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 10-episode second 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.

As the show reaches its second season, the stakes are higher than ever before and lives hanging in the balance. The show dives into the mythology behind her parents disappearance and meets a family friend in Trenton Eckles (O'Neill) who belies he can help with the Winter's suspicion, although his loyalty is put to the test.

Cast and Characters

 *  Elle Winters (Ashley Adams) (Series 1 - Present) - Youngest of the Winter siblings, Elle is thrust into the action as she watches her place of work go up in flames and men in suits come to take her away. The explosion leads her to uncover the secrecy surrounding her parents supposed disappearance and suspected death, learning that they may still be out there. Her resilience and determination drives her to attempt to put the pieces back together herself in a bid to undercover the deceit that has followed her for years.


 *  Emma Winters (Tatiana Maslany) (Series 1 - Present) - Elle's older sister and her sister's best friends. Whilst she supports in the investigation, she seems less emotionally involved - questioning whether what has been hid from them should remain a secret. Although she is as much in the dark as Elle, she remembers more of the people her parents were and vows to help with the search. She is kidnapped by an unknown antagonist in the middle of the first series and disappears herself at the end of the first series.


 *  Anna Handler (Claire Danes) (Series 1 - Present) - 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. The higher powers intended to pawn the Winter siblings, an idea Anna cannot stand, but uses her position in the agency as leverage for the Winter siblings, who she appears to take a genuine care with. She is taken hostage at the end of the first series, with her last appearing on a train station CCTV camera.


 *  Alex Laurner (Andrew Garfield) (Series 1 - Present) - Elle's childhood sweetheart. Their parents were good friends until his father was forced to flee with him for unknown reasons. She reunites with him and becomes her romantic interest throughout the first series. He is kind, considerate and encourages Elle to do all she can to figure out the puzzle that has haunted her all this time. He is shot in the first series finale by a hit ordered by india Wentworth. His fate is unknown.


 *  India Wentworth (Bitsie Tulloch) (Series 1 - Present) - A supposed distant relative of the Winter family put in place by their parents days before their suspected death, although her true allegiance and motive is unknown and continually questioned. Introduced in the season premiere, she offers hiding for the pair who are desperately trying to flee capture, having been monitoring them for years. She is thought to have involvement with the F.B.I. At the end of the series one, it is implied that it is her that ordered the hit on Laurner, Elle's love interest and goes into hiding herself.


 *  Olivier Tate (Idris Elba) (Series 1) - Figurehead of 'T.W.P' and over Anna Handler in the agency. He pledges to support the Winter siblings upon fleeing arrest but is revealed to have disclosed their location to secure his place and future in the agency that was in jeopardy. He uses the girls to draw out their enemies at the hope of tracking down their parents, sufficiently using them as bait. He is forced to flee the country after pressure from within at the end of the first series.


 *  Trenton Eckles (Eoin O'Neill) (Series 2) - Posing as an Irish Catholic priest in his debut episode, he offers Elle solace following the events of the first season finale but his questionable motives and true identity call into question whether Elle has placed her trust in the right people. He appears to be willing to ally himself with Elle, but his contact with a mysterious stranger suggests there is some bigger purpose to his involvement with the Winters sisters.


 *  Alicia Hunter (Rose Bryne) (Series 2) - Presumed dead in the first series premiere's explosion, she is a friend and colleague of Elle who reaches out for her in the second series and reveals to her the uneasy atmosphere in the days leading up to the explosion that began Elle's mission.

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 Juillian Moore (although she later had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts). She was replaced by Bitsie Tulloch weeks after the original announcement. Idris Elba was finally announced in September 2013 and completed the main cast.

Alysia Reiner was a guest star in the first season of the show, later upgraded to a regular character for the second series of the show. Cicely Tyson made a special guest appearance in the first series' finale and is expected to make a further appearance in the premiere episode of the second series.

Friend and collaborator, Eoin O'Neill was rumoured for a recurring, minor role in the first series but nothing came to fruition of this due to music responsibilities which would make him unavailable to shoot during 2013. It was confirmed as the show was renewed that he would become part of the show's main cast for the second series, having worked with Ashley and the producers to write a character into the story, due to his close professional relationship with Ashley. Rose Bryne was added to the cast in the second series as a teacher who was presumed dead in the first series after making a small cameo and not seen again. Julian de la Celle was confirmed as a second season regular.

