Everything about Featured, eh?

Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Murdoch Mysteries: Paul Aitken talks “Annabella Cinderella”

23 Comments

Spoiler alert! Do not continue reading until you have watched the latest episode of Murdoch Mysteries, “Annabella Cinderella.”

Well, that as quite the road trip for Constables John Brackenreid, George Crabtree and Detective Watts, wasn’t it? I always get a kick out of road trip episodes and this one was a lot of fun, even with an accused axe murderer at the centre of the story. With Inspector Brackenreid gone from our lives for now and Julia and William back on Toronto planning to write a police handbook containing the latest forensic sciences available, it was up to the trio to collar Annabella and investigate the truth behind her case.

We caught up with the episode’s writer, executive producer Paul Aitken, for details.

It’s been a great season so far.
Paul Aitken: Yeah, I think it’s been good. I’m curious to see how it all turns out. I know how the stories turn out, but I haven’t seen it in frame.

Oh really? Is that common?
PA: It’s common for me because once we get past a certain point in the story, I like to just see it in its whole.

We’ve seen a little dip into Watt’s past, and certainly a lot more into Brackenreid’s past. As somebody that’s been with the show from the very beginning, what’s it like to dip into these back stories and find out a little bit more about these characters as we’ve been going along this season?
PA: Oh I think it’s a really useful well to dip into because you can get story ideas out of the past that you can’t if you just are going forward. There’s something you can use that’s interesting, and you can build a story around it, and it also deepens the character. I think it’s fun for the audience because they get to see and come to understand the characters in a way that they wouldn’t have in the past, and it’s also just a really useful story tool.

The story getting a peek into Watts’s history was fantastic, emotional. Daniel Maslany did a wonderful job.
PA: I thought so too. I thought that worked really well. We didn’t know Watts very well, and I think he was a bit of a mystery, and I think this grounded him. It picked up on story elements we introduced in earlier episodes. But I think it’s true with any character, if you can pull something out of the past, it’s fun to watch and it’s fun to write.

Let’s get into tonight’s episode. I immediately thought of Lizzie Borden. Was that an inspiration at all? 
PA: No, actually, it wasn’t, not at all. We came to the idea of the axe because we wanted her to be dangerous. It’s more fun if your quarry is someone who could kill you. And it also made her dangerous. You want to buy that this character could be nice and flirting with John, but at the same point would drive an axe into his back if necessary. And I think the mother aspect of it, because Lizzie killed her parents, that was a plot that seemed to work best. So first came mother, then came the axe. And Lizzie Borden wasn’t just an afterthought. We did think of referencing it, but I’d already referenced Lizzie Borden in an earlier episode in Season 3. We’ve had several women wielding axes on the show, and we can’t reference Lizzie Borden every time. But yeah, there are a lot of parallels. She killed her mother, there was someone coming into the house at the time, someone running out of the house. I can’t remember exactly what happened with Lizzie Borden, but yes. Obviously, I can see why you would think that.

It’s been nice to see Charles Vandervaart get more screen time, and clearly, you were able to touch a little bit into the fame that goes behind supposed serial killers or just killers at large, this fascination that he had with her was pretty great.
PA: I thought so, too. We’ve been trying to make this an episode for a while. And I always pictured it as the person that they are escorting to justice, and then they escape. I always thought of that person as a man. It’s kind of like, what’s that movie with Jack Nicholson back in the early 70s? He was escorting a sailor to be incarcerated. [Editor’s Note: The Last Detail.] I always wanted to make an episode like that, and so that was how it started out and then we realized that it was actually a lot more interesting if the protagonist was a female that John Brackenreid had a crush, and we could play that flirty angle. So that’s how that came about.

