This week on TVHackr, we talked about the end of Magic City, the debut of The White Queen, and the first trailer for Homeland’s third season, while the internet touched on breaking the fourth wall, the infamous Netflix algorithm, and violence on MTV.

Magic City Season 2 Recap: Know Your Local Butcher
While Ike’s ties to Vic are damaged by the Havana deal, Klein vows revenge and Sy arrives in Miami after the bolita disaster.

Maura Tierney Cast in Showtime Drama Pilot The Affair
The Emmy nominee will be playing the wife of Noah (Dominic West), who finds out about him cheating with Alison (Ruth Wilson), a waitress at a pancake house.

2013 TCA Award Winners
Among the winners at the 2013 Television Critics Association awards were Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory, The Americans, and Parks and Recreation.

Mistresses 1.10 Preview: Richard Confronts Paul Over April
On the next episode of Mistresses, Richard finds out about Paul still being alive, while Joss tries to impress Olivier and Savi faces the idea of her marriage being over.

ABC Announces Midseason Premiere Dates, Split Season Return Dates
To combat viewer erosion, ABC will be airing its serialized dramas in two chunks, with the second half of Scandal, Revenge, and the like set to premiere starting in late February.

Awkward Renewed for Season 4 by MTV
MTV has renewed high school comedy Awkward for a fourth season and installed new showrunners to replace creator Lauren Iungerich, who left the series at the end of the third season.

Magic City Canceled by Starz
After 16 episodes, Starz has pulled the plug on Magic City following modest ratings and little critical attention.

The Fosters Summer Finale Recap: The Church of the Three Stooges
On the summer finale of The Fosters, Stef’s wedding makes her reflect on the impact her father’s words about her sexuality have had on her mindset, while Callie makes a rash decision after being confronted by Jude.

Low Winter Sun: Watch a 5-Minute Sneak Peek of the Series Premiere Here
You can watch the first five minutes of Low Winter Sun, the AMC cop drama starring Mark Strong and Lennie James that premieres this coming Sunday, here.

The White Queen Spoilers: The Rebellion Against Edward Grows
Coming up on The White Queen, the rebellion against Edward grows, while Elizabeth feels the wrath of Lord Chadwick and George sails to France.

News Roundup: Downton Abbey to Return Sunday, January 5th
While Downton Abbey will be premiering on PBS this January, Bravo has greenlit a scripted pilot from Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and ABC names its next Bachelor.

Bates Motel Adds Paloma Kwiatkowski for Season 2
Bates Motel has added the newcomer as Cody, a small town party girl who befriends Norman and convinces him that acting out to dull his inner pain is a good thing to do.

Tyrant Adds Justin Kirk and Sibylla Deen
The FX drama, about an American family that gets drawn into the inner workings of a Middle Eastern nation, added Justin Kirk as an American diplomat and Sibylla Deen as a young bride.

CBS Greenlights Sci-Fi Drama Extant for Summer 2014
After an intense bidding war between networks, sci-fi drama Extant has landed at CBS with a 13-episode order and a production commitment from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television.

The Red Road: Tom Sizemore Joins the Upcoming Sundance Drama
Tom Sizemore becomes the latest to join upcoming Sundance drama The Red Road, where he’ll play an unpredictable drug dealer and the father to a Native American ex-con.

Jordana Spiro Joins FX’s Tyrant
The My Boys alum is set to play a cultural attaché and the wife of Justin Kirk’s character on the FX drama pilot, from the producers of Homeland.

Twisted 1.10 Sneak Peeks: Danny Faces an Impending Expulsion Hearing
On the next episode of Twisted, Danny faces the possibility of being expelled, while Rico rushes to stop the spread of the video he was anonymously e-mailed.

The White Queen Series Premiere Sneak Peeks: Edward Proposes to Elizabeth Woodville
The series premiere of The White Queen finds Elizabeth Woodville fielding a proposal from King Edward, the man who killed her husband, and discovering her clairvoyant abilities.

Masters of Sex Trailer: The Study of Sex vs. the Study of Science
On the first trailer for Showtime’s upcoming period drama Masters of Sex, sexuality researcher William Masters might have met his match in Virginia Johnson, who initially interviews to be his secretary.

Siberia Spoilers: The Contestants Deal with an Early Winter
Coming up on Siberia, the group gets split into two by the first snow of the competition, while one contestant has to be tied down and another begins to feel their sanity slipping away.

Twisted Summer Finale Spoilers: Tess Becomes Involved in the Investigation
Coming up on Twisted, Tess reveals just how much she’s connected to Tara’s murder, while Danny and Archie have a confrontation at a soccer team party.

Homeland Season 3 Trailer: Where in the World is Nicholas Brody?
Showtime released the first official trailer for the third season of Homeland and in it, everyone is still reeling from Brody’s disappearance and the bombing that killed several key governmental officials.

Magic City Series Finale Recap: You Really Don’t Know Me At All
The gambling bill is decided and the fallout impacts everyone on Magic City, even those who backed the “right” man out of Ike and Ben. Who ended up biting the dust?

The White Queen Series Premiere Recap: Is He Really the King?
Elizabeth meets newly crowned King Edward IV and instantly becomes attracted to him, to the point where she agrees to marry him despite being from two different houses and drawing unwanted attention (and danger) to herself.

The Science Behind the Netflix Algorithms That Decide What You’ll Watch Next (Wired)
Wired interviewed Carlos Gomez-Uribe, VP of product innovation and personalization algorithms, and Xavier Amatriain, engineering director, about what goes into Netflix’s recommendation algorithm.

Violence on MTV: Why Did Producers Stop Intervening on Real World? (Variety)
Variety looks at the increasing freedom that producers of Real World are participants on the show and how violent it has become in comparison to earlier in its lifespan.

The Follow-Back: Understanding the Two-Way Causal Influence Between Twitter Activity and TV Viewership (Nielsen)
According to Nielsen, live tweeting raised the ratings in 29% of television episodes, with competitive reality programming (e.g. Top Chef, Project Runway, The Voice) seeing the greatest rise.

The Most Fourth Wall-Breaking Moments in Television History (io9)
Do you like your shows to know that they’re television shows? i09 looks at several different categories of fourth wall-breaking, including fake interviews, people playing themselves, and a TV show within the actual show.

How to Make a TV Drama in the Twitter Age (The New York Times)
The Times talked to several showrunners, including Shonda Rhimes, Carlton Cuse, and Terence Winter, about how social media impacts their writing, how they integrate/address social media within their shows, and how they avoid becoming defensive about criticism.

30 best TV shows to binge-watch (Newsday)
Need a new show to binge? Newsday has some suggestions.

The post The Week in Television Wrap August 3-9 appeared first on TVHackr.

Ben confronts Lily by the pool about her past with Nicky Grillo. She cops to dating him in Tampa for three months, though Ben is more concerned about a potential connection to Sy, which she denies. He claims that if she’s lying about only knowing him in passing, and having met him for the first time when she was introduced to Ben, it could end up being very bad for her. Meanwhile, Ike sneaks away to have a talk with the CIA officer he has monitoring Tiberon, the same man who was listening to the Cuban rebel’s conversation with Victor on last week’s episode. The officer admits that Victor’s in pretty deep right now and Ike rushes over to his former friend’s abode to tell him everything. Apparently, Tiberon lied about what happened with Maria; rather than dying in his arms like he told Vic earlier this season, she was found caught in a fishing net in the middle of the ocean. Vic seems to believe him, but he doesn’t let Ike into the home after storming away.

When Ike returns to the Miramar, he discovers multiple police officers, who he leads out of the lobby and has a quiet chat with outside. They’re there in regards to Nicky Grillo’s body being found in the barrel and he quickly gives them the okay to search the gangster’s room, though he urges them to use the service elevator. Sensing an opportunity, Ike calls the Secret Six back into session and preaches that they need to publish another article, this time linking Grillo’s death with increased mob activity and the gambling bill. With only hours before the papers go to print, the one option they have is an editorial written by Meg; her power and influence around town should persuade citizens to the dangers of the gambling bill and be strong enough to deliver the finishing blow to the bill’s chances. Meanwhile, after hearing Antonio confess his love to her and knowledge of her pregnancy, Mercy and Vera meet in the Atlantis, where the former laments about wanting what Vera has – security in her relationship. However, Vera is more concerned about not being able to give Ike a child and the chance that Mercy could be her final chance at doing so.

