Television

Jun 15 2013

Homeland – Season 1

I missed watching any of this series until almost 8 days ago when I finally thought – ok, this is getting lots of awards and rave reviews plus it’s got both Claire Danes & Mandy Patinkin; two actors who I greatly admire so I must check it out. And I must say WOW! This is one series that does not hold back on anything. The series is loosely based on the Israeli television series Hatufim (Prisoners Of War) created by Gideon Raff and is developed for American television by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. The show is about a CIA ops officer Carrie Mathison (Danes) who has come to believe that US. Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a recently freed POW has been turned and is now working for al-Qaeda, specifically a terrorist leader named Abu Nazir.

Mathison was in Iraq where she heard from one of her sources that al-Qaeda chief Abu Nazir Abu Nazir has turned a captured American soldier & brainwashed him into working as a sleeper agent. She is sent back from Baghdad for angering the Iraqi government in her methods of getting this information. 10 month back in the US, Carrie watches along with her team at Langley as US Marine sniper Sgt. Nick Brody, long thought to be dead in Iraq, is rescued by US troops during a raid on a terrorist compound. He is brought back to the US and declared an American hero, back from 8 long years in captivity. Carrie begins to suspect that he is the turned American that is working for Nazir. Brody comes back to his family – his wife Jessica (Morenna Baccarin) who after waiting for 6 years has been having an affair with Nick’s close friend Captain Mike Faber, his daughter Dana now 16 and son Chris who was too young to remember his father. As the rest of the government believe Brody to be a returning hero, Carrie takes the help of former CIA agent now working for private, Virgil (David Marciano) & begins an illegal audio and video surveillance of Brody’s home hoping to catch him at something to prove her suspicions correct. They see Brody having difficulty in adjusting to life back at home initially unable to be intimate with his wife and taking her roughly sexually or masturbating to her naked body as Jessica sits uncomfortably next to him. Carrie, after getting caught by her mentor & CIA’s Middle-East Division Chief Saul Berenson (Patinkin) she convinces him enough to get a temporary 4 week approval to continue the surveillance legally. In his garage, unseen by anyone, Brody does namaz.

However other than Brody’s difficulties and odd behaviour (including sitting in a corner & crying for an entire day) that is usually associated with long periods of torture & captivity, the surveillance by Carrie uncovers no incriminating evidence and is eventually shut down by Counterterrorism Center director David Estes (David Harewood).. We do see him to be lying when questioned on several fronts as flashbacks let us know that he had met & befriended Abu Nazir and that Brody was forced to kill his friend & fellow sniper Tom Walker. It is later revealed that after 5 years of torture, Brody was sold to Nazir who treated him with kindness. Brody converted to Islam and formed a bond with Nazir’s youngest son, 10 year old Issa, who was later killed with 81 other kids in a drone attack, that was sanctioned by current Vice President William Walden who was then CIA chief, at his Madrasa. On seeing Walden deny on American tv that any children were killed by he drone attack, Brody swore revenge on Walden and agreed to kill him in a suicide attack. Carrie purposefully bumps into Brody outside and starts a flirtatious fling with him that soon sees them having sex after a bout of drinking. They meet again when one of Brody’s former jailers is captured and Brody is brought in to observe the interrogation. Brody convinces David Estes to allow him to have a moment to confront his former jailer, but the meeting ends violently when the man spits in Brody’s face. Later, the prisoner is found to have committed suicide with a razor blade. Carrie believes Brody passed him the razor. She arranges for polygraphs for all those who had access to the prisoner. Brody passes, but Carrie suspects he is lying when he is able to deny that he has been unfaithful to his wife.

Meanwhile, Lynn Reed, an asset of Carrie’s who works as a courtesan for a Saudi prince, contacts Carrie with video of Abu Nazir meeting with the Prince. Shortly afterwards, Lynn Reed is murdered and an expensive necklace given to her by the prince is stolen. Suspecting that the necklace is being used to fund a terrorist operation, the CIA tracks the funds to a local couple, Aileen Morgan and Raquim Faisel, who have purchased a home near the airport where Marine One is based. After being tipped off by an anonymous contact, Aileen and Raquim go on the run where Raquim is killed by an unseen assassin while Aileen tries to escape to Mexico where she is captured by Saul. Aileen reveals that they met a terrorist who is a sniper, later identified to be Tom Walker, who was thought to be dead, even by Brody. Brody, on finding out about Jessica & Mike, reacts violently and hits Mike, leaves the house and proceeds to have a romantic sexual weekend with Carrie at a cabin. But she slips and he finds out that he was spied on by her and they talk. He reveals that he admits to having been converted to Islam by Abu Nazir, whom he met while being held captive. He explains that Nazir was kind to him and that he came to “love” the terrorist leader, but denies working for al-Qaeda. Carrie is called back to the office as Walker is identified as the turned terrorist and she apologizes to Brody, who leaves angered.

The CIA almost capture Tom Walker by having his wife appeal to him but miss capturing him, instead shooting two innocent men at morning prayers at a mosque. Through the imam’s wife, Carrie gets to know that Walker was meeting with Saudi diplomat, who is then blackmailed to help the CIA. However Walker sees through the setup and has a lookalike meet the diplomat & blows them up with a bomb in a briefcase, injuring several people including Carrie who ends up in hospital. Her concussion & injuries flares up Carrie’s bi-polar disorder which is news to Saul. Brody has a surprise meeting with the Vice President, who recruits Brody to run for the seat of a local Congressman, who is resigning due to a sex scandal. Brody then makes contact with Abu Nazir, revealing that he really is, in fact, a terrorist and spy for al-Qaeda. On a family trip to Gettysburg, Brody meets with a local tailor who gives him a suicide vest. All seems to be going according to plan, but his odd behavior begins to worry his daughter, who sees him praying in Arabic. Brody tells her how he came to convert to Islam and she decides to keep it a secret. When an unstable Carrie calls Brody and tells him  that her unsanctioned research has found a gap in the timeline for Nazir, Brody subsequently reveals to the CIA that Carrie spied on him illegally. As a result, David Estes has her removed from duty and ignores her warning that Abu Nazir is planning something much worse than the sniper attack that they expect.

