Lee Tergesen plays Mike Tomlin in this
organized crime drama that is
based on a Dutch series called "Penoza." After a two-hour premiere on Sunday, March 3, 2013, "Red
Widow" had the 10 p.m. Sunday time slot starting March 10
on ABC.
The Red
Widow of the title is Marta Walraven (actress Radha Mitchell), who was born into
the life of organized crime -- the Russian mob.
ABC's description of the show says:
Marta and her sister
Kat (Jaime Ray Newman) had always wished for a safer life. For a while,
Marta finds happiness as a
stay-at-home mother with three children. Then her husband, Evan
(Anson Mount), is murdered after his business partners -- Mike Tomlin (Lee Tergesen) and Irwin Petrova, Marta’s scheming brother --
are involved in
a drug deal with rival gangsters. In the aftermath, Marta discovers a
tenacity she never knew she had, and takes on the gangsters and the
FBI to unveil the truth about her husband’s death. To get out of this
mob, she needs to beat the bad guys at their own deadly game.
Here's the character bio of Mike Tomlin,
provided by ABC:
Mike Tomlin is the best friend and business
associate of Marta's husband, Evan. Mike, along with Evan and
Marta's brother Irwin, ran a fishing charter business, which they
used as a front to illegally export Humboldt County marijuana –
arguably the best pot in the world. Normally the fun-loving
jokester, life falls apart for Mike after Evan's death. The one
positive thing he has going for him is his marriage to Dina, for
whom he will do and buy anything to keep happy. Dina
looks the other way when Mike’s on-again/off-again cocaine
addiction spirals out of control and debts accrue. Mike works
with Marta to deal with their dilemma regarding crime boss Nicholae
Schiller (Goran Visnjic). They are odd bedfellows indeed,
considering Marta thinks that Mike may have murdered her husband.
Marta Walraven is a stay-at-home mom in Marin County, near San
Francisco. She has spent most of her life trying to staying out of her father's
world of organized crime. Her husband, Evan, runs a charter boat
business -- but it really is a front for smuggling marijuana.
Without his knowledge, his partners -- Irwin Petrov (Marta's
brother) and Mike
Tomlin (their best friend) -- were involved in the theft of millions of dollars of
cocaine from crime boss Nicholae Schiller. Evan is murdered, and
Marta's life changes dramatically. Marta's primary concern is to protect
her three children, but when an FBI agent promises justice in
exchange for her cooperation, she hesitates to go against the "Bratva"
(Russian mob) code. Evan
paid with his life, but as far as Schiller is concerned, his debt is
not clear. Marta must navigate the
criminal underworld in order to repay this debt.
Lee with Anson Mount (Evan Walraven) in a scene from the pilot.
1.2 The Contact (second hour, March 3, 2013)
The second hour of "Red Widow" was filmed five months after the
first and features more screen time for Lee-as-Mike. The mission is
clear: Schiller is demanding that Marta import a shipment of drugs for him. She believes if she is
successful, she will be free from his control. Marta asks Mike to
show her the ropes, and he gives her lessons in "Drug Smuggling for
Dummies." Their first step is to find a customs
official to pay off. In doing so, Mike steals the target's prized
motorcycle and Marta used her feminine wiles to get the guy involved
in the deal.
It seems as though every piece of trouble imaginable is happening at
the same time during a key scene in this episode, ramping up the
tension. It all happens as Marta and Mike go to the port to pick up
a consignment of drugs for Schiller. Feds, blackmailers, errant kids
and loan sharks are all in the mix or on the phone. Marta, Mike and
their port contact, Bob, have to chase down the truck containing the
shipment of drugs. It ends with the drugs delivered for Schiller,
but that's not the end of the line for Marta. Schiller gives her
another assignment, and Mike is working for her.
Marta's plans to flee the country with her children are derailed
when Irwin is released from prison early. Mike stages a robbery of
his own house in hope of paying off his debts.
1.5 The Recorder (March 24, 2013)
Lee
doesn't appear very much in this episode, and when he does, he's
pretty rough-looking. Mike is having a rough time of it. He’s deep
in debt and strung out. Marta fires him from working with her and
his wife throws him out of the house.
Among
Marta's problems for this episode is the kidnapping of her daughter,
Natalie. Turns out, Mike is behind it to try to raise money to get
himself out of his bad debts.
Good news: Mike does some soul-searching, bonds
with Natalie and when the family finds out what he did, they promise
not to kill him. Bad news: They beat him to a pulp.
1.7 The Coke (April 28, 2013)
Mike sends
the episode heavily bandaged in the hospital. His estranged wife
stands by him, as does his kidnap victim. However, this is the last
we see of Mike for the series.
