Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Arrow, Grey’s, Once, Lethal Weapon, Supergirl, The Night Shift, NCIS and More
Is Arrow‘s Felicity going into business? What drama is Grey’s Anatomy prescribing for Jo? What can Rumbelle fans expect from Once Upon a Time‘s “reset”? Is Criminal Minds‘ Reid a changed man? Read on for answers to those questions plus teases from other shows.
There has been a lot of hinting and build-up to Arrow‘s Felicity starting up her own company, Smoak Tech. Are there plans for this in Season 6? —Aurora
“That was something we wanted to do last year, and then we got sort of seduced by the Helix storyline,” co-showrunner Marc Guggenheim explained to me. In Season 6 (premiering Thursday, Oct. 12), “I would say that people wanting that storyline will be happy, but for reasons that I think will be very obvious, it can’t be called Smoak Technologies. And all those clever readers who are like, ‘That’s because she’ll be changing her last name to Queen,’ it’s not Queen Technologies, either.”
Have anything new to share about Arrow‘s Slade sticking around? —R.J.
It appears Oliver will make good on his offer to his frenemy, in trade for his help against Adrian Chase, seeing as the CW series is currently seeking an Aussie lad to fill the guest-starring role of an “introverted, moody and naturally athletic” teenager.
Will the Grey’s Anatomy writers finally dive into Jo’s storyline this season? Will Jo Wilson find her mentor? And isn’t she due to take her boards soon? —Burcu
“We will absolutely explore Jo’s story more,” Camilla Luddington told me at TCA when I hand-delivered your Qs. “I know that with the domestic violence storyline, we want to show the spectrum of emotional damage that can do to someone — what their triggers may be, how it affects past and future relationships, the details of what she experienced — and hopefully show recovery and healing. It will be very intense to play but I feel honored to be given the opportunity to tackle something so complex.” As for the mentor matter, although Callie is now gone, “this season Jo may feel inspired by someone again,” ventures the actress, who also has heard “rumblings” that Jo will (finally) brave her boards in Season 14.
I have a question for Once Upon a Time: Can Adam and Eddy tease Episode 4, which is focused on Rumple and brings back Emilie de Ravin? —Liza
When I delivered your question, Adam Horowitz described the episode titled “Beauty” as “hugely romantic,” while co-creator Eddy Kitsis said, “It’s our favorite Rumbelle story since ‘Skin Deep.'”
Any scoop
on The Night Shift? —Amber G
TC may be back, but his feet will be shuffling — and that will trigger a talking-to from his ex. “Jordan says to him a version of, ‘You’re always looking on the other side of the street. Stop thinking about that,'” showrunner Jeff Judah previews. “But that is just TC — wherever he is, he wants to be someplace else. And in the last several episodes, he’s torn between staying in the hospital and that family, and the new family that he’s created at the Syrian border.”Bonus scoop: With Mark Consuelos bound for Riverdale as a series regular, by season’s end “There will be closure” with his new character, Cain, Judah promises.
Who can we expect to see back on NCIS this fall? —Dedra
Co-showrunner Frank Cardea says, “Joe Spano is coming back for an episode” as Fornell, while Robert Wagner Jr. is set for yet another encore(/his annual visit?) as DiNozzo Sr.
Will Prison Break 
continue? —Dayo
“[There is] nothing that we are currently planning on, but we are always interested in new angles on the stories that come out of our library,” Fox entertainment chief David Madden told TVLine at TCA. “If the producers have a thought about how to explore another iteration of it, we’d be excited to talk.”
Obsessed with Lucifer! In Season 2, we saw mythological elements. Will they be a big part of Season 3? —Maria
Looks that way, seeing as the Fox series is casting the recurring role of what is being dubbed “Sinnerman,” a slightly depraved criminal mastermind whom Lucifer suspects of kidnapping him at the close of Season 2.
Now that we know
Rex Linn will play Riggs’ father in Lethal Weapon Season 2, who will play teenage Riggs in flashback? —Camille
That plum role has gone to the well-coiffed Chase Mangum, pictured at right.