The VP invites Brody to an event where the former is supposed to reveal his announce his intention to run for President. At the event, Tom Walker assassinates one of the Vice President’s aides, forcing all the dignitaries, including Brody, to flee into a secure bunker. Realizing that Brody is likely working with Walker, Carrie attempts to contact the CIA and then Brody’s family, which leads to her being arrested. Brody attempts to detonate his suicide vest but it malfunctions. He repairs it and is about to try again when he receives a phone call from his daughter Dana, who begs him to come home. He is unable to go through with his mission. Brody & Walker meet and speak to Abu Nazir via telephone and Brody claims that his vest malfunctioned, but argues that he will be better able to advance Nazir’s cause as a U.S. Congressman. To prove his loyalty, Nazir has Brody kill Tom. Brody then meets with Carrie, who apologizes for suspecting him of terrorism (not realizing that she was right about Brody all along). He declines to press criminal charges against her but warns her to stay away from him and his family from now on. Having lost everything and tired of her bipolar disorder, Carrie decides to seek treatment by checking herself into a mental hospital and receiving electroshock therapy. Just before she is subjected to the treatment, which can cause memory loss, she realizes that Brody had met Abu Nazir’s son. But the electroshock therapy proceeds, possibly eliminating this important clue from Carrie’s memory, at least temporarily.

Wow, all this in just 12 episodes but this short season has episodes at an average run time of 50-60 minutes so a lot can be showed. Awesome acting from Danes, Lewis & Patinkin espcially but the others are great too. I cannot wait to start watching season 2 soon.

By Roshan • Television • 0

Jun 9 2013

Cold Squad – Season 2

The second season follows up where the first left off but we have changes in cast. Ali McCormick still heads Cold Squad with Tony Lugozo but he has put in a transfer request after the controversy that McCormick had unearthed causing the inspector to resign. Jill Stone (Joy Tanner), a regular member of the cold squad is reduced to having a supporting role as she passes the exams to be a bonafide full fledged psychologist with the police department. She is featured from time to time when Allie asks her for her expertize. Two new members of the cold squad to be transferred there are rookie detective Eddie Carson (Bob Frazer) & the Internal Affairs officer, Det. Jackie Cortez (Lori Ann Triolo) who was investigating Ali & the whole mess and got caught up in it. Hence she “demoted” so to speak and now has to report to Ali and the two butt heads over procedure and difference of opinions.Peter Wingfield plays Insp. Simon Ross who replaces the previous head of homicide.

All the others are reduced to guest roles or minor roles, although Jay Brazeau will retain his small role as the forensic doctor.. Linda Ko barely makes a handful of appearances and that too for just a couple of minutes per episode. Ali is assigned a new partner Det. Derrick Clark (Clark Johnson) who is killed in their very first case as he investigates on his own. Among the guest stars we see a young Paul McGillon, Brian Markinson (well isn’t there a rule that Markinson has to be in every show?), Anne Openshaw & Dmitry Chepovetsky. Cold Squad also pushed the envelop  in some of their cases; they are one of the first shows to feature the case of a hermaphodite, killed by the bullied man who actually loved her. When a Chinese teenager is found hanging in a jail cell the morning after being arrested, Ali and Tony investigate the similarities with another jail cell hanging 20 years before, when the police department was being investigated for brutality – touching some nerves along the way. The team also check out the story of an informant who claims he knows who killed a tow truck operator in 1991. Their case turns on the testimony of a woman who was a drug addict then, and who is now a hyper-religious housewife. When an abandoned warehouse is being torn down, a headless corpse is discovered sealed in an interior wall. Tony concludes that the body is an industrialist missing since July 1972 and the investigation shines a light on the dead man’s two deranged spinster sisters.

When a young woman claims to have a 17-year-old “recovered memory” of her sister’s murder, the whole squad tries to sort through the family’s secrets. Meanwhile, Ali attempts to get a confession from a terminally ill man long suspected of being a hit-man. Firemen responding to a house fire find a child’s picture displayed on a computer. Ali’s attention is aroused when the child is identified as a boy who disappeared and was declared dead 15 years before, but in the picture he is older than when he disappeared. After a body is found at a construction site excavation, Ali and Tony look into the case of an Anglican priest missing for two years. Simon asks Ali out on a date after accompanying her to an official function. After a social worker asks Ali for her opinion on a possible child abuse case, Ali looks into the death of a little boy three years earlier in the same household. Against her objections, Ali is given the job of investigating a doctor, whose husband died in a hospice, after one of her patients dies under nearly identical conditions in the same hospice. After reading a letter from a recently deceased hit-man, Ali connects the murder of an elderly woman to the murders of several informants used in a drug task force Simon ran in the 1980s, and finds out there is an leak within the police force.

At the of the season Eddie is shot but not killed, even though he lost a lot of blood. The chief is the leak and she confesses to her crimes. Ali becomes persona non grata in the Vancouver police force top brass eyes. She also starts a relationship with Ross, although we don’t get to see how far they progressed beyond the couple of dinners a week and drinks some evenings.

By Roshan • Television • 0

Jun 7 2013

Motive – Season 1

It’s a show & a season that just recently concluded a couple of weeks ago, the first of what I hope is a few seasons atleast as I did like this show a lot. Cop & crime dramas are dime a dozen and almost every actor wants to be a cop/detective atleast once in his or her career. Motive is a Canadian crime/cop procedural drama on CTV (ABC in the US) set in & produced in Vancouver. It premiered in February of this year and completed a 13 episode run of it’s debut season. The show stars veterans Kristin Lehman (around whom the show is centered around), Louis Ferreira, Brendan Penny, Roger Cross & Lauren Holly.

As a twist for this show, something different, each episodes starts off with showing us the victim & the killer. Which means there is no “who dunnit?” mystery for the viewer. However, what we don’t known and only find out towards the end of each episode is the – you guessed it – Motive, as the killer usually seems to have no connection with the victim until their paths cross. That motive often is not fully understood by the detectives until they catch the killer(s). It;s up to single mom & lead detective Angela Flynn (Lehman) along with her partner Oscar Vega (Ferreira) who also utilize  Brian Lucas (Penny), a rookie detective to find out the motive. For forensic & medical data is Dr. Betty Rogers (Holly), the lead medical examiner and support from Staff Sergeant Boyd Bloom (Cross). Cameron Bright plays a recurring role as Angela’s independent teenage son.

