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tvrealm we were asked to create a TV show of our own, provide a synopsis and cast the characters. Loving Westerns the way I do, I created a Western. While that isn't surprising, the fact that I cast women as three of the five major characters, should be. I'm really fond of the setup, so I thought I'd share my idea with you all!
The year is 1885 and in the Wyoming Territory the town of Redemption Falls is facing the difficult transition from an isolated outpost to booming railroad hub. The new influx of easterners bring with them money and business, but also laws and societal rules that war with the established life of the western town. It’s into that turmoil that Charlotte O’Shea returns. She’d left the town ten years before, sent back to her family home in Charleston to convalesce from Cholera and to mourn the death of her young daughter. She had been surviving on the last of her family’s money and reputation and just when both were running out, she receives word that her estranged husband has died, leaving behind a large ranch. With no other options, she takes the train to Redemption Falls, looking to quickly sell the Lazy O Ranch and to escape back to her home in Charleston.
But Redemption Falls holds more than painful and tragic memories, and Charlotte’s life is about to become as conflicted and turbulent as the town she is going to.
Characters
Charlotte married Daniel O’Shea, a Union Soldier, right after the Civil War and moved west with him. The life of a rancher’s wife in the wild Wyoming Territory proved to be hard and lonely with her husband often gone for months at a time, and leaving her alone with her young daughter, Scarlett to handle the day-to-day affairs of the ranch. Still, she thrived on the freedom and independence that came from the responsibility; drawing on strength she never knew she had. Then, when her daughter was eight and her husband was gone to Texas to buy more cattle for the ranch, Cholera swept into the area, hitting Redemption Falls hard. Both Charlotte and Scarlett came down with the disease and were moved to a quarantine hospital far from Redemption Falls. After days of delirium, she awoke to be told her daughter died and that, while she would recover, she needed to go someplace else to convalesce. Unable to face to returning to the ranch, she heads back to Charleston.
Her parents, never happy that she married a “Yank", welcome her back with open arms. When she recovers, she is told that her husband, blaming her for the death of their daughter, doesn’t want her to return. Her parents encourage her to start over, find a southern gentleman to marry and restart her life as a Southern Belle. Charlotte, however, having lived for ten years in charge of her own life and having the freedoms of the ranch, doesn’t take well to the confines of “polite society" nor the idea that she should marry someone and become a subservient wife.
When her parents die, she finds out that their estate is depleted and that marriage is her only option – until word comes of her estranged husbands death. Planning on selling the ranch to make enough money to establish a single life back in Charleston, she heads west, only to discover that everything that she thought to be true wasn’t.
Molly Quinn as Scarlett O'Shea
Scarlett grew up on the Lazy O ranch, sharing in the responsibility and work of managing the ranch. Believing that her mother died of Cholera when she was only eight, it had been just her and her father for the past ten years. When he dies on a cattle drive, the 18-year-old is faced with the daunting task of fighting to retain ownership of the Lazy O. When her mother suddenly returns from the dead, she faced with the equally difficult task of trying to accept her back into her life.
Scarlett is smart and independent. She learned how to take care of herself at an early age. He father granted her the same responsibilities and demands that he would have given a boy and she always considered herself capable of running the ranch. Having been surrounded by men all her life, often being put in charge of them, she is comfortable in their world and has no desire to live the life of a typical woman of the age.
Cowboy, drifter, prospector, outlaw – Jake Beckett has been all of them at one time or another. In the past he had been a hired-gun and a thief, stealing from banks, stage coaches and trains both for pay and for what was on them. When Daniel O’Shea had offered him the chance to leave the outlaw life behind him and become sheriff of Redemption Falls five years ago, he accepted only because he had no other choice, but he has come to love his job as sheriff, even though he never thought he would. Jake kept the law just as much as it needed to be kept, walking that fine line needed to keep both the town and the more independent ranchers happy. Jake is a typical western man, quick on action and slow on talk, fearing nothing. Until the railroad was built, his biggest concerns were drunken cowboys and occasional drifting outlaws. With the building of the railroad, there comes an influx of people – settlers, prospectors, speculators and thieves – all bringing with them a whole new set of problems. But Jake’s greatest concern is that one of these people will bring in knowledge of the one thing he fears most – his past.
Timothy Rooke was a riverboat gambler and conman before the war. He was a deserter and thief during the war. After the war he used the chaos of the south in order to con his way into the good graces of the wealthy southerners, claiming parentage and family alliances in order to worm his way into the lives of those who could take care of him. When Charlotte returns to Charleston, he sets his sights on marrying her and gaining her wealth. Charlotte’s parents are taken in by him and, even though Charlotte keeps him at arms length he knows it’s just a matter of time before he gets what he wants. When Charlotte’s parents die and she heads back to Redemption Falls to claim her inheritance, Tim follows, unwilling to give up on his plan -- or on Charlotte.
