TV, eh? | What's up in Canadian television | Page 1015
TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television

Continuum’s end … and new beginnings

Well, that’s it then. Continuum‘s series finale on Friday night was a mixture of emotion, action and … hope. Creator Simon Barry and cast members Rachel Nichols, Victor Webster and Stephen Lobo did tell me the show’s final stanza would incite discussion, and they were certainly right.

Since Season 1, future cop Kiera Cameron has been trying to get back to 2077 Vancouver to be with her son. And she got that, though not exactly the way she wanted it to be. The Kiera Cameron we’ve followed for the past four seasons did step from 2015 Vancouver back to her home time, but had to settle for seeing a version of herself happily playing with Sam next to a idyllic fountain. Turns out the sacrifice she made to make Sam’s world a better place meant our Kiera couldn’t be with him, a bitter pill to swallow but at least she got back home, right? And what a home. Thanks to the actions of everyone in 2015, Vancouver 2077 is now a place devoid of violence, war and corrupt companies, a city where the police wear form-fitting t-shirts rather than armour. A place of light rather than dark. Reunited 60 years after she left Vancouver, the aging Alec hugged The Protector and explained how he, Julian and Edouard had worked together to make the world better for all.

“Final Hour” was full of memorable moments, cameos and Easter eggs that made the Continuum fan in me giddy. Kiera and Carlos’ goodbye was heartfelt and tearstained (Thank goodness Barry never got those two together romantically; it would have ruined their relationship.), producer Jonathan Walker played the lead cop that got his head blown off by a rampaging Weaver, and Carlos’ dedication to the Vancouver Police Force was recognized by a sweet memorial.

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Not so sweet? Kellog’s fate. Well, at least not for him. The man who always made sure he covered his butt first did exactly that on Friday night, pitting his own Piron security force against the VPD so that he could escape 2015 and back to his future. Trouble was, Alec had futzed with Kellogg’s time ball and he didn’t go back to 2077. Who else cackled out loud when Kellog said, “Oh, that little shit,” when he spotted B.C.’s First Nations people peeking out from behind trees at the weirdly-dressed stranger? Kellog won’t be making any adjustments to the time ball from there, will he?

With only six episodes in the season, not every storyline was tied up neatly. The revelation Vasquez was Kellogg’s daughter was too easy to spot, the Time Traveller angle felt rushed (I’m sure it was) and I’d loved to have found out how Garza’s life turned out. Still, those are minor quibbles for a series that was given six episodes to finish up rather than ending abruptly with Season 3’s cliffhanger. I’ll take what I can get and be thankful for it.

What did you think of “Final Hour”? Let me know below or via Twitter at @tv_eh.

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Link: London native Mike McLeod grateful for role as Priest in TV’s Forgive Me

From Joe Belanger of The London Free Press:

London native Mike McLeod grateful for role as Priest in TV’s Forgive Me
McLeod stars in the lead role of Priest in Sunday’s season premiere of Forgive Me, a hit show on Super Channel that got rave reviews, earning McLeod an ACTRA Maritimes award and nomination for best actor in a drama at the Canadian Screen Awards earlier this year. Continue reading.

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Great Canadian Cookbook celebrates country’s smorgasbord

Food Network Canada’s Great Canadian Cookbook is a multi-platform project designed to celebrate and inspire with recipes reflecting this country’s diversity, and Noah Cappe knows exactly which family recipes he’d share with viewers.

“Growing up, my mom was famous for her chocolate chip mandel bread,” Cappe says during a break in filming Season 3 of Carnival Eats. “And for my dad, to this day I still think he makes the best French toast with McCutcheon’s maple syrup. Everybody has something in their family someone makes that transports you to growing up and those are it for me.”

Cappe and celebrity chef Lynn Crawford co-host Food’s ambitious Great Canadian Cookbook, part docu-series, part recipe source, part celebration of Canada. Launching Monday with four back-to-back episodes, the television segment of Cookbook finds the foodie duo hitting the East Coast, Ontario, Prairies and West Coast in search of tasty recipes, touching stories and interesting characters. You don’t get more interesting than Episode 1 in St. John’s, where Crawford experiences brunch at Mallard Cottage, a Jigg’s Dinner hosted by firemen and a music-infused house party fuelled by cod tongues and scrunchions. Cappe, meanwhile, visits Lunenburg and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, sampling lobster rolls, lobster-topped burgers and to-die-for homemade bacon.