Often we will wonder why the killer (as identified in the very first scene) wanted to kill the victim. Like Tom, an often picked on high school student who kills his teacher, a popular singing science teacher who seemed to look out for Tom. Or a former public prosecutor and now the popular candidate for mayor, who murders his babysitter as she finds out he’s been videotaping her having sex with her boyfriend, and also a recording of him sleeping with another teenage babysitter which, if made public, would destroy David’s mayoral bid. Or my fav episode so far, a mild mannered cruise ship terminal customs agent who is setup by a pretty woman to kill Scott Hayward, a limo driver, who was found dead next to his still running vehicle in Stanley Park. episode 4 is a single mother who works at a grocery store who is going through a messy divorce and custody battle killing a lawyer for the winning lottery ticket. Next is a clothing store lady who killed a popular raw foods advocate for the photos of him raping her & other women many years ago. And the Toronto cop who recently celebrated his one year sobriety at his AA meeting but kills his estranged daughter’s ex-husband for a messy divorce and possible sole custody of her child.

And a former Czech surgeon who is recognized by an ex-Canadian soldier who was in the UN peacekeeping unit and who wants her to pay for not stopping crimes committed by the Communist regime in her former country and watching while innocent kids were killed. A really good one is two fathers, who agree to kill for each other & provide strong alibis for each other – an Indian father who has a contracter kill the boyfriend, a former junkie, of his daughter. In return the contractor wants the father of the girl to kill his brother in law who he blames for his young son’s death. Next is an aging mother with a bad back who kills a lady who works for an art gallery. The motive – her son had his heart broken by the lady when he asked her out for a date and the lady bought a painting from the mother, a new painting on an old canvas for some money; the old painting is a lost treasure item and will fetch a large sum! A young man, fired from his last job, kills a priest who cared for him growing up but who hid stolen money that the young man’s father had informed him about. A former Olympic boxing champ is killed by his crippled younger brother for disagreements on how their struggling gym should be run. A lawyer for a plastics company is the intended target but the man she was having a secret affair with is unintentionally killed by a dying victim of the same company’s products and the lawyer’s case helped the company go scott free.

The season finale is a different case – a manipulative psychiatrist & sexual predator who influences troubled young men who come to see her professionally. She is having an affair with one young man and when a new one enters her life she has to chose between them. The older one kills the younger and is made to commit suicide by the doctor. Angela & Oscar find out that it’s the doc who is the real criminal and she is killed by Angie as she points a gun to shoot her. Really good show and I can’t wait for season 2.

By Roshan • Television • 0

Jun 2 2013

Sherlock : The Blind Banker

The second episode of BBC’s television series Sherlock is The Blind Banker. This episode takes the concept of coded messages from The Valley of Fear (using book references) and The Adventure of the Dancing Men (using pictorial messages).

This case starts off at the National Antiquities Museum, Chinese pottery expert Soo Lin Yao (Gemma Chan) sees something that frightens her, and disappears. Meanwhile Watson, having found himself running short of cash and gets a job, temporarily filling in at a local surgery with Sarah Sawyer (Zoe Telford). As soon as he retuns Watson is taken by Sherlock to  “the bank”, which turns out to be a high-powered international finance house. There Sebastian Wilkes (Bertie Carvel), an old university acquaintance of Sherlock’s, asks for help, in return for a large fee. A break-in occurred in which nothing was taken, but an apparently meaningless pair of symbols were spray-painted onto a portrait of a banker. Using his skills Sherlock arrives at the conclusion that the symbols were meant for only one man – Edward Van Coon of the Hong Kong desk – who hasn’t shown up at work that day. The two head over to Van Coon’s apartment and find him dead, apparently a suicide as the cops think it is but Sherlock is sure that it is a murder. Journalist Brian Lukis is also killed inside his locked apartment. Sherlock and John investigate, and in a library where Lukis had been they find the same mysterious symbols painted on a shelf.

Sherlock & Watson find out the link between the two dead men –  both had just returned from China, and both went to an oriental curio shop, “The Lucky Cat” in London and inside the shop John discovers that the symbols are ancient Chinese Hangzhou numerals. Sherlock also breaks into Soo Lin’s apartment (right near the shop) and is almost killed by a masked assailant. At the museum they discover the same symbols on a statue. Then, with the help of graffiti artist ”Raz”, Sherlock and John find more symbols painted on a railway yard wall, and struggle to decode the message. They find Soo Lin hiding out in the museum’s antiquities wing at night and she explains to them  the code is the work of the criminal “Black Lotus Tong”, of which she was once a member. Unfortunately, before she can fully decode the message, the assassin, who is revealed to be Soo Lin’s brother, strikes again. Sherlock realizes that Van Coon and Lukis were members of the Tong, involved in smuggling valuable antiquities from China to sell in London, and that they were killed because one of them stole something. That night he & John spend awake trying to decipher the code, leading to a tired Watson falling asleep in the consulting room on his first day at the job. Sarah covers for him, and Sherlock arranges a date for the three of them at a travelling Chinese circus.

While Sarah & John enjoy the exotic & dangerous acts of the circus Sherlock snoops around backstage and is attacked, but with Sarah and John’s help, the three escape. However John & Sarah are kidnapped from the flat while Sherlock finds the clue he is looking for in a tourist book and breaks the code. Sherlock tracks them down and saves his friend and his date from the villains. He also realises that the elusive “treasure” has been in plain sight all the time; a jade hairpin (worth 9 million pounds) belonging to the Chinese royal family being worn by Van Coon’s secretary/mistress Amanda, who had received it as a gift from Van Coon. However, Shan, the leader of the gang, escapes, making excuses in her report to a person identified only by the initial “M”. The episode ends with Shan’s assassination by a sniper sent by “M”.

Not as good as the first one but it still stand out. The addition of Zoe Telford as Watson’s possible love interest is welcome. Can’t wait for episode 3.

