Changes: Counterpart (TV series)

Revision as of 21:40, 26 August 2019

Counterpart is a new Starz Original Series created by Justin Marks. The SciFi/Drama stars J. K. Simmons as Howard Silk, a lowly cog in the bureaucratic machine of the Office of Interchange in Berlin. Howard discovers that the agency is really overseeing The Crossing, a portal into a parallel dimension.

In addition to the cross-dimensional espionage at its core, the show explores the themes of identity, what ifs and lost love.

Counterpart appears on CraveTV streaming service in Canada.

Premise

In 1986, during the Cold War between the United States and the USSR, there was an accident during an experiment in the USSR-controlled area of East Berlin. At the time, The Break caused the universe to split into two identical copies (Dimension One and Dimension Two).

While identical in every way at the moment the Crossing opened, the two sides have diverged significantly in the 30 years since. The point of divergence is referred to as The Break.

The location of the accident, now known simply as "The Crossing," became a nexus point allowing travel between the two dimensions

The Office of Interchange is the name of the bureaucracy that controls access, diplomacy, and espionage between dimensions.

Counterpart_Duplicated_STARZ — Counterpart Duplicated STARZ

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Cast

J. K. Simmons as Howard Silk
Olivia Williams as Emily Burton Silk
Harry Lloyd as Peter Quayle
Nazanin Boniadi as Clare
Sara Serraiocco as Baldwin
Ulrich Thomsen as Aldrich
Nicholas Pinnock as Ian Shaw
Bernhard Forcher as Andrei
Stephen Rea as Alexander Pope
Kenneth Choi as Bob Dwyer
Nolan Gerard Funk as Oskar Wolfe
Lotte Verbeek as Helen Moller
Christiane Paul as Mira
Guy Burnet as Ambassador Claude Lambert
Ingo Rademacher as Friedrich
Jacqueline Antaramian as Ava Fancher
Jacqueline Bisset as Charlotte Burton
Liv Lisa Fries as Greta
Marco Khan as Raash
Mido Hamada as Cyrus
Rahul Parikh as Max
Sarah Bolger as Anna
Stefan Kapicic as Lieber
Adeel Akhtar as Kasper

Production

Justin Marks - Created by/Writer/EP
Jordan Horowitz - Writer/EP
Amy Berg - Writer/EP
Bard Dorros - EP
Gary Gilbert - Writer/Producer
Morten Tyldum - Director/EP
Jennifer Getzinger - Director
Stephen Williams - Director
Maegan Houang - Writer
Erin Levy - Writer
Justin Britt-Gibson - Writer
Gianna Sobol - Writer

Development

Counterpart Creator Justin Marks (The Jungle Book) initially wrote his cross-dimensional tale as a spec feature. It landed at MRC (Media Rights Capital) in 2013 and they suggested that Marks develop it into a series. Current Season 2 writer Maegan Houang was a script reader at MRC at the time and says she was one of the first to read it.

Marks tapped longtime friend and producer Jordan Horowitz (La La Land) to collaborate and further developed the concept.

Starz picked up the show in spring 2015 and veteran TV producer Amy Berg (Eureka, Person of Interest) was brought in to help first-time showrunner Marks.[1] with production starting in winter 2016[2].

Marks described the process on The Bitter Script Reader Blog in 2016 -

"It’s an original, something I was specing as a feature. I had a meeting at MRC (Media Rights Capital) one day and had just been working on this idea. They asked what I was working on, so I told them and they said, 'That should be a TV show. We’ll buy that. Let’s develop it together as a script and we’ll see if we can find interest in it.' We brought it out to the marketplace and got J.K. Simmons and Morten (Tyldum) attached to it right after the Oscars last year."

Marks along with executive producers Berg and Horowitz, formed a writers' room with Gary Gilbert, Erin Levy, and others long before production began. Berg reports it was the first time in her long career that she's had a full season of scripts in hand before cameras rolled.

Marks described the first season as a 10-hour movie with ten chapters. The first episode is directed by Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game). Jennifer Getzinger (Mad Men, Outlander) directed three episodes as did Stephen Williams (Ray Donovan, Westworld)