I did want to ask about William and Julia. There are a lot of fans out there that always want to see the two of them front and centre every episode, and in this one, they certainly weren’t. They weren’t a major part of the story, although they did have their own fun kind of storyline. Is it nice to have them in the background and not be having them do the heavy lifting? 
PA: As regards to heavy lifting, I think it’s always good if you can give your main actors a bit of a break, because so much is demanded of them, just on a humanitarian crowd I think it’s a good idea. And in terms of the story, in terms of what the audience wants, yeah, they want to see the main guys, but it’s also kind of fun and challenging for an audience to not be able to see the main guys in the main role all the time, to see someone else step up. I think it’s kind of fun to be able to do that. And I know that the audience, I think, will sort of just go along with it. Murdoch will be back next episode, there’s no danger about it, and I think it’s unusual to have Murdoch not be involved in any way in the actual mystery except at the very beginning and the very end.

Will their storyline continue? The publishing storyline? Or is that kind of a one-off?
PA: We’ll see where it goes.

What can you say about Margaret and Thomas going forward as we get closer to the end of this season?
PA: I think, obviously that will be when the season goes along, but it’s a season long story. And I think it’s a really good story. I think it resolves, or doesn’t resolve, I think, where it goes, how it goes is actually really interesting, and I’m looking forward to seeing it myself.

What did you think of this episode? Are you excited to see where Julia and William’s writing careers go? Let me know in the comments below.

Murdoch Mysteries airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.

Images courtesy of CBC.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Preview: Murdoch Mysteries carries on with an axe murderer

4 Comments

I think this season of Murdoch Mysteries has been just great. I know a few don’t agree with me and that’s OK. Some folks only want the “core four” to feature in every case and have everything wrapped up in a neat bow by the time the hour is up.

Me? I’m loving the deeper dives we’re getting into who Ruth, Watts, Higgins and Brackenreid in Season 12. With so many years under its belt, I truly feel like Murdoch Mysteries has become a well-rounded show boasting a wealth of riches when it comes to cast, crew and stories.

But back to the present, and Episode 11. Here’s what the CBC has released as an official storyline for “Annabella Cinderella,” written by Paul Aitken and directed by Sherren Lee.

Crabtree and John are transporting a convicted axe murderer to prison when she escapes to exact revenge on those who testified against her.

And here are more tidbits from me after watching a screener.

George and John team up
John Brackenreid has been vaulted onto centre stage now that his father has left Toronto. That’s good news for fans of he and actor Charles Vandervaart (for even more Charles, catch him Saturdays on Family Channel on Holly Hobbie). Personally, I love it when George and John are paired up. Not only is there usually a bit of comedy but I also view their dynamic as what William and George’s was back in the early days of Station No. 4.

Rachel Van Duzer guest stars
Rachel Van Duzer plays the woman at the centre of this episode. I’ll have to confirm this with the episode’s writer, but I feel like “Annabella Cinderella” is loosely based on Lizzie Borden‘s story. As for Van Duzer, she’s wonderful in this role, giving dimension to a villainous character. Her scenes with Vandervaart, in particular, will tug at your heart.

A television critic makes his Murdoch Mysteries return
Bill Brioux, a friend and veteran television critic (check out his website for Canadian and U.S. coverage), first appeared in a non-speaking role in Season 5’s “Murdoch of the Klondike.” His triumphant return is marked this Monday as “Ticketman” at the Pickering train station. I expect a Canadian Screen Award nomination soon.

William and Julia are in demand
The pair doesn’t get a lot of screen time on Monday, but they make up for it in a deliciously entertaining storyline involving police manuals and publishing.

Murdoch Mysteries airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.

Images courtesy of CBC.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Coroner, Featured

Coroner: Éric Bruneau on Liam’s “demons” and his first English-language role

When the world rang in 2019 a couple of weeks ago, we wouldn’t be surprised if actor Éric Bruneau was a little reluctant to let 2018 go–it was a momentous year for him.

In June, Bruneau and his partner Kim Lévesque-Lizotte welcomed their first child, a baby girl. In addition, the Quebec native was cast in his first English-language TV series, landing the role of enigmatic handyman Liam Bouchard opposite Serinda Swan’s Jenny Cooper in the new Morwyn Brebner-created CBC crime drama, Coroner.