By Roshan • Television • 0

May 26 2013

Arrow – Season 1

I remember very little about Green Arrow a costumed crime-fighter who appears in comic books published by DC Comics other than a couple of comics that I read way back in the mid 80s. The CW has a new series Arrow based on the fictional superhero and the Arrow universe. The series draws comparisons with both Smallville & the Christopher Nolan era Batman movies and I can see that in them. While also focusing on the romantic & family lives of the leads in the series, it also features a vigilante not afraid to kill for the good of the city and it’s residents.

Shot in Vancouver Arrow is developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg and stars Stephen Amell as billionaire playboy, & son of Robert Queen who helms Queen Industries, who spends five years stranded on an island following a shipwreck that claims the life of everyone else on board, including his father and Sara Lance, the sister of Oliver’s girlfriend Laurel (Katie Cassidy), a defence lawyer working in the Glades, and with whom he was having an affair. Other main characters include Colin Donnell who plays Oliver’s best friend Tommy Merlyn, Willa Holland who plays Oliver’s younger sister Thea, Susanna Thompson who plays their mother Moira Queen. David Ramsey plays John Diggle, Oliver’s partner who started out as his bodyguard but who is later told the truth and joins Oliver and becomes his conscious. Paul Blackthorne plays det. Quentin Lance, Laurel’s father and Starling City police detective who holds a grudge against Oliver and blames him for Sara’s death. Other than the main cast the major supporting roles are  businessman Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman); Walter Steele (Colin Salmon), the former CFO of his father’s company who is now the CEO & Moira husband & Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) a tech whiz who later joins Oliver in his quest.

Initially we are led to believe that Oliver was alone on the island for 5 years after the yatch in which he, his father, Sara and some of his father’s people were traveling in, subsides in the ocean but as the series progresses we come to know about the true nature of the island – it is a prison camp set up by the Chinese for dangerous criminals and Oliver finds himself the target of a special military mercenary unit tasked to exterminate the prisoners. He joins Yao Fei, a special operative from Hong Kong,  Slade Wilson, an Australian Intelligence operative who came to the island to free Yao Fei and Fei’s daughter Shado and fights against the unit. The trio are also responsible in training Oliver, improving his fitness & survival skills and teaching him how to use many weapons, including the bow & arrow which he masters. What he also doesn’t tell his family & the authorities is that Robert survived the yacht sinking but killed both himself & one of his men to give Oliver all the supplies needed and a better chance at surviving. Robert entrusted his son with a small book that contains a list of people responsible for taking advantage of the city. Oliver promises his father to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory and bring the list of businessmen to justice.

Oliver will find out that his mother was also part of that group of influential men & women and that Tommy’s father Malcolm was the chief instigator. Malcolm has an alterego, a black hooded archer, and is set on destroying the Glades – a neighborhood filled with poverty and crime but where also some good people live – as it was where his beloved wife, a charitable woman, was mugged and killed while running a hospital. Malcolm is blinded by rage and craves vengance and is equal to Oliver in strength and skill and in some ways is his superior. As the series progresses Oliver must find a way to bring these men to justice, find out who set his father out to die by sabotaging the yacht (it turns out to be Malcolm) and stop Malcolm from killing a lot of innocent people. Along the way he, with the help of Diggle and later Felicity, must also protect the city from other criminals who feed drugs and violence to the citizens. Oliver also struggles with his feelings for Laurel, initially pushing her away to protect her and she & Tommy start a relationship. Oliver dates an old friend of his, a vice cop named McKenna Hall for a while but after she leaves he realizes that he cannot lie about where his heart lies. Tommy is shocked to learn of Oliver’s alter ego and is angry. As the season ends, Oliver is able to kill Malcolm but not the bomb that is set in the Glades – Tommy is killed when looking for Laurel.

Very exciting show with enough balance between the fights, intriguing drama, crime, some comedy and romance. It’s a good mix of everything that we love about a show including cool gadgets. Cannot wait for the second season.

By Roshan • Television • 0

May 23 2013

Rookie Blue – Season 2

Having watched a lot of cop shows and crime/police procedural shows, I must say that there is a huge difference in watching a show like Rookie Blue which focuses a lot on the private & personal lives of the young cops that form the cast of this show. The primary focus being on the love lies and yes it does seem a bit contrived that all the 5 rookies have affairs with cops in the same division (the 15th here) as they work in except for one, Dov Epstein whose girlfriend is also a cop but in bomb squad and works out of another station (they meet in this season). Having said that it’s a lot better than most shows in the same vein as the actual crime / cop stuff is really good and makes it worth your while. As we start the season, Andy’s world explodes by a seemingly senseless act of violence during a concert shooting. When she sets out to unravel the details, she comes into direct conflict with Luke’s former partner, Detective Jo Rosati, a new detective with 15 Division. As Rosati investigates the case, sparks begin to fly between her and Luke. Dov and Chris take charge to find out who the shooter is and Swarek debates whether or not to join Guns & Gangs.

Andy and Gail participate in a drug bust by going undercover as cocktail waitresses but things do not go smoothly. Traci finds herself drawn back to Detective Barber while a complaint is filed against Dov. Andy unintentionally speaks to Tori a little too freely and candidly about her relationship with Luke. Strange happenings and a full moon rattle the rookies. Andy and Sam investigate the theft of some severed heads from a medical lab. A particular man catches their attention as a suspect with his obsessive behavior. Luke and Andy decide to get married, and Sam has trouble hiding his opinions. While trying to protect a young woman who could be the next target, Andy puts both her life and Luke’s in jeopardy. The torching of a laundromat is the latest in a series of arsons which 15 Division must work. The list of suspects is long so Chris and Gail take to the streets while Traci interrogates a person found at the scene. Andy is left to deal with the widow who insists on entering the burnt-out building which ends with the two of them trapped inside. Division 15 sets up a sting operation to catch suspects with outstanding warrants. One suspect, trying to cut a deal, puts Dov and Chris in a life and death situation. Andy and Traci meet a woman who can’t pay her bills and convinces her to seek help. Luke helps out Jo on a job with surveillance and the tension about the past between the two finally reaches its limit.