Media

Videos

Counterpart Official Trailer STARZ

Counterpart Season 2 Official Trailer STARZ

Starz's Counterpart Is the Best New Series of 2018 So Far

Counterpart Critical Acclaim STARZ

"Counterpart" interview with the stars and creators

Counterpart Howard Silk Subordinate STARZ

Counterpart Howard Prime Operative STARZ

Counterpart Baldwin Assassin STARZ

Counterpart Quayle Director STARZ

Counterpart Clare Soldier STARZ

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 |Row 1 title=Created by
 |Row 1 info=Justin Marks
-|Row 2 title= Season 1
+|Row 2 title= Seasons
-|Row 2 info= January 21, 2018 -
+|Row 2 info= 2
 |Row 3 title= Episodes
-|Row 3 info= 10
+|Row 3 info= 20
-|Row 4 title= Genre
+|Row 4 title= [[Counterpart Season 1|Season 1]]
-|Row 4 info= SciFi/Spy Drama
+|Row 4 info= January 21 - April 1, 2018
-|Row 5 title= Network
+|Row 5 title= [[Counterpart Season 2|Season 2]]
-|Row 5 info= Starz Original Series
+|Row 5 info= Debuts December 9, 2018
-|Row 6 title= Official Website
+|Row 6 title= Genre
-|Row 6 info=https://www.starz.com/series/counterpart/episodes
+|Row 6 info=SciFi/Spy Drama
 |Row 7 title=
 |Row 7 info=
-|Row 8 title=
+|Row 8 title=Network
-|Row 8 info=
+|Row 8 info=STARZ Original Series
-|Row 9 title=
+|Row 9 title=Website
+|Row 9 info=https://www.starz.com/series/counterpart/episodes
-|Row 9 info=
 |Row 10 title=
 |Row 10 info=
+}}'''''Counterpart''''' is a new Starz Original Series created by Justin Marks. The SciFi/Drama stars [[J. K. Simmons]] as [[Howard Silk]], a lowly cog in the bureaucratic machine of the [[Office of Interchange]] in Berlin. Howard discovers that the agency is really overseeing [[The Crossing]], a portal into a parallel dimension.
-}}
-'''''Counterpart''''' is a new Starz Original Series created by Justin Marks. The SciFi/Drama stars [[J. K. Simmons]] as [[Howard Silk]], a lowly cog in the bureaucratic machine of the [[Office of Interchange]] in Berlin. Howard discovers that the agency is really overseeing [[The Crossing]], a portal into a parallel dimension.
 In addition to the cross-dimensional espionage at its core, the show explores the themes of identity, what ifs and lost love.
@@ Line 42: / Line 41: @@
 ==Episodes==
+===[[Season 1]]===
 <gallery widths="300" position="center" columns="2" spacing="small" captionalign="center" navigation="true" hideaddbutton="true">
 Interface_room_Counterpart_STARZ_Season_1_Episode_1_The_Crossing.jpg|link=The Crossing (Episode)|'''[[The Crossing (Episode)|Episode 1]]'''
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 Nolan-Gerard-Funk-watches-as--Junes-Zahdi-shoots-Hendrik-Heutmann-Sleepers-Counterpart-STARZ-Season-1-Episode-5.jpg|link=Shaking the Tree|'''[[Shaking the Tree|Episode 5]]'''
 Pupillary-response-measurement-device-Office-of-Interchange-Counterpart-STARZ-Season-1-Episode-6-Act-Like-Youve-Been-Here-Before.jpg|link=Act Like You've Been Here Before|'''[[Act Like You've Been Here Before|Episode 6]]'''
-Counterpart-Season-1-Episode-7-The-Sincerest-Form-of-Flattery-Placeholder.jpg|link=The Sincerest Form of Flattery|'''[[The Sincerest Form of Flattery|Episode 7]]'''
+Lara-Decaro-as-Young-D2-Clare-Counterpart-Season-1-Episode-7-The-Sincerest-Form-of-Flattery.jpg|link=The Sincerest Form of Flattery|'''[[The Sincerest Form of Flattery|Episode 7]]'''
-Counterpart-Season-1-Episode-8-Love-the-Lie-Placeholder.jpg|link=Love the Lie|'''[[Love the Lie|Episode 8]]'''
+Poisoned-children-Conterpart-STARZ-Season-1-Episode-8-Love-the-Lie.jpg|link=Love the Lie|'''[[Love the Lie|Episode 8]]'''
-Counterpart-Season-1-Episode-9-10-No-Mans-Land-Placeholder.jpg|link=No Man's Land|'''[[No Man's Land|Episode 9]]'''
