Underneathe (TV Series)

Underneathe is a British television series developed by writers/producers Joss Whedon and Robert Singer. It is based on characters originally created by Joss Whedon for a canceled Vertigo Graphic Novel. The television was initially broadcast by the British Broadcasting Channel (BBC), premiering on November 29, 2015. After Underneathe's second season, under the threat of cancelation, rights to the show were bought by The CW, moving production to North America. It ended its ninth and final season on November 29, 2023, the show's eighth anniversary. The series follows Marianne Collins (Susan Coffey) and the events following her discovery that her presumably missing father, conman Finch Collins (John Hurt) has magical abilities and has been hiding in the small town of Underneathe, Alaska for the past seven years. The first three seasons focus on the development of the series basic mythology, looking at Underneathe's underground world of magicians. After season four, the series focuses on a much darker theme, focusing on the events following Satan's takeover of heaven, along with introducing voodoo magicians Thomas Burgundy (Jensen Ackles) and Lisa Simmer (Chloe Grace-Moretz), along with demon Asphodel (Don Cheadle).

The series was generally positively received when it began broadcasting. Judd Winick, who co-created the series with Whedon back when it was in graphic novel form voiced his approval of the series, even making a guest appearance in seasons five and six as the angel Penemue. The pilot of season three broke the record for highest rated season debut on the CW, at 11.82 million viewers. Over ten seasons, it averaged approximately 6.11 million views per episode, with season two averaging the highest ratings at approximately 8.87 million. By the end of its run, Underneathe had surpassed Touched by an Angel to become the longest running fantasy television series in history. From its first season, the series earned distinctions ranging from Emmy Awards to People's Choice Awards. The show has spawned a series of young adult novels, a long line of merchandise, along with an award winning series of graphic novels based on unused ideas from the original plans for the series. All nine seasons of Smallville are available on DVD worldwide, along with on instant streaming websites Netflix and Hulu Plus. In May, 2024 the series continued in novel form, picking up a couple of years after the end of the series finale.

Series Overview
The regular cast is introduced in season one, along with additional side characters gaining prominence in the fourth and later seasons. Storylines regularly included a villain deriving powers from something Finch did when he was younger. Instead of lasting only one episode, the show initially focused on villain arcs lasting two or three episodes. The first season primarily dealt with Marianne trying to come to terms with the truth about her father and the fact that she might have magical abilities as well. After the first season, the series used fewer two-episode-villains, focusing for on story arcs which affected each character and explored further into Underneathe and Marianne's secrets. Main story arcs include Marianne's delving into the magical underworld of Underneathe and Hell's attack on Heaven. The characters of voodoo magicians Thomas Burgundy and Lisa Simmers are introduced. The two are dead souls revived after the war in Heaven, setting the stage for plots involving Marianne and Finch's destiny and further involvement with both heavenly and hellish forces. In another arc which comprises the fifth season, both the demon Asphodel and the angel Penemune attempt to find St. Leo's Journal, a powerful grimoire that Finch hid somewhere in the world many years ago. Finch also fights a lost and defeated creator after he tries to destroy the human race, using the countless souls to regain his power and take back his throne from Satan. The magicians of Underneathe begin to chose to side with Satan or the Creator, leading to the beginnings of a magical civil war. Lisa's older brother Alec comes out of hiding, and we are briefly introduced to Finch's old rival Areomale Carte. The eighth season features storylines further involving Areomale and the great power he has recovered by creating a deal with the Creator. With the ninth season, we find out that Finch has made a deal with Satan, and he slowly becomes a champion of hell's army against Areomale and the creator. Marianne is torn between sides, however her absorption of the power of St. Leo's journal leads to her becoming one of the most powerful magicians in Underneathe. With the culmination of the battle between the Creator and Satan, the series slowly comes to a close. The series ends with Marianne slowly realizing her potential and reshaping the world, slaying both the creator and Satan along with the help of various companions of hers from the previous seasons.