Indications are that the East Jameson gang was involved in the murder of a police informant, so solving the case will be difficult. The pressure is on when Superintendent Elaine Peck sets up at the station. Elsewhere, Andy is paired with Detective Rosati who unintentionally makes Andy privy to a secret that involves Luke. Stressed out with her mother at the station, Gail is tasked with protecting an eight-year-old boy who’s the only witness to the crime. Andy worries her personal problems are affecting her professionally when a woman is brutally attacked on her watch; Luke’s erratic behavior leads to him being kicked off a case. The primary suspect is Ray Nixon, who had, according to Luke, murdered a rookie from 15. Gail and Traci bring an intoxicated man to the station. As the doctors examine the man’s unusual condition, 15 Division is put under quarantine. Meanwhile, Andy and Sam arrest a man who robbed a bank. Chris goes undercover to get some information from the man. Traci is stuck with a married couple who both work as paramedics and do nothing but argue. Dov shares a kiss with his bomb squad officer girlfriend, Sue. Traci and Gail try to find out the motive of an Asian woman for calling the police to report a fake bomb threat at a restaurant. Dov, Andy and Chris have their equine training at the Mounted Unit, together with other rookies from 27 Division. Chris meets his old friend from the academy, Aaron, while an intoxicated Dov tells Gail his feeling for her.

Andy saves a woman who is pinned in her car while the remaining of 15 Division investigates a kidnapping case. Swarek tells Andy that he has decided to go back to Guns & Gangs. Chris questions Dov and Gail about their relationship while Andy decides to call Swarek and says she is ready to take their relationship to the next level not knowing he’s already left for his undercover assignment. Andy, Dov and Traci participate in an undercover training exercise which results in some unplanned situations and choices. They run into Swarek and almost blow their covers to save a girl’s life. Dov runs into an old friend of his brother. Chris and Gail must look past the wreckage of their relationship to determine what to do when a young boy found tied up as the result of bullying. Gail’s stolen uniform has the rookies looking for a cop impersonator, but it is Chris and Dov who find clues that may offer up the motive. While undercover, Swarek finds himself in a life threatening situation when he and Andy can not stay apart. Swarek’s gone missing and Andy tries to find clues that will help her and the rookies locate him before it is too late. Meanwhile, investigating this case will implicate one officer and threaten Andy’s job.

By Roshan • Television • 0

May 18 2013

Sherlock : A Study In Pink

The BBC series Sherlock is a crime/drama that presents a contemporary update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Create by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss and based on the works of Sir Arthu Conan Doyle, Sherlock has so far seen just 6 episodes (each however 90 minutes long) with the first series of 3 being televised in 2010. The show stars  Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson. Using modern technology Holmes, assists the Metropolitan Police Service, primarily DI Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves), in solving various crimes. Holmes is assisted by his flatmate, Dr. John Watson, who has returned from military service in Afghanistan. Arch-nemesis Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) is a recurring feature. Pathologist Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey) assists Holmes in her laboratory. Other recurring roles include Una Stubbs as Mrs. Hudson, Holmes and Watson’s landlady; Vinette Robinson as Sgt. Sally Donovan; and Mark Gatiss as Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft Holmes.

The first episode A Study In Pink is loosely based around the case A Study In Scarlett. As the episodes opens we see Dr. John Watson, an ex-army doctor injured in Afghanistan and still haunted by his time there. He walks with a limp and the help of a cane and is not having much progress with his therapist, even if she has noted that his injury seems psychosomatic in nature. A mutual friend introduces him to Sherlock Holmes, who is currently experimenting in a lab and either seemingly oblivious to the attentions of Pathologist Molly or he knows it & is purposely feigning ignorance to not encourage her. A series of strange suicides, by swallowing a deadly pill, interests the attention of Sherlock who texts all the journalists in the press conference held by Lestrade and himself stating that he knows more than any of them about the case. Lestrade calls him in to the latest death, a lady dressed in pink. Sherlock invites Watson to join him and showcases his stunning sense of observation & deduction at the crime scene. As he suddenly leaves Watson is approached by an assistance of Mycroft (Sherlock’s older brother although he doesn’t state who he is at the first meeting) to go and meet a rich man who offers Watson a large sum of money to “spy” on Sherlock. Watson refuses and leaves the meeting only to be contacted by Sherlock, who has found a missing suitcase of the recently deceased.

The two spy a suspicious cabbie and chase them all over the streets. In his rush of adrenaline Watson forgets his cane and runs, jumps & leaps along with Holmes. At the flat, the police are doing a “drug search” as an excuse to get in touch with him and see what he knows. Using the dead woman’s clue ‘Rachel’ (which she had scratched on the ground) they track her phone using her GPS password and find that she slipped the phone in the killer’s coat. The killer is a dying cabbie who holds his victims at gun point as they enter his taxi and makes them play a game of swallowing pills with him. Only he knows which is the safe pill and which is the deadly pill but each time he wins and the victim dies quickly. The cabbie contacts Sherlock via text and calls him outside and they drive off in his cab. They arrive at a school building, and the cabbie pulls out a gun and two bottles, each containing an identical pill. The cabbie says one of the pills is harmless, the other poison; he invites his victims to choose one, promising that he will swallow the other – and that he will simply shoot them if they refuse. Sherlock correctly deduces that the cabbie is dying from a brain aneurysm, but that is not the only reason he is killing people. The cabbie admits that a “fan” of Sherlock’s, contacted him and offered to “sponsor” his work, paying money for each person the cabbie killed, to be left to the cabbie’s children.

Sherlock realises that the cabbie is lying, and calls his bluff on the gun, which is actually a novelty cigarette lighter. He walks off, but the cabbie challenges him again to choose a pill and see if he can solve the puzzle. Meanwhile Watson tracks Sherlock & the cabbie using the GPS and arrives at the place but goes into the adjacent building.  Through a window in the adjacent building, John sees Sherlock about to take one of the pills, and shoots the cabbie. Sherlock questions the dying cabbie, first about whether he got the pill game right, and then about the identity of his “fan”, the cabbie’s sponsor. Finally, the cabbie reveals a name: “Moriarty”. Sherlock calls Scotland Yard who surround the premises and theorize on the identity of the shooter. Sherlock deduces Watson but doesn’t share that information as he see him waiting by the crowd. As the two new friends leave they run into Mycroft & Anthea and the two brothers bicker for a bit before Sherlock & Watson leave for dinner, a new partnership having being forged.