The following morning, Ike gets Meg to sign her editorial and rushes it to the printers, where it runs on the front page and disrupts the vote in Tallahassee, as two men stand outside the senatorial offices and hand out papers to all who walk inside. As such, every vote that Ben bought turns against him and the bill turns out to be DOA. While Sy hears about Nicky and is forced to leave his religious services, Danny goes to Klein with one final card to play: the attentive student. He recalls the conversation they had when Klein was trying to convince him to intern at the office, where he questioned the young man about what he would do to destroy evil. Though Ike may be crooked and a whole host of other adjectives, he’s not evil, according to Danny, and using a personal vendetta to go after him would go against everything that Klein has told him, the entire reason he got into the law in the first place. That does the trick, as Klein calls Ike and accepts the deal; as long as all the information checks out, he’ll drop the charges against Ike and Sid.

Currently on an upswing, Ike tries to reconnect with Stevie by going to Madame Renee’s brothel, but he doesn’t want anything to do with his father, not after being kicked out of the Miramar. (On less of a high note is Ben, who is avoiding all contact with Sy after the vote falling apart. Unknowingly to him, Sy told Cyrus that if the vote goes down like it did, Ben was to be taken out.) His meeting with Sy on the balcony goes a tiny bit better, though, as a little reminiscing turns into the old man trying to strong-arm Ike into buying Ben’s part of the Miramar back for $10 million and giving up 40% of all money that comes into the hotel from here on. Having already offered the Chicago outfit Havana, Ike whips out evidence that links Sy with Ben, who he claims to be heading for the penitentiary once Klein gets done with him, and boasts to having a hell of a lot more where that came from. Sy may threaten to kill Ike’s family before taking him out, but if that were to happen, the boss would lose hundreds of millions of dollars, so he has to keep the hotelier alive, much to his chagrin.

However, Ike still has to pay back the money and thinks about going deeper in bed with Meg, who he’d much rather be in business with than people like Sy Berman. He wants to borrow the money from her and then pay her back on a monthly basis, but Vera doesn’t like that idea, since this isn’t just business to Meg. Ike doesn’t flinch, though, claiming that their marriage will have to be strong enough to make it and all but dismissing how uncomfortable the new arrangement makes her. Meanwhile, Vic leaves Mercy a note on the dresser and heads out to the boat where Tiberon awaits. Before setting sail, though, he badgers the rebel to tell him the story of what happened with Maria one more time. Before he can, though, Vic confronts his “friend” about lying on what happened with Maria and taking advantage of a group of men under the guise of killing Castro. The two scuffle, Victor gets shot in the stomach, and they drop into the water, where he has enough just strength to strangle Tiberon before losing consciousness in the water. One of the men on the boat dives down and brings him to the dock, where he looks at the stars (and presumably dies from his wounds).

When Ben gets interrupted by Lily from doing line after line of coke, he tells her that he won’t be going to the brothel tonight with her and urges her to take Stevie along for the ride, where she shouldn’t pay and should bring him home. While out, she tells Stevie of Ben knowing of their affair and that she thinks he plans to kill them both that night, due to his demeanor before she left and anguish over the gambling bill. Elsewhere, Ike thanks Meg for everything that she did and she agrees to reinvest into the Miramar, keeping herself on as a partner. She then kisses him.

Danny bursts into Klein’s office where he asks about the whereabouts of Doug, who stepped out of the office earlier that day under the guise of looking for files and never returned. He thinks that the man could be after Judi Silver and guides them all to the brothel of Madame Renee in hopes of catching her before he does. Sy leaves Shabbat with several of his associates and gets jumped by a gang of Ben’s men, led by Bel. Sy ends up having to kill Bel and takes a shot in the arm, only to jump into his car and be blown up thanks to the bomb that had been planted while he was inside the synagogue. Back at Ben’s, The Butcher is happily watching Lily and Stevie together when she flips him over onto his back and he fires several shots into the two-way mirror, sending Ben crashing to the floor below them. Still alive, Ben tells Stevie he’s forgiven and escapes with his life, since the gun ran out of bullets. Lily makes Stevie get out of the house as Ben continues coughing up blood.

Unfortunately, it’s too late for Judi Silver, as Doug makes it to her first and stabs her twice, leaving her for dead against the window of her room. Danny finds her and calls for someone to get an ambulance before she loses anymore blood. Back at the hotel, Vera learns from Antonio that Mercy had a miscarriage and Ike arrives home to find Danny packing his things, distraught from having to deal with what happened to Judi. He chastises his father for the lifestyle he’s involved in and tells him not to love him anymore before speeding away.

The series ends with Stevie paranoid in his hotel room and looking out to see Vera parked in her car outside his room; Klein telling a bed-bound Ben that he was too bad to die and that when he survives, he’ll stop at nothing to get him on the electric chair; and Ike drawing the Miramar on the beach by the real thing.

A true castle made of sand.

Additional thoughts and observations:
-So, as a season finale, this was a pretty strong effort, with the focus being less on the results of the bill and more on what happens afterward and how everyone responds to the latest curveball. (Also, a lot of housecleaning, in terms of ancillary players being taken out.) But as a series finale, it just makes me frustrated and reminds me of The Borgias, another abruptly canceled cable drama that didn’t have enough time for resolution. (Here’s an interview Jeffrey Dean Morgan did with Entertainment Weekly about the cancellation. Most interestingly, the extravagant sets were already paid for, so the show’s expensive aesthetic wouldn’t be a factor in the show ending.)
-Speaking of said ancillary players, I wasn’t horribly surprised about who bit the proverbial bullet (James Caan has an ABC series this summer, Judi Silver has been living on borrowed time since early season one, Victor was on the outs with Ike and left his daughter), but the ways they were bumped off were immensely well done. The gun fight-turned-car bomb made me (loudly) gasp, while Judi’s stabbing gutted me and Vic’s exit was creative and ended on a peaceful note that was more comforting than concerning. I am shocked, though, that Lily didn’t get taken out.
-Can we talk about the stretch in the show that went old guy gun fight, car bomb, Stevie shooting the mirror and sending Ben flying? Because that was amazing. And totally worth him not knowing that Ben knew all season. However, considering the show’s cancellation, I kind of wish that there had been one more bullet in Stevie’s gun and that he ran off with Lily to escape those who would look to avenge Ben’s death.
-Another disappointment in the cancellation: no more awkward Stevie/Vera sexual tension. Do you think they got it on after the final scene, where she shows up at the hotel? I think they would do it once and then she would be beside herself with regret for letting the situation with Ike cause her to act out of character.
-Is Antonio gay? My gaydar must be broken, because I never picked up on anything during the season and in his first scene tonight, the emphasis on him saying he had never wanted a woman before made me curious.
-Great shot: Ben, with an undone tie and loose collar, letting the front page of the paper waft into the pool while the camera was looking up at him.
-I really enjoyed seeing Ike go full shark on Sy on the hotel balcony, but I thought that he had fended off the old man’s desire to collect the $10 million. Or was I hearing things?
-The only person who escaped the series happy was Lauren, who is probably up in her room doing her hair or watching The Diary of Anne Frank for fun again or something. Literally every other character ended up dead or miserable due to something they can’t have.
-Thank you guys for keeping up with my Magic City coverage this summer. While I’m annoyed that we don’t get to know what happens next, I think the show grew quite a bit during this season and seemed ready to take an even bigger leap during a (hypothetical) season three, even if we (meaning me and all the beautiful people who read these recaps) would have been the only ones watching. Meet you all in the Atlantis for a drink, okay?

The post Magic City Series Finale Recap: You Really Don’t Know Me At All appeared first on TVHackr.

“We are tremendously proud of the series and everyone involved. From the writers, to the cast and crew, it has been an incredible collaboration. This was a story born from Mitch Glazer’s singular vision of Miami, the Magic City of his childhood, and we are grateful to him for bringing it to life on Starz. The season’s story arc will allow us to deliver a satisfying conclusion to the series, and we thank all the fans who checked in to the Miramar Playa,” the network said in a statement released today.

Starz has been busy ordering noisier fare in recent months, picking up a second season of Michael Bay pirate drama Black Sails six months before it airs and ordering an adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series of novels. Also in the pipeline at the network, which also ended Spartacus after three seasons, are Power (from The Good Wife‘s Courtney Kemp Agboh) and Fortitude (about a town rocked by its first ever violent crime), both of which will debut sometime in 2014. Currently the most tenured series on the network is David S. Goyer’s Da Vinci’s Demons, having premiered this past April and received a second season order after only one episode had aired.

The series finale of Magic City airs Friday at 9:00 on Starz. You can check out a recap of the most recent episode here.

Do you think that Starz made the right decision in cancelling Magic City? What would you like to see happen during the series finale? Which of Starz’s upcoming series will be the first to make it to a third season?