Cast

 * Susan Coffey portrays Marianne Collins, a young woman with magical abilities, who tries to find peace after discovering the secret of her and her father. She uses her abilities to battle the magical criminal underworld of Underneathe, Alaska, along with later using her abilities to battle the forces of both heaven and hell. Marianne's problems in season one include learning how to use her special abilities and attempting to survive against the constant magical threats against she and her dad. After months of scouting, Coffey, at the time acting as a professional model, was cast in the role. She has released several awards for her performance, including two Emmy Awards.
 * John Hurt portrays Finch Collins, Marianne's father, a master magician who has been presumed missing for seven years. After mysteriously appearing in the magical town of Underneathe after summoned by his former rival and friend Areomale Carte, he is drawn back into the world, later rediscovering many of his forgotten achievments, including the hiding of the mystical grimoire St. Leo's journal. He eventually becomes a prominent player in the war between Satan and the Creator, becoming a powerful leader on the side of Satan after being tricked into making a deal with the tyrant. Hurt was one of the first to be cast, having provided his likeness for the character in the initial graphic novel plans for the series.
 * Jensen Ackles portrays Thomas "Tom" Burgundy, a voodoo magician killed by the angel Penemue whose soul escaped from hell after being freed by Lisa Simmers. He later gains prominence in the series as a nuetral party fighting for humanity instead of the creator or Satan, and harbors a deep hatred for angels, especially Penemue. He later became the leader of the human resistance, and eventually becomes a great ally to Marianne. He is very close to Lisa Simmers, and sees her as a younger sister. Jensen Ackles was cast after a reccomendation by chief writer Robert Singer, also a long time writer on the show Supernatural, on which Jensen stars.
 * Chloe Grace Moretz portrays Lisa Simmers, the apprentice to voodoo magician Tom Burgundy killed by the angel Penemue whose soul escaped from heaven during the attack on heaven by Satan and his forces. During season four, Lisa's main goal is to return Tom to life from Hell, which she achieves after making a deal with Satan at the end of the season. She is a powerful magician and inherited a variety of grimoires from Tom after his death, increasing her abilities vastly. She later devotes her life to getting revenge and slaying Penemue, coming into prominence in Season 7. She later becomes a member of Satan's army, much to the disapproval of Tom. She was cast early in production of season three, and was a top pick for the role by series creator Joss Whedon.
 * Ian McKellen portrays Aeromale Carte, brother of Finch Collins who also, along with Collins, was the former apprentice of immortal alchemist and magician Zachary Domville. After attempting to kill Finch in an effort to be the succesful apprentice to Zachary, Aeromale stole the dark grimiore St. Leo's Journal from Finch, running away and using it's powers to become an extremely powerful magician. However, he could have never contimplated it's true power, and slowly found his soul being eaten away at. In order to save his brother, Finch took a bargain with Satan himself, taking the grimoire and hiding it where noone could ever find it. Ian was reccomended by Hurt early on during casting, thinking the two would have good chemistry.
 * Clint Eastwood portrays God, the Creator of everything. After being cast from his throne and being stripped of all his power, the Creator goes down to Earth where he attempts to destroy the entirety of humanity, using the countless souls to regain his power. He gains a large following, and over the course of his series begins to take back his abilities. He eventually begins to make bargains with people just like his opposite Satan as an easier method to take back his powers. Casting was the subject of much debate, however Clint Eastwood was finally decided upon due to his experience.
 * Jude Law portrays Satan, the fallen, ruler of both hell and heaven after a large, eon spanning war to claim the throne. Giving the creator the same punishment he was once given himself, Satan cast the creator down to earth, stripped of all his powers. A main reason that he grew so powerful was his willingness to make deals for souls, something the creator never even considered before following. Being the ruler of both Heaven and Hell, he is almost omnipotent in his abilities, however there are some ways to avoid him. He leads a powerful army against the Creator during his revolution, and hopes to use human souls as the guns and weapons. Though an older actor was initially considered for the role opposite Eastwood, it was eventually decided that a more youthful Law would better portray the lare, menacing force of the character.
 * Don Cheadle portrays Asphodel, a demon king stripped of most his power after siding with the Creator in the war for Heaven. Going to Earth, he attempts to find the grimoire St. Leo's Journal to return his power and take over all of Hell. Beginnning as an antagonistic force against Marianne and her father, he slowly becomes a more helpfuly and friendly force. Don was chosen for the role in an unusual way, having been asked to audition after stating on the social media website Twitter that he would love to play the role. Don has won a golden globe for his performance.
