Fragments

Fragments is an American drama action thriller show developed by CBS in the United States, starring Ashley! in the role of Elle Winters, who's world is turned upside down following an explosion at her place of work. Followed by men is the shadows, a game of cat and mouse begins, forcing her to question everything she knows; including the disappearance of her parents years prior. The mystery deepens when it's revealed someone is out for blood. She stars alongside Tatiana Maslany, Claire Danes, Julianna Moore and Idris Elba, with British actor Andrew Garfield serving as a love interest as a recurring character throughout the series.

The show's first series premiered on September 26th 2014 on American broadcaster CBS, followed by its UK premiere on October 1st on Sky 1. It was renewed for a second 10-episode series set to begin in October 2015, with Ashley's longtime friend and collaborator Eoin O'Neill added to the cast, alongside Rose Bryne. It will air in the UK the day after the UK premiere, on ITV Encore following the reassessment that Sky1 was the wrong broadcaster to send the show out on. Ashley serves as Executive Producer alongside Jerry Bruckheimer. O'Neill came on board for the second series as producer.

Plot
The series revolves around Elle Winters (Ashley), who is arrest during a class at the school she teaches at, by men who refuse to show any sign of identification. Moments later she watches the building burst into flames, losing everything she has come to know and love. Her older sister, and only remaining friend, Emma (Maslany) agrees to help her uncover the information behind their parents fourteen year disappearance, which sends them on a mission to uncover the secrets that have been hidden from them. With a number of high-powered heads turning towards them, they are stuck in a game of cat and mouse to decide who can and can't be trusted, including a company overlooking their progress (Danes, Elba) and a supposed distant relative (Tulloch) who has been watching from the shadows.

At the end of the fifth episode (mid-series), Hazel is abducted by an unseen figure. The finale ends with Emma being drugged and taken once again, Anna going missing from a translation, with a manhunt out for her due to her 'unstable condition', and Elle's lover, Alex being shot by a hitman thought to be ordered by India Wentworth.

Cast and Characters

 *  Elle Winters (Ashley Adams) - After her world comes crashing down, having escaped a bomb plot that kills the people she thought she could trust, she is forced to go on the run from men in masks, with only her sister as a confidant. After living with her grandparents whilst growing up after her parent's supposed deaths, she discovers that her parent's may still be out there, hiding in a cover up mission that has now found their children. She is a resilient girl who has been thrown blindly into a mission that has seen her world in ruins. Can she really trust anyone and is she really alone out there?


 *  Emma Winters (Tatiana Maslany) - Elle's older sister, she is the only one whom she can turn to, being just as in the dark as Elle. She appears to be less emotionally involved with discovering her parents whereabouts, but vows to help with the investigation. She is kidnapped by an unknown antagonist in the mid-series finale.


 *  Alex Laurner (Andrew Garfield) - Elle's childhood sweetheart. She tracks him down and reunites with him while investigating her parent's disappearance. It is revealed that their parents tried to separate them to avoid them growing up and finding too much about their parents from each other. He acts as a romantic interest for Elle throughout the series. He is shot in the first series finale. His fate is unknown.


 *  Anna Handler (Claire Danes) - One of the leaders of an agency called 'T.W.P' who have been hired to overlook the Winters family situation. Anna appears to be the leader, but it is revealed she is working for a higher power she cannot control. It's revealed the company plan to extort Elle and Emma, but Handler attempts to flee the company, until releasing she can work as an insider to pass information to the pair. She is missing for the last episode of the series, with her last appearing on a train station CCTV camera.


 *  India Wentworth (Bitsie Tulloch) - A supposed relative of the Adams family, her allegiance is unknown, but introduced in the first episode of the first series, offering Elle a path and offer that she simply 'cannot refuse'. She offers to give Elle confidential information in return for her assistance in following through the mission, although her plans are unknown, At the end of the series one, it is implied that it is her that ordered the hit on Laurner, Elle's love interest.


 *  Olivier Tate (Idris Elba) - A leader of 'T.W.P'. He initially appears to be supporting the Winter girls, but is eventually becomes apparent that he has an interior motive for the situation. Acting as the bad cop as the series progresses, it is revealed that he uses the girls for bait to uncover the mysterious kidnapper and find the Winters parents.

Casting
It was confirmed that Ashley Adams was to become the lead in a new action thriller show in January 2013, with shooting to start on September 2013 until the beginning of 2014, which was then extended to February 2014. She would star in the lead role of the series as a high school teacher trying to fit together pieces of her parents disappearance after everything she has come to love and trust came crushing down on her. It was later confirmed that Tatiana Maslany (as Emma Winters, Elle's sister) and Claire Danes has been added to the main cast as Anna Handler (leader of an undercover agency). In June, Andrew Garfield was added to the cast as a love interest to Ashley's character, followed by the announcement of Bitsie Tulloch. Idris Elba was finally announced in September 2013.

Of her character Ashley added that she could only begin to imagine how she must be feeling having her entire world 'come crashing down around her, and having to try and build it again', and likened it to the disappearance of her own sister when she was younger. Friend and collaborator, Eoin O'Neill was rumoured for a recurring, minor role in the first series but nothing came to fruition of this. He is rumoured to star in a potential second series, which was confirmed when the series was renewed.

Review and Ratings
The show opened strongly for CBS, the show's US backer, becoming the highest rated and received debut series of a show for 2014. It opened strongly on 7.1 million viewers for the first two episodes, which were aired back to back, and only saw a small dip of 0.2 million for the follow up episode. It's lowest figures were for the fourth episode, which still managed to pull in an impressive 6.6 million viewers. It ended strongly with 8.6 million for the season finale.

In America, the show received positive to mixed reviews for critics, who praised the acting and overall storyline, but critisied the 'mixed plot' and 'messy structure' which lead to some claiming the story lacked the direction or own personal identity which made others shows at the time time stronger. A positive review commended Adams and Maslany's performance as sisters finding out there is more than meets the eye to their parent's disappearance, and claimed that the chemistry between the two made you forget about the sometime unbelievable storyline and shone in some of the weaker episodes.

The series opened on Sky 1 ten days after the US premiere, which affected viewership along with delayed broadcasts and poor promotion from the channel. The show only twice peaked over 750,000 viewers and never fell below 400,000 viewers, but this was reportedly down to the star's own social networking promotion for the series, and Ashley's level of fame in the music industry, having just released her successful fourth studio album, Let The Light In. CBS reviewed in hindsight that Sky 1 was the wrong platform to put the show on, and would consider another platform/channel should the series be renewed for continuing series.

Renewal
Ending on the season peak viewers for the finale episode, it was revealed by CBS that the show would be renewed, with a further ten episodes being ordered to make up a second season, set to air in Fall 2015. Ashley and Tatiana added their gratitude and revealed that they would be back for the new series. No other cast members have yet been confirmed, with shooting thought to be in the new year.

Home Media Release
The DVD and Blu-Ray of the first series was released in America on 18th November and followed two weeks later on December 1st in the UK. Other regions are expected to be announced soon, with CBS striking up a number of online streaming deals with the likes of Netflix for a number of countries, such as France and Spain. The DVD features a number of exclusives and incentives, such as behind the scene interviews with the main stars and outtakes, deleted scenes and commentaries on a number of episodes, including Adams, Maslany, Danes and Bruckheimer on the premiere and finale episodes.