The Inside
Encyclopedia
The Inside is an American crime drama television series created by Tim Minear
and Howard Gordon
and produced by Imagine Television
. The Inside follows the work of the FBI's Los Angeles
Violent Crimes Unit (VCU), a division dedicated to investigating particularly dangerous crimes. The Inside initially aired on the Fox
Network from June 8 to July 13, 2005. Although thirteen episodes were produced, Fox aired only seven episodes before canceling the series. All thirteen episodes were subsequently aired on Britain
's ITV4
in 2006.
) joins the Los Angeles Violent Crimes Unit (VCU) after the death of a previous member. While she proves to be a brilliant investigator, she has a secret known only to herself and the VCU's mysterious director Virgil "Web" Webster (Peter Coyote
): that as a 10-year-old girl, Rebecca was kidnapped from her home and held captive for 18 months (à la Elizabeth Smart). Astonishingly enough, no one found and rescued her; she escaped the trauma all by herself, setting a fire and escaping in the resulting chaos. Webster manipulates Rebecca's experience on each case, using the insight she gained through it to establish the mindset of the victim—and the criminal.
Another sidebar to the plot is the moral struggle between Webster, who seems willing to use Rebecca's gift to catch the "unsub" at all costs, and Rebecca's partner Paul Ryan (Jay Harrington
), who views himself as the voice of conscience in the battle for Rebecca's soul. Additionally, Webster's past is very much unknown; viewers are left wondering exactly how much he has in common with the perpetrators he pursues.
, the original premise centered around a 23-year-old woman, Rebecca Locke (Rachel Nichols
), posing as a 16-year-old high school student in order to investigate a drug ring. Peter Facinelli
was also attached to star. In September 2004, it was announced that Tim Minear
would redevelop the series as original creators/executive producers Todd Kessler
and Glenn Kessler
exited the series. It was also revealed that Brian Grazer
, Ron Howard
and David Nevins would executive produce the series. In December 2004, Facinelli opted out of the series after Minear revamped the premise to feature Rebecca Locke as young FBI agent working for the L.A. bureau's Violent Crimes Unit. Later in December 2004, Jay Harrington
was cast, taking over the role from Facinelli; and Adam Baldwin
joined the cast, who worked with Minear on Firefly
. In May 2005, Fox announced the series would premiere June 8, 2005, airing Wednesdays at 9:00 pm. Fox aired seven episodes (although out of production order) before canceling the series due to low ratings.
between June 8 and July 13, 2005. The rest of the unaired episodes aired on ITV4
in 2006.
Fox aired the episodes out of order. The episode listing below is the correct viewing order, not the airing order. Creator Tim Minear
posted the correct episode order on his website.
Tim Minear
Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
and Howard Gordon
Howard Gordon
Howard Gordon is an American screenwriter and producer.-Life and career:Gordon was born in Queens, New York, New York. After graduating from Princeton in 1984, Gordon came to Los Angeles with fellow filmmaker Alex Gansa to pursue a career in writing for television. Both broke into the industry...
and produced by Imagine Television
Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Entertainment is a film and television production company founded in 1986 by director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer.Its productions include the television series 24 and Arrested Development and the films Apollo 13 , A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code .-Organization:Karen...
. The Inside follows the work of the FBI's Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Violent Crimes Unit (VCU), a division dedicated to investigating particularly dangerous crimes. The Inside initially aired on the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
Network from June 8 to July 13, 2005. Although thirteen episodes were produced, Fox aired only seven episodes before canceling the series. All thirteen episodes were subsequently aired on Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
in 2006.
Premise
Rookie FBI Agent Rebecca Locke (Rachel NicholsRachel Nichols (actress)
Rachel Emily Nichols is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s...
) joins the Los Angeles Violent Crimes Unit (VCU) after the death of a previous member. While she proves to be a brilliant investigator, she has a secret known only to herself and the VCU's mysterious director Virgil "Web" Webster (Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote is an American actor, author, director, screenwriter and narrator of films, theatre, television and audio books. His voice work includes narrating the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics and Apple's iPad campaign. He has also served as on-camera co-host of the 2000 Oscar...
): that as a 10-year-old girl, Rebecca was kidnapped from her home and held captive for 18 months (à la Elizabeth Smart). Astonishingly enough, no one found and rescued her; she escaped the trauma all by herself, setting a fire and escaping in the resulting chaos. Webster manipulates Rebecca's experience on each case, using the insight she gained through it to establish the mindset of the victim—and the criminal.
Another sidebar to the plot is the moral struggle between Webster, who seems willing to use Rebecca's gift to catch the "unsub" at all costs, and Rebecca's partner Paul Ryan (Jay Harrington
Jay Harrington
Jay H. Harrington III is an American actor. His most recent role was the title character in the ABC sitcom Better Off Ted.- Personal life :...
), who views himself as the voice of conscience in the battle for Rebecca's soul. Additionally, Webster's past is very much unknown; viewers are left wondering exactly how much he has in common with the perpetrators he pursues.
Production
Originally produced by Kathryn BigelowKathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark , the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break , the science fiction/film noir Strange Days , the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water and the war drama The Hurt Locker...
