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Channel 9, Drama, FRONT, TV

Hostages Creates A Tangled Web

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Ellen (Toni Collette) deals with a visit from her sister.

Wednesday night’s up-coming double hitter of Hostages proves why this show is one of the best drama shows currently on television.  Let’s just say that by the end of the second episode (episode 7), you will not believe just how intertwined the lives of Ellen Sanders and her family are with those around her.

The first of the two episodes, titled ‘Sisters Keeper‘ follows on from last weeks episode closer in which we saw the Sanders children brought back home after trying escape.  ‘Sisters Keeper’ see’s the Sanders having to deal with the fallout from their failed escape attempt and Ellen receive an unplanned visit from her sister Lauren (Nina Arianda) and Duncan puts a plan in effect to have Ellen remove her immediately at any cost.

The second episode, titled ‘Hail Mary‘ is where the payoff for viewers really starts to present itself.  We finally learn why Duncan sent Archer to prison – albeit, this feels like a rather late piece of information considering the reveals still to come in this episode.  Ellen will discover just how closely entwined her life and Duncan’s lives really are and someone rather unexpected becomes top spot suspect number one for possibly wanting the president dead!

Both episodes do contain some rather inane story-lines (social worker investigation of possible domestic abuse of Morgan Sanders and the personal lives of Sandrine and Duncan’s brother – his name escapes me now) but the kicker of it all is the closing scene in the second episode.  Just a hint – it involves a needle filled with the poison meant for the president!

Hostages airs Wednesday nights on Channel 9, 8:30pm

CBS via DirecTV

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FRONT

5 Reasons Why You Should Be Watching Hostages

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Toni Collette as Dr. Ellen Sanders in Hostages

Why is no one watching this show?  It’s a simple question that I can’t really find a simple answer to and now, it’s beginning to bug me.  Here we have a really good show (and by really good, I mean, REALLY GOOD) that is now finding itself on the dreaded ‘cancellation short list’ due to exceedingly terrible ratings.  Yes, this will be biased.  I love this show and don’t want to loose it!

So, here, I try to convince to watch and why you should watch!

1: It’s got Toni Collette in it.  We love our Toni Collette right?!  And she’s good in this.  It might not be as awesome as her performance in The United States of Tara (I’m still smarting over the loss of that show!) but as a mother who is finding herself having to make the ultimate decision – kill the president of the USA or let your family die, she really is shining.  Here she gets to show a ‘do anything to survive’ determination and her don’t-mess-with-me look to the camera at the close of the pilot episode left me hanging for more!  Also, Tate Donovan plays her husband.  I have fond memories of Tate when he popped up in Friends playing Rachel’s boyfriend Joshua (not Josh) and it’s great to see him on screen again!

2: Kill the president of the USA or your family dies.  This is the premise of the show and it has you on the edge of your seat screaming “Why don’t you just kill him!” but then of course, if she did, there’d be no show and we’d be watching Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott stand around doing nothing.  Let’s also add the fact that Duncan (who is holding the Sanders family hostage) is an FBI agent who finds himself working with the secret service while being a doting father and loving husband!

3: There’s a lot of lying in this show.  Like a lot.  Duncan’s assistants are lying to each other and the Sanders family, who seem like the perfect family unit, are actually heavily flawed and lying to each other.  Between Ellen’s husband Brian having an affair with the slutty secretary to knocked up teenage daughter Morgan to drug dealing son Jake, we are left thinking what is Ellen’s flaw and when will it show it’s ugly green head.

4: Hostages has been created in a short-season format.  Season one has been set to play out over only 15 episodes so there’s no messing around and stretching out of this plot-line.  This format was possibly done to counteract the immense popularity of cable shows using the same format (The Walking Dead, Nurse Jackie, Homeland etc) which has been highly successful.

5: It really is must-see TV.  There’s no stand alone episodes, making sure you stay invested in the show and series as a whole.  Will plans to escape go awry?  Why is Duncan wanting the president dead?  What part does his wife play in all of this?  Will Ellen kill the president of the USA?  There are so many questions needing answers that waiting for the next episode is killer.

That said, just watch it!

Toni Collette as Dr. Ellen Sanders © 2013 Nine Entertainment Co
Dylan McDermott as FBI Agent Duncan Carlisle © 2013 Nine Entertainment Co
© 2013 Nine Entertainment Co
© 2013 Nine Entertainment Co

Hostages airs 8:30pm Wednesdays on Channel 9 with back episodes available online via Catchup on 9 and CBS via DirecTV

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Crime, Drama, FRONT, PayTV, TV

Coming Soon: Hostages

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Hostages stars Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott

Starring Toni Collette, Dylan McDermott and Tate Donovan, new drama show Hostages will be making it’s way soon to channel 9 and CBS on DirecTV.

In the 15-episode run season, Hostages will see Toni Collette (The United States of Tara) playing Dr. Ellie Sanders, a renowned surgeon hand-picked to perform the highly delicate task of operating on the president of the United States of America.

Prior to said operation, Ellie and her family are taken hostage by rogue FBI special agent Duncan Carlisle (Dylan McDermott – The Practice) and his team and Ellie is presented with one of the greatest ultimatums; Kill the president of the United States of America or her family dies.

Even though his character is seen as “The bad guy” McDermott is quick to point out that Duncan Carlisle is not all bad and has ulterior motives as to why he wants the president dead, that of which we will find out as the season progresses.

Expect a season full of twists and turns as Ellie struggles to deal with the precarious situation she and her family have found themselves in while battling a growing affection for her captors and to the reasons behind wanting the president dead.

Check out a preview of the first three minutes of Hostages below:

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