The post Magic City Canceled by Starz appeared first on TVHackr.

Going well for Ike, though, is the quest to take Ben Diamond out. The Secret Six have planted their first story in the paper linking The Butcher with Theresa’s disappearance and in a fury, he orders Donald to go up to Tallahassee and make sure that they don’t lose votes on the gambling bill, whose senatorial vote is set to happen in a matter of days. He tells Donald to tell Sloat if any votes are lost, he’ll cut his hand off. Since Sy will be heading into town as a result of the major hit the Chicago outfit took after Ike fixed the lottery, Ben also gets Bel to book the man the Sinatra suit in the Miramar as a kind gesture and way to keep the heat off him. Also on Bel’s list of duties is looking into Lily’s past history with Nicky Grillo, as Ben doesn’t believe that they didn’t know one another prior to their formal introduction earlier this season.

Vic meets with Tiberon and the two go onto the balcony, as the latter thinks that his hotel room is being bugged. After hearing about Vic quitting the hotel, Tiberon informs him that the guns will be leaving on Friday and that he’s welcome to join the rest of his Cuban brothers in fighting against Castro, with Antonio being capable of taking care of Mercy in the time that he’s gone. Tiberon ended up being correct that he was being bugged, but it wasn’t by Ike and it wasn’t in his room; someone heard everything that was being said on the balcony and will be using it to their advantage, likely to make a gun bust before they can get to Cuba. Ike, meanwhile, is getting questions from Vera, who thinks that he can’t afford to lose both a close friend and his son at a time like this. The hotelier, though, thinks that they’ll both be back and that he’s merely working to save what he’s spent his entire life building, so if that takes a little isolation from his loved ones, so be it.

At the conference, where the Miramar’s control over the three most profitable casinos in the Western hemisphere is announced, Ben arrives and watches, locking eyes with Ike in the process. While Vera gets an address from the bartender and quickly leaves, Stevie is overseeing the finer details of the club interior, including the installation of a two-way mirror and one prostitute’s informal resignation after her father decides to run for the governorship of New Jersey. Across town, Danny goes to see Judi at her place with the news of a manicurist position opening up at the Miramar. She takes it that he’s trying to “save her” when in actuality, she’s the one who wants to save him and the two end up having sex on the couch, which Stevie walks in on. He came to Judi’s to tell her of the opening at Madame Renee’s and in the process, scares Danny, who is upset at her taking Stevie up on the offer, away. While the money is nice, the real reason she’s working there is because he and Ben can keep Doug away from her, which she couldn’t have gotten at the beauty salon.

That night, Stevie gets paid a visit by Vera while getting high and looking through potential girls to add to the club; the address she got from the bartender was the hotel room he was staying in. She tries to convince him that Ike loves him (and to come home), which he acknowledges. However, he feels as if Ike is only acting at being a father and at being a husband when his main passion, his main love in life is the Miramar. After getting his stepmother a drink, he asks her what Ike would do if the choice was between devastating her by associating with Meg or using Meg’s millions to save the hotel; when she doesn’t answer, he got the answer he was looking for. She tries to leave, only for him to recount the time he saw her topless on the balcony and how that “froze” him. He again halts her right before she exits the room and tells her that next time she comes there, it better be for him.

Judi finds Danny’s room at the hotel and comes clean about why she decided to work with Stevie and the history she has with Doug, who forced her to write an inaccurate statement about Ben. Danny, however, merely tells her that since he works for the state’s attorney, there’s no way he could be seen with a prostitute and defends his brother when she brings his nefarious activities up. Sy checks into the Miramar and Ike brings along the 5-year contracts he signed to run the Cuban casinos, totaling somewhere in the neighborhood of hundreds of millions. The Chicago boss won’t budge on Ben, though, and Ike promises that they’ll meet again after the gambling vote on Friday, no matter which direction the ruling goes.

Klein has Ike’s lawyer in and informs him of the fact that he knows about Minneapolis Mutual being a shell operation for Izzy Mangold, Ben’s childhood friend and current business partner, and where the money from St. Moretz Management goes. He also has logs from the payphone next to the lawyer’s office, which have conversations between him and Ike and him and known associates of the Chicago outfit. After threatening to have him disbarred or buried in a penitentiary crypt, Klein sends him out, where he sees Danny going into the office. He’s there to confront Klein about Doug and attempt to turn the focus of the state’s attorney from Ben to Ike; considering what happened to his daughter, Klein isn’t budging on his plan to bring down Ike, but he decides to use the information obtained from Judi Silver and let Doug hang himself rather than busting him.

Ben meets with Sy and gets an earful about drawing attention to himself, losing the $2 million, and the disappearance of Nicky Grillo, which Ben claims to not know anything about. The Butcher tries to win points by claiming to have Ike in his pocket, that he was responsible for getting the hotelier on at Havana, but Sy doesn’t seem to believe him and might be waiting for Ben to finish himself off. Sloat claims to have only lost a couple of nervous nellies, with the votes still solidly in their favor, so perhaps Ben isn’t down and out quite yet; there’s still several days left, though, and a lot of time for momentum to shift.

While Vera tells Mercy the story of her first marriage, which took place when she was 12 years old and could have been the reason she didn’t have children, Lily sees that the money she’s been storing has been touched and goes to Ike, where she gives him the log she’s been keeping and tells him to “kill the bastard.” The following morning, Nicky Grillo’s dismembered body, welded into a barrel that was later shot full of bullets, washes up on shore.

Additional thoughts and observations:
-The song playing when Vera comes back from Stevie’s is Nat King Cole’s “To Whom It May Concern”, while the song over the ending montage (Ben watching Lily cry to Stevie, Klein smirking while being in the elevator with Doug, Ike on the balcony) is Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad Sign”. Related, this show has a wonderful soundtrack that greatly helps its already well-established atmosphere.
-Finale death pool time: I’m calling at least three major deaths. Lily has been marked for dead since early in the season (see also: Stevie’s vision at the club of her killing herself); with Vic gone and Vera gunning for her baby, I could see Mercy dying and the baby surviving (or Vic dying, further tying her to the Evans family); and at least one person associated with Ben Diamond. A lot of the talk going into this season was that either Ben or Ike won’t survive, so Ben could also be on his way out, likely as a part of a bittersweet trade-off with Ike (i.e. Ike thinks he’s won the war, but something bad will happen to make his victory less sweet.)
-I think I like Danny more with Judi than Mercy, if only because I think Judi challenges him more as a person and the two have more chemistry. Mercy’s sparse role in the second season hasn’t helped her case at all, pregnancy or no pregnancy.
-As much of a bastard as he may be, and as much as he shouldn’t blame Ike for what happened to his daughter, Klein unfolding the case he has against Ike to his lawyer was kind of brilliant. A very chilling warning shot and something for Ike to have in the back of his mind.
-So, they followed up on the incest-y thread that was established last season. I thought it was going to be something they dropped, especially since Vera and Stevie have rarely been in the same scene together, so good for them for coming back to it. It still made me giggle, but at least all that sexual tension between them in the hotel room didn’t go to waste. Also, don’t get high, kids, because it’ll make you want to have sex with your stepmom.
-Sy’s only purpose this season has been to yell at Ben, but I’m okay with that. James Caan does “cranky old guy” quite well.
-Vera’s story about her marriage makes her the second most interesting character on the show, following Judi Silver at #1. I would definitely have watched Magic City had it been from her perspective.
-Wouldn’t it be something if, after everything Ike’s done to put Ben away, Lily turns out to be the one who delivers the kill shot?
-Next week on Magic City: The outcome of the gambling bill is decided, while Klein contemplates Ike’s offer to dispatch The Butcher.

The post Magic City Season 2 Recap: Know Your Local Butcher appeared first on TVHackr.

This week on TVHackr, we talked everything (and I do mean everything) TCA and the third season finale of The Killing, while the internet touched on Facebook TV ads, South Park cursing, and television embroidery.

Black Sails Renewed for Season 2 by Starz
Six months ahead of its series premiere, the Michael Bay-produced pirate drama has been picked up for a second season by Starz and given two additional episodes for said season.

Starz at TCA: The White Queen Early Start, Dancing on the Edge Premiere
During its TCA session, Starz revealed that The White Queen premiere will air after the Magic City season finale, while UK miniseries Dancing on the Edge is set to premiere in October.

MTV at TCA: Miley Cyrus, Nurses, and the Fall Season of Awkward
During its TCA session, MTV revealed the premiere windows for Awkward and two upcoming docuseries, while also announcing a Miley Cyrus documentary and new writers added to its Scream pilot.

