This Week on Manhattan - "The Understudy" (WGN America)

(L-R): Frank Winter (John Benjamin Hickey) and Charlie Isaacs (Ashley Zukerman) in "The Understudy." Photo copyright of WGN America.

This week on Manhattan, old demons resurface for Frank (John Benjamin Hickey) when Annie Liao (Lucia Micarelli) shows up to The Hill to uncover the truth about what happened to her husband.  Abby (Rachel Brosnahan) is torn between her marriage and her undeniably intensifying affair with the beguiling Elodie (Carole Weyers).  Meanwhile, Frank and Charlie (Ashley Zukerman) encounter a critical flaw in Charlie’s previous work, and Liza (Olivia Williams) slips back under the spell of old behaviors.

Abby Isaacs (Rachel Bronsnahan, left). Photo copyright of WGN America.

Manhattan stars Rachel Brosnahan as Abby Isaacs, Michael Chernus as Louis “Fritz” Fedowitz, Christopher Denham as Jim Meeks, Alexia Fast as Callie Winter, Katja Herbers as Helen Prins, John Benjamin Hickey as Frank Winter, Harry Lloyd as Paul Crosley, Eddie Shin as Sid Liao, Daniel Stern as Glen Babbit, Olivia Williams as Liza Winter and Ashley Zukerman as Charlie Isaacs.

Liza Winter (Olivia Williams). Photo copyright of WGN America.

Guest starring are Jefferson White as Cole ‘Iowa’ Dunlavey, Peter Stormare (Prison Break, The Blacklist) as Lazar, Lucia Micarelli (Treme) as Annie Liao, Richard Schiff (The West Wing) as Occam, Carole Weyers as Elodie, Adam Godley (Suits, Breaking Bad) as Dr. Adelman, Lora Martinez-Cunningham as Ida Frederickson and Mike Ostroski as Hank Frederickson. 

Charlie Isaacs (Ashley Zukerman). Photo copyright of WGN America.

“The Understudy” was written by Tom Spezialy and directed by Simon Cellan Jones, The Understudy airs Sunday, September 28th @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST on WGN America.

As noted above, photos copyright of WGN America, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Comments

[John G.]

I think Elodie revealed her real self in this episode: she is a sociopath, not unlike the eponymous "Outsider" in Sartre's "L'Etranger" (called "The Outsider" in Britain and "The Stranger" in the USA), who used the book as a litmus test. Abby passed with flying colors... not only did the book not turn Abby off, it turned her on: she went to Elodie's place and practically dragged her into her own bedroom.

Affairs where the seductress is a sociopath and the seducee has unhealthy boundaries are _EXTREMELY_ dangerous. Abby's life expectancy is sinking rapidly: a fit of murderous rage... much like that of the "Outsider" in Sartre's novel... is well within Elodie's capabilities.

[John G.]

Oops... it is Albert Camus, not Jean-Paul Sartre, who wrote "L'Etranger". They were both existentialists and both in Occupied Paris during World War II.