Life imitates art for X Company’s Sandra Chwialkowska

Sandra Chwialkowska found her reality mirroring fiction during Season 2 of X Company. Like the CBC drama’s lead character, Aurora, Chwialkowska was surrounded by three other men in a country she was unfamiliar with.

After working on series like Lost Girl, Remedy and Cracked, Chwialkowska joined X Company this year to contribute directly to what’s going on in Aurora’s head, expand Sabine’s role and introduce Resistance fighter Miri into the mix. We spoke to her about all that and got a sneak peek into her next episode, “Fatherland,” airing in a few weeks.

I wrote this a week or so ago, but X Company has really upped its game in Season 2. Aurora’s team is tight and their storylines are great. And, I can’t help but be drawn to Faber and Sabine’s story too.
Sandra Chwialkowska: That was one of the things that we kept checking in on. The actor that plays Faber, Torben Liebrecht, and the actress that plays Sabine, Livia Matthes, are such incredible people that it’s hard not to fall in love with them. But, at the same time, that’s something that was really important to Mark and Stephanie; to really explore the moral compass and how someone like Faber got involved in the Gestapo and everything. We talked about how maybe he joined the ranks as a way to impress Sabine’s father. He wasn’t a die-hard. He did what many men kind of had to do: join the party. Not to excuse any of his behaviour, but we’re really interested in the human side.

You joined X Company in Season 2. How did that happen?
I was on the last season of Lost Girl when Season 1 of X Company was done. I’ve been wanting to work wth Mark and Stephanie for some time. I’d heard nothing but rave reviews about how they’re the best showrunners in the country and I love learning from the best. I’m actually working on the development of my own series with Temple Street, who produce X Company, and the development executives asked me if I was interested in coming on board X Company. They recommended me to Mark and Stephanie, we had a meeting and we really hit it off. I think part of it was to maybe get another female voice in the room and they were just looking for writers who had experience.


This season is really about Sabine coming to the fore and opening her eyes a little bit. The relationship between her and Aurora is going to deepen.


Do you feel like you brought something to the writers’ room that wasn’t there before?
I would say that, in some rooms that I’ve been in before, I have been the only female. I have sensed tokenism in the past, ‘I’m here to put the words in the ladies’ mouths,’ and that kind of thing. In X Company, there was a real strong sense of getting gender balance, but not because we had to satisfy a network demand. It was Mark and Stephanie—who are incredibly passionate—saying, ‘Aurora is the leader of the team and we want to really get into her head.’ And. obviously, Sabine, as the show has become more serialized and delved into Faber’s domestic life, rose to the fore.

Some showrunners say they want a really opinionated, vocal room. Mark and Stephanie really want that. Our room has Denis McGrath, Adam Barken and Dan Godwin. When they know what they want, Mark and Stephanie are very firm. But when it’s an open question, they sit and let the dialogue go. It’s a true debate and a true discussion and the best idea wins.

What was it like working on Season 2 in Budapest?
I literally felt like I was Aurora. I shared an office with three men for four months. [Laughs.] I really felt like her. I felt like a stranger in a strange land, on assignment in a foreign country and you don’t know anyone. You just have this little posse. What’s fascinating about Budapest is that it’s a city that has been occupied by so many different regimes over the centuries; that’s why it works as a location for big Hollywood movies and X Company. One street looks like Paris and another looks like Berlin. It’s the bizarre melting pot of regimes that have occupied it. You really feel the war is a living history. You see bullet holes in buildings. And they have these things that are unique to Budapest called ruin pubs; they’re these old, ruined buildings that were bombed out during the war that have been turned into pubs. We would go there after work for dinner or a drink and really feel the history.

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You’re a supervising producer on X Company. What does that title entail?
I wrote one and a half episodes this season. I wrote Episode 4 and co-wrote Episode 8 with Mark and Stephanie. It means that I’m a writer in the room but I’m also producing the episode, which means meetings all through pre-production in terms of costumes and wardrobe and location scouting. In the case of ‘Last Man, Last Round,’ that incredible fortress really dictated the story because they had to escape from that location. I’m also liaising with the director, the art department and casting. That was also the episode where we cast Miri and Klaus. There is a lot of producing that goes beyond the writing of the script. Being on-set is a huge thing too, dealing with fires as they come up, being the eyes and ears for Mark and Stephanie because they can’t be everywhere at once.

Let’s get to some storylines. Faber and Sabine’s relationship seems to be crumbling. Will that continue as the season goes on?
We’re going to spend a lot more time with their relationship and their marriage and the impact of losing Ulli. This season is really about Sabine coming to the fore and opening her eyes a little bit. The relationship between her and Aurora is going to deepen. There is going to be some pretty shocking stuff coming up between them.

And, looking forward to the next episode you co-wrote, Episode 8, entitled “Fatherland.” What can you tell me about that?
The title is really relevant because it has two meanings. One is it’s about patriotism and allegiance and that’s a big theme in the episode. What are we fighting for, where does our allegiance lie and why? The team will get a very visceral reminder of what they’re fighting for. The Fabers explore allegiance in that way, as to what side they’re on and why, and what that does to an individual.