I hope you can give out some Lethal Weapon tidbits. —DianaD
Oh, I have plenty more. Previewing Blindspot baddie Michelle Hurd’s arrival as Chief Gina Santos, showrunner Matt Miller said that with Murtaugh having chased Riggs to Mexico, “Captain Avery has sort of lost control of these guys, so we need someone to play the heavy, to come in to crack the whip.” Thing is, Murtaugh is “immediately freaked out” to see Santos, due to a “finger linger” they shared during a years-ago stakeout. But when he brings up the muddled memory, “he only sinks himself deeper into the hole with her.” Bonus scoop: Episode 2 of the new season features the show’s first boat chase, during which “Murtaugh gets to harpoon a guy.”
Any Criminal Minds scoop, particularly on Spencer Reid and his PTSD? — Diane
With his wrongful incarceration, Reid “just went through a major crisis, and we don’t want to pretend that never happened,” says showrunner Erica Messer. “At the same time, we don’t want to dwell in that experience. But you will see shades of how he changed, I would argue, for the better. A little of the innocence is gone, and yet he’s still the lovable, brilliant Dr. Reid. We’ll get the best of all worlds there.”
Will we see Greg again on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? —Erin
“As Rachel [Bloom] always says, ‘If we told you, that wouldn’t be very fun. And if he were [returning], we wouldn’t tell you,'” co-creator Aline Brosh McKenna said at TCA. Greg, she noted, was one of the few characters “that figured out his stuff, and moved on” — but his someday return is “not at all off the table,” McKenna noted.
Any word 
what the new case on Trial & Error will center around and who will replace John Lithgow? —Nicole
Season 2 of the midseason NBC comedy will revolve around a yet-to-be-cast older woman serial killer named Lavinia Peck-Foster, as well as another cold case. Neither John Lithgow nor Krysta Rodriguez will be back as series regulars, while a Serial-like podcaster will be among those helping Josh’s scrappy legal team.
Do you have any scoop about Supergirl and/or The Flash? —Sarah
I choose Column A, since I have just learned that the CW series is seeking a fortysomething actress to play a mysterious and “sexually compelling” Kryptonian who is being likened to Game of Thrones‘ Melisandre.
Any chance 
you have something on Jake and Amy on this season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine? —Shelby
What’s a summer TCA party with a Melissa Fumero check-in? With Jake and Rosa framed for robbery and jailed for several episodes, “The squad is desperately trying to figure out a way to get them out. All things are being considered,” Amy’s portrayer told me. “Remember how Charles’ hair went white? That is still an ongoing thing he’s dealing with while trying to not crumble from the stress.” Amy herself “is just in work mode, trying to work the case,” but charged a point where “she mayyybe lashes out in a library, on unsuspecting passersby,” Fumero hints. “She’s just trying to keep it together.” Might there be “conjugal” visit in the cards for Amy and Jake? “Kind of…? Sort of…?” the actress answered. “That’s all I can say!”
Real questions, real answers! If you need the Inside Line on a favorite show, email InsideLine@tvline.com! (With reporting by Vlada Gelman)
Not interested in Jo’s story! I lived it
Yes but others who go through these things might find comfort in seeing that it doesn’t have to end in death. So many women die because of domestic violence or when they try to escape. It may be too truggering for you to watch but it is so important to represent it well. We don’t need negative comments like yours, I’ve been waiting forever for them to do Jo justice.
So your opinion is okay, but N’s isn’t “needed.” Aren’t you special. I’m with her. I have no interest in boring Jo. Now go ahead and snip that my “negative comment” (known to normal people as an opinion) isn’t needed.
And why is Jo boring when her life story is so much more interesting than those of most characters? I care more about her than about certain others because with her at least I feel there is enough potential that just keeps being wasted. And maybe how Lauren worded it was wrong but there are too many unnecessary hateful comments about Jo, and this storyline IS important. Whether you care about it or not.
Nah, Jo is boring. Almost all of the characters on this show have been through traumatic life experiences (some more than others), and hers isn’t more interesting than the others. And while I’m happy that they are going to be showing the realities and horrors of surviving a domestic violence (because it is an important topic), I’m not happy about it being about Jo, and a lot of fans feel the same. Because she really is the most snooze-worthy character.
