‘BrainDead’: An allegory of politics as usual
‘Good Wife’ team sets mind-eating bugs loose on D.C.
One possible explanation for gridlock in Washington is about to be explored in prime-time television: an infestation of braineating bugs. Mind-blowing concept? That’s
BrainDead. The 13-episode scripted political parody-thrillerdrama series from The Good Wife husband-and-wife creators Robert and Michelle King premieres on CBS Monday at 10 ET/PT.
Even its star will concede it’s complicated.
“I have a little bit of trouble trying to condense it into a sentence or two, but typically, I try to say that it’s about bugs infesting the brains of people in Congress in Washington set against the backdrop of the current political climate,” says series star Mary Elizabeth Winstead ( The Re
turned, Mercy Street), who plays central character Laurel Healy.
But it gets more complicated: Laurel, a documentary filmmaker, returns to Washington to work for her brother (Danny Pino), a Democratic senator. She begins dating a staffer (Aaron Tveit) for Maryland’s conservative Republican senator (Tony Shalhoub) amid a government shutdown that results from a political stalemate. More bad decisions follow, a result of a meteor that crashes on Earth, releasing bugs that appear to be eating the brains of senators and their staffers.
Going from the popular legal drama series The Good Wife, which ended its seven-season run on CBS in May, to a sci-fi political satire thriller might seem a risky move for the Kings, but for them, it’s a no-brainer. “We always loved comedy. We always loved politics. And we needed to explain what was going on in D.C. in what seems the right way at the right time,” Michelle King says. Robert King adds: “I don’t think there’s any other way to explain what’s going on right now except with this Invasion of the Body Snatchers kind of metaphor. Anything less treats it too seriously.” Indeed, brain-dead creatures are popular on TV these days, with AMC’s The Walking Dead still the top series among young adults. CW’s iZombie, which has been renewed for a third season, adds a funny twist by offering a young zombie assistant medical examiner’s perspective. But neither show mixes as many elements as BrainDead.
With the over-the-top political scenes playing out in real life with presidential candidates, there’s no shortage of fodder for scripts.
Do current events add to the excitement on set?
“Absolutely,” Michelle King says. “Everyone is watching what’s going on and just wondering if we’re able to keep up.”
Says Shalhoub, whose Sen. Wheatus is transformed in the premiere: “I’ll read a script, for example, and I’ll think: ‘Wow, we’re really kind of going out on a limb here a little bit. This is starting to get somewhat absurd.’ And then you read the news the next morning, and we’ve been outdone by reality.”
But is there a serious message in BrainDead?
“We want it first and foremost to be really entertaining, and I think it is,” Shalhoub says. “I think the show shines a light on the problem of extremism in politics. As a country we need to find a way to reconcile and remedy that.”