''Red Widow'' is an American drama television series created by Melissa Rosenberg, starring Radha Mitchell and Goran Visnjic. On May 11, 2012, ABC picked up ''Red Widow'' as a series. The series ran from March 3 to May 5, 2013 and aired on Sundays. The series is based on a 2010 Dutch drama series titled '' Penoza'' created by Pieter Bart Korthuis and Diederik van Rooijen. On May 10, 2013, ABC canceled the series after one season.

Overview

The series stars Radha Mitchell as Marta Walraven, a housewife from

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

whose husband, a marijuana smuggler, was killed. She has to continue his work to protect her family.

Cast and characters

* Radha Mitchell as Marta Walraven (née Petrova), housewife and widow of Evan Walraven, a marijuana smuggler * Goran Visnjic as Nicholae Schiller, San Francisco's premier crime boss and the man to whom Marta owes money * Clifton Collins Jr. as James Ramos, the FBI agent assigned to Marta's case * Rade Šerbedžija as Andrei Petrov, Marta's father, an organized crime boss in the Richmond and a rival of Schiller * Luke Goss as Luther, one of Andrei's trusted men * Jaime Ray Newman as Katrina "Kat" Petrova, Marta's and Irwin's sister * Wil Traval as Irwin Petrov, Marta and Kat's brother, and business partner to Mike and Evan, and now Marta * Lee Tergesen as Mike Tomlin, business partner to Irwin and Evan, and now Marta *

Sterling Beaumon Sterling Martin Beaumon (born June 2, 1995) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Max Doyle in the 2008 film, ''Mostly Ghostly'', and as young Benjamin Linus in the ABC television series, ''Lost''. Beaumon has had guest roles in ''L ...

as Gabriel Walraven, Marta's older son * Jakob Salvati as Boris "Bobo" Walraven, Marta's younger son * Erin Moriarty as Natalie Walraven, Marta's daughter and middle child *

Suleka Mathew Suleka Mathew is a Canadian actress, best known for her lead roles on television series ''Claws'' (TNT) as Arlene Branch, ''Red Widow'' (ABC) as Dina Tomson, ''Men in Trees'' (ABC) as Sara Jackson, and ''Da Vinci's Inquest'' ( CBC) as Dr. Suni ...

as Dina Tomlin, Mike's wife and Marta's long-time best friend *

Pedro Pascal José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal (born 2 April 1975) is a Chilean and American actor. He began his career guest-starring on various television shows before rising to prominence for portraying Oberyn Martell on the fourth season of the HBO fantasy ...

as Jay Castillo, Katrina's husband, a tattoo artist

Episodes

Reception

Mary McNamara, the '' Los Angeles Times'' television critic, called the show's two-hour pilot "high-aspiring but poorly executed"; according to McNamara:

Working from the original Dutch series ''Penoza'', ''Red Widow'' is plagued by
sanctimony Self-righteousness, also called sanctimoniousness, sententiousness and holier-than-thou attitudes is a feeling or display of (usually smug) moral superiority derived from a sense that one's beliefs, actions, or affiliations are of greater virtue ...
. It wants to have it all: a sympathetic soccer mom heroine suddenly willing and able to do business with murderous thugs....It's easy to see the sort of show reator Melissa Rosenberg envisioned, one in which a "normal" woman finds herself juggling the mundane tasks of motherhood with the high-octane exploits required to keep one step in front of a
drug lord A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...
. But the show is too busy hedging its bets—hey, he was just running pot, not the hard stuff, and she feels sort of guilty about dragging him into it—that it undercuts its own potential power.

DVD releases

''Red Widow - The Complete 1st Season'' was released onto DVD on May 28, 2013 in Region 1.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2215399, Red Widow 2013 American television series debuts 2013 American television series endings 2010s American drama television series American Broadcasting Company original programming American television series based on Dutch television series English-language television shows Television series about organized crime Television series by ABC Studios Television series by Endemol Television shows set in San Francisco Television shows filmed in Vancouver Works about the Russian Mafia