Last month, Showtime revealed that it was casting a 'major female role' for the sixth season of Californication with an eye towards creating a spinoff for the series. Writer-executive producer Tom Kapinos is said to have created a new professional groupie character, named Faith, who will feature prominently and possibly form the basis for a subsequent stand-alone show. She’s a beautiful American in her mid-to-late 20s, and described as "what happens when an innocent young Catholic school girl is exposed to the evils of rock and roll and falls heads over heels in love with the music and the men who make it." Faith has been on the road with various bands for years and is considered a muse by some elite artists. Though she has a fondness for sex, drugs and rock and role, she remains quite religious. Think a modern-day Penny Lane in Almost Famous on a spiritual quest to reconcile her extreme behavior with her conservative background.
Injecting new characters into an existing show is one of the preferred methods lately to attempt a spinoff, such as NCIS and Bones introducing characters for NCIS: LA and The Finder, respectively. Entertainment Weekly suggests the Californication plan is more unique since Faith is expected to play a significant role next season rather than just appearing in a one-off 'backdoor pilot'. At this early stage, the spinoff is by no means assured. First the producers will have to cast the right actress, then the role must connect with viewers.
The first part of that equation has now been addressed, with Maggie Grace signing on for an extended run. Grace is perhaps best known for her role as Shannon Rutherford on the first two seasons of Lost, in addition to her appearances in Taken, Knight and Day, Lockout, The Fog, Suburban Girl and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 & Part 2. Grace will also appear in the upcoming Fox series, The Following opposite Kevin Bacon. As Faith, she will befriend David Duchovny's Hank Moody early in the sixth season and if you've ever watched the show then you know that it is a very safe assumption that they will wind up as lovers at some point. Grace's stint on Californication is slated to run for nine episodes and the fate of the potential spinoff hinges upon how eagerly the audience embraces her.
You would imagine that the male half of the show's audience will be sold immediately upon the character's planned introductory scene; namely, a "dream sequence in which Faith is being 'eaten out' by Jesus. Slowly- naked save for a little cross of gold around her neck- she rejoins the land of the living, an 'angel beneath the sheets'. The detailed character description then describes Faith, still naked, as having a pretty long conversation with a nameless rock star, before she "gets him to cum, he writes a song and then she gets out of bed. Naked and beautiful. Walking inspiration." The musician watches her, hypnotized by Faith's 'intoxicating combination of sunshine and sin'. Unsurprisingly, given the character and the show, the role requires both tasteful nudity and simulated sex.
It should be noted again, in the interest of balance, that introducing a recurring character on a show with the intention to possibly spin them off into a new series is not as definitive as a traditional planted spinoff. For instance, the producers of Fox’s House explored the idea of a spinoff starring Michael Weston’s recurring PI character on the medical drama but ultimately opted against it.
Californication season six will debut in early 2013 on Showtime.
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