Title: Witchblade: The Original Series:
Two-Hour Second Season Premiere
Stars: Yancy Butler, David Chokachi,
Eric Etebari, Anthony Cistaro, Will Yun Lee, and John Hensley
Special Guest Star: Joe Butler
Based on the Comic Book by: Top Cow
Productions
Executive Producers: Ralph Hemecker,
Dan Halsted, and Marc Silbestri
Running Time: 95 minutes without
commercials
Media: TNT Original Television Series
Second Season Premiere (NTSC VHS Screener)
World Premiere Sunday, June 16, 2002,
at 8pm (ET/PT)
Network: Turner Network Television
(Check your local cable/satellite listings for channel)
TV Rating: PG 14
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
Sara Pezzini (Yanci Butler) had lost
all of her loved ones and closest friends slowly but surely since she first
acquired the “Witchblade” by destiny in the original TV movie and throughout
the first season of the hit series. In her misery she discovered a gift she
never knew the witchblade gauntlet had: the one chance to rewrite history. So
she rewound time back until a day before she ever acquired the witchblade
despite the consequences her actions will surely bring.
When the episode opens Sara has a
fleeting premonition of what is to come and over the course of the two-hour
second season premiere we see some of the opening events that occurred to Sara
from a new point of view up until the day after she acquired the witchblade.
That day she saves her partner’s life by discouraging Danny (Will Yun Lee)
from entering the theater where he had been killed in the previous timeline.
This action disturbs billionaire Kenneth Irons (Anthony Cistaro) who seems to
have a fleeting memory of what has happened too. Since only a woman can control
the witchblade, Irons is obsessed with controlling the woman who controls it,
but when he finds that this is not possible in Sara’s case he decides to have
her killed so he can find another suitor who he can control.
The second season premiere of
“Witchblade: The Original Series” is without a doubt the best episode of the
series I have ever seen since the original two-hour movie that premiered on TNT
two years ago. Gone is the silly bullet time crap that works in “The
Matrix,” but everywhere else was abused to the point of absurdity. This
episode is dark and moody with some great-choreographed hand-to-hand combat and
sword fighting in real time. The two-hour opener does feel like two episodes
shown together than as one cohesive feature length television adventure, but at
least it is two very good episodes if one wishes to view it that way. The
episode also features new and interesting twists on characters we thought we
knew in the first season while creating interesting developments that are sure
to spark interest in fans of the series while keeping the show accessible to
newcomers. In fact I like the set-up in this premiere better than last
season’s premiere. Seasoned viewers will enjoy the odd similarities and
radical differences Season Two has for them this summer as they witness the
alternate reality of a developing hero. The episode guest stars Yanci Butler’s
real life father, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Joe Butler as an ex-cop
whose runaway daughter has become a stripper on an adult website. Parents take
note that the second season premiere does contain some suggested sexuality and
violence that may not be appropriate for younger viewers.
Following the second season premiere,
“Witchblade: The Original Series” will air in its regular time slot, Mondays
at 9pm (ET/PT).
Witchblade:
The Original Series:
Two-Hour
Second Season Premiere:
Sunday,
June 16, 2002, at 8pm (ET/PT)
Regular
Weekly Second Season Episodes Thereafter Begin:
Monday,
June 17, 2002, at 9pm (ET/PT)
Encores:
Tuesdays
at 11pm (ET/PT)
© Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.