666 Park Ave 

If you’re not watching ABC’s new Sunday night guilty pleasure, 666 Park Avenue, you should be. The Macomb spooktacular is the brain freeze of show creator David Wilcox (Fringe). The show centers around a gothic tribute to decadent living known as The Drake (Think Rosemary’s Baby). How Many New Yorkers wouldn’t sell their soul for a great Park Avenue address not to mention the lifestyle that accompanies it.  The show’s chief protagonist is the building’s owner and Satan’s little brother on his mother’s side, Gavin Doran, played by a hellishly good actor Terry O’Quinn (Lost).

He, along side with his irresistible wife Olivia played effortlessly by one of America’s most beautiful women, Vanessa Williams (Desperate Housewife’s, Ugly Betty) whispers and seduces you all the while reminding you to be careful what you wish for. The Devil is in the details. Enter the young couple Jane Van Veen and her boyfriend Henry Martin played by Rachael Taylor and Dave Annable. Jane is the new building manager with a hunger for unsolved Drake mysteries and Henry is a rising politician not yet in someone’s back pocket not to mention Gavin’s new pet project. Each week we get to unlock and explore the sins and addictions of the current Drake residents as well as a few past ones. Everyone loves a haunted house.

(Recap) “Downward Spiral,” Airdate 11-11-2012

Over the Meadow and through the Gates of Hell to Grandmother’s Apartment We Go

The Show opens at the Drake in a flashback to 1998 where the comatose wheelchair bound grandmother Lottie, who lives on the 10^th floor very pregnant Daughter Melanie comes by for a visit. Melanie meets Gavin in the elevator and he proceeds to guess the baby’s gender, the soon to be born Nona. He should do that trick on Jimmy Kimmel.  Melanie informs her mother Lottie of her encounter and without even a glass of sweet tea she is pulled up, warned off, and scolded out the door. Melanie now concerned about her mother’s mental health reluctantly leaves as she waddles down the hall to the elevator and out of the Drake before it is too late. She was instructed not to return until after the baby is born. But The Drake loves children so as her daughter Melanie enters the elevator and presses the lobby button, all Hell and Melanie’s water breaks lose. The next sound you here is a baby crying and a flash of light.  Insert spooky music here.

Henry takes the Bronze

Henry is honored by city officials for his bravery with the bronze medallion of honor. It would seem his political star is on the rise and Gavin encourages him to ride the wave as long as possible. The not so plain Jane wants to leave the Drake. She is convinced leaving New York will return her to a simpler, less demonic way of life, not that Indiana doesn’t have skeletons of its own. So what’s a Henry to do? Nothing like asking New York’s most eligible Evil doer romantic advise of the lovelorn. Gavin tells Henry to ask Jane to marry him and if he does that will solve Jane’s exit plans.  Henry, capitalizing on every career opportunity, plans a shopping trip with Olivia. Note if your looking for a magic engagement ring, always take a spell caster with you. It doubles the odds your beloved will say yes. 

What’s Up Doc?

The Gambling addicted Doctor Evans, in an attempt to pay off his mark of debt to Gavin gives the deranged killer, Kandinsky, the gift that keeps on giving-a scalpel that was inserted in his abdomen during emergency surgery. Mr. Kandinsky with the skills of your local butcher, removes the devise by pushing it out of an opened wound. It is not a gift unless it keeps on giving and the bloody scalpel is now free of its constraints to be shared with the police officer guarding Kandinsky. However, the psychopath murders two people on his way out the door. (I mean why not, too bad they weren’t from the medical billing department). The doctor calls Gavin and says that his debt is paid in full. Like most major credit cards, you know your dept is never really paid in full and Gavin reminds him that a debt is a debt on your soul. The mark on his chest scarred with the amount of debt he borrowed from Gavin increases from fifty thousand dollars to sixty thousand. They always forget the interest, don’t they?

Which Witch?