I agree that negativity about something that is as sensitive as domestic violence isn’t necessary. And Jo is more interesting than most of the characters. The reason you might find her boring is because the writers kept ignoring her. How a character who was in foster care, homeless and almost killed by her husband can be classified as boring is beyond me though. I find Maggie boring and had to sit through countless of episodes focusing on her so you might just have to do the same. Tough for you.
Boring Jo, okay. Wonder if you’ll say the same after they have finally done her storyline. You may not care about it but there are enough people who do.
I’m not trying to be special, I’m trying to point out that this is a serious and important storyline that we shouldn’t immediately dismiss. I don’t care if you care about Jo or not, who is by far not boring. I seldom laughed as much as when she and Alex fake cried to get a hotel room. Just because she got no material for a long time you people call her boring but that’s your opinion. That doesn’t change the fact that women die because of this issue daily and that the Grey’s fans do nothing but victim shame Jo for how she tried to protect herself and Alex from her abusive husband. And frankly I’m tired of that, she deserves some respect for what she had to go through, like all women who face DV do, and that’s why I was bothered to scroll to the comments to see the first comment being about not being interested in Jo’s storyline when Jo’s storyline is incredibly important. There are 16 characters or so on this show and you can’t tell me that you care about every single one of them. It’s an ensemble show and you either watch all episodes and watch the storylines about characters you don’t care about or you ignore them, skip episodes or scenes. That doesn’t make this storyline any less important to tell.
That’s not very kind or compassionate of you, in fact, it was downright mean.
N said they weren’t interested in Jo’s story, because they lived it. Then you explain why it’s needed, but then so sorely disappoint by following it up with, ‘we don’t need negative comments like yours.’ Really? N shared an opinion, that’s it, nothing else, while you were busy preparing to be incredibly rude and insensitive. Now that’s ‘negative.’
I’m so sorry to hear that- I hope you’re well now.
I’m sorry you went through it but it’s an important topic and I’ve seen women who had similiar experiences who have been looking forward to this storyline and were very upset that it got ignored last season.
N+100
No interest in Jo’s story either.
This will be quite the reboot if anything involving Belle and Rumple can be described as “hugely romantic.”
And did Supergirl’s casting directors really put “sexually compelling” in the description? Should make for interesting auditions.
As someone who doesn’t watch Game of Thrones, your clue is no help to me regarding the Supergirl spoiler.
Oh it’s just someone who is super attractive that keeps a lot of secrets but thinks she’s doing the right thing. U should really check out GoT. Gets really good and cleaner
So.
Over.
Jo.
And why? She barely got any storyline so far! I’m so over you people hating on her all the time. She deserves this spotlight for once, her story is important and she’s been ignored for long enough.
She’s had storylines in the past, and she was lame af. People are allowed to have characters they dislike, you know. Not everyone has to share the same opinion about everything. And plenty of people would just rather she goes away.
Personally, I think her upcoming story is really important, but I would so much rather see another character deal with it because I can’t stand her. I would fast forward through her scenes, but I love Alex, so I’m stuck having to watch her if I want to watch his scenes.
So over you haters. Jo deserves this storyline. Camilla deserves this storyline. If you don’t like it then skip her scenes but I’m excited.
Agreed. She’s such an awful character. I hope they write her out. And she can take Maggie and Amelia with her too.
Calm down with all this hate. Why is everyone so against Maggie and Ameila? Ive seen so much hate toward Ameila especially.
Why won’t Felicity’s company be called Smoak Tech? They’ve already referenced it on Arrow and LoT?
‘Tis a juicy mystery!
In LoT Smoak Tech was from a future alternate universe that only potentially could happen and on Arrow it was featured in a shared delusional world created by aliens. I’m guessing they want something new.
Plus – IF they are observing the alternate universe references – It could have been her father’s company – NOT hers.
Scratch that… Felicity and her father do not share a last name.
They held the four episodes of Lucifer after that cliffhanger. Are you saying that they never dealt with that storyline in those four episodes, cause that makes no sense. Who sets up a cliffhanger for another season, then does four more episodes?
