Telemystery: USA Network Announces Drama Projects in Development

USA Network announced its scripted drama projects today; here is a summary of those that we captured our attention:

• The Arrangement: The story of Lourdes Nieves (Stephanie Sigman), a Columbian woman who trades her tragic and mysterious past for a fresh start in Miami by entering into a marriage with Billy Whitley (Bryan Greenberg), a well-meaning and ambitious politician. In a union of political expediency, Lourdes and Billy manage a delicate dance of romance and clear-eyed pragmatism as she leverages her experience and contacts to help her husband battle the blood sport that is local Florida politics. (A pilot for this potential series has already been produced, its screenplay based on an Elmore Leonard short story.)

• The Edge: A thriller that explores one idealistic man's journey after he leaves an NGO to join the world's top venture capital firm. Jeff Cross believes he landed his dream job working with an elite team of progressive thinking investors who fund socially conscious projects to better the planet. As he rises through the ranks, he discovers a morally bankrupt workplace that perpetuates shadowy agendas to control governments, industries and global leaders to fill the firm's coffers. If he goes up against this financial goliath, Jeff risks his soul and the lives of those closest to him.

• Bank: After an unconventional act of heroism gives her the opportunity to choose her next assignment, a young FBI agent surprises everyone by choosing the bank crimes division in Los Angeles. The city of LA is the epicenter of bank robberies in the U.S. with three to six banks robbed every day, representing 30% of all bank robberies in the country. It takes a special kind of person to confront such an unrelenting tide of crime, leaving her peers suspicious of her intent.

• Blanco County: Based on a series of mysteries by Ben Rehder, the storyline follows the story of John Marlin, a worldly pro baseball player who would rather spend his down time traveling the world than return to his small Texas hometown. After the death of his father, Marlin returns home to find a lot has changed since he left. The place is now booming with rich ranchers and tourists and there's an uneasy alliance between the locals and the nouveau rich. Believing the local cops to be inept, Marlin runs for sheriff and surprisingly wins. A man who spent his entire life running away from his roots must now adapt to a new way of life.

• Shadow Counsel: A legal thriller centered on Ethan, a former Army JAG attorney now working as a criminal lawyer in NY who is recruited by the FBI to crack an ongoing investigation. Ethan serves as a shadow counsel — a secret lawyer who operates behind the scenes and completely off the record to circumvent existing roadblocks (hired attorneys, interrogators, etc) in classified cases. Reluctantly agreeing to take the case, Ethan's life rapidly descends into chaos as he finds himself on the run, unsure of who his friends are or who he can trust.

• Don't Turn Around (limited series): A haunting limited series set on a beautiful but remote island. As the summer draws to an end and the vacationers/weekenders have all left the island, the young staff left behind is ready to finally let loose before they pack up as well. When an unexpected storm rolls across the island during the party, several people mysteriously vanish and turn up dead. Trapped on the island with no means of escape, the remaining group struggles to survive — against whatever is out there … and each other.