Dante's Cove

Dante's Cove is an American LGBT-oriented supernatural soap opera which aired on here! from October 7, 2005, through December 21, 2007. Created and written by Michael Costanza and directed by Sam Irvin, the series combines elements of the horror and soap opera genres in telling the story of Kevin (Gregory Michael) and Toby (Charlie David), a young couple seeking to be together and to overcome the dark mystical forces that conspire to separate them. The show debuted to a mixed critical reception. Although an announcement was made regarding a fourth season, no fourth season was produced.

Plot
Young couple Kevin and Toby arrive in Dante's Cove, home to a sect dedicated to the supernatural religion Tresum. By freeing the charismatic Ambrosius from his magical imprisonment, Kevin reignites a rivalry between Ambrosius and the Tresum Avatar Grace that has simmered for over 150 years. Ambrosius's obsession with claiming Kevin and Grace's own obsession with avenging herself on Ambrosius threaten to tear Kevin and Toby apart forever, with unforeseen collateral damage.

Mythology
Tresum is a supernatural religion within the Dante's Cove universe, similar in all things but names to witchcraft. It's overseen by a council of unknown composition which acts through envoys, although there are rogue practitioners, like those of Dante's Cove, who don't abide by the council's rule. Tresum practitioners are shown to be able to teleport, control minds and kill with a glance. All practitioners of Tresum are divided into two houses: Moon, related to water and female energy, and Sun related to fire and male energy, each having a book unreadable to non-initiates in which its knowledge is kept. A third house, Sky, is stated to combine both houses, with a book merging the knowledge of both. A fourth house, Shadows, is revealed as a major threat in season three, having previously been imprisoned by the other houses.

Within the mythology of Dante's Cove, Saint is an entheogenic drug local to the Dante's Cove area, obtained from a plant. In non-practitioners, it produces a euphoric high, sometimes accompanied by a prophetic trance. For Tresum practitioners, it induces visions of the past and future and enhances their magical abilities.

Cast



 * William Gregory Lee – Ambrosius "Bro" Vallin
 * Tracy Scoggins – Grace Neville
 * Gregory Michael – Kevin Archer
 * Charlie David – Toby Moraitis
 * Nadine Heimann (seasons 1–2, recurring via stock footage in season 3) – Van
 * Josh Berresford (season 1, recurring in season 2) – Cory Dalmass
 * Zara Taylor (season 1) – Amber
 * Rena Riffel (season 1) – Tina
 * Stephen Amell (season 1) & Jon Fleming (seasons 2–3) – Adam
 * Thea Gill (seasons 2–3) – Diana Childs
 * Erin Cummings (season 2) & Jill Bennett (season 3) – Michelle
 * Gabriel Romero (season 2, one guest appearance in season 3) – Marco Laveau
 * Michelle Wolff (season 3, recurring in season 2) – Brit
 * German Santiago (season 2) – Kai
 * Jensen Atwood (season 3) – Griffen
 * Jenny Shimizu (season 3) – Elena
 * Reichen Lehmkuhl (season 3) – Trevor

Season 2 (2006)
Season 2 sees the introduction of several new residents of Dante's Cove, including Kai, an amoral "fixer" who can get anything (and anyone) he wants; Marco, owner of the hot new club H2Eau; Michelle, Van's girlfriend; Brit, a bartender and scuba instructor; Colin, the owner and operator of a private sex club; and Diana, who has a mysterious connection to Ambrosius and Grace. Jon Fleming took over the role of Adam from Stephen Amell. One of Amell's scenes from the first season was re-shot with Fleming for use in the recap of season one to establish him in the role.

Season 3 (2007)
Season 3 sees more new additions to the Dante's Cove cast and some departures, notably Nadine Heimann as Van, who is presumed dead. Another absent character is Kai. New characters include Trevor (Reichen Lehmkuhl), a possible love interest for Adam; Elena (Jenny Shimizu), an antiquarian who is involved with Brit; and Griffen (Jensen Atwood), an Emissary of the Tresum Council. Jill Bennett replaced Erin Cummings in the role of Michelle. Similar to how the transition between "Adams" was handled in season two, shots of Bennett were inserted into the recap of season two to establish her as Michelle.

