Still Star-Crossed

Network: ABC.
Episodes: Seven (hour).
Seasons: One.

TV show dates: May 29, 2017 — July 29, 2017.
Series status: Cancelled.

Performers include: Grant Bowler, Wade Briggs, Torrance Coombs, Dan Hildebrand, Lashana Lynch, Ebonee Noel, Medalion Rahimi, Zuleikha Robinson, Sterling Sulieman, Susan Wooldridge, Anthony Head, Caspar, Carl Chambers, Greg Chillen, Shazad Latif, Clara Rugaard, and Lucien Laviscount.

TV show description:
A Shondaland period drama based on the Melinda Taub novel, the Still Star-Crossed TV show is a sequel the William Shakespeare tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. In the wake of the young lovers’ senseless deaths, Verona finds itself in the throes of upheaval, thanks to the Montague and Capulet feud.

Upon the death of his father, Escalus (Sulieman) is crowned Prince of Verona. He resolves to extinguish the violence tearing his poor city apart. His sister, Princess Isabella (Rahimi) is keen to help him rule, but she also thirsts for power.

Heartbroken and angered by their daughter Juliet’s death, Lord Silvestro Capulet (Head) and his wife, Lady Guiliana (Robinson) are desperate to maintain their family’s standing, regardless of whom it hurts, or how.

Meanwhile, Romeo’s father, Lord Damiano Montague (Bowler), who is also grieving his son, reveals that he was behind the plot to have the original star-crossed lovers fall in love and marry, to boost his own family’s standing. Friar Lawrence (Hildebrand), however, feels culpable for Romeo and Juliet’s demise.

To squelch escalating clashes, Prince Escalus decides he must unite the Houses of Capulet and Montague, lest the unstable Verona be conquered by an outside adversary. Now it will fall upon Romeo’s cousin, Benvolio Montague (Briggs), to marry one of Lord Capulet’s nieces.

Sisters Rosaline (Lynch) and Livia Capulet (Noel) were sent to live with their father’s brother, Silvestro, after their own parents died. There, Guiliana treats them like servants, despite their noble past.

A romantic, Livia has always dreamt of marriage, especially once she ended up a servant in her uncle’s household. Meanwhile, Rosaline eschews the idea and plans to join a convent. However, it is not religious devotion directing her path, so much as her lingering feelings for Escalus.

Despite returning Rosaline’s feelings, the young royal is hellbent on stopping the bloodshed in Verona. He issues a decree that Rosaline must marry Benvolio.

Meanwhile, although Romeo managed to wound Count Paris (Coombs), the young man survived. Now Nurse (Wooldridge) and Lady Capulet are struggling to return him to health. When Livia happens upon them ministering to his wounds, she is drawn into their secret.

Will Rosaline and Benvolio marry against their will? And if so, can they ultimately find a way to escape the marriage without bringing about the collective downfall of their families and Verona, itself? Might they fall in love, despite themselves, or will Rosaline and Escalus continue to pine for one another? Stay tuned.

Series Finale:
Episode #7 — Something Wicked This Way Comes
When Rosaline returns to Verona and tries to prove Benvolio’s innocence, Paris decides to take matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, Lady Capulet’s relationship with Paris comes to a head, and a shocking discovery about Lord Montague’s past is revealed.
First aired: July 29, 2017.

What do you think? Do you like the Still Star-Crossed TV show? Do you think it should have been cancelled or renewed for a second season?