Bruneau, who already has an absolutely bustling TV, film, and theatre career in Montreal, says he wasn’t actively trying to score English-speaking roles, but Coroner executive producer and lead director Adrienne Mitchell saw his work on another project and asked him to submit a self-tape. Soon, he was shooting in Toronto.

In last week’s series premiere, viewers learned that Liam is a military veteran who feels an instant connection to Jenny. But Bruneau said there’s much more to come for his character.

“He’s a little bit cocky, but he’s fun sometimes and he’s romantic,” he says. “I hope people are going to get into his journey in the show. He’s a great guy. I know he’s mysterious, but they’re going to learn to love him, I hope.”

To get us ready for Monday’s new episode, “Bunny,” Bruneau–whose other credits include films Laurence Anyways and The Reign of Beauty as well as TV series Blue Moon, Le Jeu and Trop–recently phoned us to tell us more about Liam and his first experience working in English.

I understand that Coroner is your first English-language TV series. Were you looking to break into more English roles?
Éric Bruneau: I’m not on a mission for playing in English. I really appreciate the experience and I’d like to do it again, but it always depends on the project. In Montreal, I’m working a lot in French. So it’s more about the director and the character and the stories and the experience. But yeah, I’d like to work again in English if the project and the character are great. But now I have a baby, and to be moving your family, the project needs to be good.

Did you find any challenges to working in English?
EB: Well, I worked with a dialect coach, so I had a little bit of the accenting on my mind, but at some point, you just need to hit your mark and be attentive as much as possible and be with the other actors. There was not that much of a difference. What I really appreciate and what I like is that nobody knew my work, so it was like when I finished my film theatre school. I was green and with new people and acting with new actors. I really love that because I’m working a lot in Montreal, so being with new directors and new actors and new producers, it’s good. Artistically, it was great. It was challenging.

Let’s talk about your character, Liam Bouchard. He’s a bit mysterious in the first episode. All we really know is that he’s a Canadian Army vet and he has a strong attraction to Jenny. What else will we find out about him?
EB:  He has a dark side. He has something that he’s trying to avoid. So when he connects with Jenny, he sees something in her. When we were building the character with Adrienne, I met some veteran people who were like Navy SEALs but in Canada to prepare for the role, and I met this guy who told me, ‘My nightmares are worse than yours.’ He’s a sniper. And I thought, OK, this is going to be the key for my character. It’s a thing where he’s having post-traumatic episodes. So we tried to build something around what he saw when he was over there, and how he felt when he was in Afghanistan. We’re going to see how he’s going to deal with his own demons as we see the series.

I like the scene in Episode 1, where Liam and Jenny compare their physical scars. I thought it was an interesting way of echoing their inner trauma. 
EB: Totally. Because it’s fast with them. They both see in each other that they have to deal with some ghosts. This is where they connect.

What about Coroner sets it apart from other shows?
EB: Well, first of all, it’s Serinda’s show, and I hope people are going to love what she’s doing with the character. And what Roger [Cross] did, too, because I think they have a great relationship. After that, it’s always about human beings. In the trailer, it says, ‘Every body has a story,’ but everybody has demons. So I love the dark things about the characters, actually.

I really like the darker, psychological aspects of the show.
Yeah, it’s about these people spending every day with dead people and trying to be…alive. There’s something in them that responds to being in their day-to-day job, being with dead people, trying to find out what’s happening, and trying to stay alive. So, for me, it was beautiful to see these characters fighting for themselves.

You’re also in a great French-language comedy called Trop, which has been renewed for a third season. Have you started filming yet?
EB: No, we’re filming in two months.

Can you say anything about what’s coming up for your character, Marc-Antoine, in the new season? 
EB: I can’t say anything yet, but we can talk about it in a couple months if you want! [Laughs.]

We’re chatting during the first week of 2019. Did you make any big New Year’s resolutions? 
EB: Be the best of me, that’s my resolution. Because, sometimes, you get tired and you accept being a little less. But since having my kid, I’m like, no, no, I need to be the best of me always. For her, with her.

