Bellevue. Shoot the Messenger. Private Eyes. X Company. Mary Kills People.
Several Canadian TV dramas in recent years are finding themselves all over U.S. cable television channels. We thought to take a look at some of those shows and what you might expect from them.
Private Eyes
Private Eyes is fairly easy to watch with Jason Priestley playing former hockey player Matt Shade turned wannabe private eye. Cindy Sampson plays the private eye for whom Priestley's character wants to work alongside. The chemistry is rather good. Despite Priestley's looks, he knows how to play the fool and gladly goes along.
The show does a gorgeous job of showcasing Toronto, mostly the beautiful parts. You do not have to wonder about where the show is shot.
One interesting twist is that Jordyn Negri plays Jules, Matt's visually impaired daughter. Negri doesn't play the character as needy, which is a nice touch. The show goes out of its way to make her a strong character.
The Global show has run through 2 seasons for 28 episodes. The program runs on ION in the United States, a channel full of much more violent U.S. TV dramas. By comparison, Private Eyes feels very Canadian.
The program debuted on ION earlier this month.
Mary Kills People
If Private Eyes is a little too easy to watch, Mary Kills People is really good and really intense. A lot happens to Mary in just 6 episodes.
Mary is a doctor who performs euthanasia but is being chased by the police and a drug dealer. She follows a carefully worded script to make sure the patient understand what is happening. Mary risks losing the rights to her daughters if she is arrested by the police.
Caroline Dhavernas makes all the difference in this show. The characters are well-drawn. We know more nuance will come out in Season 2.
Dhavernas has worked on U.S. shows such as Wonderfalls, Hannibal, and Off the Map so U.S. audiences are familiar with her work.
Mary Kills People started Season 2 on Global in Canada in early January. Season 2 debuts on Lifetime on March 12. U.S. viewers can find Season 1 on Hulu.
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X Company
The CBC drama about Camp X is finally making its way to Ovation. The U.S. debut was back on February 19.
Évelyne Brochu is the primary reason I am watching. But I am curious about the show and how they tell the real-life story.
So far, so good, though the opening scene in the pilot is a bit too realistic. Will be curious whether we see more character development or if, like spies, we know little about them.
(Ovation also shows The Artful Detective, its name for Murdoch Mysteries as well as reruns of The Border.)
Bellevue
I wanted to like Bellevue. Anna Paquin is the only reason to watch the show. Solving one disappearance is enough for a limited series, but the show wants to solve a disappearance and a long-ago murder. The show debuted in late January on WGN America.
Shoot the Messenger
This CBC drama made its U.S. debut last night on WGN America. This show makes journalism much more exciting than the craft really is in real life. But like Bellevue and Pure, the run won't last long, each lasting a season on CBC.
Elyse Levesque, whom you might remember as the rogue cop in Season 5 of Orphan Black, stars as a journalist who witnesses a murder.
Pure
Pure still has an undetermined start date in 2018 on WGN America. This was the CBC drama about drug traffickers in a Mennonite community. I wasn't too impressed with the 2 episodes I watched. Like Bellevue and Shoot the Messenger, they are worth watching the pilot episode to see if the show fits into your wheelhouse.
photo credit: ION Television
I loved X Company. And yes, the characters do develop over time, or rather you see how their experiences change them. Also, the realism continues throughout all three seasons. I swear I was on the point of suffering from PTSD at the end of the series. Check wikipedia for the premise for the episode story lines - you'll get lots more context for each episode that way.
Bellevue was also good. But only one season :(
Posted by: veronica | February 27, 2018 at 08:27 AM
Looking forward to the realism in X Company. A drama may be hard to watch but also be very good (e.g., Mary Kills People). Thanks for the encouragement.
Maybe I should Bellevue more of a shot. I didn't dislike it but found both cases too much for me.
Posted by: Chad | February 27, 2018 at 09:09 AM