The CW might just have a winning hand with the third season of Wild Cards.
The Season 3 premiere opened to 710,000 live + same-day viewers on Monday night, according to Nielsen Panel + Big Data, marking the series’ largest overnight audience ever.
While that number may seem somewhat modest at first glance, it’s up 24% compared to last year’s Season 2 debut and 62% versus the Season 2 finale. It suggests perhaps there is some building momentum for the series, which CW President of Entertainment Brad Schwartz said was averaging about half a million in live overnights starting with its first season.
At the time, Schwartz suggested that episodes posting around 500,000 in overnights were likely to go to around 1M over the first seven days — a strong performance for the network.
Wild Cards is a crime-solving procedural with a comedic twist that follows the unlikely duo of a gruff, sardonic cop and a spirited, clever con woman. Ellis (Giacomo Gianniotti) plays a demoted detective who has spent the last year on the maritime unit, while Max (Vanessa Morgan) has been living a transient life elaborately scamming everyone she meets. But when Max gets arrested and ends up helping Ellis solve a local crime, the two are offered the opportunity to redeem themselves, with Ellis going back to detective and Max staying out of jail. The catch? They have to work together, with each using their unique skills to solve crimes.
The third season picks up one month after the season two finale with Max now working as an official police consultant. Her world is immediately upended by two arrivals: First, Ellis returns to the force, cleared of all charges and ready to be her partner again. Second, the woman at Max’s door is revealed to be her long-lost mother, Vivienne (Tamara Taylor) – who Max believed was dead. Vivienne’s return ignites events in Season 3 and further upends Max’s already complicated relationship with Ellis.
Jason Priestley, Terry Chen, Michael Xavier, Amy Goodmurphy, Fletcher Donovan, Giacomo Baessato and Karin Konoval also star. Martin Sheen also appeared in Season 2.
New episodes air Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
English (US) ·