Coroner airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.

Images courtesy of CBC.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured

Comments and queries for the week of January 11

1 Comment

I really enjoyed the Brackenreid-centred episode, as Mr. Craig may be the most talented actor on the program. As much as I enjoy the standard crime-solving episodes, it pains me greatly to admit that they have run out of ideas for Julia Ogden. This isn’t the fault of the actress, but rather the indifference in her scripts from the earlier seasons. Have you ever gone back to do a re-watch of the older seasons? I never noticed before, but Julia can be downright insufferable in her flip-flopping between modern career woman and clueless waif cowering behind William. They rectified this greatly in later seasons, but by then, much of the creativity present in early seasons had already been spent. Most egregious in this schizophrenic Ogden plotting is the two-parter of “Crimes and Punishment.” Julia spends an entire episode cluelessly believing nothing is wrong, resulting even in William having a “wake up and see the risk you are in” moment with her. Still, she sallies forward with odd smiles and aloof commentary, until she finally wakes up as the judge sentences her to death. Her reaction? “Oh William, do something!” So yes, more Brackenreid. More serious plotting of adult storylines, and not saccharine teenager moralizing. Three cheers for the writers of “Secrets and Lies.” —Sarah

What do I think of this episode? Same feeling I had since the focus seemed to have shifted to characters like Watts and Brakenreid, big disappointment. And this episode is right up there. I don’t know where the series is headed but I am losing interest big time. Of course, Murdoch is always front and centre … with Crabtree. Perhaps they should be portrayed as the power couple because Julia is certainly no longer part of it. Building a dishwasher for Julia, really? Are the writers transforming her into a homemaker, something in my opinion and imagination she will never be and I don’t want to watch episodes where Murdoch is bent on making her into someone she was never raised to be, unlike Margaret Brakenreid. That’s not even funny. What the creators of the show should do is give them employees (i.e. servants) that they certainly can afford. Julia has always been portrayed as a career professional, up until now. Tending to patients in a hospital? After having been a coroner and a psychiatrist, and helping Murdoch solve his crimes. Now the writers, showrunners are changing their mind. A surgeon? Showing her “operating” cannot hold the same fascination for viewers as what she was doing in the morgue and the asylum. This is not a medical show. Unless it is the wish of the actress herself, and if so, perhaps she should lend her talents to another show worthy of them. Yes, for this fan the disappointment is huge and it is also the end of the line. I don’t want to see episodes where Julia is relegated to a very minor and secondary role. Realizing that it is impossible to please everybody, I have seen enough of that this season already. I remember Hélène saying early on in the series that ‘someone’ wanted to eliminate her character. Perhaps this is finally and sadly happening … however gradually. —Noele

When I saw the episode only about Brackenreid, I was OK with it. But I could’ve done without the Watts episode. I do like his character, but not enough for an entire episode. I’m also noticing that William and Julia are slowly becoming secondary characters and I really don’t like that. THEY are the show! But I’m going to wait and see if there’s a William only show and a Julia only show as well. If so, I’ll be very interested to see them. I’m just not into the Ruth and Henry story lines at all. I like hearing about them in passing, but not actually a part of the show. And now, Ruth’s going to be at the hospital with Julia! Also, Dan Trotta joked about Brackenreid getting pregnant. It will really make me upset if Margaret ends up pregnant, and not Julia. I hope Julia’s “secret” is that she’s pregnant, and is afraid to tell William, because of the miscarriage. I want Violet to show her true colors and then be escorted out of the morgue. I also want MORE William and Julia scenes like in the first half of S12. —CD

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

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Workin' Moms

Workin’ Moms: Catherine Reitman, Dani Kind and Juno Rinaldi talk Season 3

When we last left the Workin’ Moms, things had gone badly, especially for Kate (Catherine Reitman). She discovered that her husband, Nathan (Philip Sternberg), was having an affair with Mean Nanny (Jess Salguiero). And, to add to the emotional moment, Kate discovered she was pregnant.