AMC Greenlights Scripted Series Halt & Catch Fire, Turn
AMC has picked up its next two scripted series, the first centering on the computer boom of the 1980s and the latter being a spy drama set in 1778.

Witches of East End to Premiere October 6th on Lifetime
Lifetime will debut its next new scripted series this fall, an adaptation of the book of the same name, which co-stars the likes of Julia Ormond and Jenna Dewan-Tatum.

Magic City Recap: Bacchanalian Disc Jockeys Gone Wild
While Stevie’s convention doesn’t go quite as expected, resulting in an attempted rape and quite a bit of property damage, Ike’s plan to fix the Cuban national lottery goes off without a hitch.

News Roundup: NBC at TCA, Syfy Pilots, and 30 for 30 Documentary Dates
Get all the details of what NBC revealed at TCA, in addition to information on the latest Syfy pilot and the fall schedule for ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series.

Devious Maids Spoilers: Valentina Reaches Out to Zoila About Remi
Coming up on Devious Maids, Remi’s new habit has Valentina at her wit’s end, while Evelyn blackmails Rosie into seeing baby Tucker and Carmen learns that Odessa is hiding something.

The Killing Season 3 Finale Preview: Could Seattle PD Have Something to Do with the Murders?
After discovering new evidence in the Pied Piper case, will Holder and Linden suss out the involvement of someone at Seattle PD in the abductions and murders they’ve been investigating?

Under the Dome Renewed for Season 2 by CBS
CBS officially renewed ratings behemoth Under the Dome for a second season, which will premiere in the summer of 2014.

Masters of Sex: A Behind the Scenes Look at the Upcoming Showtime Drama
Get a look at the upcoming Showtime drama, which stars Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan as sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson.

The CW Changes Fall Premiere Dates for Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries
The CW has pushed up the season premieres of Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries, while also moving up the series premiere of The Originals and sliding Reign back a week.

News Roundup: Homeland Season 3 Teaser, Teen Choice Hosts, and a Whose Line Renewal
The first teaser for Homeland‘s third season has been released, while hosts for the 2013 Teen Choice Awards have been named and the Whose Line revival has been renewed for a second season, set to consist of 24 episodes.

The Fosters Recap: Life Gave Us the Gift of You
The family gathers at the hospital waiting for news on Stef, while Mike makes a decision about his drinking and we get copious flashbacks of how Lena and Stef came to be.

Hit the Floor Season Finale Recap: Gagging on the Irony
Which Devil Girl ended up biting the bullet during the season finale of Hit the Floor? And how will that impact the show going forward?

ABC Family Renews Switched at Birth, Orders More Episodes of The Fosters and Twisted
ABC Family officially renewed Switched at Birth for a third season while picking up back orders for The Fosters and Twisted.

Showtime at TCA: Josh Hartnett, Eva Green, Ruth Wilson, and Philip Seymour Hoffman Castings Announced
Added to Showtime pilots were Ruth Wilson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Kathryn Hahn. Josh Hartnett and Eva Green, meanwhile, are the first two cast members for thriller Penny Dreadful, which begins series production this fall.

Shameless, House of Lies, and Episodes to Premiere January 12th
The first three original series to air next year on Showtime will debut Sunday, January 12th beginning at 9:00.

The Fosters Summer Finale Sneak Peeks: Will Callie Have to Say Goodbye to Wyatt?
Callie gets more bad news after finding out that Brandon and Talya have gotten back together.

Twisted 1.09 Sneak Peeks: Did Karen Kill Regina Crane?
Even though Karen confessed to killing Regina on the last episode of Twisted, did she actually commit the crime? And if so, why?

Parks and Recreation: Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones to Leave During Season 6
Veteran NBC comedy Parks and Recreation will say goodbye to an original cast member and someone who had been involved with the show for 70 episodes. Their last episode will air during February sweeps.

Continuum Season 3 to Air on Syfy in 2014
The series was already renewed for a third season in Canada and will likely stay put on Fridays, as its up about 20% in the ratings since moving from Mondays.

The Fosters Marathon to Air Monday, August 5th
The day that The Fosters is set to have its summer finale, ABC Family will air the previous eight episodes beginning at 12:00 p.m.

Devious Maids Marathon to Air Sunday, August 4th
After climbing in the ratings since its modestly-rated series premiere, the first six episodes of Devious Maids will be reaired on Sunday.

FOX at TCA: A Broadchurch Adaptation, a 24 Casting, and Junior Masterchefs
During their TCA session, FOX announced an adaptation of hit UK miniseries Broadchurch, the second cast member in its 24 miniseries, and the cast for Masterchef Junior, airing Fridays this fall.

News Roundup: Kelly Reilly to Star in ABC’s The Black Box
ABC has found its leading lady for limited series The Black Box, from The L Word‘s Ilene Chaiken and House‘s Bryan Singer, while Florida-Georgia Line will perform at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards and there will be Sharknado merchandise.

Casting News: Elementary, Nashville, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-0, Hart of Dixie, and More Add to Casts
Among the shows that have added to their casts in recent days are Drop Dead Diva, Saint George, Hart of Dixie, Elementary, Nashville, and Open.

Baby Daddy Spoilers: Emma’s Baptism Brings Difficult Decisions for Ben
Who will Ben choose to be Emma’s godfather: Tucker or Danny?

CineStitch: The Best of Etsy’s Film and TV Embroidery (Vulture)
Vulture gathered several embroideries with TV-related images or phrases, all for sale on Etsy. Among the shows included are Friday Night Lights, Arrested Development, and Bob’s Burgers.

A South Park episode that’s a real “shit” show (The A.V. Club)
The A.V. Club has a roundtable discussion about an episode of South Park that uses a certain expletive 200 times.

Netflix Users Aren’t Abandoning Traditional Television (WebProNews)
According to a study by TiVo, which was reported on by WebProNews, Netflix users are watching just as much cable television as non-Netflix users.

Primetime Television Is Looking Less Gay (Huffington Post)
With the cancellations of The New Normal, Smash, Southland, Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23, 1600 Penn, Happy Endings, 90210, and Partners, broadcast just got rid of quite a few gay characters, but what happens now? The Huffington Post pontificates this very matter.

Pakistan TV show hosted by Aamir Liaquat Hussain gives away babies to audience (CNN)
And you get a baby! And you get a baby! And you get a baby! Everybody gets babies! (Everybody in the audience at Aamir Hussain’s show, that is.)

In Defense Of … Netflix Being the Future of Television (PopMatters)
Is Netflix in the same conversation with the likes of HBO, Showtime, and FX at the television “big boys’ cool table”? PopMatters seems to think so.

WVU Healthcare uses television to help patients (Charleston Daily Mail)
Doctors on Call, a popular West Virginia live medical call-in program that features physicians and other health professionals, reached 700 episodes recently.

Nielsen’s Facebook-commissioned report adds fuel to television-style ad fire (BizReport)
Facebook will begin selling 15 second television-style ads later this year. Users reportedly won’t have to deal with more than three per day.

The post The Week in Television Wrap July 27-August 2 appeared first on TVHackr.

Meanwhile, Stevie’s DJ convention is getting into gear and has already made the Miramar booked up in July, traditionally their slowest month. However, everyone from the photographers to the singers and record label executives are loud, reckless (one man asks to get a boat and a female water skier in the hotel pool), and make Ike extremely anxious of the damage to come from their time at the hotel, impossible to enjoy a movie with Lauren and Vera. Also troubling him is Ben’s presence, especially once he sees that The Butcher is still rather friendly with Stevie, something he explicitly forbade his son from doing.

Ike approaches Ben and the two talk in private, where the former asks about Theresa Suarez’s disappearance and what Ben may know. Unfortunately, Ben doesn’t claim to know any Theresa Suarez, claiming that she probably ran off with a guest or something; he does, however, tell Ike that he thinks the Havana hotels are his, which upsets Ike, seeing as how Castro’s men could overhear their conversation and blow the deal for him. At one of the bolitas, Cisco places his money down and has to get an executive approval from the bolita owner before his wager gets approved. He has to concoct a story about how his mother recently died and came to him in a dream to tell him to sell everything and use the money at the bolitas on her birthday, but he manages to get his bet approved and make it out to the car in one piece.