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“A show like this is as much about the people as it is about their recipes,” the Toronto-born actor says. “It’s really nice to see how each story is built through the landscape, the person, their story and then through the food.” He likens Cookbook to chef-author Anthony Bourdain’s CNN series Parts Unknown, that uses food as a stepping stone to learning about other cultures and peoples. Over 20 nationalities contribute to the four-part Cookbook.

The series serves as a path to FoodNetwork.ca, where recipes from the episodes are combined with extra video content of Crawford cooking with celebrities, making sausage in Saskatoon and foraging  for mushrooms and Cappe icing cakes in Winnipeg and sampling Nanaimo bars in B.C.

Cappe spent two days in each locale, filming for the television show and website, eating, talking and gathering some of his favourite recipes to re-create at home, though he won’t be the one making them.

“I don’t cook, but I’ve given all of my favourite recipes to my dad, ” Cappe says. “He loves cooking and I love eating. It’s a win-win for me!”

All four episodes of Great Canadian Cookbook air Monday, Oct. 11, beginning at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT on Food Network Canada.

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Link: ‘LOST GIRL’ TALK: Michael Grassi on “Family Portrait”

From Emily Gagne of Cinefilles:

Lost Girl Talk: Michael Grassi on “Family Portrait”
“This story, including that portrait sequence, was something we knew we needed to tell from Day 1 in Season 5. Bo grappling with different narratives of her past. And when she makes a choice and decides to cut her father out of her life, quite literally, he takes action against her in the most horrifying way possible (using the ancient dagger from the emancipation in Episode 108). He knows family is important to Bo. The family she chooses. And he’ll do anything to take it all away.” Continue reading.

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Comments and queries for the week of October 9

Academy announces host for Canadian Screen Awards

It’s interesting that many think that Andrea Martin is Canadian and Norm Macdonald is not. The reason: she works in Canada and can be seen doing Canadian talk shows, etc. Norm certainly doesn’t celebrate his nationality and only came back to work in Canada (a voice that could have been recorded from his sofa in L.A.) when his career dried up in the U.S. It seems all these Canadian-born people only come back to their home and native land when they can’t get work in their adopted country. Andrea Martin is more “Canadian” than many of these Canadian-born people. —Denis C.


Murdoch Mysteries frees Crabtree

The premiere episode was skillfully written with all the attention to detail that we have come to expect from this amazing show. The writers continue to keep us guessing as the plot unwinds. The characters continue to enthrall us and keep us so involved in their lives both on and off screen. Tonight’s episode kept us on the edge of our seats, smiling at the witty remarks and outright laughing at the “stupidity” as Giles put it of some of the criminals and sighing with contentment with Jilliam’s loving relationship. All in all, it was wonderful!! —Karen


Stellar Keeping Canada Alive brings depth and breadth to medical reality genre

In addition to a close-up look at our health care system, I thought it was a great show with a beautiful snapshot of humanity dealing with adversity. That being said, I found it almost too much at times and if that baby had died, I would have been out of there, fast!

I expected, but did not see, any analysis of what things cost or if we were meeting goals of wait times, etc. Did all that therapy, surgery and out patient stuff shown on the program cost the users anything? I’d like to know. I know there are big issues about the cost of medicine. For some people, drug costs can be a choice between life with poverty, or death.

Technical note: the “slide show” device, clicking between locations with the picture sliding out was annoying and over done. Whenever they did it, I heard myself say to the TV, “please stop that.”

Overall, though, it was an excellent program and I’ll tune in again. —Gary


Continuum blasts into its final season

I have always loved sci-fi movies and series, and Continuum is one of those TV shows or might as well be on the big screen that when you first see it your jaw drops! The sets in the future were so well done, the future cities, the traveling on air vehicles, every single detail has been given proper attention. I just picked up the series on Netflix, not sure why I never heard of it until now, on the shows’ final season year but I am glad I did. I think the show should have been more promoted; after all it’s rated five stars on Netflix. —Yodi

 

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Sound off greg@tv-eh.com or @tv_eh.

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