Canadian actress Rachel Skarsten and American actor Robert Clark have been confirmed to appear in guest roles in future episodes during season 2; their roles have not yet been revealed.

Series 1
Series 1 received generally favourable reviews, scoring 72 out of 100 on Metacritic. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received an 81% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 8 out of 10 based on 54 reviews. The site' consensus reads: "Fragments offers a promising and dramatic start to one of the most exciting shows of the television year, offering sensational performances from leads Adams and Maslany, but needs tightening going forward with more structure to an often confusing plot". The acting and tone of the show was well received, with a few reporters suggesting Ashley could be looking at an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Female Lead in a Drama Series but he did not pick up a nomination.

The show opened strongly for CBS in the ratings, becoming the highest rated debut series for the channel of the 2014/15 television schedule. It saw a strong 7.15 million viewers for the opening two episodes, which aired back to back. It saw a slight dip in proceeding episodes, but started to pick up again from the fifth episodes onwards. It had an audience peak for the series finale, which brought in 8.68 million viewers in the US in overnight statistics. It had an average overnight viewership of 7.388 million viewers.

Series 2
Series 2 received more critical acclaim than the first series. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received a 93% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 9 out of 10 based on 57 reviews. The site' consensus reads: "Taking what worked with the first series and running with it, Fragments returns better than ever before, utilising its talented cast and gripping narrative in a more cohesive manner that makes for such engaging television". Adams, Maslany and Danes were once again praised for their performances, as were the supporting cast. Newcomer O'Neill was also highlighted as a factor for the improvement over the last season, adding that his narrative and character was an enigma and helped audience's keep coming back.

The premiere episode of the second season returned with 10.05 million viewers - reaching a new high in series viewership. It represented a 140.6% of those who tuned in to the first season's debut back in September 2014. Ratings continued to hold steady, dropping to 9.48 million viewers for the second episode, which although was a dip, was still higher than any episode during the first season run. It hit a season low of 8.90 million, which is still higher than any episode of series one. This episode - Stolen Moments - was first broadcast on Halloween, which fell on a Saturday and meant most people were out. It performed particularly well in Live +7 figures, however. Episodes after rebounded to the 9 million range.

Broadcast
Both seasons have aired in the U.S. on CBS and on Space in Canada. In the U.K., the first season aired on Sky 1, but picked up by ITV for the second season, due to disappointing results from Sky 1. ITV Encore repeated the first series in the months leading up to the debut of the second season. It premiered in France on France 2 in October 2014. The first series premiered in November 2014 in Australia on SBS2. The US and UK air the programme co-currently, with less than 24 hour delay between the two, to cut down on online streaming, as well as due to Ashley's star power in both countries.

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 were confirmed at the time although it is now known the majority of the cast is set to reprise their roles, with the addition of Eoin O'Neill and Rose Bryne to the main cast.

Following the broadcast of the second season's finale, it was revealed that the show would return for a third season in the Fall of 2016. Broadcasters confirmed they were blown away with the response - commercial and critical - to the show and would continue to champion it. The next day, Ashley, O'Neill, Maslany, Danes and Tulloch confirmed that they would reprise their role in the third season, with further casting decisions and announcements set to continue in the lead up to filming in the new year.

Streaming
CBS managed a deal with Netflix to offer the series on the online platform in countries that didn't receive a television broadcast. A rollout was commissioned in February 2015 in regions such as Asia of the first season.Two months before the second season aired, the show was added to the US and UK Netflix streaming platform, as well as Amazon Prime and other streaming services.

Home Media Release
The DVD and Blu-Ray of the first series was released in America and Canada on 18th November and followed two weeks later on December 1st in the UK. Other regions are expected to be announced soon. 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.

The second season is set to be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on the 14th December in the UK and the 15th December in America and Canada. A number of bonus features were include on the DVD; a selection of episodes featuring optional commentary with the producer and the five main leads; Picking Up The Pieces segment revealing how they picked up where the first season left off; footage from the creative process and readthrough where the second series was mapped out; interviews with the five leads; and an insight into what plans the writers and cast have for the third season.