Production
The first season was shot in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 35 mm film. Initially intended to be three episodes, the footage was re-edited and packaged as an 84-minute first episode and a 106-minute second episode. These originally aired in the fall of 2005.

The second season was shot on the north side of Oahu in Hawaii in the spring of 2006. Shooting took place near the filming location of Lost; the cast and crew of the two shows socialized during the shoot. The change in locale and obvious change in sets was for the most part ignored within the series, though actress Tracy Scoggins was given a line about "what a fresh coat of paint can really do." Behind the scenes, however, the change led to shifts in the shooting schedule, notably changes in the number of night scenes filmed because of curfew issues and restrictions imposed. The season was shot entirely on high definition videotape. It was originally intended to be six one-hour episodes, but episodes five and six were condensed into a single one. The season aired in the fall of 2006.

A third season of five one-hour episodes, again filmed in Hawaii, aired in the fall of 2007.

Connections to The Lair
Dante's Cove takes place in the same fictional universe as another here! original production, the vampire series The Lair. Characters from The Lair refer to Saint as "the new drug all the kids are doing," being banished by an "Avatar" and covens of witches centered around a spring. These are all components of Tresum, although Tresum has not been mentioned specifically within the series.

Dylan Vox plays a character named Colin in The Lair and in three episodes in season 2 of Dante's Cove. Dialogue in The Lair indicates that his character from that series has been a vampire for a long time, perhaps centuries.

Director Sam Irvin and Charlie David refer to the Cove's sex club as "The Lair" and call the series The Lair "sort of like a spin-off." According to The Lair ' s Peter Stickles, The Lair was originally intended to be a direct spin-off of Dante's Cove and was originally entitled "Dante's Lair". Early in production the name was changed but the show was intended to be set in the town of Dante's Cove, but eventually the connection was dropped.

The Lair ' s David Moretti reported on The Lair podcast that he would appear as his Lair character Thom in season three of Dante's Cove (episodes 3 and 4), running the island's sex club in Colin's absence, but did not elaborate on how that will come about. Moretti appeared in the third episode, "Sexual Healing", and the fourth episode, "Like a Virgin", and the Cove's sex club was finally identified by name as "The Lair". Whether this establishes that the two series are indeed set in the same location remains unclear. Thom appears in the second season of The Lair, unaffiliated with the club. He begins season three living in The Lair as the lover of the club's leader Damian.

Critical response
Formal reviews for Dante's Cove have been light and the series has failed to attract enough reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes to date to garner a rating. One outlet that has reviewed each of the complete seasons is the lesbian-themed website AfterEllen.com. Season one was deemed "campy, gothic, mysterious, homoerotic, and a bit silly" with the reviewer noting the series' apparent debt to such earlier fare as Dark Shadows and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These sentiments were echoed by the gay-interest Instinct magazine, which called the series a "guilty pleasure TV hit...with...camp goodness and sexy soap appeal." In looking at season two, AfterEllen's reviewer noted the improved acting and production values and (in keeping with the lesbian focus of the website) expressed appreciation of the central position of the lesbian characters and storyline. Thea Gill in particular has been singled out by reviewers for praise for her performance as Diana Childs.

Series director Sam Irvin has relayed that the fan base is expanding beyond the niche of the LGBT community. "There are gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight people on this show, and certainly maybe more gay and lesbian characters than most shows, but it seems to appeal to a mainstream heterosexual audience, too." At least one straight reviewer disagreed, not because of the sexuality but instead finding the show too "over-the-top."

Podcast
A Dante's Cove podcast was launched through the show's official site and through iTunes on October 6, 2006. The podcast is hosted by New York City DJ Ben Harvey and includes episode recaps and discussion and interviews with the cast. There have been no podcasts released since the airing of the third episode of season three.