+Nicholas-Pinnock-Ian-Shaw-faces-down-Pope-Counterpart-Starz-Season-1-Episode-9-No-Mans-Land-Part-1.jpg|link=No Man's Land|'''[[No Man's Land|Episode 9]]'''
-Counterpart-Season-1-Episode-9-10-No-Mans-Land-Placeholder.jpg|link=No Man's Land|'''[[No Man's Land|Episode 10]]'''
+Richard-Schiff-Harry-Lloyd-Peter-Quayle-Roland-Fancher-interact-with-Management-device-Counterpart-STARZ-Season-1-Episode-10-No-Mans-Land.jpg|link=No Man's Land|'''[[No Man's Land|Episode 10]]'''
+</gallery>
+===[[Season 2]]===
+<gallery widths="300" position="center" columns="2" spacing="small" captionalign="center" navigation="true" hideaddbutton="true">
+Counterpart-Season-2-Episode-01-inside-out-Placeholder.jpg|link=Inside Out|'''[[Inside Out|Episode 1]]'''
+Counterpart-Season-2-Episode-02-outside-in-Placeholder.jpg|link=Outside In|'''[[Outside In|Episode 2]]'''
+Counterpart-Season-2-Episode-03-Something-Borrowed-Placeholder.jpg|link=Something Borrowed|'''[[Something Borrowed|Episode 3]]'''
+Counterpart-Season-2-Episode-04-Point-of-Departure-Placeholder.jpg|link=Point of Departure|'''[[Point of Departure|Episode 4]]'''
+Counterpart-Season-2-Episode-05-Shadow-Puppets-Placeholder.jpg|link=Shadow Puppets|'''[[Shadow Puppets|Episode 5]]'''
+Counterpart-Season-2-Episode-06-Twin-Cities-Placeholder.jpg|link=Twin Cities|'''[[Twin Cities|Episode 6]]'''
 </gallery>
 == Cast ==
-*J. K. Simmons as Howard Silk
+*J. K. Simmons as Howard Silk
 *[[Olivia Williams]] as [[Emily Burton Silk]]
 *[[Harry Lloyd]] as [[Peter Quayle]]
@@ Line 64: / Line 73: @@
 *[[Ulrich Thomsen]] as [[Aldrich]]
 *[[Nicholas Pinnock]] as [[Ian Shaw]]
-*Bernhard Forcher as Andrei
+*Bernhard Forcher as [[Andrei]]
 *Stephen Rea as [[Alexander Pope]]
 *Kenneth Choi as [[Bob Dwyer]]
-*Nolan Gerard Funk as Angel Eyes
+*Nolan Gerard Funk as [[Oskar Wolfe]]
+*Lotte Verbeek as [[Helen Moller]]
-*Christiane Paul as Mira
+*Christiane Paul as [[Mira]]
 *Guy Burnet as [[The Lost Art of Diplomacy|Ambassador Claude Lambert]]
-*Ingo Rademacher as Friedrich
+*Ingo Rademacher as [[Friedrich]]
-*Jacqueline Antaramian as Ava Fancher
+*Jacqueline Antaramian as [[Ava Fancher]]
-*Jacqueline Bisset as Lydia Burton
+*Jacqueline Bisset as [[Charlotte Burton]]
-*Liv Lisa Fries as Greta
+*Liv Lisa Fries as [[Greta]]
-*Marco Khan as Raash
+*Marco Khan as [[Raash]]
-*Mido Hamada as Cyrus
+*Mido Hamada as [[Cyrus]]
-*Rahul Parikh as Max
+*Rahul Parikh as [[Max]]
-*Sarah Bolger as Anna
+*Sarah Bolger as [[Anna]]
-*Stefan Kapicic as Lieber
+*Stefan Kapicic as [[Lieber]]
+*Adeel Akhtar as [[Kasper]]
 ==Production==
@@ Line 91: / Line 102: @@
 *Maegan Houang - Writer
 *Erin Levy - Writer
+*Justin Britt-Gibson  - Writer
+*Gianna Sobol  - Writer
 ==Development==
@@ Line 106: / Line 119: @@
 Marks described the first season as a 10-hour movie with ten chapters. The first episode is directed by Morten Tyldum (''The Imitation Game''). Jennifer Getzinger (''Mad Men'', ''Outlander'') directed three episodes as did Stephen Williams (''Ray Donovan'', ''Westworld'')
-According to Marks, Starz has already ordered a second season of ''Counterpart''.
 == Media ==
@@ Line 113: / Line 124: @@
 <gallery widths="300" position="center" columns="2" spacing="small" captionalign="center"  hideaddbutton="true">
 Counterpart Official Trailer STARZ
+Counterpart Season 2 Official Trailer STARZ
 Starz's Counterpart Is the Best New Series of 2018 So Far
 Counterpart Critical Acclaim STARZ
@@ Line 120: / Line 132: @@
 Counterpart Baldwin Assassin STARZ
 Counterpart Quayle Director STARZ
-Counterpart Aldrich Watcher STARZ
 Counterpart Clare Soldier STARZ
 </gallery>