V
Appearing for the V panel was creator/producer Scott Rosenbaum, along with stars Elizabeth Mitchell and Marc Singer. Each appeared stunned and grateful at the loyal fans’ appreciation and was effusive in turn for the dedication and support. While the show is still technically “on the bubble” and a third season in no way guaranteed, they were still excited about the possibility of another season and had lots of ideas to share about what they hope to see next.
As Elizabeth Mitchell candidly admitted, “There’s something in me that wants to talk less and fight more!” After brutally losing her son and holding her ex-husband as he died in her arms, surely Erica Evans’ days of hiding in the shadows and tentatively striking back against the Visitors is over. Thus, should a third season be granted, Elizabeth is looking forward to kicking some well-deserved alien butt!
On the lighter side, Elizabeth would also love to portray the scenes where she finds out about Tyler’s death and Hobbes’ betrayal. Between the newly infused kick-ass role and its tender emotional-side, Elizabeth relishes the chance to portray the full spectrum of emotion. The razor-sharp edge of combined rage and anguish would be her dream-come-true.
When queried about whether any of the characters who looked dead in the season two finale will actually stay dead, producer Scott Rosenbaum coyly teased, “How dead is dead? On this show, you never know!”
Talking about Tyler’s infamous death scene in the finale, Elizabeth shared “I really love Logan [Huffman] and enjoy working with him so much, so I’m sad that [Tyler] is dead.” She also predicted that when Erica learns about her son’s death that “someone is going to have to physically stop her — and as we’ve seen with Erica, that might be hard!”
Other things that may come up next season, which would have been shown in the second season finale had there been more time, such as: Erica’s discovery that Hobbes was involved with her ex-husband’s death and a possible romance with Jack. With Hobbes on the run, and Jack ex-communicated from the church and moving in with Erica (temporarily), there has been a shift in Erica’s romantic interests. Elizabeth described one of the cut scenes as, “There’s a scene that they never showed, where Father Jack moves in and he gets really close to her — and she just looks at him like, ‘Whoa! Ok . . .’ we shot it, and it was really fun. There’s got to be something there.” For fans looking to check-out those sexy scenes, Elizabeth revealed, “We had far more romantic tension scenes, but they were all cut. So they should be on the DVD.” She also laughingly shared that she has no preference as to who Erica ends up with as both Jack and Hobbes are “hot guys” and that she just appreciated Erica getting a chance to hook-up with one of them!
Another big chuck that was cut from the finale that would have explained a bit more about Hobbes’ hasty departure was briefly explained as well. Apparently, when Hobbes and Ryan went up to the Mother Ship, Diana tripped a tracking device the minute she left her cell. That warned Hobbes that his cover was potentially blown and he vanished to save his own skin.
Looking to the future, Marc Singer’s character Lars Tremont will feature prominently in Project Aries. Elizabeth excitedly described it as, “Project Aries really started something completely new. I think having that power behind our tiny little group is really exciting. It gives them something to draw from – I mean, they’ve got nuclear weapons!” Thus, in season three, Elizabeth wants Erica to rise to the occasion. She explained, “I would like her to be a nothing-to-lose — incredibly strong — incredibly intelligent character. . . I feel that maybe we can out think [the Visitors].” She further added, “We are talking about the reptilian brain, which is mostly just instinct. So with a combination that we have and so many gifts and so many things we can do, I think that Erica is capable of it. I just want to see it happen — and I want there to be so much action. I want Marc’s character to send her out to accomplish things. That would be wonderful. That would be very cool!”
For his part, Marc is just as enthusiastically looking forward to the chance to rain down hell on the Visitors next season and is looking forward to working more with Elizabeth on the show.
As for the realistic chances of a third season, Scott was optimistic stating that they were all hopeful and that the DVR numbers are better this season. So there is always a chance. He encouraged fans to help ensure that third season by checking out Project Alice on Facebook – anything the fans can do to show their appreciation and support of the show is what is needed to reassure ABC that a third season is warranted.
HUMAN TARGET
At the HUMAN TARGET panel, which was moderated by Blastr’s Jenna Busch, in attendance were executive producer Matthew Miller, along with cast-members Mark Valley, Jackie Earle Haley and Janet Montgomery. Each candidly shared their thoughts on the new dynamic created by adding the two female characters to the team this last season and what they are hoping for in the upcoming third season.
Not even hesitating, Jackie revealed from his perspective that Ilsa and Ames definitely have changed the “all boy’s club” aspect. He even admitted, “Their presence forced a new dynamic on Chance and the guys.” He also noted that while his character Guerrero usually feels paternal towards Ames, for the most part, he is just pissed-off and just feels like tossing Ames off the nearest building. But from Janet’s perspective, she senses something else entirely. In fact, she believes there is a romantic under-current between Ames and Guerrero and she would love to see the show explore that potentially land-mine area. It could be the makings of a great relationship, or something much more explosive, but either way, it would be fun to play.
