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PEOPLE & ARTSSaturday 23 January 2016
What’s on TV:
‘Outsiders’ sparks war between 2 vastly different societies
FRAZIER MOORE evicted.
AP Television Writer But it’s not going to be
NEW YORK (AP) — “Out- easy. Or pretty.
siders,” the bare-knuckles “We don’t go up THERE,
new drama from WGN they ain’t supposed to
America, pits a tribe of off- come down HERE,” warns
the-grid hill people against Deputy Wade, reciting
“civilized” folk at the foot of the policy of detente that
the mountain who want to keeps a shaky peace in
oust them to unearth a rich place. It is Wade who now
vein of coal just waiting to is ordered to drive them
be mined once these long- out.
entrenched squatters are Thomas M. Wright plays
This image released by WGN America shows Ryan Hurst as Lil Fosterin a scene from “Outsiders,”
premiering on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 9 p.m. ET.
(Eric Liebowitz/WGN America via AP)
this put-upon lawman, Mattei (pronounced “mah- — “to their way of life. And
with veteran actor David TAY”) today divides his time they will have to defend it.”
Morse starring as “Big Fos- between Austin, Texas, Make no mistake, “Outsid-
ter” Farrell, the fearsome and upstate New York. But ers” doesn’t play favorites
heir-apparent to the tribe’s he was inspired to create between the Farrells, who
leadership, and, otherwise “Outsiders” by memories only want to be left alone,
among the large cast, from his post-collegiate and the villagers, who des-
Ryan Hurst (known to “Sons days as a founding mem- perately need the eco-
of Anarchy” fans as motor- ber of a theater company nomic jolt this coal windfall
cycle gangster Opie) por- that staged its plays in a might provide.
trays “Big Foster’s” formida- Tribeca warehouse, and as The first episode even in-
ble but tormented son. a resident in the dirt-cheap, cludes a declaration of
Is the conflict in “Outsid- but now super-chic, patch coal’s importance to the
ers,” which finds the Farrells of Brooklyn known as Wil- nation’s energy needs.
locked in internal strife while liamsburg. And while the Farrells are
at the brink of war with “In Williamsburg, it felt like certainly no pack of sweet-
the outside world, likely to we had this ‘mountain’ hearts (it has to be more
cause fireworks in this pock- we could live on for free,” than coincidence that this
et of Appalachia? In Far- he says, invoking a Farrell- in-bred family’s surname
rell tribal-speak, you might esque perspective. “Then, is so similar to “feral”), one
say “Ged-gedyah.” Which with gentrification, along initial plan from their camp
translates into “Hell, yeah!” came the people with for how to meet their loom-
(The series premieres Tues- money, and they evicted ing threat sounds reason-
day at 9 p.m. EST.) us. able enough.
“Outsiders” was created “I think a lot about money “I wanted both worlds, in
by Peter Mattei, a 58-year- and technology,” contin- the hills and down below,
old artist-polymath (“Dilet- ues Mattei, who studied to have lots of shades of
tante, I think, is the word economics at Brown Uni- gray,” says Mattei. “This se-
you’re looking for”) whose versity and worked for a ries is like all the things I’ve
resume includes play- time in the dot-com indus- done — a little bit like con-
wright, novelist and film- try. ceptual art, like a thought
maker with a 2002 indie “After Occupy Wall Street experiment: ‘What if.....?’”
picture, “Love in the Time and the financial crisis, I The “what-if” propelling
of Money,” that Robert was trying to find some “Outsiders” was met with
Redford executive-pro- way to write about that, interest from several net-
duced and featured Vera too. It all came together as works, Mattei says. But
Farmiga, Rosario Dawson, this group of modern-day none more so than WGN
Steve Buscemi and Adrian people who live in an anti- America, which has found
Grenier. His range of cool modern way, without tech- success with a pair of ambi-
comrades also includes nology, just as they had tious dramas, “Manhattan”
an executive producer of done for centuries. and “Salem,” and in March
“Outsiders,” Paul Giamatti, “And then there comes will launch the Civil War-era
whom he first met when a threat” — Big Coal, en- “Underground.” It handed
both were attending Yale abling modern contrivanc- him a 13-episode straight-
Drama School. es while befouling nature to-series deal.q
