When people start affairs, they never think about how they’ll end. Anticipation is everything: the next encounter, text, phone call, broken taboo.
On ABC’s seductive new drama “Betrayal,” which debuts Sunday night at 10, we know from the get-go that things don’t turn out well for Sara Hanley, a photographer who jeopardizes her marriage when she strays with attorney Jack McAllister.
Based on a Dutch series, the show kicks off with a disturbing image of Sara (Hannah Ware) being strapped to a gurney, with an echo of gunfire, a shot of a shell casing falling to the sidewalk and a close-up of the weapon.
Had she only known that first kiss would lead to that!
The set up is handsomely done as Sara meets Jack (Stuart Townsend) at a photography show in Chicago where she lives with her husband, Drew (Chris Johnson) — a politically ambitious attorney — and their two children. She’s feeling oddly alone and chilly when Jack gallantly drapes his coat on her bare shoulders as they stand on a balcony overlooking the city. Jack is also married, to the daughter of Thatcher Karsten (James Cromwell), an entrepreneur who took Jack in as a child after his parents died and then sent him to college and law school — ultimately giving him a job working for the family business.
The attraction between Jack and Sara is immediate, but the steamy payoff is delayed because executive producer David Zabel (“ER”) has a secondary story to tell, one that will compromise the lives of the show’s lovers in dramatic, unexpected ways.
When Thatcher’s brother-in-law is found murdered, Thatcher’s mentally challenged son, TJ (Henry Thomas), becomes a person of interest. And Thatcher assigns Jack the impossible task of keeping TJ out of jail — while Sara’s husband, Drew, longs to put him in jail. He becomes the prosecuting attorney on the murder case.
Sara’s guilt turns to dread as her husband’s points to her lover’s picture in the newspaper. He’s all excited: this could be his ticket to a job as State’s Attorney. It could be Sara’s ticket to divorce court — if Drew finds out.
All the possible scenarios make you want to tune in next week to see which one Zabel and his writers explore. We already know things are going to go wrong; it’s just a tantalizing question of when and how.
Can anyone act here? The answer is yes. Before “Betrayal,” Ware’s most notable role was as Kelsey Grammer’s drug-addicted daughter in the defunct Starz series “Boss.” In a TV season where some seriously lazy casting is hindering the new shows, she’s a breath of fresh air: she’s subtle, assured and has an ethereal allure. How did she get a job on ABC, known for its cavalcade of wavy-haired bimbos?
The Dublin-born Townsend, who joins the list of foreign-born actors with a mastery of the American accent, manages to be available, passionate and furtive all at the same time.
If anyone’s capable of “Betrayal” on this promising new drama, it’s Jack McAllister.