Ask Matt: ‘Tracker’s Missing Characters, ‘Talamasca’ & More
Welcome to the Q&A with TV critic — also known to some TV fans as their “TV therapist” — Matt Roush, who’ll try to address whatever you love, loathe, are confused or frustrated or thrilled by in today’s vast TV landscape. (We know background music is too loud, it’s the most frequent complaint, but there’s always closed-captioning. Check out this story for more tips.)
One caution: This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won’t be addressing upcoming storylines here unless it’s already common knowledge. Please send your questions and comments to [email protected]. Look for Ask Matt columns on most Tuesdays.
Where Has Tracker‘s Support Team Gone?
Question: I was wondering what happened to Velma and Bobby on Tracker? Last season, Velma was working with Reenie in her new law office, and at the end of last season, Bobby was back working with his cousin Randy, helping Colter. This season, both characters are gone. I didn’t read about any cast changes to Tracker in the Returning Favorites issue of TV Guide Magazine. — Stanley T.
Matt Roush: Abby McEnany (Velma) and Eric Graise (Bobby) were written out early in Season 3 — Bobby taking a lucrative new gig and Velma stepping away to save her marriage to Teddi (Robin Weigert, who left the show after the first season). Randy (Chris Lee) is still on call as a recurring character (as recently as the Nov. 30 episode), but only Fiona Rene as Reenie is listed alongside Justin Hartley‘s Colter Shaw as a main character anymore. This appears to have been done mostly for creative reasons, with the showrunner quoted as saying that the “phone-a-friend” aspect of the show was getting tired, and this heightens Colter’s image as more of a lone wolf. Some have speculated that the cast trimming may have been done for financial reasons, but the show’s a big enough hit that it could support a few more recurring characters if needed, and there’s always the possibility that Velma and/or Bobby could show up again if the story calls for it. After all, they weren’t killed off. (Looking back at our reporting in Returning Favorites, it seems the showrunner, Elwood Reid, chose to lean into the serialized storyline involving the Shaw family secrets rather than discuss what and who would be missing.)
Talamasca: Good, But Could Have Been More
Comment: I just binged AMC‘s Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order, and I liked it a lot. I agree with you that Interview with the Vampire is the best of the three, and Mayfair Witches is by far the worst. (The thing I liked most about Anne Rice’s original Witching Hour book is the detailed recounting of the spirits’ interactions with every generation of the Mayfair witches over the centuries. On the AMC show, they were in quite a hurry to get to the birth of the new spirit, so that they ignored most of the history, and now it’s too late to go through that.)
Your review of Talamasca says that you were enthralled with Jasper and hope for much more of him. I was actually a bit underwhelmed by Jasper and think that the driving force of the show is Guy Anatole. Guy is the one on whom the interest as well as the heart of the show rests. I hope they keep him front and center. The nicest surprise to me was Elizabeth McGovern. I’m a big Downton Abbey fan, but in all those years of Downton, she was used mostly to smile and do nothing. It was nice to see her in a more interesting role, and she made the most of it.
An additional thought: The showrunners and cast have talked about how the writers are careful to observe the timelines of the other shows when they do crossovers so that the “canon” is not disturbed. However, I feel they missed a chance to make something even more interesting. The Talamasca organization has been around for centuries, and we know it has been involved with the Mayfairs since Tudor times. They COULD have made a show taking place any time in the past thousand years or so, depicting Talamasca’s involvement with any type of supernatural beings (sort of an historical X-Files). They didn’t have to create a show in the modern era. If they wanted to restrict their stories to the Rice canon, they could have made a show using Talamasca to tell the stories of any of Rice’s early vampires, or any of the long line of Mayfair witches, or any other. While I genuinely like what they did do with the Talamasca show, I think it would have been even more exciting to have explored the past in an anthology show like that, or perhaps with one different storyline per season. — D.P.
Matt Roush: An interesting deep dive, and that really does sound like a more interesting Talamasca show than the spinoff we were offered. I’ll stick by my contention that “vampires have more fun,” believing that this would have been a far more anemic and less enjoyable affair without William Fichtner‘s scene-stealing as Jasper. I agree that Guy (Nicholas Denton) is the character around whom the series pivots, but he feels a bit bland in a way that Elizabeth McGovern’s enigmatic Helen most certainly does not. There’s enough intrigue and possibility in this premise to bring me back for a second season. Not sure I can say the same about Mayfair Witches, though I am very eager to witness Interview‘s evolution into The Vampire Lestat with the charismatic vamp going full rock star.
Hunting for Answers
Question: Has there been any news on whether Nick Wechsler will be returning to The Hunting Party in Season 2? I realize Oliver’s fate was left up in the air in the finale, but I really don’t want him to die. – Laura
Matt Roush: I’m not in the business of spoiling cliffhangers, but in NBC‘s midseason release announcing the show’s return on Thursday, Jan. 8, Nick’s name is still in the credits. So, unless you actually see them put Oliver in the ground, he’ll probably still be around for a while.
From the NCIS Archive
Question: I have been bingeing NCIS lately and am confused. When Jimmy Palmer first announced he and Breena were pregnant, they said if it was a girl, they were going to name her Kelly, but once she was born, she was Victoria. Did I miss something? More recently, the episodes involving Jimmy as a single parent and grieving the loss of Breena were handled well, but was there any episode that explained what happened? All that the episode said was that he was not able to see her in the hospital since it was during COVID. Any help with these, as they are bugging the heck out of me, will be greatly appreciated. — Shirley C.
Matt Roush: I’ll defer to those with more encyclopedic knowledge of the NCIS-verse, but if the couple ever considered naming their child Kelly (after Gibbs’ slain daughter), they ultimately chose to honor Duckie’s mother, Victoria. As for the tragedy of Breena’s passing, which happened off-camera during a COVID time jump, we’re meant to understand that she died of COVID-19 complications, with the added pain that Jimmy couldn’t be at her side because of protocols during that terrible time. That’s my reading of the situation, anyway.
And Finally …
Comment: I watched two Harlequin movies (of the six total that were filmed) that have aired on The CW. I have to admit I was impressed. The first one, Montana Mavericks, was better than many recent theatrical or Hallmark romantic movies. The acting, music, and production values were very good. The next movie featured was Second Guessing Fate. This one was less predictable (compared to most romance movies) and offered a fantasy element, with terrific acting, and was very entertaining. I plan on watching the remaining four movies scheduled to air this season. — Fred
Matt Roush: Happy to pass on the recommendation. These aren’t really my cup of schmaltz, but at the very least, these romances are a respite for those seeking this sort of story at this time of year without the familiar Christmas trappings.
That’s all for now. We can’t do this without your participation, so please keep sending questions and comments about TV to [email protected]. (Please include a first name with your question.)
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