''Red Widow'' is an American drama television series created by

Melissa Rosenberg Melissa Anne Rosenberg is an American television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. She has worked in both film and television and has won a Peabody Award. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards, and two Writers Guild of Amer ...

, starring

Radha Mitchell Radha Rani Amber Indigo Ananda Mitchell is an Australian actress. She started her career with various appearances on Australian television, including a regular role as Catherine O'Brien in the soap opera '' Neighbours'' (1996–97). Mitchell l ...

and

Goran Visnjic Goran may refer to: Ethnic groups *Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa *Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East *Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of the southeastern Europe Other uses *Göran, a Swedis ...

. 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 Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

drama series titled '' Penoza'' created by Pieter Bart Korthuis and

Diederik van Rooijen Diederik van RooijenSometimes spelled as Diederik Van Rooijen. (born 26 December 1975) is a Dutch television and film director. Career Film Van Rooijen graduated in 2001 from the Netherlands Film Academy with his English-language film ''Ch ...

. On May 10, 2013, ABC canceled the series after one season.

Overview

The series stars

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

as Marta Walraven (née Petrova), housewife and widow of Evan Walraven, a marijuana smuggler *

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 Rade Šerbedžija ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Шербеџија, ; born 27 July 1946) is a Croatian actor, director and musician. He is known for his portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law. He was one of the best known Yugoslav actors i ...

as Andrei Petrov, Marta's father, an

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally tho ...

boss in the Richmond and a rival of Schiller *

Luke Goss Luke Damon Goss (born 29 September 1968) is an English actor, and drummer of the 1980s band Bros. He has appeared in numerous films including ''Blade II'' (2002) as Jared Nomak, '' One Night with the King'' (2006) as King Xerxes, '' Hellboy I ...

as Luther, one of Andrei's trusted men *

Jaime Ray Newman Jaime Ray Newman (born April 2, 1978) is an American actress, producer and singer. She is known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in the soap opera '' General Hospital'', Mindy O'Dell in the drama series ''Veronica Mars'', Kat Gardener in the f ...

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 Lee Allen Tergesen (; born July 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in ''Weird Science'', as Tobias Beecher in HBO's prison drama '' Oz'', and as Evan Wright in '' Generation Kill,'' as well as guest starring in many other ...

as Mike Tomlin, business partner to Irwin and Evan, and now Marta * Sterling Beaumon 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. ...

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 fantas ...

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

Episodes

Reception

Mary McNamara, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' 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 The term soccer mom broadly refers to an American, middle-class, suburban woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to youth sporting events or other activities, whether or not they are soccer rel ...
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 The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

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