Brilliantly filmed, with great writing, directing & acting. This Sherlock blows the film versions of recent years out of the water.  Although I was wary of bringing Holmes to the current times, I was blown away by the performances. A must watch for detective freaks!

By Roshan • Television • 0

May 7 2013

Flashpoint – Season 5

One is always sad when a good show winds down. When a really good or great show like Flashpoint winds down after just 5 seasons, it feels like an injustice, a tragedy. However we are grateful that the show’s creators meant to wind it down and that it wasn’t due to ratings or anything external. The show’s creators husband & wife team Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern had announced the decision well before season 5 started airing. So there’s that.

It’s also ironic that the show’s best & most emotionally tragic episode is the season opener. Team One tears through the city looking for James Mitchell (Ty Olsson), a man hunting his ex-wife Michelle (Lisa Houle). The end result has Ed taking a shot he wasn’t prepared for – he has to kill the daughter who approaches her abusive father with a gun in her hand. Ed will struggle throughout this season as this decision, although correct in the eyes of the law, plagues him. The rest of the team also struggle with this. Next Team One is called to an office building where Dr. Jason Alston has been taken at gunpoint. As the team clears the building, the gunman gets the drop on Sam, forcing him and Jason into a van and revealing a critically injured child. Sam helps Jason stabilize the child’s condition, and discovers a history between Jason and the gunman – just as armed men close in, gunning for Brendan and trapping Sam and Jason in the crossfire. Rafik ‘Raf’ Rousseau leaves the team as he applies for a transfer unable to come to terms with some of the cases he has seen. As Leah Kerns (Raf’s replacement) returns to the team, Team One responds to a bank robbery committed by the Business Card Bandit. As they discover, two teenage girls were involved in the robbery and the gang they belong to has an abusive leader who picks up homeless kids to carry out these heists. When Sarah decides to cut him from their lives, Jules and the team race to stop her before she becomes his next victim.

The team chase after a reclusive and handicapped hacker (Kris Lemche) who hacked into their computers, displaying a theft of an eighteen-wheeler full of volatile chemicals. Apparently, the hacker has learned that his student’s boyfriend is part of a hijacking ring, but he doesn’t get caught as intended. Now the boyfriend’s boss, who hides his criminal operation behind a legitimate front, holds his girlfriend hostage, demanding he find the leak. Team One responds to the abduction of Peggi Walsh (Sarah Manninen), a young nurse taken by a man (Chad Donella) at knifepoint. With time running out, the team finds the killer’s brother (Andrew Francis) and must convince him to unlock the secret of his tragic past to save Peggi’s life. Also, Ed is required to hear from the mother of the teenager that died in “Broken Peace” to hear her take on the situation. A car bombing goes off at a children’s party, killing a married couple. As Team One discovers, all the fathers are members of the Brigadiers biker gang, the leader having been killed in the explosion. At first it seemed like an attack from a rival gang, but as they later find out, it is in fact a coup being pulled off by a few of its members. Worse yet, an undercover informant, who was the best friend of the leading detective’s deceased son, is exposed and Team One is in a race against time to prevent the coup and save his life. A young man named Elliot (Sebastian Pigott) with a brilliant memory is abducted and forced to remember the specifications for a new “smart gun” in a high tech research facility, which his kidnappers intend to sell on the black market. Things get worse when Ed is taken hostage. Thus, he works with Elliot to find a way to disable the smart gun before their kidnappers flee the country and kill him.

Jules and Sam receive some personal news, she’s pregnant, but don’t know whether to share it with the team. While the SRU is called in to stop some ex-soldiers robbing an armored truck with millions of dollars, they learn more about the background of the group leader who tries to maintain a place for ex-army men and women with nowhere to go. When Dean and Clark go on a ride-along with Team One, a shootout breaks out at a drug den. As the Team learns, a trio of undercover cops are trying to take down the neighbourhood drug gang that inducts teenagers. Now, the gang leader is out for retaliation, starting with one of the cops’ wives, whom the Team fails to save. Meanwhile, Dean and Clark spot one of the cops fleeing the scene and dropping a bag full of guns in a garbage bag. They go to investigate, only to be confronted by the leading sergeant of the undercover unit, who has decided to forgo following the law to take down the gang leader after he was acquitted. A Senator is abducted in the midst of a bomb hoax. Team One soon learns that the Senator is planning on developing vast farmland into an airport and his two kidnappers are farmers who live on that land. One farmer is seeking to keep the land his deaf nephew feels comfortable with but his cohort seeks to ransom the Senator, having learned of bribes set by farm owners to keep their land. The situation becomes even more tense when the nephew returns, mistakenly assuming that the Team shot his uncle. Meanwhile, Dean receives his acceptance into university but later tells his father that he wants to be a cop. In flashback sequences, Ed tells his psychologist how Team One races to catch a disturbed and armed man on a ferry. This man, Harold Beamer (A. J. Buckley), had kidnapped his neighbour’s baby girl, convinced it is his own daughter as a baby once again. At the same time, Ed is still wracked with guilt over the events of “Broken Peace” and feels that he’s not fit to be team leader.

And now the series finale – an explosive package planted at the 911 call centre is just the beginning of the most challenging call of Team One’s career. A series of bombs in public buildings tears the city apart with terror as the team members juggle high-risk rescues, multiple defusions, and fear for their own loved ones. Team One singles out a suspect, Anson Holt, a former psychiatrist and sadist. The SRU manages to track him down, only to find him strapped into a bomb vest as bait for the police. Team Three leader Donna Sabine and one of her colleagues lose their lives to the deadly trap as the search for the true suspect goes on. The members of Team One have no time to mourn the loss of their friend and colleague as they learn that the perpetrator is Marcus Faber, one of Anson Holt’s students and a victim of his sadistic experiments. Team One races across Toronto to defuse all of the remaining bombs. As Greg Parker attempts to disable the last bomb in the catwalks of Fletcher Stadium, Faber catches up and engages him in a firefight. Parker succeeds but is gravely injured, while Ed Lane saves his life by fatally shooting Faber. One year later, Greg retires to teach at the police academy, Spike and Winnie are officially a couple, Sam and Jules have their daughter Sadie, Sam is the new leader of Team Three and Ed is promoted to Sergeant.

