Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Mad Men, Community, Castle, HIMYM, Downton, Grey's, NCIS and More!
Got a scoop request? An anonymous tip you’re dying to share? Send any/all of the above to askausiello@tvline.com
Question: It’s been said that Grey’s Anatomy‘s Callie won’t be shy in showing how she really feels about Arizona cheating, and that the hospital will feel her wrath. But do you have any info on how Arizona will be handling this situation? –Ashley
Ausiello: Oh, it’s been more than “said” – it’s been shown. And as a matter of fact, TVLine’s Matt Mitovich just got off the horn with Jessica Capshaw, and she attested, “This is no small thing. This is a huge betrayal…. And the next step is you have to understand why it happened” — meaning, there’s something else missing from the Calzona relationship besides someone’s left leg. In the meantime, yes, Callie’s wrath shall be felt. As Capshaw notes with a laugh, “Every time I would walk into a scene, it would be having to play someone who had just done something horrible. So I would come out of work and be like, ‘I really am a good person! I really am!’”
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Question: What can you tell me on Meredith Grey? —Sara
Ausiello: She was on The View Monday (in the form of her portrayer, Ellen Pompeo) promoting this week’s Grey’s Anatomy premiere and she basically declared this the Season of Yang. “As sad as it is that [Sandra Oh] is leaving — and I know the fans are really upset — to know Sandra Oh, this is going to her best acting season ever,” Pompeo told the ladies. “She’s going to go out with a bang. That’s a very positive spin on it, but she’s going to want to really, really bring it — as she does every year.”
Question: Do you have any scoop on Bones, Castle, Glee, The Mentalist or Once Upon a Time? –Janika
Ausiello: I see… a Mentalist scoop in your future. Though we know that Amanda Righetti and Owain Yeoman are leaving at some point this season, and though we know Van Pelt and Rigsby are heading for a wedding, it’s still hazy on how/why exactly the characters will be written off of the show. “The hunt for Red John is reaching its climax,” series creator Bruno Heller notes. And with that, “the CBI is thrown into turmoil… so Rigsby and Van Pelt – and Cho – are forced to find new ways to be in the world.”
Question: I’ll love you forever if you give me a spoiler about The Mentalist! –Natasha
Ausiello: Bruno Heller says that after Red John’s capture this season, a big new arc will kick in — though he’s loath to utter a word about it. “As soon as you shoot an arrow in the air it’s going to land somewhere, and I don’t want to shoot that arrow quite yet,” he explains. “I would say that one of the luxuries if we do indeed catch and get rid of Red John… is that it’s a huge weight and burden off the shoulders of Jane and Lisbon and everybody else, so it’s a good life change, it gives them freedom and a sense of being able to breathe again. So while there will be gripping arcs of the kind that the audience is used to, we’re going to take this opportunity to open it up a bit.
Question: Got any intel on Justified? —Waylon
Ausiello: I hope Joelle Carter is a fan of prison attire, because I hear Ava won’t be sprung from the pokey anytime soon. In fact, rumor has it Season 5 will have a very Orange is the New Black feel to it.
Question: Any chance of a Downton Abbey-Sons of Anarchy crossover? —Gregg
Ausiello: In Ask Ausiello? I suppose I can work both shows into this answer. Odd request, but I’m game. On the SOA front, Theo Rossi hints that the pummeling Juice took from Chibs in the opener will have “tremendous” consequences. “I think the beating snapped him,” Rossi adds of his character. “He snapped… Juice wants to do everything he can to get back that family that he had. Right now his belief is [he can achieve that by becoming] more violent… How this all goes down is amazing and I’m really excited for it.” Moving on to Downton, Jim Carter assured me on the Emmys red carpet Sunday that Season 4 will be far less deadly than Season 3. In fact, “I don’t think there are any deaths this season,” he said. “You can settle back and relax — there are going to be no funerals this year.”
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Question: I know it’s only September and I’m crazy but pleeeeease, will there be a Christmas episode of Castle? –Iga
Ausiello: Although last year Castle fans were treated to a full-on Yuletide outing, complete with a sleigh’d Santa and gift anxiety for Caskett, this December your present will be smaller. “We have an episode that takes place around Christmastime, but it’s not super Christmas-y,” show boss Andrew W. Marlowe shares.
