{"id":9656,"date":"2013-10-11T21:01:19","date_gmt":"2013-10-11T19:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pinartarhan.com\/blog\/?p=9656"},"modified":"2015-07-22T22:45:24","modified_gmt":"2015-07-22T20:45:24","slug":"betrayal-starring-stuart-townsend-hannah-ware-chris-j-johnson-and-james-cromwell-when-soapy-finds-good-acting-chemistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinartarhan.com\/blog\/betrayal-starring-stuart-townsend-hannah-ware-chris-j-johnson-and-james-cromwell-when-soapy-finds-good-acting-chemistry\/","title":{"rendered":"Betrayal starring Stuart Townsend, Hannah Ware, Chris J. Johnson and James Cromwell: When Soapy Finds Good Acting & Chemistry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"betrayal-abc-season-1-poster\"<\/a>
Hannah Ware and Stuart Townsend pose for a steamy poster. Image via spoilersguide.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019m not going to lie, I liked Betrayal. I\u2019m not usually the one to go for soapy plots, but when it is presented with great actors, good story-telling and it\u2019s well-shot, why resist it? (Like the first season of Revenge<\/a>.) Oh, the soundtrack is pretty good too.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d never check it out if I hadn\u2019t seen Stuart Townsend\u2019s and James Cromwell\u2019s names attached. But once I did check, I wanted more.<\/p>\n

Some critics use the word soap as if they were disappointed. I\u2019m sorry, but what were they expecting? It\u2019s a soap. Just a well-done, modernized one. You could put J.J. Abrams in the director\u2019s seat, and it\u2019d still be a soap. OK, maybe not with Abrams. But you get what I mean.<\/p>\n

It is a fun show. \u00a0It can remain a guilty pleasure or turn into something more. Only time will tell. \u00a0Of course I\u2019m not above fast-forwarding or giving up if I get bored, as I did with Revenge (many episodes were watched on fast-forward) and Once Upon a Time<\/a> (fast-forward for season 2, not watching for season 3). I don’t always need to be impressed, but I need to be entertained.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the plot in a nutshell, though I strongly advise you to watch the trailer<\/a>:<\/b><\/p>\n

Sara (Hannah Ware) is a beautiful, married photographer with a kid. She keeps getting neglected by her prosecutor husband (Chris J. Johnson). Then she meets Jack (Stuart Townsend) during her art show and they really hit it off. A chance meeting triggers a planned one and that turns into the start of something passionate and irresistible.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Jack is also married with kids, and his wife (Wendy Moniz) happens to be the daughter of his boss (James Cromwell), a tough businessman who might have ties to crime. And as if this weren\u2019t enough, a murder case lands Jack, the family lawyer, against the husband.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

A lot of the complaints seem to involve the show being a soap \u00a0(I\u2019m sorry, but next to Grey\u2019s Anatomy, it wouldn\u2019t even feel like one, and again, what were they expecting from that trailer and story?)<\/p>\n

Another complaint from some viewers mentions they don\u2019t\/won\u2019t\/can\u2019t root for the lead characters because they\u2019re betraying seemingly good people for seemingly insignificant reasons.<\/p>\n

While I have a list of movies where you can root for the betraying parties<\/a> because the betrayed are cruel<\/a>\/indecent\/presumed to be dead\/etc. and the other person is just lovely, you don\u2019t need to be rooting for any character or approve their behavior. That being said, the cheating aside, they are OK people The makers have gone for grey, and they\u2019ve managed it.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t find the chemistry satisfactory between Stuart Townsend and Hannah Ware, I can\u2019t argue with that. I like their interactions and chemistry just fine. But my personal opinions on cheating (I\u2019m %99 against it, again see these posts to see where and why I might condone it) don\u2019t prevent me from having an easy good time.<\/p>\n

Maybe I\u2019m just happy to see Townsend, Cromwell and Chris J. Johnson on a weekly basis. And I\u2019ll argue that I understand why the characters are straying.<\/p>\n

For one, the \u201cperfect husband\u201d is so career-oriented that he will be worrying about his own image even during his wife\u2019s gallery night. He won\u2019t buy the tie she has bought him, deeming it not good enough for the night.\u00a0 Hello, it\u2019s her night, her gift and it wasn\u2019t like the tie had inappropriate imagery on it! Then he exchanges it, saying he got something better. She constantly has to run after him for any attention, and she might maybe get morning sex, but that\u2019s about it. Yes, in an ideal world, she should try to talk things out and not cheat. But we hardly \u00a0watch ideal worlds on TV. And take his behavior, multiply it by 10 years and you might also be yourself craving the attention and chemistry you found with a stranger.<\/p>\n

And while I found nothing wrong with Jack\u2019s wife, I can also see where he\u2019s coming from. Barely in his early 40s, he is much too young to be a dad to two teenagers. He has been with the same woman since he was 19, and she is his boss\u2019 daughter. He seems to be more understanding of her father\u2019s involvement in their lives while she questions his loyalty \u2013 she\u2019s not happy he respects\/admires her dad. Which is not exactly sensitive on her part because his dad raised him, funded his education and all that. This also backs up his argument on feeling his world is too small. Because it is. He hasn\u2019t branched out to a new family and career. He has just expanded on the one he was brought up in. Again, ideally, he shouldn\u2019t cheat. But does it make sense? Yes, it does.<\/p>\n

They could make the dialogue a little better, and they could have spent more time developing the attraction\/chemistry between them. But it isn\u2019t bad the way it is.<\/p>\n

Good old mindless, harmless fun with beautiful people. Let\u2019s see what the next episodes will bring.<\/p>\n

Fun trivia:<\/strong> My post isn\u2019t the only thing the show has in common with J.J. Abrams. Merrin Dungey has a recurring guest role as Sara\u2019s editor. Dungey starred as Sydney\u2019s best friend on J.J. Abrams creation Alias<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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