Obsess Much?: Why Isn’t In Death on my TV?

Back in May, five months late, I joined Speculative Chic’s New Year’s Resolution Project. My goal was/is to read all forty-seven books and eight novellas in the In Death series by J.D. Robb, aka Nora Roberts. Since then, I’ve been a little…preoccupied with the series. See my last two monthly posts examining the series. (For those keeping count: I’m on book eight — Conspiracy in Death — and my favorite so far has been Holiday in Death.)

That being said, I promise to give you, my dear readers, a break next month. But I have one more very pressing issue to address before I continue my mad reading frenzy and my posts move on to other topics:

Why in the sweet fancy hell isn’t In Death a TV series?

From what little information I could find about this online, apparently there was, at some point, talk of an In Death movie, but nothing came of it, and…I guess that was it. Which makes sense since this series should clearly be a TV show and not a movie. But why hasn’t someone else realized this? I mean, someone with the money and/or position to make a TV show happen (i.e., someone other than me).

If by some miracle that someone is out there reading this, a) you’re awesome and you’re right — Follow your instincts!—and b) here are a few ideas I came up with for the main cast.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas

Based on the physical description given in the books, of a tall, rangy woman with whiskey-colored eyes and brown hair, my mind immediately went to Jennifer Carpenter. You might know her as Debra Morgan from Dexter or Rebecca Harris from the sadly short-lived Limitless TV show. And I think she would be great in the role. Eve needs to be hard on the job but able to be loving and vulnerable around her good friends and the love of her life, Roarke, and Carpenter has shown a wonderfully wide range as an actress. So, I definitely wouldn’t be mad about Carpenter playing Dallas, but…

Here’s my out-of-the-box idea for Eve: Danai Gurira, aka Okoye from Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War or Michonne from The Walking Dead. She’s obviously a very different physical type from Jennifer Carpenter; even so, she’s shown the same range and depth as an actress, and she has charisma aplenty, more than enough to win over the sure-to-be skeptics.

Either would be more than equal to bearing up under the emotional weight Robb continually piles on Dallas.

Roarke

Roarke is tall, bears a wee bit of an Irish accent from a rough childhood in Dublin (the accent seems to come out more when his blood is up, whether that be in anger or lust), and he’s rich AF. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he exudes power, with more than a little bit of danger mixed in, but the other one percent of the time, he’s putty in Eve’s hands.

So, my number one, pie-in-the-sky dream casting is Tom Hardy, who you probably know from Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, The Revenant, Dunkirk, etc.. He’s not super tall, but in his various roles, especially as Max in Mad Max: Fury Road, he’s shown than he can play second fiddle to a powerful female character without simply fading into the background. He’s also shown he’s willing to cross the film/television border, appearing repeatedly on Peaky Blinders and as a main character in Taboo.

My second choice is Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls on Veronica Mars, Chase Graves on iZombie, etc.). While he doesn’t quite have the chops Hardy does, he’s aces in the right roles and has shown he can hold his own when partnered with strong actresses.

Officer Delia Peabody

In the second book in the series, Eve takes a shine to a young, eager cop who’s usually only referred to her by her surname, and by book four, Peabody is in a full-blown mentorship with her hero.

In addition to being excellent at her job, Peabody is described as a bit overweight. (It actually kind of bothers me the way both she and Dallas harp on this issue. This is a way in which the earlier books show their age. In this day and age, I think Peabody would more rightly celebrate her curves.) Anyway, Peabody’s also hapless in romance and a total smartass, and for whatever reason, only one actress came to mind when I thought of who should play her: Faye Marsay.

You may know Marsay for her role as Anne Neville in The White Queen or Candice on Fresh Meat, but you’re most likely to recognize her as Blue Coulson from the Black Mirror episode “Hated in the Nation.” Remember the one with the bees? Yeah, that one. In it, Marsay basically plays the role that she would as Peabody, a younger, slightly more idealistic cop shadowing a hardened veteran on the force, so, in my mind, she’s already got it on lock.

Mavis Freestone

Mavis is Dallas’s BFF and almost the exact opposite of our protagonist. Mavis is an artist with a wild person style and an effusive, effervescent personality. For Mavis, I have two names: Ksenia Solo or Freema Agyeman.

Ksenia Solo is a Canadian actress who showed her fun, free side in Lost Girl as Bo’s sidekick, Kenzi. There’s an innocence and a wryness to her performance that would translate well. (Editor’s note: Look for Solo on Orphan Black, too!)

Another possibility is Freema Agyeman. She’s probably most well known for playing the Doctor’s smitten assistant, Martha, in the third season of the New Who Era. However, she also played Amanita Caplan, Nomi Marks’s girlfriend, in the also sadly short-lived Sense8, and Amanita shows that Agyeman can convincing play a more free-spirited character.

Nadine Furst

Nadine is a bloodthirsty yet ethical reporter/almost-friend to Dallas, and based on her performance in the recently cancelled Great News (Why must all my favorite shows die before their time?!): Nicole Richie. Yeah, you read that right. Richie’s character on Great News was entitled and sarcastic most of the time, but as an actress, she proved that she can turn a line like nobody’s business and show depth when it’s called for. #comeatmebro

(Also, a big thank you to Brandy Reed for pointing out my mistake regarding this character’s name. I accidentally had it as “Natalie,” not “Nadine.” *facepalm*)

Dr. Charlotte Mira

Dr. Mira is a therapist and profiler for the police and other of Dallas’s colleagues-cum-friends. She’s described as being very calm, very calming to be around, and old enough to have grandchildren. Again, I only have one name here: Shohreh Agdashloo.

I know she’s currently cast on The Expanse as one of my favorite book characters of all time, Chrisjen Avasarala, but as talented as I think she is, I personally think she was miscast as Avasarala, and The Expanse was only recently saved by the skin of its teeth, so… If you’re a fan of the TV series, I hate to say it, but it might not match the book series’ length, and she might be free sooner than later. #sorrynotsorry

(I have Issues with The Expanse, but that’s another convo for another time.)

While I could spend all day casting characters in In Death: The Fictional TV Series, I’ll just lay one last one on you:

Captain Ryan Feeney

Feeney is maybe twice Dallas’s age, and he works for the Electronics Detectives Division. He’s a father-figure and a mentor to Dallas. His “hangdog” expression is mentioned often, as is his habit of carrying around snacks in his pockets (usually nuts, usually candied). I’ve got two names to lay on you for this last one.

The first is Colm Meany. That’s right—Chief O’Brien from Star Trek: The Next Generation. He proved on that show that he has just the right sort of affable, put-upon expression and affect to make a wonderful Feeney.

Another choice is William H. Macy. He’s currently playing the patriarch Frank Gallagher on Shameless, but that show only really has one or two seasons left in it. And talk about a “hangdog” look! Macy practically invented it, and his mad skills as an actor are hardly in question with his myriad accolades.

Well, those are my ideas. How’d I do?