Question: Congratulations to Daniela Ruah on her pregnancy and engagement! Will her pregnancy be written into NCIS? –Donna
Ausiello: At this time, the show has “no comment” on whether or not Kensi will in turn be pregnant. But hey, maybe that’s the “most unexpected” midseason turn for “Densi” that showrunner Shane Brennan teased in our fall preview…?
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Question: Got any scoop on Revolution? —Kevin
Ausiello: The mystery man known as Mr. President will be unmasked “by midseason,” exec producer Eric Kripke confirms. “For now, he’s just this shadowy figure that is moving into the White House, and we’ll start to tease all that out.” Bonus Scoop: Adam Beach (SVU, Big Love) makes his first appearance in Wednesday’s premiere playing “the sheriff of the town of Willoughby that our heroes stumble into and immediately there’s a little friction with Miles because he senses that there’s [something off],” Kripke explains. “Miles comes into town using an alias and not wanting anyone to know his true identity, and Adam begins to realize pretty quickly that there’s more to Miles than meets the eye.”
Question: How will Mad Men‘s split season impact how Matt Weiner writes the final 14 episodes? For example, will he view Episode 7 as a season finale, and treat it accordingly, or will it be just a regular episode? —Dave
Ausiello: It’s a great question, and I tried to coax an answer out of the typically tight-lipped auteur at Sunday’s Emmys (shocker: I think I succeeded.) “I’m interested in entertainment and I want the audience to be glued to it and I want them to be addicted and I want them to come back,” he said. “So I will do everything I can in those seven episodes to tell a story where they’ll be like, ‘What is the rest of this?’” (Click here to watch my full Weiner Q&A.)
Question: Anything on How I Met Your Mother? —Babar
Ausiello: Anna Camp’s guest stint as the wedding guest from hell is now up to three episodes — and counting.
Question: Will Zachary Quinto turn up in American Horror Story: Coven? —Shein
Ausiello: “No plans so far, but we’ll see how that goes as the season unfolds,” says the AHS vet, who is currently starring on Broadway in The Glass Menagerie. “I’m always open to it. I’ve been so grateful for the opportunity to work with all those people, so if I can do it again I would love to.”
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Question: Please tell me anything about Scandal. —Katy
Ausiello: Now that Olivia has been outed as the POTUS’ mistress, “She is no longer the fixer,” explains Bellamy Young. “She is like the client. Mellie is the fixer in her own mind. We’re looking at a reelection campaign, so I’ve got to handle it because we need four more years. And Mellie has a very particular idea about who a scapegoat should be, what a strategy should be, how to push it all under the rug so we can get past it and get reelected. Of course, it will no doubt blow up in her face as Mellie’s plans inevitably do.” Bonus Scoop: This season’s third episode is going to be bananas.”So far, I have loved Episode 3,” raves Young. “Episode 3 was one of our best so far. I really look forward to [watching] that.”
Question: I have to wait so long until Season 2 of Under the Dome! Can you please give me some hint as to what the future holds for Barbie? —Alicia
Ausiello: A tighter, more compelling narrative? That’s my personal hope, anyway. I’m encouraged by something Dean Norris told us Saturday at BAFTA’s pre-Emmy Team Party. “I’m meeting with producers to start sorting it out, but [Season 2] is going to be good,” he said. “We get to reboot the whole thing… I think there’s going to be some changes. They want to beef it up in a lot of ways.” Bonus Scoop: Norris confirms that “Stephen King is going to write the first episode.”
Question: With Jeff’s daddy issues settled and Pierce gone, where will Community go for biological family dramedy now? —Robert
Ausiello: Back to Shirley’s brood. Two of her sons will return in this season’s fifth episode, only they’ll be older (early teens) and, per casting intel, with “lovely singing voices.” The benched NBC comedy is also on the lookout for an actor to play a student reporter, who is seen grilling a faculty member during a time of crisis. BTW, I think this is Donald Glover’s final episode, so the “crisis” part has me a smidge worried. They wouldn’t kill off Troy, would they?
That’s a wrap! Please send questions, comments, and anonymous tips to askausiello@tvline.com. (Additional reporting by Meg Masters and Vlada Gelman)
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