Danny goes to Judi and asks her about why Doug has taken such an interest in getting her out of time. She says she’ll only talk over an Irish coffee and once the two get to the bar, Danny inquires about whether his father killed Jimmy Shoes. Whether it be the brandy or her hatred of secrecy, Judi confesses that he saved her life and she’s grateful that he did, irking Danny even with the self-defense angle. She bets that he would have done the exact same thing, had he been in Ike’s shoes. While Ben receives a visit from Senator Sloat, who he sends running back to Tallahassee after hearing concerns about harming innocents, Ike has a meeting with the Secret Six where he expresses interest in avenging Theresa’s death by using the information she gave him to build the case against Ben. There’ll be an article written about her in one of the newspapers, a sort of “whatever happened to…?” type of piece, that will be published alongside a profile of Ben Diamond, as suggested by Meg.

Back at the hotel, the photographers are swarming and Susie Klein has decided to skip the meeting with her father at his office and check out the convention. Almost as soon as she gets there, she runs into Ira, an executive from Geneva Records who charms her into giving him her demo and agreeing to meet him at the Atlantis at 1:00. He promises that her favorite singer Peggy Lee would be there to perform, but once she agrees to go and the two part, he chucks her tape into the garbage. Later, after receiving a cigarette and a kind word from Ray Ray, Vera meets with Mercy and hears the news that she definitely wasn’t expecting: the young girl is pregnant. With Danny’s baby. And doesn’t want to keep it. Although she’s never had a child herself, she still sympathizes with what Mercy’s going through and lets her cry on her shoulder.

Out of Judi’s place, she expresses regret in telling Danny about Ike and the two flirt about the color of his “true blue” eyes. He uses the opportunity to ask her about Doug again and she decides to leave, but not before telling him that she wants to take this one secret at a time. I mean, she has to have some reason to see him again, right? Ike meets with Vic in his office and the two have an argument about the presence of El Tiberon at the Miramar, which Ike doesn’t like and Vic deems a necessity, at least for now. Once he’s alone, Ike turns on the radio and hears the numbers in the Cuban lottery being read and, as expected, he gave his men the right combination of numbers to take their $3,000 and increase it to $200,000 each. While Bel is overwhelmed at the amount of money being paid out at the bolitas (and the amount of calls he receives), every one of Ike’s men makes it out safely, except for Cisco, who gets stopped by Butterball and has a confrontation with him that ends in a gun being fired.

Susie shows up to the Atlantis expecting to see Peggy Lee and finding a loud, alcohol-fueled party instead. Ira insists that Peggy heard the demo and loved what she found and after a few drinks (and one little red pill), takes her to a crowded hotel room where a cunnilingus competition is going on. Sensing something is wrong, she tries to leave, only to be stopped by him and brought into the nearby bathroom. The maid finds the two on the floor of the room and runs out to find help. Both Danny and Stevie come running to the room when they find out what’s going on and while Stevie punches a few people to try and clear the room, Danny finds Susie completely out of it on the bathroom floor and being raped by Ira. The record guy leaves and Danny performs the CPR that she needed to survive, though she’s not in good shape.

The battle between Ike and Ben has now turned its focus to Cisco, as the former is going with Vincent to try and nab him from Butterball’s guys and the latter, who stops what could have been Lily’s escape attempt, is expecting Mike to deliver the better to his doorstep. Ike and Vincent get the upper hand when Vincent takes out of the two men holding Cisco and Ike maims the driver of the vehicle that had been circling the block, grabbing their man and speeding off amid a series of shots from Butterball’s shotgun. Ben is, of course, furious about losing to Ike once again and pulls a gun on Bel out of frustration. The bookie tries to calm his friend (and boss) down by saying that it wasn’t him he was responsible for what happened; it was likely someone who knows Castro and is around the Cubans. Ben thinks that Santo is involved and that, by extension, Nicky Grillo is, too. It’d make sense, this being payback for the arms deal bust from last week’s episode.

Ben sends his men to snatch Nicky from his hotel room and invites Lily to come into the study to see their guest, whose face was beaten nearly beyond recognition and whose blood was all over Ben’s steam machine. Ben threatens to cut Nicky’s entire face off with one motion and Nicky simply asks him to check in with his “whore”, a woman he says is always working. After mentioning that Ben should also ask Lily about Al, Nicky responds to The Butcher’s threats with laughter and taunts before Lily pulls a gun and shoots him in the head herself. Ben is upset because he didn’t get the information out of Nicky that he wanted to. Lily’s response? She was just so upset at all the things Nicky was saying about Ben. He curiously asks her about whether this was the first time she had met Nicky before excusing her from the study.

Danny meets with Klein at the hospital and gets commended for taking the actions needed to save Susie’s life. But even with her stomach being pumped and everything seemingly okay, the state’s attorney is infuriated about whatever happened taking place within the confines of the Miramar. He vows to destroy Ike, even if he has to die trying. Back at the hotel, Danny fills Ike in on the events of the evening, including that Jack Klein’s daughter was raped in the bathroom of one of their room. Ike storms into the hotel and has a major altercation with Stevie, telling him that he’ll always only be a bartender and that he’ll be a bartender until he says otherwise. Stevie then leaves the hotel, possibly for good.

Additional thoughts and observations:
-I’m not quite sure why Vera and Lauren were going to watch The Diary of Anne Frank together as part of a mother-daughter bonding moment. (Unless it was to be followed up by a serious discussion about the events of the movie, what they meant for their religion, and how what happened on screen made her feel, but that doesn’t sound like a fun activity for a kid.) Thankfully it was called off and Lauren’s friends got to have their makeup done by a real professional dancer.
-In case you weren’t sure, Butterball was played by rapper Rick Ross, who was such a big fan of the show that creator Mitch Glazer wrote him a small role.
-It feels like the show is setting Danny up as the bad guy in his relationship with Mercy, as they threw in her being pregnant just as he was getting closer to Judi Silver. Is there a chance that they would have Mercy decide not to follow through with the pregnancy and get an abortion without telling Danny about her condition first?
-One of my favorite parts of the second season has been the introduction of the Secret Six, mostly because I’m interested in the type of string pulling that goes on behind the scenes of major cities and how a select group of people can alter the mood for millions. It’s also a nice way to bring Ike and Meg together, as well as give Ike something proactive (and frankly, very smart) to do away from the Miramar.
-I loved the sequence with Ike and Vincent extracting Cisco from custody and bringing him to the boat on time. Magic City doesn’t do a whole lot of action, but when they put something like this in, it’s always very effective and stylishly shot.
-So, Nicky died. I didn’t expect that before the season finale since we hadn’t spent much time with him. I do think this direction could be good, though, as Lily unintentionally drew suspicion to herself with the shooting and could have sealed her fate worse by what she did vs. had she let Nicky talk. I still don’t think there’s any way she escapes this season alive, though.
-Awesome argument between Ike and Stevie at the end of the episode. It very much felt like a father-son fight, the resentments and the held tongues spilling forth in a moment of anger.
-The phrase cunnilingus contest is the best. I believe my career of writing about television has peaked. It’s all downhill from here, I think.
-At Starz’s TCA session, they wouldn’t confirm whether or not Magic City is renewed for another season, but surprises were promised for the remainder of the season. Any guesses? I think a big one will be that either Stevie or Danny won’t survive to a third season.
-Next week on Magic City: Ike’s relationship with Victor is impacted by his plans to run the Havana hotels, while Sy Berman shows up in Miami and Stevie’s position with Ben begins.

The post Magic City Season 2 Recap: Bacchanalian Disc Jockeys Gone Wild appeared first on TVHackr.

This week on TVHackr, we talked about Glee delaying their season premiere, the possibility of a 12 Monkeys series adaptation at Syfy, and new additions to Bates Motel, while the internet looked back on the best TV in 2013, suggested shows you should be watching on Hulu, and evaluated the representation of autism on television.

Helix Adds Hiroyuki Sanada, Kyra Zagorsky, and Mark Ghanime
Upcoming Syfy thriller Helix has made added three cast members, who join recently announced Billy Campbell. But who will they be playing and how will they figure into the show’s universe?

Low Winter Sun: A First Look at AMC’s Upcoming Cop Drama
Get a nearly five minute look at Low Winter Sun, which stars Mark Strong and Lennie James as Detroit detectives who collaborate on killing a fellow officer.

Glee Delays Production, Season 5 to Premiere September 26th
Due to the death of Cory Monteith, Glee has delayed its production until the beginning of August, thereby booting its season premiere from September 19th to September 26th.

The Walking Dead Season 4 to Premiere October 13th; Watch the Trailer Here
The first full-length trailer for The Walking Dead‘s fourth season was released at Comic-Con, along with a premiere date. What’s in store for the survivors this season?

Magic City Recap: A Dream in Tatters on the Sand
While Vera comes to a realization about her dancing career, Ben makes Stevie a tempting offer and Ike learns about the fate of Theresa.