Viewers were left wondering what Kate’s next steps were. Would she divorce Nathan? What about the pregnancy? Kate wasn’t the only one facing challenges. Anne (Dani Kind) was headed for a showdown with he ex-husband Brad (Christopher Redman), and Frankie (Juno Rinaldi) was juggling new relationships.

Workin’ Moms returns on a new night this Thursday at 9 p.m. on CBC with two back-to-back episodes chock full of the tears and laughter we’ve come to expect from Reitman’s creation. And with folks like John Ralston, Sean Cullen and Emma Hunter on board, we had to find out more. We spoke to Reitman, Kind and Rinaldi at CBC’s recent media day.

There is a time jump when Workin’ Moms returns. Kate is about to give birth. At what point in the creative process did you know you were going to do that?
Catherine Reitman: We went back and forth on this in the writers’ room a ton. And ultimately we always go back to, ‘What’s the most compelling way to watch this character?’ Is it more interesting if she doesn’t have another child, does the child actually drag us back to what we’ve already seen her do?

And then she gets involved with someone else.
CR: She is juggling a little more than usual. Dani, Juno, and I all in real life have two kids, and I think there is something to do when you meet someone with just one child you’re like, ‘Ugh, I totally understand, but just wait.’ Because when you double down on kids there is just a different level of storm, you’ve become so not a priority in your own life. Giving Kate this baby felt like a way of just filling her plate to make her the least important protagonist in her own story.

It just parallels so many working mother’s lives, I think. As far as her season, I think Kate is having an identity crisis once again. Kind of like Season 1. Except for this time she now has to reinvent herself with infidelity kind of screaming at her the entire time. We hear so often about the women keeping the house and the kids. And there’s something just really refreshing, and you really root for someone who moves out. Someone who hits the pavement and starts her own business the way Kate does and so many women I know out there currently doing it. I just think it’s incredibly brave and it’s the kind of story I wanted to get behind.

How did you land John Ralston in a guest role?
CR: I tricked him. He thought it was Murdoch. He showed up, and he was like, ‘I don’t understand, where’s the gentleman with the beautiful lashes?’ And I said, ‘You’re fine, just hold this baby and get in a wheelchair and …

He is a recurring character? 
CR: He is a recurring character. Look, our characters make flawed decisions all the time and having them sort of deal with those repercussions at this magnitude is really, it’s just really fun. It’s a fun ride for Kate. And John made it that way. I think we auditioned every guy in the country for that role. Similar to Anne and Frankie, it was, ‘How do we find someone who can make this character likable? Not a straight up cartoon villain.’ And he brings so much heart, and he’s having so much fun. He’s constantly laughing at what he’s saying. He’s delighted with himself. And it makes him so easy to watch and get on board with.

Had you considered having Kate and Nathan get back together again?
CR: Of course, and that’s not off the table.

Dani, things look pretty tough for Anne right now. The court case being challenged, and the cake being brought in as evidence. What can you say about what’s going on with Anne and Lionel? And there’s something going on with her daughter this season as well, right?
Dani Kind: She clearly hasn’t dealt with things between her and Brad from last season, from their marriage. I think she’s stuffed them away and hasn’t dealt with them. She gets a new job this season helping other people who’ve gone through similar traumas, which is very interesting. It creates a lot of conflict for her. She also becomes extremely possessive of Alice and almost gets into like a manic state of wanting to protect her family and protect herself, I think, from feeling all the things that she hasn’t dealt with.

What about Frankie? I mean things are going great, she’s got these ads where she’s lying on top of money. She’s got an old girlfriend coming back into her life asking for tuition. So what’s going on with her this season that you can say?
Juno Rinaldi: I feel like Frankie is feeling really great about where she’s at. Things have taken a turn for her, she finally feels like she’s got her groove and it’s, she’s able to help Giselle with some financial stuff, she’s sort of in the driver’s seat now. But with Frankie, you never really know where we’re going to go with her, how it’s going to shake down. But it’s really nice to see her sort of feeling really good about things and moving forward.

Workin Moms airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail