All posts by Greg David

Prior to becoming a television critic and owner of TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.
Bitten, Featured

Bitten says goodbye

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It’s always hard to say goodbye to a television show, especially one like Bitten. Far from stale, Season 3 felt like a bit of a rebirth for the show, and a move in a bold new direction. That’s certainly the case for Friday’s series finale “Truth, Changes, Everything.” Written by Daegan Fryklind, the script does close out stories, but leaves others wide open for interpretation and the imagination. Yes, there have been dark moments for several of these characters over the last three seasons, but by the end of “Truth, Changes, Everything,” I definitely felt hope.

Here’s what’s in store for Jeremy, Elena, Clay, Nick, Rachel, Paige, Sasha, Alexei, The Albino and Konstantin moving forward.

“Truth, Changes, Everything”
The episode title has a wonderful double meaning to it, referring both to how the truth literally changes everything and the storylines deal with truth, changes and, well, everything. Fryklind is a damned wordsmith and I love it.

Things start slow
The first 20 minutes are prep and posturing. Then the wheels really start to move and there’s no let-up. The next 22 minutes sped by faster than a wolf chasing down prey.

Bitten2

Elena’s dream is realized
“We’re the outlaws now. It’s time to embrace our fate. This won’t stop until it happens, so let it come.” With those words, Elena makes a decision, putting irreversible steps in motion that can’t be stopped. Whether or not those steps were the right move will have fans talking for awhile.

Not everyone survives
It would be silly to assume everyone emerges from “Truth, Changes, Everything” unscathed—Bitten is a series about werewolves, blood and witches, after all—so place your bets on who will, and won’t, survive the final showdown. I can say those who do perish don’t do so in vain and are given the proper sendoff.

Bitten‘s series finale airs Friday at 10 p.m. ET on Space.

Let me know what you think of Bitten‘s series finale!

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Orphan Black

Links: Orphan Black

From Nick Patch of the Toronto Star:

Orphan Black is back, complex as ever
“I’ve always really respected the UK model like The Office where they tie it up in a really wonderfully satisfying narrative way but … you’re still wanting more. With this kind of a series, it is finite in terms of what we can explore with these characters because ultimately, they have to discover the thing and we can’t draw that on forever. I don’t want it to ever settle into territory that we’ve already tread.” Continue reading.

From Aaron Pruner of Zap2it.com:

‘Orphan Black’ Season 4: Kristian Bruun teases Helena ‘hilarity’
“Helena’s a roommate and Helena and Alison don’t necessarily get along very well. They’re quite opposite and, even though Donnie and Helena were polar opposites last season, they really learned to appreciate each other … but she’s a tough roommate.” Continue reading. 

From Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly:

Orphan Black: Jordan Gavaris says Felix is ‘grappling with where he fits in’
“We’re differentiating all of these women and we’re following all of these plot threads, and it was dizzying in a wonderful way, in the best way possible. But I think we’re coming back and getting answers to questions posed in season 1. And I think it’s fair to say that Sarah might have to try and understand Beth a little bit more.” Continue reading.

From Scott Huver of Moviefone.com:

‘Orphan Black’ Showrunners Tease ‘Dark and Twisty’ Season 4
“I don’t think it’s a ‘smaller’ season. ‘Intimate’ in that our characters all know each other better now. Especially our core characters of Cosima, Alison, Sarah, Helena — and Rachel for that matter, even though she’s the bad sister. I think drawing those characters close together this season, that feels intimate. The family that we’ve built is starting to feel more and more intimate. I don’t think it’s intimate in the way that they all sit together in the living room and watch TV. [But] that’s not what happens.” Continue reading. 

From Carla Day of BuddyTV.com:

‘Orphan Black’ Interview: Creators on Going Back to Move Forward, Delphine and New Clones
“This year– What’s kinda nice when you get into three and four seasons is that you’ve built a mythology. There was a lot of stuff that John and I raced past in our first couple season and we were like, ‘We’re gonna come back to that. We’re gonna come back to that. There’s more there. There’s more story there.’ So we had a plan always to loop back on some of the concepts that we had in the first season. And that’s really what Season 4 is about. It’s about going back to the beginning in order to move forward.” Continue reading.

From Cassandra Szklarski of The Canadian Press:

Maslany on the surprises and challenges of her ‘Orphan Black’ clones
“Every year we sort of get together with Tat at the beginning and rub our hands together a little bit and go, ‘What do we need? What are we looking for, who do you got?’ And we start thinking of new clones.” Continue reading. 

From Bill Brioux of Brioux.tv:

Q&A: Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany
“We’re really lucky that we are in a time when people are willing to watch something like Orphan Black and are so voraciously excited about it. I’m super proud that we feature so many Canadian artist on our show. Not just the actors and the regular cast but also the amazing crew that we have. The wardrobe and hair and makeup team are the best in the business.” Continue reading. 