Elizabeth Black moved to Redemption Falls five years ago and quickly established herself as a wife waiting for her soldier-husband to meet her. He had sent her ahead to purchase some property before he arrives. In a short time, she starts the Black House for Guests, a hotel and restaurant that quickly becomes one of the best in the territory. Her husband had never appeared and while most believe she should move on with her life, she refuses to do so, saying that she knows he will come one day. In reality, her husband was an abusive drunk whom she killed one night. Knowing that a woman alone would have a hard time, she created the fiction that he sent her ahead. She often helps out women who need assistance getting away from abusive situations.
Set Up
On the train to Redemption Falls, Charlotte is shocked to hear that the Lazy O ranch is being run by a woman. Thinking that her husband may have married again, she was trying to figure out if she was entitled to anything. She plans on going into the town incognito to see what the facts are. She stays at the Black House for Guests, quickly becoming friends with the owner, Elizabeth Black. She is shocked to find out that the “woman" who owns the Lazy O is, in fact, her daughter whom she believed dead all these years.
The reunion between mother and daughter is not an easy one. It turns out that her daughter’s “death" was a matter of mistaken identity, one of many during that terrible time. Her husband, once he found out what had happened, attempted to contact her in Charleston and bring her back to the Lazy O. Charlotte's parents, not wanting her to return to the west kept this news from her, telling her instead that he didn't want her back. They then sent word back to the Lazy O that Charlotte wanted to stay in Charleston. While Charlotte is overjoyed with the news that her daughter is alive, Scarlett has a harder time accepting that her mother is innocent in the deceptions.
Things are more complicated when Timothy Rooke arrives, bringing with him his own plans. He is smooth and charismatic and easily steps into a position of respectability and power in Redemption Falls. However, even in the wide west it's not easy to start over: Timothy Rooke and Jack Beckett knew each other in their past lives. Neither can tell what they know of each other without compromising who they are now, but with no love lost between them, it becomes a deadly contest of wills that becomes tied up with future of both Redemption Falls and the O'Shea's.
But things are never what they seem in Redemption Falls and just when everyone feels they know who the good and the bad guys are, more players come on the scene. If old friends are now enemies, the situation may demand that they change again and perhaps, just perhaps, there is a way for everyone to get what they want.
tvrealm we were asked to create a TV show of our own, provide a synopsis and cast the characters. Loving Westerns the way I do, I created a Western. While that isn't surprising, the fact that I cast women as three of the five major characters, should be. I'm really fond of the setup, so I thought I'd share my idea with you all!Redemption Falls
The year is 1885 and in the Wyoming Territory the town of Redemption Falls is facing the difficult transition from an isolated outpost to booming railroad hub. The new influx of easterners bring with them money and business, but also laws and societal rules that war with the established life of the western town. It’s into that turmoil that Charlotte O’Shea returns. She’d left the town ten years before, sent back to her family home in Charleston to convalesce from Cholera and to mourn the death of her young daughter. She had been surviving on the last of her family’s money and reputation and just when both were running out, she receives word that her estranged husband has died, leaving behind a large ranch. With no other options, she takes the train to Redemption Falls, looking to quickly sell the Lazy O Ranch and to escape back to her home in Charleston.
But Redemption Falls holds more than painful and tragic memories, and Charlotte’s life is about to become as conflicted and turbulent as the town she is going to.
Characters
Paget Brewster as Charlotte O’Shea
Charlotte married Daniel O’Shea, a Union Soldier, right after the Civil War and moved west with him. The life of a rancher’s wife in the wild Wyoming Territory proved to be hard and lonely with her husband often gone for months at a time, and leaving her alone with her young daughter, Scarlett to handle the day-to-day affairs of the ranch. Still, she thrived on the freedom and independence that came from the responsibility; drawing on strength she never knew she had. Then, when her daughter was eight and her husband was gone to Texas to buy more cattle for the ranch, Cholera swept into the area, hitting Redemption Falls hard. Both Charlotte and Scarlett came down with the disease and were moved to a quarantine hospital far from Redemption Falls. After days of delirium, she awoke to be told her daughter died and that, while she would recover, she needed to go someplace else to convalesce. Unable to face to returning to the ranch, she heads back to Charleston.
Her parents, never happy that she married a “Yank", welcome her back with open arms. When she recovers, she is told that her husband, blaming her for the death of their daughter, doesn’t want her to return. Her parents encourage her to start over, find a southern gentleman to marry and restart her life as a Southern Belle. Charlotte, however, having lived for ten years in charge of her own life and having the freedoms of the ranch, doesn’t take well to the confines of “polite society" nor the idea that she should marry someone and become a subservient wife.
