As Bette, the controlling but efficient manager of an art gallery in The L Word, Jennifer Beals was my favorite character to watch. Which is why I was happy when the 48-year-old actress was picked up to star in The Chicago Code - a show where I thought she would find a strong audience base. Unfortunately, The Chicago Code did not live on into infamy, but its cancellation did free up Beals’ schedule last year, leaving her bright and ready to hop into an upcoming pilot role.
Beals is headed to CBS, where she will co-star in CSI showrunner Carol Mendelsohn's Widow Detective opposite John Corbett. The show, which will follow Corbett’s Detective Brennan acting as a figurehead and even a lover within his three dead partner’s families, has garnered criticism for sounding as if it will be a little too Sister Wives-based. Now, with the information we have about Beals’ character, the possibly of that sort of platform seems off base.
Beals will play a salon owner named Lainey, who is one of the wives in the series Brennan is looking out for. According to Deadline, Lainey will actually have remarried after her detective husband’s death but will be on extremely good terms with his former partner, Brennan. Since a divorce with Lainey’s new husband is imminent, there is a good chance she and Brennan could have a real connection. I could still be wrong, but it doesn’t sound like Beals will be particularly cozy with the other widows, at all.