, the original premise centered around a 23-year-old woman, Rebecca Locke (Rachel Nichols
Rachel Nichols (actress)
Rachel Emily Nichols is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s...
), posing as a 16-year-old high school student in order to investigate a drug ring. Peter Facinelli
Peter Facinelli
Peter Facinelli is an American actor. He became known as the star of Fox's 2002 television series Fastlane. He plays Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight series. He is also well known for his role as Mike Dexter in the film Can't Hardly Wait...
was also attached to star. In September 2004, it was announced that Tim Minear
Tim Minear
Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
would redevelop the series as original creators/executive producers Todd Kessler
Todd A. Kessler
Todd A. Kessler is an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer and director. He is the co-creator and head writer of the FX drama series Damages...
and Glenn Kessler
Glenn Kessler (screenwriter)
Glenn Kessler is an American screenwriter and television producer. Kessler grew up in suburban Detroit suburb and graduated from the Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills in 1988. He is the co-creator and executive producer of the Golden Globe award-winning FX drama series Damages along...
exited the series. It was also revealed that Brian Grazer
Brian Grazer
Brian Thomas Grazer is an Academy Award-winning American film and television producer who co-founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. Together they have produced many acclaimed films, including Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind .- Career :Brian Grazer began his career as a producer...
, Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
and David Nevins would executive produce the series. In December 2004, Facinelli opted out of the series after Minear revamped the premise to feature Rebecca Locke as young FBI agent working for the L.A. bureau's Violent Crimes Unit. Later in December 2004, Jay Harrington
Jay Harrington
Jay H. Harrington III is an American actor. His most recent role was the title character in the ABC sitcom Better Off Ted.- Personal life :...
was cast, taking over the role from Facinelli; and Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel...
joined the cast, who worked with Minear on Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
. In May 2005, Fox announced the series would premiere June 8, 2005, airing Wednesdays at 9:00 pm. Fox aired seven episodes (although out of production order) before canceling the series due to low ratings.
Characters
- Rebecca Locke (Rachel NicholsRachel Nichols (actress)Rachel Emily Nichols is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s...
) is the rookie field agent brought in by Web, who wishes to use her gift to his advantage. She is able to put herself in the shoes of the victims, since she was one herself. This makes her excellent at getting inside the mind of a killer. Series creator Minear described her as a "character with no inside," hence the show's title. With clear trust issues and a lack of a social life, she slowly grows to like her colleagues more as the series progressed. - Danny Love (Adam BaldwinAdam BaldwinAdam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel...
) is an ex-marine who is blunt and crude, but not without his own morals and has a certain rapport with Agent Melody Sim. He often leads assaults on crime scenes. Originally his name was to be Danny Coulter. - Melody Sim (Katie FinneranKatie FinneranKatie Finneran is an American actress of film, stage, and television noted for her Tony Award-winning performances in the Broadway play Noises Off in 2002, and the musical Promises, Promises in 2010.-Personal life:...
) is a quick-witted, intelligent and friendly agent who often mourns her lack of social life and shares a friendship with Danny. - Carter Howard (Nelsan EllisNelsan EllisNelsan Ellis is an award-winning American film and television actor and playwright. He is well known for his role as Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO series True Blood, which he has been playing since 2008.-Early and personal life:...
) is the technological go-to guy of the group, making an appearance whenever the team need technological expertise. - Paul Ryan (Jay HarringtonJay HarringtonJay H. Harrington III is an American actor. His most recent role was the title character in the ABC sitcom Better Off Ted.- Personal life :...
) is a young, married agent who Web chose to be his 'conscienceConscienceConscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes right from wrong. Moral judgement may derive from values or norms...
'. Idealistic and kind, he sees things in black and white. He is often paired up with Agent Locke, which leads him to discover her past secret. On more than one occasion, he and Web have clashed based on differing principles. Originally, his name was to be Paul Fatorre. - Virgil "Web" Webster (Peter CoyotePeter CoyotePeter Coyote is an American actor, author, director, screenwriter and narrator of films, theatre, television and audio books. His voice work includes narrating the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics and Apple's iPad campaign. He has also served as on-camera co-host of the 2000 Oscar...
): The supervisor. He is not married as far as we can tell. He chose his squad based on their secrets, their weaknesses and their strengths. He is known to push his agents to the max, especially Agent Locke, much to the disgust of Agent Ryan. He is also known to bend the rules or justify actions.
Episodes
The first seven episodes originally aired on FoxFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
between June 8 and July 13, 2005. The rest of the unaired episodes aired on ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
in 2006.
Fox aired the episodes out of order. The episode listing below is the correct viewing order, not the airing order. Creator Tim Minear
Tim Minear
Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
posted the correct episode order on his website.
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
|---|
External links
- PopGurls' review of the show, which doubles as an appreciation of the Rebecca Locke character
- Part One of an interview with Minear, in which he discusses the demise of the series
- Part Two of that interview, in which Minear talks about plots that audiences will not see because of cancellation
- Part Three, where Minear speaks on his future projects, including an Inside DVD