A great show, great cast, great storylines and episodes. I will miss this show but – there’s always playing the episodes again on dvd!

By Roshan • Television • 0

Apr 26 2013

Rookie Blue – Season 1

Rookie Blue is a Canadian cop drama tv series that started in 2010 with the first episode airing on June 24th in both Canada & the US. The series follows the lives of five rookie cops from 15 Division who have just graduated from the academy. Now that their training is over real cop work begins and each rookie is determined to do well and prove themselves to both their training officers as well as themselves. They must learn not only to deal with their duties as police officers, but also deal with the problems and expectation of their families and friends. Each rookie is paired with a training officer who will not be their usual partner when out on patrol but who will also evaluate them at the end of their first 6 months.

The rookies are Missy Peregrym Andrea as ‘Andy’ McNally, Gregory Smith as Dov Epstein, Enuka Okuma as Traci Nash, Travis Milne as Chris Diaz & Charlotte Sullivan as Gail Peck. Ben Bass, Matt Gordon, Noam Jenkins, Melanie Nichols-King plays their training officers while Eric Johnson plays a homicide detective who usually partners with Jenkins’ character and begins a relationship with McNally. Lyriq Bent plays the Sergent who heads the 15th division. As the season begins the eager detectives who are friends – with only Gail being aloof – are nervous but raring to go on their first day on the job. Unfortunately, their first call is to a domestic disturbance, which turns out to be a murder. In an attempt to catch the shooter, Andy McNally unknowingly arrests an undercover cop, ruining eight months of work. However she is able to redeem herself by apprehending the real criminal after a tense stand-off. It’s a really funny scene to see a cop, even a rookie cop, crying & pleading to a young man to not do anything stupid to make her first day as a cop any more difficult as she couldn’t bear it. The undercover cop, Sam Swarek is assigned as Andy’s TO. 15th Division is tasked with catching an escaped murderer. However McNally, who is paired with Swarek the undercover officer she previously arrested, defies orders to try and rescue an informant from a drug ring that Swarek was working on prior to his arrest. Epstein and Peck are able to apprehend the murderer; meanwhile McNally breaks the rules to secure both Swarek and the informant’s lives.

In the 3rd episode the rookies are tasked to aid in an undercover operation. Although the operation is a success, Nash disobeys orders to capture a fleeing suspect. Nash, who has decided to participate in Fite Night (an annual boxing event) is also under pressure to keep alive the tradition of 15th Division winning the event. Meanwhile, McNally and Peck try to help a woman who is being beaten by her husband. Despite their best efforts, the woman decides to return to her husband. Nash is able to win Fite Nite. McNally, Peck and Diaz are tasked as prostitutes in a sting operation. Nash however has been sent to work with Callaghan on a murdered John Doe. McNally is unable to perform and she is pulled; as is Epstein for blocking channels during a time of emergency. As a result, both decide to take down a weapons trafficking syndicate in an attempt to redeem themselves. Although their attempt is successful, they jeopardized a civilian in the process. Meanwhile Diaz manages to figure out the identity of the John Doe. After being called to a residence for a break and enter, McNally and Nash are left behind at the request of the mother. However Nash is forced to leave to get her son from day-care leaving McNally alone. Unknown to McNally, one of the robbers did not have time to flee and hid in the basement. The robber’s subsequent attempt to escape is stopped and he draws a gun creating a hostage situation. Despite McNally forgetting to load her gun, she is able to talk the robber down. Also, Diaz and Epstein go undercover at a wedding to stop a group who have performed a string of high end break and enters.

Nash and Williams stop a car-jacking and the suspect is then linked to a murder case that Callaghan has been assigned to. However, the murder charges will not stick as the bullet was never found at the scene. Callaghan enlists the help of McNally to watch a witness who actually has the bullet lodged in his skull after killing the victim. The witness manages to get away leaving McNally to find him before he is killed for what he knows. Despite being able to find the witness, he dies as a result of an operation to remove the bullet. Andy sees another side of Luke and turns to Sam for support. The summer heat seems to be driving people’s reckless behaviours. To make matters worse, there’s a blackout in the city. McNally and Swarek arrest a minor for stealing an ice-cream truck. Swarek believes that the theft was an act of rebellion; McNally who believes otherwise is sent out with Shaw to pursue leads. However, they’re shortly called to a residence where a mother is reporting her daughter missing. McNally’s instincts lead her to believe that two girls were abducted from the park and the minor they have in custody managed to escape. Her instincts are correct as McNally and Shaw trace the missing girl to an abandoned recreation center. Shaw is shot by the perpetrator leaving McNally by herself. After finding the girl, McNally comes face to face with the perpetrator and is forced to kill him in self-defense. She is in shock and goes to see Swarek, and ends up almost sleeping with him. Also, Epstein and Peck are forced to deliver a baby after a woman goes into labor. Complicating issues arise after the officers realize the woman suffers from agoraphobia and refuses to leave her residence. While the senior officers attend retraining the rookies are sent out to various schools to do community outreach. Epstein and Nash are paired together, but they soon find themselves investigating a group of girls who are taking amphetamines. McNally and Diaz are sent back on patrol after being told they have come on the wrong day. During their patrol they find a man who has been assaulted. Further investigation reveals that a detective assaulted the man. McNally and Diaz are forced to report it, much to the displeasure of Peck and her brother Steve. The accused detective is Steven’s partner. Andy must deal with the consequences of her previous actions.

15th Division diverts its operations into finding a young girl and her abductor. Shaw, who has returned from his injuries, leads Peck, Diaz and Epstein in the field; with Nash at the mother’s home. Epstein manages to get an ID on the abductor who is connected to the mother and a pedophile. Swarek believes the mother is hiding something and directs McNally to interrogate her, during which she reveals that she was high at the time of her daughter’s abduction. However, she does provide a possible location for where her daughter could be taken. This information proves to be correct as the officers manage to rescue the girl. Luke finds out about Andy’s run-in with Swarek. After all the rookies, except McNally fail their gun re-certification, Peck and Epstein are assigned to help a man with amnesia while Nash and Diaz help Detective Barber reconstruct notes that went missing for an upcoming court case. McNally is assigned with Swarek to do a prisoner transport. Although they find their situation awkward, they talk and reconcile. However the inmate escapes the custody of the two officers, leaving them in a frantic race against daylight to find the prisoner.

