Primetime TV is a little different this fall than it's been for the past eight years, thanks to the glaring absence of ABC's Castle, which was cancelled following a tempestuous scandal involving the firing of co-lead Stana Katic. That's all in the past, though, and the actress thankfully just locked down her next big leading role, for which she will once again be going after dangerous criminals. Katic is in final negotiations to star in the crime thriller Absentia for Sony's AXN network..
A solid mystery hook is at the heart of the 10-episode first season of Abesentia, which will follow Stana Katic as an FBI agent who disappeared without a trace while tracking down one of Boston's deadliest serial killers. Though she was declared dead, the agent is inexplicably found six years later, barely hanging onto life in a cabin in the middle of the woods. She has no memory of what happened during her missing years, and she's shocked to find her husband has married another woman who has taken over motherly duties for her son. But that's not the worst of it, as the agent soon finds herself in the middle of a new set of murders, with the finger possibly pointing her way.
Sure, it sounds a bit like Blindspot meets The Killing meets some other stuff, but that could easily make for some intense binge-worthy drama. Unfortunately, while Sony's AXN will be the network behind Absentia's global distribution, there's no word yet on where it will end up here in the United States, as it has yet to be presented to networks and studios here. I imagine having Katic on board will bring a lot more attention than there would have been otherwise.
Putting the words to the story for Absentia is Matt Cirulnick, who hasn't made big waves in the industry since creating the drama South Beach back in 2006. Oded Ruskin, known outside the U.S. for the Israeli TV series False Flag and Beauty and the Baker, will be directing all ten episodes of Absentia, according to Deadline.
Given how fractured Castle's stability came during the months surrounding its widely criticized finale, it's great that Stana Katic has found a project that should not only show off her acting chops in tense situations, but also keep audiences glued to the edge of their seats. (Assuming they don't all disappear for six years, that is.) We don't expect to hear that her former co-star Nathan Fillion will drop everything he's doing now to sign on as Absentia's next big cast member, but how great out would that be?
While we wait to hear about where Stana Katic and Absentia will end up in 2017, don't forget that the actress stars in the recently released action feature The Rendezvous, with the romance Lost in Florence coming later this year. (She also had a recently aired Lifetime movie, Sister Cities.)