From Amber Dowling of The Hollywood Reporter:

How ‘Orphan Black’ Is Returning to Its Roots in Season 4
“By the end of season three, we had answered a lot of our big questions and wanted to end it with a feeling of resolution and closure in a way. Of course there are still lots of doors wide open, but we wanted to end Sarah in a different place so that we could launch off a different foot. We wanted a feeling of return to season one where we didn’t know who was pulling the strings. We didn’t know who the bad guy was.” Continue reading.

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Orphan Black

Link: Orphan Black finally has its mojo back. Maybe.

From John Doyle of The Globe & Mail:

Orphan Black finally has its mojo back. Maybe.
It’s not just fans of the series who were disappointed by the second and third seasons. The show began to sag in terms of prestige and attention. Although Tatiana Maslany finally got some formal recognition for her extraordinary work playing multiple characters, the series itself was revealed to be a lot of vapid rambling and dreary story mythology. Continue reading.

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Awards, Industry News

Beth Janson appointed CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television

From a media release:

Beth Janson has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, it was announced today by Academy Chair Martin Katz. A Montreal native, Janson is the former Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Institute.

Janson assumes the CEO position on June 1, 2016, succeeding outgoing CEO Helga Stephenson, who will officially step down May 31, following her resignation in February of this year.

As CEO, Janson will set and implement a strategic vision for the Academy as it continues to build upon its mandate to honour outstanding achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media, as well as heighten public awareness and appreciation for Canadian screen productions.

The recipient of a BFA from York University in Theatre Studies, Beth Janson has nearly two decades of experience in the film, television, and cultural sectors. From 2009 to 2014 she served as executive director of the Tribeca Film Institute, where she was responsible for budget management, fundraising, public relations, human resources, and programmatic direction.

Janson joined Tribeca in 2003 and was the creative force behind the development of its signature programs, including the TFI New Media Fund, a partnership with the Ford Foundation and the first-ever fund for independent transmedia work in the U.S.; Tribeca All Access, a grant and networking program for minority filmmakers; and the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund. Previously, Janson was the programming director of the Newport International Film Festival.

Janson began her career in theatre administration, and later worked in the programming department of HBO Documentary Films. Most recently Janson was the founding director of Rent the Runway Foundation’s Project Entrepreneur program, providing women with access to the tools, training, and networks needed to build scalable, economically impactful companies. Janson’s Twitter handle is @Beth_Janson and her website is: http://www.bethjanson.com/

(Photo by Anna Herbst)

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Featured, Slasher

Slasher’s latest suspect/victim: Brandon Jay McLaren’s Dylan Bennett

If Sarah Bennett would seem an unlikely suspect, her husband Dylan would make for the perfect killer. With all of the secrets around Waterbury, it’s more likely to suspect someone from there than outside the town. And, let’s be honest, dead folks can make a man’s newspaper career, something the industrious Dylan is certainly looking to do.

In our second instalment of interview with the cast of Slasher, the Vancouver native talks Dylan, his friendship with showrunner Aaron Martin and Harper’s Island.

Congratulations on Slasher. Before we talk about that, though, you were fantastic on Harper’s Island.
Brandon Jay McLaren: Thanks. I feel like Harper’s Island was a little ahead of its time. Now that show would kill. It’s the perfect binge-watch. We were just a little premature. That was on CBS back when live ratings numbers meant something. I think our premiere was 10 million, and then we got 7 million for the second episode and they moved us to Saturday nights.

Talk to me about Dylan and his relationship with Sarah.
We met under a very strange circumstance, and she wants to come back to her hometown where her parents were murdered and she was pulled out of her mom’s womb. It’s very gruesome. She’s grown up with this about where she’s from and her past and we decide to move back to her hometown and move back to her parent’s house and fight her fears. Let’s move back and move on, because it’s been a debilitating thing in her life. We move back and the murders start happening again in a very similar fashion.

I play a journalist from the city and I move to this small town and take over the paper. These murders are terrible, but they’re good for me because I have this huge international story on my hands, so I’m pushed and pulled. Dylan’s career is skyrocketing, we have a Nancy Grace-type character come up and I’m put on TV. That’s why I took the role, because it’s different from what I’ve done on Graceland.

What are Aaron Martin’s scripts like?
They’re different. I worked with Aaron on The Best Years and a couple of seasons of Being Erica, just in and out, and this is a complete departure from anything I’ve ever read of his. I didn’t know that he was this sick in his head and I told him that. [Laughs.] He’s very good with relationships and you have that, but it’s gruesome and terrible. It makes for some really good reading.

Because you’ve known him for so long, are you more apt to read something Aaron has written?
Oh sure. He’ll contact me. He’ll be like, ‘Hey man, I’m doing this thing up here. When are you wrapped on Graceland? I’d love for you to take a look at this.’ Anytime he calls I’m fair game if I’m available. He always lets me play something that I haven’t played before, so this was another opportunity.

Slasher airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Super Channel.

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