X Company airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

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Let’s talk skinny basic

Back in the dark ages of television and internet, about 15 years ago, I tried to sign up with Shaw’s most basic cable package, which included the major Canadian networks, major US networks, and not much else. Though I’d had the package before at a previous address, the man on the phone kept telling me about their smallest package which was bigger and more expensive than what I’d had before. I finally asked him to mail me a brochure since that’s where I’d originally seen evidence of it — yes, the ages were that dark — and sure enough, there was the most basic of basic plans on offer.

So the news that Bell is discouraging employees from selling the new  $25 skinny basic package mandated by the CRTC as of March 1 is no surprise, and nothing new in the cable industry. The difference today from those dark ages is the internet is now our instant-access brochure.

Since moving to just outside of Vancouver, my over-the-air antenna doesn’t work as well, and I reserved judgement on whether skinny basic would entice me back to the cable world until I could see the offerings. Because Shaw is my internet provider — and I’ve sporadically signed up for Shomi through them as well — I checked out their skinny package.

For $25 a month Shaw’s Limited TV offers more than what is mandated by the CRTC; it includes the optional US major networks for example. What it doesn’t include — and what every other Shaw TV package does — is the required HD equipment. That’s another $5 a month or $138 to buy outright. For most of us that’s $30 per month for skinny basic, then.

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Shaw’s larger packages currently have introductory offers for the first six months starting from $29.90 a month, which is smart marketing. My choice is to sign up for a skinny package that includes fewer channels for more money, knowing that in six months it will be slightly cheaper, or sign up for the package that’s 10 cents cheaper and has more channels, knowing that it will be about $13 more expensive in six months.

The 10 cent difference during the introductory period is immaterial to the pocketbook yet psychologically profound — I can’t make myself sign up for less for more, even knowing that wouldn’t be true in six months. I’d fail the marshmallow test.  And I think the CRTC failed this test. How many current cable consumers will downgrade for a package that won’t save them much money but will significantly reduce their number of channels?

Skinny basic isn’t going to lure me back to cable. But then the cable companies don’t want it to. I’ll continue to binge watch on Netflix and occasionally Shomi and watch my essential shows with the over the air antenna or online the next day. And the cable companies will continue to follow the letter of the new CRTC rules without actually offering a new benefit to consumers.

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Super Channel original series, SLASHER, set to tear up Canadian television screens on Friday, April 1

From a media release:

Super Channel, Canada’s only national English pay television network, is pleased to announce that SLASHER, an eight-episode psychological thriller from Shaftesbury, will tear up Canadian television screens, on Friday, April 1 at 9 p.m. ET (SC4).

Each episode of the Super Channel original series will also be available on Super Channel On Demand the day following its initial broadcast.

Katie McGrath (Jurassic World, Dracula, Merlin) stars as Sarah Bennett, a young woman who returns to the small town where she was born, only to find herself the centrepiece in a series of horrifying copycat murders based on the widely known, grisly killings of her parents. As the murders escalate, long-buried secrets are revealed, making everyone around her a suspect…or a victim. Sarah finds herself questioning everything and everyone around her, including her husband, Dylan (Brandon Jay McLaren, Graceland, The Killing), her grandmother Brenda Merritt (Wendy Crewson, Saving Hope, Revenge), family friend Cam Henry (Steve Byers, The Man in the High Castle) and the town’s police chief, Iain Vaughn (Dean McDermott, Ecstasy, CSI).

Additional cast includes Mary Walsh (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Enuka Okuma (Rookie Blue), Erin Karpluk (Being Erica), Patrick Garrow (Hannibal, Bitten), Christopher Jacot (Rogue), Mayko Nguyen (Killjoys, Rookie Blue), Rob Stewart (Killjoys, Suits), Hannah Endicott-Douglas (Good Witch), Shawn Ahmed (MsLabelled, Paranormal Investigators), Jessica Sipos (Dark Matter, Ascension), Jefferson Brown (Rookie Blue, Being Erica), Mark Ghanimé (Reign, Helix), Dylan Taylor (What Would Sal Do?, Rogue, Covert Affairs), Booth Savage (Mr. D.), Victoria Snow (Cra$h & Burn), Sabrina Grdevich (Skins) and Rainbow Sun Francks (The Listener).

Developed and produced by Shaftesbury in association with Super Channel and Chiller, SLASHER is written and created by Aaron Martin (Killjoys, Being Erica) and directed by Craig David Wallace (Todd and the Book of Pure Evil). Aaron Martin, Christina Jennings and Scott Garvie are executive producers. SLASHER is funded with the participation of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, the COGECO Program Development Fund, the Bell Fund, Music and Film in Motion/Federal Government of Canada, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit.

