Eye Candy

***Eye Candy*** is an American thriller television series that premiered on MTV on 12th January, 2015. Developed by Christian Taylor, the series is based on the novel of the same name by R.L. Stine and stars Victoria Justice as Lindy Sampson, a tech genius who hunts for a serial killer in New York whilst searching for her missing sister, Sara. *Eye Candy* was picked up on 11th February, 2014 for a 10-episode first season.

## Premise

*Eye Candy* centers on tech genius Lindy, a 21-year-old woman who is persuaded by her roommate, Sophia (Kiersey Clemons), to begin online dating. Unfortunately, she begins to suspect that one of her suitors might be a deadly cyber stalker. She teams up with her friends, a band of hackers, to solve the murders he committed while unleashing her own style of justice on the streets of New York City in an attempt to find her sister, Sara (Jordyn DiNatale), who has gone missing.

## Cast and characters

### Main

* Victoria Justice as Lindy Sampson, a brilliant hacker who dropped out of MIT after her sister was kidnapped and moved to NYC to look for her.
* Casey Deidrick as Detective Tommy Calligan, an officer at the NYPD who is working with Lindy and is one of Lindy's love interests in the series.
* Harvey Guillen as George Reyes, Lindy's coworker, good friend and confidante.
* Kiersey Clemons as Sophia Preston, Lindy's roommate and best friend.
* John Garet Stoker as Connor North, Sophia's best friend and Lindy's frenemy.

### Recurring

* Ryan Cooper as Jake Bolin, one of Lindy's love interests in the series.
* Melanie Nicholls-King as Catherine Shaw, the Head of the Cyber Crimes Unit for the NYPD.
* Eric Sheffer Stevens as Hamish Stone
* Marcus Callender as Detective Marco Yeager
* Rachel Kenney as Detective Pascal
* Nils Lawton as Reiss Hennesy, one of the guys Lindy found on Flirtual.

### Guest

* Daniel Lissing as Ben Miller, a late detective in the Cyber Crimes Unit who fell in love with Lindy.
* Jordyn DiNatale as Sara Sampson, Lindy's sister who goes missing.
* Peter Mark Kendall as Bubonic, a hacker.
* Taylor Rose as Amy Bryant
* Daniel Flaherty as Max Jenner
* Erica Sweaney as Julia Becker
* Ted Sutherland as Jeremy
* Erin Wilhelmi as Erika Williams

## Production and development

A pilot episode of *Eye Candy* was ordered 13th September, 2013, by MTV. The first unaired pilot of *Eye Candy*, which starred Victoria Justice, Harvey Guillen, Justin Martin, Lilan Bowden, Nico Tortorella and Olesya Rulin, was written by Emmy Grinwis and directed by Catherine Hardwicke.

On February 11, 2014, it was announced that the series was picked up for a 10-episode first season, with the first episode being re-shot and all the roles being recast, except for those of Justice and Guillen. On September 16, 2014, the cast was extended with Casey Deidrick, Kiersey Clemons and John Garet Stoker all becoming series regulars.

Season 1 production began on September 15, 2014, and ended on December 20, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York City.

Christian Taylor explained during the interview that he had a specific structure for how the 10-episode season would play out: The first three episodes center around the main serial killer, setting up their story and pointing Lindy in a singular direction. Episodes 4-7 act more as standalone cases, resembling more to a CSI story of the week episode; the final three episodes revert back to the original serial killer focus.

### Teasing Season 2

The premise of Season 2 would consist of Lindy uncovering secrets about her sister, Sara, and her father. Taylor teased that Lindy and Sara's father would be linked to a big conspiracy that will be explored. He also teased that, if renewed for a second season, Tommy and Lindy's relationship would be explored, however, the development of the Tommy-Lindy relationship from a romantic angle was undecided.

### Cancellation

18th April, 2015, Victoria Justice tweeted that she and the cast were notified that *Eye Candy* would not be returning for a second season and thanked her fans.

Before the show was cancelled, fans of *Eye Candy* petitioned the network executives to give the series a second chance; however, MTV was not convinced.

Prior to the end of Season 1, viewers petitioned to have the series cancelled immediately due to the sexualization of violence against women.

MTV has yet to explain why *Eye Candy* was cancelled, but many speculate it was due to low ratings and a poor storyline.

There was another petition underway for a second season, wherein fans hoped to reach 25,000 signatures to convince MTV, but it has sense been closed.

## References

<references>

1. ↑ Nellie Andreeva. "MTV Picks Up Drama Pilot 'Eye Candy' To Series - Deadline". Deadline.
2. ↑ "MTV Orders Drama Pilot 'Eye Candy,' 'Twilight's' Catherine Hardwicke to Produce, Direct". TheWrap.
3. ↑ Nellie Andreeva. "MTV Picks Up Drama Pilot 'Eye Candy' To Series - Deadline". Deadline.
4. ↑ Nellie Andreeva. "MTV's Eye Candy Adds To Cast - Deadline". Deadline.
5. ↑ "Timeline Photos - Victoria Justice - Facebook". facebook.com.
6. ↑ "Instagram". Instagram.
7. ↑ Brook Wentz. "Victoria Justice discusses 'Eye Candy' and drops teasers for upcoming episodes". Hypable.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Andy Swift. "Eye Candy Finale: EP Explains Lindy's Big Move, Teases Season 2 Twist". TVLine.
9. ↑ Marie P. "'Eye Candy' Season 2 Spoilers: Lindy’s Father Involved In Sara’s Fake Kidnapping; Tommy-Lindy Romance Developed?". Yibada.
10. ↑ "TwitLonger". *TwitLonger*.
11. ↑ Emily Ann. "TELL MTV TO PULL IT'S NEW SHOW 'EYE CANDY' WHICH SEXUALIZES VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN". *The Petition Site*.
12. ↑ Frye, Patrick. "‘Eye Candy’ Canceled, Petition Claims Victoria Justice’s Show ‘Sexualized Violence Against Women’". *Inquisitr*.
13. ↑ Webber, Laura. "Renew Eye Candy for a Season 2". *Change.org*.
14. ↑ Frye, Patrick. "‘Eye Candy’ Canceled, Fans Demand Season 2 In Petition To MTV". *Inquisitr*.