Lucifer Season 3 opens with brand-spanking-new episodes; the first “leftover,” standalone episode won’t air for a while.
Wait…the trailer they showed was the 4 episodes, right? So why would they be promoting something that they are going to put off for a while. Still, was there plan to put a cliffhanger out there and then have four more non-related episodes? That’s a good way to piss off the audience. Still happy to have way more episodes this year.
Apparently so. Except the ‘they’ in this scenario is the network and not the writers. The writers had already laid out the season based on the initial episode order and then were given four extras. I guess they could’ve tackled the cliffhanger in those four, but maybe they decided to give themselves the summer to really dig into the story and decided to do four standalones instead.
Yep, something kinda like that (I talked to the showrunners about it just last night). It’s certainly nothing for any fans to get angry about/spin cynically.
If you watch the ComicCon interviews with the showrunners (see YouTube), those standalones were shot in the spring, but! They’re being worked into Season 3’s overarching arc so that the consequences that come out of each episode will tie into what happens next. It’s my understanding that 3 of the standalones will air this fall and one will air in the spring.
Rumbelle, hugely romantic and Skin Deep – that’s all I need to hear. Please let it be true.
I want to believe.
Thanks for asking the Felicity question. Too bad about Smoak Tech, it had a nice ring to it. People were already making t-shirts. I’m good with any name as long as it’s hers.
Jo deserves this. She deserves her mentor and she deserves her DV storyline. She had like 5 minutes of screentime last season due to the actress: pregnancy, if you are so adamant to hate on her then just ignore her scenes in the episode like I do with characters who annoy me.
I’m so excited for Felicity to start her own company! I’ve been waiting for so long. Weird that it won’t be Smoak Tech though. Maybe Smoak-Queen? Or Queen Inc. I know Queen Inc was featured in a future newspaper over on The Flash. So curious now!
Oh no but I just had the WORST thought though. I hope she doesn’t have a joint company with Curtis and his name is included. I’d hate that.
I’m ok with joint company…but his name doesn’t have the same ring to it.
I also want Thea involved cause I want more Thea/Felicity scenes.
…assuming they’re not all dead.
I’m really not ok with it at all. Smoak tech/Felicity having her own company has been a fandom wish for a long time, even before Curtis was on the scene. If he comes in and steals it, I’m be so mad. I already don’t like him that much this will only make me dislike him more. He’s already taking her place a lot, it’s like they’re trying to push her out.
–
I’d love more Thea/Felicity scenes though. But I also like Thea working with her brother at the mayor’s office.
I kinda think Curtis does not make it off the island.. So maybe in trying to honor him they’ll name the company something terrific? (see what I did there? :D )
I agree. It’s either going to be Queen Incorporated, like on Flash or Queen Industries, like the comic books. As Oliver’s wife, even if he isn’t involved, it’s still technically his company too.
I’m 99.44% certain Guggenheim’s quote means it will not be Queen _____ (insert any word — Technologies, Incorporated, Amalgamated, Tacos…). I could be wrong, but I reckon I am not.
As long as it’s not Smoak-Holt Tech or some variation with Curtis, I’ll be happy. Felicity has earned her own company without have Curtis added because they writers couldn’t figure out anything else to do with him.
Felicity can be successful on her own without having to have a man attached.
In the comics before he became a superhero Mr. Terrific had a startup originally called Cyberwear. It was later branded Holt Holdings and eventually sold to Wayne Tech. I hate Curtis but I think they may be merging the two stories into 1. In hindsight it looks like EBR & EK’s SDCC’s interviews weren’t as chaotic and useless as they seemed at the time. They might have been telling us what their storyline is.
Yeah, forget the fact that he’s the one that actually makes the tech.
.
I don’t care how it plays out, I’m just pointing out that the people here trashing him and saying he didn’t earn anything are a little blinded by their love for Felicity.
Kaliber, it’s more their dislike of Curtis, who is a useless character and annoying character, that makes them upset.
And if Curtis is only useful for a B story then that really tells me how unnecessary he is to the show which is in desperate need of writing off some characters because it’s becoming a bloated cast.
