Counterpart renewed (effectively) via Starz for season 2; latest casting
According to a new report via Deadline, Get Out actress Betty Gabriel has been officially brought on board the drama in the role of former FBI agent Naya Temple. Production on the second season is set to begin in Berlin this week, which should serve as a very-clear reminder that Starz gave producers the green light on more Counterpart quite some time ago. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to work on scripts!
This renewal for the series more or less follows a pattern that we often see with Starz giving early renewals to many of their upstart series in hopes of allowing them to build a fan following pretty early on. In many cases, it is often necessary — shows like Counterpart and Outlander have very elaborate productions and with that, they need renewals early in order to finish their seasons in time. Otherwise, there would have to be a delay of longer than a year between seasons. (Counterpart season 2 will shift production over to Los Angeles later this year; season 2 as a whole will run for ten episodes.)
So far, the ratings for Counterpart — at least in terms live+same-day estimates — are modest at best. The series is drawing around 400,000 live viewers weekly, but this number balloons out when you add in streams, views via the app, and DVR figures. This is most of all a show that will probably benefit from awards season, where JK Simmons could very well be in contention. Starz is banking on quality and hoping that buzz and binge-watching after the fact will help to make the show even more of a hit moving into the future. The series certainly has faced some challenges airing opposite the Olympics as of late.
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