From the CBC comes Canadian crime-drama series Cracked created by writer Tracey Forbes and Toronto Emergency Task Force officer Calum de Hartog and executive produced by Peter Raymont and Janice Dawe of White Pine Pictures. The show that debuted in 2013 features a newly created unit, the Psych Crimes Unit, within the Toronto Police department that consists of a unique team of police officers and psychiatrists who respond to bizarre and frightening crises and solve compelling cases involving emotionally disturbed criminals, victims and witnesses. The lead detective is experienced SWAT officer Detective Aidan Black (David Sutcliffe) who was involved in two fatal shootings that were deemed clean and justifiable in the following inquiries, after multiple psych evaluations, which were inconclusive but did show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. After suffering from a public breakdown he is reassigned to the new Psych Crimes and Crisis Unit and partnered with psychiatrist Dr. Daniella Ridley (Steffanie von Pfetten),  a partner without a badge or gun who he doesn’t yet trust, but is determined to.

Dr. Ridley, helping to design the Psych Crimes and Crisis Unit with Inspector Diane Caligra (Karen LeBlanc) after leaving her prestigious position at St. Stephen’s Hospital following a relationship and break up with the Chief of Psychiatry, Dr. McCray. Caligra, after becoming concerned with Aiden Black and recognizing he has symptoms of PTSD but not wanting to waste him as a police officer, she transfers him to the unit and asks Dr. Ridley to “watch” over him. The other two members of the unit are Detective Poppy Wisnefski (Luisa D’Oliveira), a young, cynical, impatient officer whose motives for being on the team are career related as it is “one step up to homicide”, and her partner Dayo Ade as Leo Beckett, a compassionate psychiatric nurse from inner city emergency rooms and urban mental hospitals. Also part of the cast are Mayko Nguyen as Homicide Detective Liz Liette, Aidan’s long-term ex girlfriend and colleague. After getting upset at how emotionally distant he was and his emotional inaccessibility, she moved out and Paul Popowich as Dr. Sean McCray, Chief of Psychiatry at St. Stephen’s Hospital, where Dr. Ridley used to work and to whom some of the victims are handed over to.

Throughout the season the unit responds to cases where they combine police investigative skills and psychiatric insight to resolve crises and solve crimes. The case vary from a single father who is bipolar and goes off his meds and goes manic and seemingly psychotic rampage believing that he & his son are under attack to a bullied girl who’s mother is part of a religious cult that could have dangerous & disturbing consequences. Also are a delusional homeless man who is attacked by a man behaving like a werewolf due to a drug that he took without knowledge. In the process Aiden get semi-involved with a women who is disturbed and believes that she and Aiden have a solid relationship and almost kills Liz as she feels that the latter stands between them. Another case is of an Indian immigrant who was deemed not mentally fit to stand trial into the brutal murder eleven years earlier of Peter Fong, but he who admitted to the killing and now after his release, a former cop plans to get justice. A seemingly schizophrenic homeless teenager finds a baby, seemingly abandoned, and Aiden and the team’s investigations lead them to a teenaged mother who herself was kidnapped as a small child. A bipolar musician, who goes off his meds, is found nearly naked on the streets and this case leads to a betrayal of love and a death in revenge. After this case, following the death of the bipolar musician, Aiden is troubled and finds it difficult to sleep.

Aiden & Daniella next are called to a disturbed former NHL enforcer who has violent outbursts and aren’t happy when they later learn that he is working as a snitch for Organized Crime Detective Rachel Fenton to out a mob boss. There’s also a lady cop who’s daughter committed suicide due to bulling. The coroner’s inquest into the school bus incident where Aidan shot the perpetrator Dominik Laszlo dead, Laszlo’s knife in the process which in turn killed student Jason Beckmire causes a rift in the unit when Aiden finds out that Caligra had Daniella report to her on Aiden’s state of mind. Feeling betrayed he asks to be assigned another partner and hence the teams are reassigned among the 4 of them. A sex crime & an former soldier’s case is up next and the final case is of a disturbed man who kills his brother-in-law to keep his sister, who is having an affair, from losing her child in the divorce case to follow. As their investigation closes in on him, the man kidnaps Daniella and beats her but Aiden & Poppy arrive and it’s Poppy who is forced to shoot him to save Danielle & Aiden from being killed. As the season ends it seems that the rifts are healing when poppy gets the info that the man has succumbed to his wounds. Aiden has also started a relationship with Rachel.