Renegade Review: Still Star Crossed and TNT's Will

Welcome Renegade Nation it’s me Naughty Nicole and it’s time for another Renegade Review. And today, we have a double shot for you. Hard as it is to believe we have two new shows both inspired by the Bard himself, William Shakespeare. So today we’re going to be looking at ABC’s Still Star-Crossed and end up the day talking about TNT’s Will. So let’s jump right in and start with Still Star Crossed. Shondaland became a premier source of primetime programming because the production company and its founder, Shonda Rhimes knows a good TV concept when it sees one. A hospital full of super-attractive doctors who all sleep with each other while tackling interesting cases? Check. A Washington fixer who knows how to solve any problem? Check, check. A law professor who drags her five students into a murder case or two? Super Check. Shondaland’s track record is solid that Still Star-Crossed comes as a surprise—and not a good one. Okay, so first things first, I like the bare bones of the show: there’s a good basic premise here and, basically, it should be a slam-dunk. “Should” being the operative word. Let’s start with the positives. We have all talked about how people of color should be in more historical fiction, from books to TV to movies. The big draw Still Star-Crossed has is it’s a show filled with people of color in Shakespeare’s classic story, Romeo and Juliet. Lashana Lynch stars as heroine Rosaline Capulet, who lives with her sister Livia in the home of their uncle Lord Silvestro Capulet and hateful aunt Lady Guiliana Capulet. In an effort to end the violence that increased after the elopement and deaths of Romeo and Juliet, Prince Escalus proclaims Rosaline should marry her blood enemy, Benvolio Montague, the nephew of Lord Damiano Montague. I mean, the cast is attractive enough, and hell it even has Anthony Head, who I absolutely adore. So the basic premise is this… it’s a period drama that picks up where the famous story of Romeo and Juliet leaves off, charting the treachery, palace intrigue, and ill-fated romances of the Montagues and Capulets in the wake of the young lovers’ tragic fate.