Devious Maids Spoilers: Peri Becomes Paranoid About Spence Having an Affair
Coming up on Devious Maids, Genevieve hits a rough financial patch, endangering the jobs of Valentina and Zoila, while Carmen gets jealous when Sam starts dating.

Hit the Floor 1.09 Sneak Peeks: Ahsha and Jelena Battle for an All-Star Slot
Ahsha and Jelena are in the running for a performance slot at the All-Star game, Kyle has an unsettling encounter with a rich fan, and German might have had all he can stand of his girlfriend’s new personality.

Comic-Con News and Trailers: Once Upon a Time, Arrow, Bones, Family Guy, and More
Miss anything from 2013 San Diego Comic-Con? We’ve compiled the news items and trailer we missed in one handy place.

12 Monkeys Nearing Series Order at Syfy; BBC America Goes to Atlantis
While Syfy is said to be nearing a series order of 12 Monkeys, based on the Bruce Willis film of the same name, BBC America has greenlit Atlantis, a fantasy actioner from Misfits creator Howard Overman.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League, and Totally Biased to Premiere September 4th on FXX
Three former FX series have been given start dates for next season, their first on fledgling cable network FXX, which opens its doors officially two days prior.

Bunheads Canceled by ABC Family
The Amy Sherman-Palladino ballet drama finished its first season this past February and joins The Lying Game in the ABC Family summer scrap heap.

The Fosters Recap: You Taste Like Badger, George
Ana won’t leave Mariana alone about the money, Callie stands up for Talya to Brandon, and Jesus takes matters into his own hands, potentially to Stef’s detriment.

News Roundup: Jason Momoa Joins Sundance’s The Red Road
The Game of Thrones star has signed on for the lead role in The Red Road, which follows a sheriff that has to negotiate a difficult relationship between his hometown and a nearby Indian reservation.

Bates Motel: Michael Vartan, Rebecca Creskoff, and Kenny Johnson Join Season 2
Bates Motel has added three recurring players to its second season, including a love interest for Norma and a member of the Bates family that has only been talked about to this point.

Twisted 1.08 Sneak Peeks: Danny and Lacey Continue Sneaking Around
While Danny and Lacey continue their secret relationship, Kyle puts more pressure on Karen and Rico battles the complicated feelings he has for his best friend.

Mistresses 1.09 Preview: Would Elizabeth Grey Have Killed Tom?
Karen deals with the bombshell that Elizabeth dropped at the end of last week’s episode, Savi and Joss’s mother Janet comes for an unexpected visit, and April tries to decide whether to be truthful to Lucy and Richard.

Sons of Anarchy Season 6 to Premiere Tuesday, September 10th
FX has announced that biker drama Sons of Anarchy will be premiering its sixth season on Tuesday, September 10th with a 90-minute episode.

The Fosters 1.09 Sneak Peeks: Callie Enlightens Brandon on Being a Foster Child
While Callie tries to help Brandon understand the twins better, Lena learns about the secrets that her children have been keeping.

FX to Air Marathons of American Horror Story and Louie
In honor of their Emmy attention, the second season of American Horror Story and the third season of Louie will be marathoned on FX in August.

BBC America Announces Premiere Dates for Ripper Street, Law & Order: UK, and More
At their TCA session, BBC America announced its plans for the rest of 2013 and the beginning of 2014, including the returns of Orphan Black, Ripper Street, and In the Flesh.

Tyrant Casts Mehdi Dehbi and Moran Atias
FX drama pilot Tyrant has named its first two cast members in Mehdi Dehbi and Moran Atias. But who will they be playing on the series?

Syfy to Wrap Sinbad, Primeval Early with Marathons
Syfy will end the runs of international acquisitions Sinbad and Primeval: New World early by showing day-long marathons of each, including episodes not yet aired in the United States.

Treme Season 4 to Premiere Sunday, December 1st at 9:00
The five-episode final season of Treme will premiere Sunday, December 1st on HBO, with Boardwalk Empire having ended its fourth season the previous week.

Cinemax Announces New Clive Owen Series The Knick
Clive Owen will star in a 10-episode Cinemax series about Knickerbocker Hospital in 1900 New York, which will be directed by Steven Soderbergh.

Hit the Floor Season Finale Sneak Peek: Olivia Delivers a Crushing Statement to the Press
On the season finale of Hit the Floor, Olivia has to man a press conference about the death of a Devil Girl. Which dancer will meet their maker come Monday?

Hit the Floor: Who Could Die in the Season Finale?
One Los Angeles Devil Girl will not make it to the second season of Hit the Floor. Who is most likely to die during the first season finale?

Lesbians Are Having the Best Summer Ever on TV (Vulture)
Vulture concludes that lesbians are having a pretty darn good summer, thanks to representation on Orange is the New Black, The Killing, The Fosters, Pretty Little Liars, Under the Dome, Mistresses, and True Blood.

5 Shows to Watch on Hulu Right Now (Vulture)
Now that we’re in a pretty calm part of the TV summer, do you need something to watch on Hulu? Vulture has five suggestions of series to dive into.

The best TV of 2013 (so far) (The A.V. Club)
The A.V. Club has compiled what they believe to be the greatest television of the year thus far. Did your favorite show make the list?

Is Chromecast Google’s Trojan Horse For Television? (Forbes)
Forbes argues that Google has created the Chromecast, a device that will let you stream web video on your TV, as a way to dip its toes into the television market. Is a network next?

Rise in injuries from falling television sets: study (New York Daily News)
Television sets injure one child every 30 minutes in America, and the rate of  emergency room visits is increasing with the popularity of flat-screen TVs, per the New York Daily News.

Television on the Spectrum: The Best (and Worst) Depictions of Asperger Syndrome on TV (Flavorwire)
Flavorwire examines 15 portrayals of autistic characters on television and rates the best and worst of the bunch. Just how honest is TV’s latest trend?

Why is TV so bad at music shows? (The Guardian)
The Guardian laments the lack of a great music show a’la Top of the Pops and CD: UK, as well as analyzes the state of music show television.

Sports Fans Slowly Move From TV to the Internet (AdWeek)
According to AdWeek, while 94% of fans watch sports on television, digital media are gaining in popularity.

The post The Week in Television Wrap July 20-26 appeared first on TVHackr.

Ike and Sid sit outside one of Miami’s biggest bolita houses and discuss the plan to fix the Cuban national lottery, which Ike thinks will allow Castro to hit the mob hard and give him both the good faith money he needs and the Cuban casinos he desires. Meanwhile, Danny is at Klein’s office being yelled at for interfering in the raid that killed Alberto Lazaro, a guy who worked in the kitchen at the Miramar and was one of Vic’s cousins. Klein threatens the intern with obstruction of justice charges and Doug (the guy Danny hit and who shot Alberto) simply threatens him, even with Danny claiming that the reason he did what he did was the acquire information from Alberto about why he was there in the first place. Klein then tells him he’s not to come back into the officers until he’s told and that he’s forbidden from talking about the ongoing investigation.

However, as Danny’s leaving, Klein catches up with him and tells him that not only will he see Alberto’s face after watching the man be shot to death, he should make it about something. Use what he saw to further where he’s at, but Danny seems apprehensive about becoming that devoted to the law. Regardless, Klein tells him to be at the office first thing tomorrow morning, as they’ll continue working on the case.

At the Miramar, Vic is talking to the staff about what happened to Alberto and how they should get their grieving out of the way now before focusing on why he died and, more importantly, what he died for. He’s also more than a little perturbed at Ike, thinking that his boss only considered Alberto’s loss to be another hire he has to make, while Ike goes and breaks up Ben’s poker game due to the other bartender not being able to make it in. Stevie reluctantly complies and Ben informs Ike that he’s become very tiresome lately and that he knows about the Castro casino deal. He then offers to install Eddie in Havana to run the casinos while giving Ike his hotel back for 40% gross management costs. Ike’s response? Telling Ben to stay away from his son.

Danny makes it to Alberto’s funeral where he’s introduced to Antonio and quietly takes Mercy aside to tell her that he was there when Alberto died and where Alberto was when he was gunned down. Mercy gets quite upset at the revelation and throws him out of the funeral, just before Antonio comforts her at the casket. Meanwhile, Vera is having to see a doctor due to fluid buildup in her knee, which is only removable through a temporary, rather painful draining. She urges him to go ahead and do it because she has a show tonight and he reminds her that she’s putting her body through too much and that it’s tearing itself apart, causing her to cry on the table she was laying on.