Brian has been staying with a friend, wink wink and returns to his and Louise’s apartment. Yes as expected Alexis is in his apartment yet again and informs him that his wife Louise is out of town working on a photo shoot. You would think that since Alexis is there all the time she could at very least run the vacuum. I thought she gave her key back in the last episode. Hmmm. Brian, who is eaten up with the green-eyed monster, falls into the witch Alexis’ scheming trap.  So yes your right he sleeps with her; a not so big surprise. Like most of us, he will feel bad after and lie about his infidelity to his wife, but I lay odds Alexis has a lot of blackmail letters ready to be posted. She schemed too hard to let him go. Alexis informs Brian in the elevator she has moved into the Drake. I was wondering why a witch like her was living at 668 Park Ave and only a neighbor to the beast when the Drake is right up her cauldron.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Screams

Nona wakes up in the middle of the night to find her catatonic grandmother Lottie’s wheelchair empty, and the old woman is now missing from the apartment.  As tension mounts, the footsteps lead her out into the hallway as the sound of the door closing arouses her attention. She opens the front door all the while calling her grandmother’s name. In the hall she discovers grandma standing and staring off into space-trapped inside her own personality. Lottie suddenly turns to her granddaughter and says that Jane cannot leave the Drake. The next day, Nona confronts Jane at the reception desk as Jane was giving Gavin her resignation notice in writing. Nona asks Jane, “If she is really moving out?” When Jane tells Nona that “Yes she has decided to move back to Indiana.” Nona replies that her grandmother told Nona that she couldn’t let Jane leave. Nona tells Jane she’s a part of the building. Jane is still not convinced that she should stay. That evening, Nona manages to enter into one of Jane’s dreams, its cheaper than taking her out to dinner. The next day, Jane visits Nona and her grandmother in their apartment. Jane is convinced Nona should not be living alone with a senior with disabilities. Fearing child protection services, she takes Jane into a bedroom her grandmother has lined with stories of The Drake that go back to the building’s first days. Nona tells Jane that she is the only person in the building she can trust. In the picture room, Nona shows Jane a picture of herself as a young girl. The photo was clearly taken at The Drake, but Jane doesn’t remember ever being in New York in the past. She is a child of the Drake.

 

Diamonds are the Devil’s Best Friend

A ring a ding ding. Olivia takes Henry on an engagement ring shopping trip. She also stacks the deck by having the storeowner allow Henry to pick out any ring at the low, low price of $3000.00. Gavin and Olivia will chip in the rest. A cloud comes to this silver lining when Victor Shaw shows up at the jewelry store. He slithers his way up to Olivia while she is alone. He compares her life to that of a bird living in a gilded cage. Mr. Shaw asks Olivia to betray her husband. She turns and asks “why would I do this?” Mr. Shaw brimming with over confidence says, “Because secretly, I think you want to.” You know some men are so off the mark, they think their sexual charm is so devastating to women that Olivia would merely swoon and instantly conspire to betray the man she loves and also drop her knickers and allow Shaw to have his wicked way with her. Shaw tells Olivia he needs  “a simple show of allegiance.”

The Kiss of the Spider Woman

On the eve of Gavin and Olivia’s charity event while Gavin is shaving, Olivia informs Gavin about Mr. Shaw’s invitation to betrayal. She tells Gavin she would never even consider betraying her beloved. Gavin turns with that sinister smile of his and says, “I already knew that.” He suggests to Olivia some makeup tips to maximize the evening’s festivities. Victor Shaw arrives to the charity event and Olivia opens her bag and applies fresh lipstick from the Mary KKK collection. After picking up two glasses of champagne, she seductively approaches Shaw. Mr. Shaw is meant to believe the champagne is poisoned and tells Olivia to offer it to her husband instead. She tells Shaw that Gavin hates champagne as a rule. Shaw instructs her to make an exception; once again a sign of allegiance. Meanwhile the good doctor feed up with a burning debt mark sizzling across his chests places a gun in Gavin’s back and tells him its all over. Olivia leans over and kisses Victor gently on the lips and turns to walk back to join Gavin. Before you can say Beelzebub, Victor collapses, a sign of allegiance in deed but the allegiance is with Gavin. It’s always with Gavin. Olivia commands Dr. Evans to attend to Shaw, not realizing that he is currently holding a gun to Gavin’s back. The Good Doctor is forced to abandon his plan and help Shaw. That damn Hippocratic oath is often inconvenient. Gavin tells the doctor that he was meant to save lives not take them. We also see the good doctor in the back of the ambulance with Mr. Shaw. He is instructed by the medtech driver a Mr. Kandinsky (surprise) to keep him alive and instead of the hospital they are going to The Drake. Mr. Shaw must have an HMO that tells him when ill to go to the Devil.