Mark also shared that he appreciates how adding the new characters has forced Chance to grow and to open-up a bit — pushing Chance to break-out of his loner life and allow himself to care for people. The first season was about reluctant trust between Chance, Winston and Guerrero; and the second season was about looking beyond themselves and becoming more a familial unit — albeit with some romantic tension.
Should a third season be forthcoming, look for a bit more of Guerrero’s backstory to be revealed — including an episode involving Guerrero’s ex-wife, who is literally the only person on the planet that he is genuinely scare of — and with good reason as his ex is currently serving time in prison. Another ex to make a return appearance will be Winston’s ex-wife Michelle when all hell-breaks-loose involving Winston’s nephew.
Also possibly returning for guest appearances are Lennie James, Tony Hale, Roger Bart and perhaps Emmanuelle Vaugier.
The entire cast also admitted to being huge fans of their own show. Mark said he likes to read each new script as if it is a comic book and even Jackie enthusiastically shared, “I’m not sure I like working on the show more — or just watching it as a fan!” As he also noted, HUMAN TARGET has the look of an action movie and it is simply incredible what they can do on the show. It is like filming a movie every 10 days.
At the end of the panel, Matt made sure to remind fans that they should use Twitter, Facebook and any other way they can think of to show Fox that they want the show back for a third season. By far, the funniest proposal came from Jackie who suggested that fans should strip-down, oil-up and videotape themselves crawling out of an air-duct like Janet did for one of the episodes last season. With that kind of visual imagery being sent into Fox, they could not possibly ignore the fans’ enthusiasm for HUMAN TARGET.
So as negotiations are ongoing to determine if the third season is a “go,” get out your body lotion and oil and make your video!
BREAKING IN
In the new Fox comedy series BREAKING IN, Christian Slater plays an independent security consultant who employs a rat-tag group of social manipulators — aka con artists and thieves — in order to test various companies’ security systems. Christian plays Oz – the man behind the curtain. Christian heads a cast of entertaining actors, including Bret Harrison, Alphonso McAuley, Trevor Moore and Odette Annabele. Being a half-hour comedy series, “Breaking In” smartly relies on its cast as a source of amusement and lively entertainment – for each is a force of personality and carry the comedy on a wave of enthusiasm.
In the press room, cast-members Christian Slater and Odette Annabele talked about what they loved about the show.
Odette described the show as THE OFFICE meets THE A-TEAM and that it is an off-beat comedy with a great team dynamic. It is an ambitious premises, but she is loving every minute of it. On the show, she plays a bad-ass safe cracker who was raised by an ex-con artist. Having grown up into the family business so to speak, she is very good at what she does. However, she has made some less than stellar decisions in her personal life which can come back to bite her a bit. Though she was quick to defend Michael Rosenbaum’s character, Dutch, who plays her boyfriend on the show. She described Dutch as the “most thoughtful douche-bag you’ll ever meet.“ He is thoughtful, adventurous, and spontaneous and that is perhaps why their dynamic works. Odette also laughingly admitted that Michael is a lot more like his character than he likes to admit.
As for Christian’s character on the show, Oz — he’s the guy in charge. He has his hands in a lot of different pockets. Christian described him as, “Oz is the kind of character with a lot of secret rooms and who is 8 moves ahead. He knows what the outcomes are going to be pretty much from the get go.” Christian admitted, “It’s a lot of fun to get the opportunity to play that character.”
So BREAKING IN, is not just a wacky, goofball comedy. As Christian hinted, “There’s a lot more going on in that office than really meets the eye — which will be revealed more and more over time.” With that kind of subtext and mystery waiting to be revealed, hopefully fans tune-in and see what’s next — which includes lots of homages and tributes to the sci-fi fans, such as Christian’s own replica copy of the Captain Kirk chair from STAR TREK and an episode set at Comic-Con where the team is tasked with protecting Goonies II.
BREAKING IN airs Wednesday nights at 9:30PM, following AMERICAN IDOL on Fox.
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Check back tomorrow for the final Wonder of WonderCon 2011. Missed the first part? As seen in Part 1 of this article, WonderCon 2011 offered an extraordinary opportunity to share in the joy of television. The seven panels highlighted gave fans a glimpse into the worlds of DOCTOR WHO, TERRA NOVA, FALLING SKIES, V, HUMAN TARGET, BREAKING IN and a special look at “Behind the Music: Composing for Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy.” For the privileged few, WonderCon pulled back the curtain and showed us the treasure behind each show. We were honored and look forward to next year! 
Tiffany Vogt is a contributing writer to TheTVAddict. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).
Photo Credits: Jennifer Schadel