When her parents die, she finds out that their estate is depleted and that marriage is her only option – until word comes of her estranged husbands death. Planning on selling the ranch to make enough money to establish a single life back in Charleston, she heads west, only to discover that everything that she thought to be true wasn’t.
Molly Quinn as Scarlett O'Shea
Scarlett grew up on the Lazy O ranch, sharing in the responsibility and work of managing the ranch. Believing that her mother died of Cholera when she was only eight, it had been just her and her father for the past ten years. When he dies on a cattle drive, the 18-year-old is faced with the daunting task of fighting to retain ownership of the Lazy O. When her mother suddenly returns from the dead, she faced with the equally difficult task of trying to accept her back into her life.
Scarlett is smart and independent. She learned how to take care of herself at an early age. He father granted her the same responsibilities and demands that he would have given a boy and she always considered herself capable of running the ranch. Having been surrounded by men all her life, often being put in charge of them, she is comfortable in their world and has no desire to live the life of a typical woman of the age.
Jensen Ackles as Jake Beckett
Cowboy, drifter, prospector, outlaw – Jake Beckett has been all of them at one time or another. In the past he had been a hired-gun and a thief, stealing from banks, stage coaches and trains both for pay and for what was on them. When Daniel O’Shea had offered him the chance to leave the outlaw life behind him and become sheriff of Redemption Falls five years ago, he accepted only because he had no other choice, but he has come to love his job as sheriff, even though he never thought he would. Jake kept the law just as much as it needed to be kept, walking that fine line needed to keep both the town and the more independent ranchers happy. Jake is a typical western man, quick on action and slow on talk, fearing nothing. Until the railroad was built, his biggest concerns were drunken cowboys and occasional drifting outlaws. With the building of the railroad, there comes an influx of people – settlers, prospectors, speculators and thieves – all bringing with them a whole new set of problems. But Jake’s greatest concern is that one of these people will bring in knowledge of the one thing he fears most – his past.
Timothy Olyphant as Tim Rooke
Timothy Rooke was a riverboat gambler and conman before the war. He was a deserter and thief during the war. After the war he used the chaos of the south in order to con his way into the good graces of the wealthy southerners, claiming parentage and family alliances in order to worm his way into the lives of those who could take care of him. When Charlotte returns to Charleston, he sets his sights on marrying her and gaining her wealth. Charlotte’s parents are taken in by him and, even though Charlotte keeps him at arms length he knows it’s just a matter of time before he gets what he wants. When Charlotte’s parents die and she heads back to Redemption Falls to claim her inheritance, Tim follows, unwilling to give up on his plan -- or on Charlotte.
Gina Torres as Elizabeth Black
Elizabeth Black moved to Redemption Falls five years ago and quickly established herself as a wife waiting for her soldier-husband to meet her. He had sent her ahead to purchase some property before he arrives. In a short time, she starts the Black House for Guests, a hotel and restaurant that quickly becomes one of the best in the territory. Her husband had never appeared and while most believe she should move on with her life, she refuses to do so, saying that she knows he will come one day. In reality, her husband was an abusive drunk whom she killed one night. Knowing that a woman alone would have a hard time, she created the fiction that he sent her ahead. She often helps out women who need assistance getting away from abusive situations.
Set Up
On the train to Redemption Falls, Charlotte is shocked to hear that the Lazy O ranch is being run by a woman. Thinking that her husband may have married again, she was trying to figure out if she was entitled to anything. She plans on going into the town incognito to see what the facts are. She stays at the Black House for Guests, quickly becoming friends with the owner, Elizabeth Black. She is shocked to find out that the “woman" who owns the Lazy O is, in fact, her daughter whom she believed dead all these years.
The reunion between mother and daughter is not an easy one. It turns out that her daughter’s “death" was a matter of mistaken identity, one of many during that terrible time. Her husband, once he found out what had happened, attempted to contact her in Charleston and bring her back to the Lazy O. Charlotte's parents, not wanting her to return to the west kept this news from her, telling her instead that he didn't want her back. They then sent word back to the Lazy O that Charlotte wanted to stay in Charleston. While Charlotte is overjoyed with the news that her daughter is alive, Scarlett has a harder time accepting that her mother is innocent in the deceptions.
Things are more complicated when Timothy Rooke arrives, bringing with him his own plans. He is smooth and charismatic and easily steps into a position of respectability and power in Redemption Falls. However, even in the wide west it's not easy to start over: Timothy Rooke and Jack Beckett knew each other in their past lives. Neither can tell what they know of each other without compromising who they are now, but with no love lost between them, it becomes a deadly contest of wills that becomes tied up with future of both Redemption Falls and the O'Shea's.
But things are never what they seem in Redemption Falls and just when everyone feels they know who the good and the bad guys are, more players come on the scene. If old friends are now enemies, the situation may demand that they change again and perhaps, just perhaps, there is a way for everyone to get what they want.