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Comments and queries for the week of February 26

Murdoch Mysteries showrunner explains heartbreaking episode

I don’t agree with Peter Mitchell that “the mystery of where [Roland] came from was ultimately solved.” Detective Freddie Pink’s research was fuzzy on details that just did not add up. Example: there was an official record of the mother going into labour and a midwife attending, so how could the record also say, without raising eyebrows, that no baby was born? The record said that the mother went into labour “before her time,” but it must have been close to full term because Roland was a fully developed, healthy, energetic baby at nine months. (Julia made a point of saying he was physically “perfect”.)

Maybe the midwife, Joanne Braxton, pretended that the mother went into labour before the baby was developed and so it was a miscarriage, not a birth? OK, the birth took place on an “out-of-town” homestead, but it wasn’t all that isolated because a midwife was summoned from Brantford. Wouldn’t there be at least one person (a sister, mother, neighbour, friend, her husband) who knew the mother and would know how far along she was? Even if a baby is stillborn, it would have to be recorded as such and buried in a legal manner. With so many details not known, could it be that the mother did not have a complicated pregnancy after all, but Joanne Braxton, as midwife, murdered her in order to steal her baby? Murdoch should order the mother’s body exhumed. If the midwife’s report was correct, an autopsy would find the body of an unborn fetus in the mother’s womb. That would confirm that Roland was not Harold Connor’s child. An autopsy could also determine if a live birth took place, but not that the baby was Roland. The Braxtons were professional thieves and could have stolen baby Roland from any one of many couples, or from a hospital, orphanage, or even just bought him from a poor mother. —Patricia


X Company shines in Season 2

I said on Twitter a few weeks ago that it is not just good Canadian TV, it is just good TV.

I do wish people spoke their native tongues all of the time. But, I imagine that would require the main cast to speak German and French which might be difficult. I think audiences are no longer afraid of subtitles (if they ever were).

Seek out Heavy Water War (a Norwegian show about the German nuke program) and Generation War (a German show about WW2, amazing), they are both excellent. —Dave

Why are there subtitles for the German speakers when they are, at times, not on the screen long enough to read? Of course the Germans speak German. I get that! The French speakers speak English! It seems an unnecessary frill that does not add to the story and, in fact, takes away the obvious struggle of emotions that the German officer and his wife are dealing with. And, to top it off, “The Corporation” will slap a banner ad across the bottom of the screen at the most inopportune times: when there is a subtitle being displayed. Otherwise, we both love the series. It was an amazing period of history when ordinary people became extraordinary and made huge differences to the outcome of the war. We have been aware of the Camp X/Oshawa/ Whitby/Bowmanville contribution to the war for years. Thanks for letting me gripe about the language thing. —DB


Wolverine documentary: A CBC-TV first

I always record The Nature of Things and in particular I like the wildlife docs. I’ve only seen a wolverine once in the wild, while at a place called Wolverine Lake, B.C. (maybe three hours north of Prince George) and it was swimming. It took me a while to figure out what it was because it was all wet and I was looking through binoculars but after it went on land it dawned on me. I also saw a caribou swimming in the lake as well later the next day. Having spent a lot of time up in the northern forests of western Canada, I’ve seen plenty of wildlife but that remains my only wolverine sighting and it was incredibly exciting. —Alicia

 

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

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Aethelwulf attacks on Vikings

After last week’s Season 4 return catching viewers up with what was going on with the viking side of the story, Thursday’s instalment ventured into Wessex while following Floki’s misadventures and Bjorn’s icy journey of survival.

“Kill the Queen” covered a lot of ground, announcing Queen Kwenthrith had been overthrown after Merican nobles refused to pay homage to Ecbert and imprisoned she and her son in a tower. That meant Aethelwulf was put in charge of breaking her free as he coordinated an attack against the nobles. To this point, Ecbert’s son has been a bit of a joke, but what he proved to be an astute tactician in the field and saved Kwenthrith. (She did her part in deadly hand-to-hand combat in the tower when her female guards attempted to murder she and her son.) Aethelwulf is proving himself a man to his father, something Bjorn can certainly relate to.

As for King Ecbert, I’m not sure what his plan is regarding Judith. Last season it appeared he was trying to steal her from his son. Is offering her freedom to do anything—including learning to gild pages of the bible—part of that plot or does he have something else up his sleeve? As someone who is getting bored of Judith’s watery-eyed stares, I’m glad she’s finally got something to do story-wise other than simper around covering her ear hole.

Off in Paris, the power-hungry Rollo was only too happy to help Odo plan against any future viking attack by showing how to stop the longboats from advancing upriver. Little does Rollo know that machinations behind the scenes are working against Odo and towards Ragnar’s brother becoming the Emperor’s right-hand man.

Meanwhile, there’s poor Floki. He’s always been one of my favourite characters, especially in earlier seasons when he was very much the comic relief. His crisis of character and questionable moves against Ragnar have put him in an awful place. For awhile it looked like he might escape capture and head into the woods, but instead he’s been laid even lower: chained in a cave with water dripping on his head and only his thoughts to keep him company. Will he go completely insane upon learning of his daughter’s death or will he earn a place back in Ragnar’s heart? He seems too dangerous to for the latter, unless he’s willing to swallow his pride, and Floki doesn’t seem the type.

Vikings airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on History.

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