McNally and Swarek help investigate the murder of a suspected rapist and murderer. However upon finding evidence that implicates McNally’s father as the culprit, the officers search for proof of his innocence. McNally’s father is later cleared, after the wife of the deceased confesses to the murder. Meanwhile, a vigilante accesses police information via Diaz and Epstein’s squad car. However upon being caught it is revealed he has vital evidence that helps towards taking down a major drug ring. Also, Peck confides in Nash about the pressure of expectation she feels. During her evaluation, McNally confides in Best about her fears of ruining her life because of the job. It is revealed in her most recent shift, McNally had informed a mother of her daughter’s death. The shock of the news and the realization of the part she played in her daughter’s death drives the mother to try and commit suicide until Williams intervenes preventing her death. The pain that McNally felt she caused mirrored that of one of her father’s cases. Best tells McNally to bury her father’s skeletons and make a fresh start. All the rookies pass their evaluation and become fully fledged officers. McNally and Diaz make an untimely arrest, which compromises a major heroin bust; Swarek goes undercover posing as the buyer with McNally as his girlfriend, to try and salvage the operation. Peck and Diaz, who are part of the surveillance team, search a seemingly empty warehouse. As they are leaving Diaz is stabbed and as Peck checks on him the door closes and they find themselves locked in a room. In an attempt to get out through an air vent Peck sees the heroin is being prepared for the deal. Swarek and McNally try to make the deal, but the dealer has other plans and Swarek is forced to leave to get the heroin from an undisclosed location. When McNally is told that the buyer’s boss will be at the exchange, she realizes that Swarek’s cover will be blown and calls back-up, blowing her cover in the process. Nash and Epstein notice that Peck and Diaz have failed to check-in from their location, leading them to believe that the warehouse is where the heroin is. Tactical teams arrive at the warehouse and successfully save Swarek, Diaz, and Peck and also take down the drug ring.

The funniest scene of the season is the last one as McNally, Epstein & Nash sit on a squad car’s hood congratulating themselves for being on the biggest drug bust in the disvision’s history and that they are full fledged cops, a senior cop passes by and chides them telling the 3 rookies to get off the car. Which they do, like admonished children! Perfect end. While the series has been criticized for being lazy for focusing on the private lives of the 5 young good looking rookies (a la Grey’s Anatomy) I do find entertainment in the stories and the cast. Also I never liked Grey’s so I’m fine here. It’s cool, it’s harmless fun and some of the cases are really good. Now onto season 2.

By Roshan • Television • 0

Apr 23 2013

Cold Squad – Season 1

From the latest shows to hit television & the internet now it’s time to go back to an older one. Back in time to 1998 and a Canadian cop show called Cold Squad. The show crime drama show, created by Julia Keatley and Matt MacLeod, followed the investigations of a part of the Vancouver Police Department Homicide Division tasked with solving cold cases ( a crime or an accident that has not yet been solved to the full and is not the subject of a recent criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, retained material evidence, as well as fresh activities of the suspect), the titular Cold Squad. This was the first purely Canadian drama show that I had ever seen and followed, watching it back in 2000-2002, watching the reruns on AXN-India. Not sure when they originally started airing it here but that is when I started watching it. Recently I started watching the show from the very beginning and just completed watching the 11 episodes that make up the first season.

The show was a vehicle & launching pad for actress Julie Stewart who was cast as Sgt. Ali McCormick who leads the small team of Cold Squad. Rounding out the team are veteran cop Lt. Tony Lugozzo (played by BSG‘s Michael Hogan) & trainee profiler Jill Stone (Joy Tanner). One of the peculiarities of Cold Squad was the constant changing of the cast & restructuring that would occur every couple of seasons. Anyways, also part of the main cast but in supporting roles were  Insp. Vince Schneider (Jerry Wasserman) who was incharge of the station, Det. Nick Galagher (Paul Boretski), Det. James Kai (Hiro Kanagawa) & in the lab pathologist Dr. Christine Lui (Linda Ko) & Dr. Sam Fisher (Jay Brazeau). Each episode was also named after the victim of the case that the team was investigating. Also to note, Cold Squad was the forerunner & part inspiration for the slew of police procedural shows that came up in the US shortly afterwards – like CSI and more importantly Cold Case! The latter was subject to a case filed by Keealey & McLeod due to the similarities in the shows.

In the first episode a young boy is found in the harbor, Ali tries to tie the case to the similar unsolved murder of Christopher Williams in 1977. Next Ali & Tony investigates the 12-year-old murder of a ex-detective’s daughter, which destroyed his career. Ali takes on the case of a teen-aged Jane Doe, whom Tony has named “Tess,” whose body was discovered 15 years earlier. Ali revisits the case of Barbara Taggert, a mother who was killed in a house fire in 1995 that was ruled an arson. Her daughter Lisa disappeared that night and was presumed abducted. While investigating a 1995 murder, Ali and Tony come upon a new lead on a suspect in the 1968 murder of a sailor in his cheap hotel room. Most episodes deals with case that could not be solved because of the technology issues faced during the time of the initial crime.

The final episode, episode 11, deals with a woman who was involved in drugs & possible prostitution when she was much younger, switched ids with a young girl, Amanda Millerd, who was killed while on vacation and deemed to be missing. She hid from her boyfriend at the time and his boss who is a major drug dealer. The drug dealer turned informant to the police at 12 years before the events of the episode and hence was protected by the department at the cops at that time including Isp. Schneider & the local chief. Ali’s investigations bring the dealings into the light hence putting both the chief & the inspector in trouble, despite Lugozzo warning her not to. Ali finds the prostitute who under the alias of Amanda Millerd lives a new life with her husband & young son, who have no idea of her past. The drug dealer & his associate, the boyfriend, are brought down but the chief is transferred and the inspector has to resign. Ali is persona non grata at the station with Lugozzo asking for a transfer.

By Roshan • Television • 0