 * Judd Winick portrays Penemue, an angel who was forced to fall after he was nearly killed in the War on Heaven. Down on Earth, he begins to follow Finch Collins, in an attempt to pry the location of St. Leo's Journal from his mind. With the power of the journal, Penemue hopes to kill Satan and take back Heaven for the forces of the Creator. He becomes the Creator's right hand man and quickly a good friend to Lisa Simmers, until his death at the hands of Tom Burgundy. Judd, who initially helped Joss Whedon in the creation of the title back when it was in Graphic Novel form was signed on as a producer in early season five and eventually convinced Whedon to give him the role in Season Six.
 * Ralph Fiennes portrays Jack Launische, a British magician who was drawn to Underneathe after sensing a great power hidden there. He is not technically a full magician, as he was never trained, instead learning from his grandfather's grimoire, however he posesses a remarkable skill to detect magical objects. This makes him a key player in the battle between the Creator and Satan to get St. Leo's Journal. The first magician other than her father to be formally introduced to Marianne, he provides them important information and is a key character in the first three seasons, taking on a lesser role in later seasons. He is one of the few magicians how does not take any side at all in the Creator's revolution, instead deciding to sit back and enjoy life before everything is over. Fiennes was chosen for the role after a three month casting period in England and Wales, during which three people were mainly considered, including Jude Law who would later be given the role of Satan. Fiennes was eventually decided superior to the others due to his willingness to be on every single episode of the show, no matter what circumstances came up.
 * Emma Watson portrays Nancy Bedreaux, daughter of famed French Grimoire writer and magician Simon Bedreaux and good friend of Marianne throughout the majority of the series. First seen as just a regular girl who, just like Marianne, is slowly coming to terms with her abilities. She is later discovered to be holder of a grand library filled with many ancient grimoires collected by her father, and as an important key to unlocking the secrets of St. Leo's Journal. In late season four through early season six, Nancy is posessed by the angel Araquiel, her mind being used to track down St. Leo's Journal. After Araquiel is killed by Marianne while Nancy is still posessed, Nancy gains a great boost in powers and knowledge, later becoming a great force for humanity during the Creator's revolution. Emma was also chosen for the role during the three month casting period in England and Wales.
 * Nicholas Hoult portrays Peter Simmers, the ghost brother of Lisa Simmers who becomes a torturer in hell, later coming to Earth to return Tom down to hell. After momentarily posessing his sister in a hope of killing Tom, Peter learned about St. Leo's journal and abandoned his hopes of killing Tom in hopes of killing Nancy and using her memories to find the journal. A powerful ally of Satan in the Creator's revolution, Peter becomes a main antagonist in later seasons, especially for his sister Lisa and her master Tom. Hoult was chosen for the role two weeks after becoming the main frontrunner.
 * Riku Kikuchi portrays Naomi Houwang, an angel slayer and eventually the apprentice to Nancy. From absorbing the souls of angels, she has recovered various prophecys and forgotten, ancient spells. This causes her to be a great interest to Finch, and he has spent many hours writing down these found spells in what he calls the Angel's Dictionary Grimoire. Riku was chosen for both some racial variety and also for her skills in acting.
 * Olga Kurylenko portrays Lilith, a powerful succubus and former queen of Hell, betrayed by Satan during the War on Heaven. Though she initially uses her abilities in an attempt to manipulate Tom, she later becomes a close ally and main love interest for him. Due to being a succubus, she is rather sexually forward, causing many issues in her attempts to fit in as a human. She later becomes a member of the human resistance, and is an important part of the death of Satan. Olga was one of the first actresses to be considered for the role, and was cast only two weeks after her audition.
 * Taissa Farmiga portrays Alice Morgann, a genius card player, gambler and powerful magician. Specializing in curses, she once accidentally cursed herself, leading to her developing anterograde amnesia. Because of this, she hides various journals around her room, telling her of the last day. She is also a powerful demon slayer, and has collected a variety of demon killing objects over her adventures. A player for the creator initially, she is eventually convinced back to the side of humanity by Marianne and Lisa. Taissa was initially auditioning for the part on Naomi, however, in hopes of more racial variety, Farmiga was eventually convinced to go for Alice instead.
 * Amanda Seyfried portrays Laura Morgann, Alice's human older sister. She is partially posessed by the demon Beelzebub, meaning that they switch off on who has control of Laura's body. This causes many problems, however also gives Laura some powers that allow her to survive through the series. She eventually becomes a player for Satan's army in the Creator's revolution, however will betray or do anyone or anything to protect her younger sister, and also spends a large amount of the series trying to break Alice's curse. Though she dies in season seven, her ghost continues to help Alice throughout her adventures. Seyfried was chosen early on in the casting process.