Would the Crazy Catatonic Grandmother please come to the front Desk.

Jane and Henry come home from the charity doo. Henry with sweaty palms nervously waiting the very moment he is to pop the biggest question of his young life is suddenly derailed by Nona in the lobby of the Drake. She tells Jane and Henry that her grandmother is missing. For a catatonic woman, she really gets around. Jane is the go-to girl, after all she is the Drake’s manager and like most mangers of an evil apartment building, you call the manager when a demon steals your grandmother.  Henry goes up to the apartment and discovers it gleaming with candles and rose pedals, the romantic setting courtesy of Gavin and Olivia. Nona and Jane find her grandma standing in the basement. Lottie grabs Jane’s locket and puts it up to her face. Some women just love the smell of jewelry. Jane realizes her necklace is the missing piece of a giant tiled puzzle of a dragon on the basement floor. She places the locket on the eye of the dragon and it unlocks a secret door that exposes a seemingly endless spiral staircase heading downwards to an unknown world. Jane, with her unquenchable curiosity, descends the staircase to only have the staircase close behind her. The door to the unknown closes with a mighty force blowing out all the candles in Henrys and Jane’s apartment as if by an omen of doom.

Next week’s episode What ever Happened To Baby Jane? airs. Sunday 11/18^th /2012

After disappearing down into the underworld, a despondent Henry worries for Jane’s safety and sanity. When she suddenly pops up in the middle of Times Square dazed and confused (but who isn’t during rush hour) she is taken to a hospital for observation. Jane discovers that a horrible fate may be waiting for her there-the hospital bill, most likely. Meanwhile, Gavin has Victor Shaw held captive in The Drake’s boiler room with Kandinsky enjoying his favorite game Wheel of Torture. The object is to get Shaw to scream up the location of Gavin’s red box. Shaw, however, shockingly reveals to Gavin his knowledge of what really happened to his daughter, Sasha, and threatens to tell Olivia. Gavin has been a bad boy. Let us know what you think about 666 Park Avenue, ghouls are standing by.

666 Park Avenue is part of ABC Sunday nights line up. Lets look at this week’s ratings. 

ABC IN THE LEAD

Opposite NFL-driven Sunday competition from NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Chicago Bears-Houston Texans) and Fox’s huge overrun during the first hour of primetime (Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles), ABC defeated CBS on the night by 5% in Adults 18-49.

Shooting up from its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+93%) at 8pm and growing from start to finish, ABC’s Once Upon A Time beat out CBS’ Amazing Race during the hour by 13%. In addition, the ABC drama stood as the #1 non-sports program in the hour across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

ABC’s Once Upon A Time is generating big gains in DVR playback in the Live + 7 Day ratings, spiking over its preliminary Live + Same Day numbers by 3.0 million viewers and by 1.4 Adult 18-49 rating points.

In the 9pm hour, ABC’s Revenge dominated CBS’ competing drama The Good Wife by 41% in Adults 18-49. For the 2nd week in a row, Revenge beat out its non-sports competition on CBS (The Good Wife) and Fox (1-hour Family Guy’s 200th episode) by wide margins in Adults 25-54 and across the key Women demographics.

Surging in DVR playback, on average this season Revenge jumps from its L+SD to L+7 numbers by 2.9 million viewers and by 1.2 Adult 18-49 rating points (+43%).

During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC freshman 666 Park Avenue retained 100% of its week-ago numbers in Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, while growing 10% with Women 25-54.

Continuing to rank among the biggest freshman series this season in DVR playback, on average 666 Park Avenue sees its Live + 7 Day Adult 18-49 rating jump by 53% (+0.9 rating) and adds another 2.0 million viewers over its Live + Same Day numbers.

 

 

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Tags: 666 Park Ave, 666 park avenue, gavin, gavin and olivia doran, olivia, paranormal, terry o'quinn, the drake, vanessa williams