Ben brings Madame Renee (and Brigitte, a Swedish prostitute with a fetish for being on a leash) out to the construction site for her new brothel, set to be strictly for worldly elites and men with deep bank accounts and deeper pockets. Her partner in this new business venture? Stevie, as Ben has named him co-manager of the as-yet-unbuilt building. Renee is upset at the blindside, considering that her goal is to clear (at minimum) $10 million a year, while Stevie doesn’t think he’s got enough experience to take on something like this, regardless of his experience at Madame Renee’s establishments. Ben tells him that management is in his blood and uses his recent stumbles with Ike as leverage, warning him that if he doesn’t walk through the open door in front of him, he would be doomed to a safe, comfortable life full of tourists, the same women, and not much excitement.

While Ike sees Vera on the balcony that night and comforts her over the loss of her dance career, Ben watches Lily masturbate in her bed and gets irritated that she’s not with Stevie. The only thing that’s keeping her alive anymore is the sexual satisfaction her affair with the bartender brings him and he gruffly informs her that long ago are the days of watching her pleasuring herself being enough; he can’t get it up without watching her with another man and if she’s going to survive long enough to use the money she’s been building up, she’s got to find a way to make Stevie come back to her. Ben then lays in bed with Lily, who goes to the Miramar later that night to try and convince Stevie to continue their time together. He, however, doesn’t want anything to do with her and questions why she chose him in the first place, considering her history. She mentions that the first time she saw his face, all she wanted to do was touch it and that she loves him and would have died for him. She still might, she adds, before leaving.

Ben goes with Antonio and several other of the Cubans to test the machine guns and mortars they acquired. He assures them that he’s an ally to be trusted and later deals with a frustrated Nicky, who lost four guys and $50 thousand in the raid; Ben wishes him a safe trip back to Tampa, thinking that he finally got rid of who could have been one of his greatest threats. While Ike finds out that Theresa has been killed, Eddie attempts to win Vera over with compliments and promises of her own room at Ike’s new casino. However, she had no idea about the casino’s existence and doesn’t wish to be called “Vera Cruz” anymore, nor can she entertain the thought of opening an entire room on her own, given her just-finished dance career.

She leaves and confronts Ike about the casino, which he claims is none of her business due to how he provides for her and protects her. Vera responds that she’s more than the face or the body that he fell in love with; she’s a complete person/wife/partner who went through a lot when she came to the United States at 14, someone who grew up in a society that didn’t place a high priority on secrets. He comes clean on the face that Ben is the minority partner at the Miramar, but he promises to fix the situation and get The Butcher out of their lives for good.

Ike goes to the bar where Stevie is and apologizes for acting as if he was a partner or employee rather than his son. Stevie presses him on the plan for him, that he’s ready to make big moves now vs. having to wait for Ike’s signal, and Ike mentions that the DJ convention is his – Bernie at the Americana was upset at having it stolen and now Stevie will be working under Victor and Vince to see it through. It’s a major vote of confidence, trusting Stevie with the Miramar, but there’s one caveat: no more Ben. And that’s not a choice.

The hotelier then meets with the new Secret Six and with Meg’s help, tries to convince them the value of using their resources to crush the mobsters that have infiltrated Miami. Printing Ben Diamond’s picture in the paper, for example, would cause the politicians and hit men that he’s in cahoots with to go running, leaving him isolated, exposed, and vulnerable. The meeting seems to go well and Ike celebrates with Meg over a drink, where she mentions her trip to Marakesh and the fact that you always seem to end up back where you started. Meanwhile, Danny is brought along on another raid, this time by Doug. The target? A camera club holed up in the Miramar, who are shooting fetish shots that star Judi Silver. After threatening her, Doug leaves the prostitute tied up and forbids Danny from offering her a helping hand.

Also at the Miramar, Ben threatens Lily over Stevie during a massage and that night, he sees her having sex with a lean 20-something with dark hair. However, it’s not Stevie; Lily got someone who looks exactly like Stevie to have sex with her and has to make sure he doesn’t show his face, as she knows that Ben is watching. The episode closes with Ike receiving the lottery numbers from Minister Nunez and Bel encasing Theresa’s body in the cement that will hold up Madame Renee’s latest establishment.

Additional thoughts and observations:
-So, Theresa was alive, everybody. Hmm. The way the last episode looked, she was dead, but the way they actually killed her off (and buried her) was more effective, so I’m okay with the ambiguity.
-What do you think Klein’s plans for Danny are? I know one of the main reasons he even got the position was his connection to Ike and the idea that Klein could turn him against his father; it just feels like there’s something more there, that Klein is waiting to spring something once he knows he has Danny’s trust.
-The show has done quite well by Vera this season. I like everything about her dancing career and coming to terms with being The Wife quite a bit, as well as Olga Kurylenko’s delivery of/backbone during “Then get a new wife.”, which was thrilling to see.
-Madame Renee’s “would you like to walk her?” and line about Stevie’s virginity story “warming what’s left of my heart” were close runner-ups for my favorite line of the episode. Also, what do you think the casting call for Brigitte looked like?
-I kind of thought that Ike seeing Vera again on the balcony would be another dream and that they would gradually reveal something about his wife to his subconscious that he didn’t know/wasn’t aware of.
-Clarity on Ben’s sexual appetite – awesome. He doesn’t just get a thrill out of being cuckholded; he has to see Lily with another man in order to get it up. Is his whole persona a way to make up for those feelings of inadequacy?
-The shots of Ben in the pool talking to Nicky were gorgeous. If you can say nothing else about this show, it’s one of the best shot on television and was absolutely robbed of technical Emmy nominations.
-Vera’s mention of “doing things” to survive when she first landed in America – do you think she was a prostitute?
-Next week on Magic City: Stevie’s DJ convention invades the Miramar, while Mercedes reveals news to Vera and Ike continues his scheme to fix the Cuban lottery.

The post Magic City Season 2 Recap: A Dream in Tatters on the Sand appeared first on TVHackr.

This week on TVHackr, we talked about what’s coming up on Zero Hour, Scandal’s early syndication, and the 2013 Emmy nominations, while the internet pontificated on a TV landscape that has gradually been filled with deeper roles for actresses and a potential Turkish TV takeover.

Magic City Recap: Pray That Nobody Gets Killed
While Vera’s opening night doesn’t go quite as planned, Ike approaches Sy about cutting a deal and Danny goes along on an arms raid that will change him for good.

Hit the Floor Renewed for Season 2 by VH1
VH1’s dance team drama will return for a second season of scheming, side eyes, and sex appeal. Will Jelena get a leg up on Ahsha?

True Blood Renewed for Season 7 by HBO
After averaging about 10 million viewers per episode this season, True Blood will return for a seventh season in the summer of 2014.

BET to Broadcast Scandal’s First Two Seasons This Summer, Season 3 in Fall
The first two seasons of Scandal will be broadcast on BET later this summer, while season three episodes are set to encore eight days after their initial ABC run.

The Fosters Recap: He Told Me I Was Special
Callie reveals the extent of the ways Liam hurt her, Lexi goes missing after being threatened with boarding school, and Mariana may have gotten herself into a situation that she can’t talk her way out of.

Zero Hour Series Finale Spoilers: Can Hank Save the World?
Will Hank be able to stop both the Pyrates and the Shepherds from acquiring the True Cross and changing the world as we know it?

Renewal Notice: Lying Game Canceled, Ray Donovan Renewed, American Dad Moving
While The Lying Game has been canceled after months of no information about its renewal status, Showtime’s Ray Donovan has been renewed for a second season and FOX’s American Dad will be moving to a new network beginning in late 2014.

ABC Announces Fall 2013 Premiere Dates
When will the next seasons of Scandal, Revenge, and Nashville premiere? What dates will we get to see the first episodes of Agents of SHIELD and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland?

2013 MTV Video Music Award Nominations
Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis lead the way in the 2013 VMA nominations, while Bruno Mars, P!nk, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, and 30 Seconds to Mars all scored multiple nominations.

News Roundup: Sharknado Gets a Sequel and You Get to Name It
Syfy has given social media phenomenon Sharknado a sequel movie, which will be named using suggestions from Twitter. Have you sent in your awful pun yet?

2013 Primetime Emmy Award Nominations Announced
Who was nominated for an Emmy this year? We have the major categories, where the likes of House of Cards, Modern Family, and Breaking Bad did quite well for themselves.

The Fosters Summer Finale Spoilers: Who Gets Married?
On the summer finale of The Fosters, someone’s getting married and there’s news that could shake the family to its core. What could potentially rip the Foster family in half?