@kaliber. Some of us have been waiting a very long time for Felicity to get something for herself, a start up tech company, and then Curtis comes along and gets included. Everyone else gets to be more than their mask – everyone else gets a mask – but Felicity isn’t allowed and has to stay the same in her little comic relief/IT girl box. I’m sick of it. Why does Curtis always take away from Felicity?
I don’t want it to be Queen, I want the name of Felicity’s company to be all about her. And TV gods, I hope you smite the writer who comes up with an option that includes the name of Curtis Holt or any reference to that blasted character. Oh, he annoys me so! Useless twit. I hope he finds his husband and they leave Starling.
Healthy.
Too bad. Queen Tacos has a nice ring to it. I bet they’d be tasty. And they could have a food truck with a big crown on top, really draw in some business.
Forget tech and hacking, tacos for all!
Do we know if John Lithgow pops up at all?
It was announced he’ll be a recurring guest star
I hope that the Rumple and Belle story is a good one, and that most fans will be happy with it. It’s been a struggle the last few seasons. “Hugely romantic” sounds good, but I hope the writing delivers and it doesn’t end up being misleading. I hope that Emilie de Ravin gets to guest star a more too.
I think Prison Break will be back in another two years or so. That said, this most recent run was a gift. Loved it.
Maybe it’s just me but I love the lack of information coming from the “NCIS” set.
As for the Supergirl “40-something” – guess I’m going to have to be surprised since I’m probably one of the very who hasn’t watched even a second of “”GofT”.
The GoT character was some kind of priestess. I’m betting she is one of the robed women shown at the end of the season finale.
Oh comon ! Prisonbreak season 5 was fail, I can mention 100 ways how it failed. Please tell TV is for braindead now and writers are dumb.
Good to hear that Reid won’t be changed for the worse after his ordeal last season-I don’t want him to go dark.
.
I do hope they can touch on his struggle to readjust, though, because he did go through some nasty stuff while in prison, and he was drugged against his will again and had to deal with Cat’s mind games as well. So if they can show the effects of that stuff to some degree throughout the season as well, that’d be interesting. And it’d make watching him work to stay on the straight and narrow all the more rewarding.
T&E – no Julie Haggerty? Bummer
Is there any new information about the ranch or iron fist season 2
Gotta utilize the email address denoted abovewards. Comments are never read by human editors. [This is an automated recording. Beep-borp.]
Spencer was kidnapped and drugged his girlfriend was murdered in front of him and he still has innocence to lose. Just be honest and say that you want to forget the whole thing happened. That you never had a long term plan of how this was all going to play out.
I wish I could believe for one second that Belle/Rumbelle would get a “hugely romantic” episode but I was foolish enough to watch that show for years.
My head tells me to temper my excitement about Rumbelle (I’ll never forgive A&E for the way they destroyed that beautiful and magical relationship in seasons 4-6), but my heart desperately wants to believe that they’re finally going to give them the hugely romantic story that they deserve.
On the Supergirl spoiler, can i just say on behalf of the sane part of the fandom, what the frick frack? Supergirl fans want LESS romance plots. Give us back S1 Kara!
Yes, absolutely. The combination of too much badly written romance and Supergirl coming in second to Superman and Mon El made it a much weaker show than it was in s1.
Unless Tony DiNozzo visits NCIS, I could do without seeing his father. Especially if Sr. is still hanging with those old amateur detective nuts. Please don’t bring them back under any circumstances!
Haven’t been able to stand him or believe him since Natalie Wood’s death (not that I hold a grudge or anything……………..)
IMO I’m not saying he did anything wrong but I DO think that he and Christopher Walken know more than they have ever said about that night.
Just write Jo out. She’s a terrible character that doesn’t do the story any favours.
I want to see more Joe Spano on NCIS. Love the interaction between Gibbs and Fornell.
I do too. He and Gibbs bounce off of each other so well that it doesn’t seem like a script. Now that Tony is gone, I wonder what Robert Wagner is going to do on the show. I’m old enough to remember him as a young Actor. Man, was he handsome!
I agree more Joe Spano!!! I loved when Fornell was staying at Gibbs’ house.