interlopers and prying eyes, not to mention mortal danger.

It’s Midnight’s most prominent vampire who declares Barnardo the be “one of us.” The striking Peter Mensah (“Sleepy Hollow”) plays Lemuel Bridger, an old and very wise vamp whose opinion holds a lot of sway in the Texas town. He works at the local pawn shop (the night shift, of course) and is one of the oldest local inhabitants. Mensah is no stranger to sci-fi and supernatural roles, or roles originating in Harris’s novels, for that matter — he had a significant character arc in “True Blood” back in 2012.

The rest of the town’s residents are just as interesting. Fiji Cavanaugh (Parisa Fitz-Henley, “Jessica Jones”) is the owner of The Inquiring Mind, a witch with a Wiccan shop who has some serious unrequited feelings for her neighbor. That neighbor is Bobo Winthrop (Dylan Bruce, “Orphan Black”), who owns the pawn shop and employs Mr. Bridger; though he seems to be a regular human,

Match of the Month

Kinship Partners Inc.

Four years ago Vivian Probasco, Backus, read a Kinship article about a 5 year old girl wanting a mentor who could “help her ride bike, color, and like vanilla ice cream like she did.” Vivian fulfilled this simple request for Emma and before long she was like a member of Vivian’s family.

Vivian enjoys introducing skills such as gardening, sewing and crafts to Emma. Together, they have constructed fleece blankets for the Women’s Shelter and pillows for consignment. They laugh and tease one another while playing cards or baking treats that Emma often takes home with her. Through all the fun, Vivian hopes she shows Emma what good and bad choices are and positively influences her as she navigates into her teen years and later as an adult.

Congratulations to Vivian and Emma for adding so much spark to each other’s lives. Memories are being made and skills being learned to shape a young girl’s tomorrow.

his past is mysterious, and he’s an integral and stalwart part of the eclectic town.

Arielle Kebbel (“The Vampire Diaries”) stars as Olivia Charity, a deadly and eerily effective assassin with a deep emotional and physical connection to Mr. Bridger. Sarah Ramos (“Parenthood”) plays Creek Lovell, main love interest of Bernardo and a writer whose family harbors a deep, dark secret. Yul Vázquez (“Bloodline”) is Rev. Emilio Sheehan who watches over the town and oversees the Midnight Chapel and Pet Cemetery, while not-so-mysteriously disappearing every month during the full moon (werewolf alert!). Rounding out the cast is perhaps the most interesting character: Joe Strong (Jason Lewis, “Sex and the City”) is a literal angel. He’s been on Earth for thousands of years and lives with his husband, Chuy (Bernardo Saracino, “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”), while he watches over all the citizens of Midnight. His is a sacred mission: to await the arrival of “The One,” an enigmatic stranger who is des tined to save Midnight and all hu manity from a great evil.

Upon his arrival in Midnight, Bernardo has no idea what he’s walking into, but wins over the townspeople one by one. It isn’t long before the town is threatened by outside forces, and Bernardo finds himself fighting alongside the strange inhabitants. The series is shaping up to be an excellent mix of weekly mysteries and threats, as well as long-running story arcs — a combination that has been network television’s bread and butter for years — and while “Midnight, Texas” is by no means the raunchy, envelope-pushing, sexy extravaganza that “True Blood” was, it’s safe to say that the new series can scratch a lot of the itches fans were left with when the latter series ended back in 2014.

With three of Harris’s novels to pull from, writers have plenty of fodder for a good few seasons of this show, and when they run out, they should have a handful of well-developed and already beloved characters to work with — plenty of material for many seasons to come, though the longevity of the series will be largely determined by the viewership numbers. Summer series almost never do as well as those that air in the fall and winter, but NBC has a lot of faith in this quirky sci-fi drama. Whether you’re a sci-fi or fantasy fan, or even just a mystery buff, tune in to “Midnight, Texas” when it premieres Monday, July 24, on NBC.

Parisa Fitz-Henley as seen in “Midnight, Texas”

After a three-year feud, Katy Perry has decided to make up with Taylor Swift. Katy said that even though she still believes strongly in a Keynesian paradigm of economic output being influenced by aggregate demand, she finally accepts Taylor’s endorsement of a supply-side macroeconomic model.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon

Yesterday, President Trump said that Obama copied him by calling the Republican health-care bill mean. Then Obama said Trump copied him by spending the last six months doing nothing.

Obama is taking some heat right now because it came out that two senators tried to warn him that Russia was trying to hack the election, and he ignored them. Trump promises that if he ever gets top secret information about Russia, he’ll do the responsible thing and tweet it.

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Dennis Rodman is back in North Korea. Remember when that seemed weird? Now it’s like, “Yeah of course he is. Nothing makes sense anymore.”

I have a theory about why the North Koreans love Dennis Rodman so much. Here it is: They are so cut off from everything — they don’t have the Internet, they only get state television — maybe they think Dennis Rodman is still playing in the NBA!

Late Night With Seth Meyers

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin got married this weekend for the third time, and the wedding was officiated by VicePresident Mike Pence. Because if there’s one thing Mike Pence stands for, it’s the sanctity of a third marriage.

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