Twisted Spoilers: Is Karen the Potential Weak Link?
Of all the problems that Danny has had to worry about threatening his freedom, it turns out that his biggest threat may live in the same house.

Mistresses 1.08 Preview: April is Stunned From the Latest Revelation About Paul
April has to come to terms with what she found out about Paul, while Joss looks to redefine her relationship with Alex and Savi fights to save her marriage, regardless of whether the baby is Dom’s.

Casting News: Billy Campbell Joins Syfy’s Helix; Karine Vanasse to Guest on Revenge
Billy Campbell has become the first actor cast in Syfy thriller Helix, while Pan Am alum Karine Vanasse will have an arc on Revenge as someone from Daniel’s past.

The Fosters 1.08 Sneak Peeks: Ana Won’t Stop Contacting Mariana
Ana crosses the line by calling Mariana at home, Brandon can’t seem to please his demanding piano teacher, and Jesus takes matters into his own hands.

Twisted 1.07 Sneak Peeks: Is Lacey Sending Danny Mixed Signals?
Danny grows frustrated at receiving conflicting messages from Lacey, Rico attempts to come to terms with his feelings for Jo, and Kyle sets his sights on cracking Karen.

Teen Wolf Winter Season Premiere Set for January 6th
The second half of Teen Wolf‘s third season is set to premiere Monday, January 6th. Catch a trailer for the next set of episodes at the link above.

A Good Time for TV Ladies (Slate)
Slate examines a television landscape that has become much kinder to actresses, considering the rise in complex female roles in recent years.

TV Dramas From Turkey Draw Hollywood’s Eye (The Hollywood Reporter)
Could Hollywood be heading for an explosion in Turkish television adaptations? The Hollywood Reporter looks at what could be the next trend to watch out for.

Google said to weigh supplying TV channels (The New York Times)
According to the New York Times, Google is said to be one of several tech giants trying to license TV channels from an internet cable service.

Mugabe to cripple ‘invader’ television station (The Africa Review)
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has shut down a television station that was expected to begin broadcasting from South Africa, per The Africa Review.

Emmys 2013 winners and losers: 30 Rock, Homeland, The Office (Hitfix)
Hitfix analyzes the 2013 Emmy nominations, including the surprises that could lead to even more surprising victories and the snubs that stopped promising shows in their tracks.

The post The Week in Television Wrap July 13-19 appeared first on TVHackr.

This is especially dangerous for Ike, because if Sy talks to Ben about Ike making a move, the hotelier (and his family) will be in quite a bit of danger. Stevie is making plays of his own at Ben’s poker game, as he bets (and eventually wins) a 2000 DJ convention for the Miramar from a short-handed red-headed ventriloquist at the table. The convention, a strong income generator that will have the hotel booked solid for four days in what is typically their slowest month, However, when he brings the good news to Ike after getting two hours of sleep, he gets rejected on account of the convention (typically held at the Americana) being awful for PR, generating sizeable cleanup costs, and resulting in arrests. The other men in Ike’s camp think it could be feasible, though, but Ike isn’t budging, not even when Stevie reminds his father that he never asks for anything.

While Vera has continued to inject herself to keep her energy up, impressing her choreographer with her stamina and how closely she resembles her old self, Eddie has come to Ben’s to complain about Ike’s resistance to his takeover of the Miramar. The Butcher suggests using a false ceiling like the one he has in his home rather than a ladder man to catch potential cheaters and promises Eddie that things will be taken care of. Mercy and Danny, for their part, are on decidedly different paths; she’s getting more in touch with her homeland thanks to Antonio introducing her to Cuban cigars and he’s being sucked further into the orbit of Jack Klein, thanks to seeing the mountain of evidence the attorney has against his father. When the two finally get some time together, following Mercy being sick in the bathroom, he expresses discomfort at her not working at the Miramar anymore. However, she mentions that she wants to focus on helping the wave of Cubans who have recently arrived in the city and doesn’t seem too interested in him not wanting her to leave.

Theresa overhears Bel delivering money to Senator Sloat, money that is meant for his colleagues and should help the gambling bill pass. She jots the names down with her eyebrow pencil while in the bathroom and stores them away for the next time she sees Ike. Meanwhile, Vera lets her nerves for the impending opening of Havana Fire impact her appetite, resulting in Ike having a nightmare where he finds her bleeding and she jumps off of the balcony, and Lily opens a secret compartment in Ben’s study where stacks of money are located. Careful not to make too much noise, she takes several of the stacks and puts them into her purse; just when she thinks she’s gotten away, she runs into Nicky in the hallway, where he’s having a disagreement with one of Ben’s staff members over cigars. She sends the staff away and Nicky mentions that money suits her and asks her if she still walks around without any panties on. He tries to see for himself when the staff member comes back with the cigars, allowing Lily to leave. She ends up in a closet where she stores the money she took and chronicles her additional income in a journal.

Inez comes to Ike’s office, panicking that Arthur has been gambling all of their money away in the bolitas. Ike goes outside to talk to him and his father mentions that the lottery, to him, is sacred and something above all the corruption and darkness that has been invading their city recently. The hotelier then gets an idea and goes to call Minister Nunez; in order to drive the gangsters out of Cuba and recoup some of the money they’ve taken from her, they’re going to institute a Cuban National Lottery.

Ben catches Lily in the closet she stores her money in and she just barely manages to keep everything hidden, as he nearly takes down the boxes that hide the vent she’s using. Before long, he’s interrupted by Bel, who brings news of Ike seeking the million and control of Cuban casinos. Back at the Miramar, Nicky’s at the Atlantis commiserating about the woman he claims broke his heart. He tells Stevie about the way they met (she used his cigarette to light hers one night in Hernando Beach) and what she told him when they met (that she was the wrong woman), two things that Lily did with Stevie; he goes on to mention her “Ava Gardner” beauty, confirming to Stevie that Lily had a thing with Nicky.

The night of Vera’s performance, the Cuban arms deal in Hialeah is broken up thanks to Ben, who calls his federal contact and gains some brownie points in the process. Danny goes along for the ride with Jack and the rest of the attorney’s office and amid the flurry of arrests, sees a Cuban man he locked eyes with shot in the back with a shotgun while trying to run away. He ends up not showing at the Miramar, furthering distancing himself from Mercy, who already has her eye on Antonio. For her part, Vera was rather nervous about taking the stage and after talking with Ike, she comes out with guns blazing in her performance. Beforehand, Ben let Ike know that he knew about the million, but during, all eyes were on Vera channeling the Vera Cruz of yore with a routine that started sparse and conservative (both in attire and movement) before running wild. The curtain behind her dropped, more background dancers filled the stage, and she took off her librarian-ish clothing to reveal an almost tribal ensemble underneath that went along with her curled mane. She receives a wonderful reception and gets flowers from Lauren for her effort.

In Senator Sloat’s hotel room, Theresa is in the bathroom trying to write down more names, only for Bel to bust the door open and kill her with a punch to the face.

Additional thoughts and observations:
-Although flashbacks aren’t always a guarantee of good storytelling, I think they added a lot to the Ben/Sy/Ike dynamic, in that Ike has had to align himself with the man who killed his father in order to eliminate Ben from the Miramar. That’s almost Shakespearian in scope and depth, another sign of how good this season has been.
-Seeing Ike not fall all over Stevie’s plan was interesting, if only because I don’t think that tension will go away and could manifest itself in other ways later this season. (As will Danny’s experience in the arms raid, which will either send him running back to Ike or firmly cement him in Klein’s camp.)
-Here’s some information about Farouk of Egypt, who Ben mentioned tonight while in the pool.
-What do you think about Mercy’s illness in the bathroom? Related to the cigars from Antonio? Or could she be pregnant? With all of her newfound national pride, I get the feeling she’ll head with Antonio to Havana and join the rebellion like her mother did.
-So Olga Kurylenko is a beautiful, talented actress who can work a stage quite well, apparently. I thought her performance was fun and cross-cutting between it and Danny’s ordeal was visually (and thematically) strong. (Case in point: seeing the Cuban’s body on the ground, fading into Vera being held up in the same position by her background dancers.)
-Is Lily looking to accumulate enough money to make a run for it? After the confrontation she and Stevie had before Vera’s performance over Nicky, I think she might have to go it alone.
-Ike was introduced to Miami News man Tim Cox and Elizabeth Moore of WMIY Radio by Meg, members of the Secret Six. Is the combination of Cuba, Sy, and Meg going to be enough to bring Ben down?
-Next week on Magic City: Ike and Meg grow closer, while Vera has a revelation about her dancing career and Ben makes Stevie a tempting offer.

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