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Featured, Hard Rock Medical

Preview: TVO’s Hard Rock Medical checks in for the final time

Hard Rock Medical is the ultimate under-the-radar show. Ask folks if they’ve heard of it and I’m betting the majority will say no. Out of the minority that have heard of the series, I’m betting they’d say Hard Rock Medical was about rock ‘n’ roll. I certainly did. This was back during Season 2, and when I finally tuned in I was stunned. Hard Rock Medical is a damn fine medical drama that mixes in very funny moments set against the rugged backdrop of Sudbury, Ontario, a.k.a. The Canadian Shield, a.k.a. the hard rock in Hard Rock Medical. Inspired by the world-renowned Northern Ontario School of Medicine, the program spotlights and celebrates the distinct challenges of delivering quality healthcare in Northern Ontario.

Co-created by Smith Corindia and Derek Diorio, the last season of Hard Rock Medical returns for its final nine episodes on Tuesday at 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET on TVO. Thankfully, TVO has put the past three seasons on their website, so folks can not only catch up but those outside of Ontario can tune in to Season 4 episodes after each broadcast. 

What amazed me about the show back in Season 2 is the high-profile Canadian talent in the cast. Andrea Menard (Blackstone), Tamara Duarte (Wynonna Earp), Angela Asher (Bad Blood), Jamie Spilchuk, Stephane Paquette and Pat McKenna (Traders) are just a sampling of the actors who’ve been part of Hard Rock Medical from the beginning. Throw in guest gigs from Jennifer Podemski, Marc Bendavid, Ron Lea, Michelle Thrush—and Corner Gas‘ Eric Peterson this year—and you’ve got one hell of a fine stable of talent participating in Corindia and Diorio’s taut, half-hour scripts.

When we pick up Tuesday’s return, “Dreaming the Life,” Eva is in the midst of an odd dream that reflects her First Nations heritage and ties to Nancy and Gary while under anaesthetic to donate bone marrow. Meanwhile, Louise and Fraser are facing the media over Sergio’s suicide and request that his brain be used for concussion research, and Tara and Charlie are juggling life with her chemotherapy schedule. Charlie’s considering quitting med school to be available to Tara full-time but she’s having none of it. This is his last year of school before becoming a doctor and she won’t let him give up now. As for Farida, a patient with a fishhook lodged in her cheek leads to a custody battle between a husband and wife. And Cameron? His day is an awful one.

Episode 2, “Quo Vadis,” follows Gary into reconciliation classes with the racist cop he punched and Cameron meets up with Gina, who is suffering from amnesia following her assault.

I’m going to miss following the medical students and their adventures; the last four seasons of Hard Rock Medical have been a joy to watch and cover for TV, Eh? I can only hope that, perhaps, Diorio and Corindia can create a new series about the lives of these newly-graduated doctors working in the community they were educated in.

Hard Rock Medical airs Tuesdays with back-to-back episodes at 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET on TVO. Episodes are available for streaming at tvo.org the day after each new broadcast.

Images courtesy of TVO.

 

 

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Season 2 of Heavy Rescue: 401 drives back onto Discovery

I’ve seen some pretty crazy stuff during my decades driving the 400 series highways in southern Ontario. There was the jackknifed tractor-trailer I observed sliding sideways on the northbound 427 as I drove southbound, spinning cars bouncing off one another on the 403 in Hamilton and an elderly woman walking down the offramp onto the 404. I can only imagine the wide range of things witnessed by the police, firefighters, EMTs and tow truck drivers during their careers.

A mere taste of those experiences are featured in Season 2 of Heavy Rescue: 401, returning Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery. The No. 1 specialty program in its timeslot—from the producers of the equally engaging Highway Thru Hell—once again takes cameras into the cabs and onto the roadways of the province’s 400 series highways including the 401 (the busiest stretch of freeway in North America), documenting the heroics and characters keeping those routes clear.

Tuesday’s first episode sets the stage for what’s to come, as Ontario Provincial Police officer Sgt. Kerry Schmidt outlines how everyone has to be vigilant at all times for road conditions to change. And, minutes later, it does just that. A sudden snowstorm—blowing in earlier than expected—turns the 401 at Yonge St. into a sheet of ice. Salters are on high alert. They’re not fast enough, however, and cars start spinning out. It’s here that Heavy Rescue: 401‘s producers really shine; their relationship with the Ministry of Transportation’s massive control centre—the eyes that watch and manage the highways—means they have access to the centre’s camera system and can show real footage as accidents (and drama) unfolds. As interesting as it is to learn about the people who work the highways and arrive at the scene of a collision to show the cleanup, the COMPASS cameras tell the story of how it happened.

The COMPASS cameras capture key footage the following day as a dump truck driver’s box—in the up position—drives straight into a bridge, causing traffic chaos. Enter Steve’s Towing driver Sonny Subra, who rushes to the scene but is hogtied by traffic. Meanwhile, in Barrie, Ont., Classic Towing & Storage’s James is under the gun to clear a unique and surprising breakdown before the next band of snow hits highway 400.

Additional stories covered this season on Heavy Rescue: 401 is the complete shutdown of the 401 twice (once for over 30 hours); more time spent with the OPP and their tales, including an organ transplant run and airborne highway patrol; and Kingston, Ont. being included in episodes.

And with a third season already in production, fans can look forward to more Heavy Rescue: 401 stories in 2019.

What accidents and/or experiences have you had on Ontario’s 400 series highways? Let me know in the comments below.

Heavy Rescue: 401 airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

 

 

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Featured, Travelers

Comments and queries for the week of December 29

1 Comment

1. Why did the director not intervene to prevent the “travelers” program from being made public?

2. If Philip was given memories of the now altered timeline, and his knowledge his knowledge is once again quiet “historically” accurate—accurate enough to know the moment Carly was going to beat her husband to death—how is he not aware of the travelers program being made public?

I hope the writers can explain this and still maintain the internal logic of the show. Can’t wait for Season 3. —Fissile

Seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised if [Travelers] gets cancelled. During the second season, it took a similar way as Person of Interest in its third and fourth season. Instead of concentrating on fixing the future, our travelers have to fight against personal problems and two major enemies, the Faction and Mr. Ingram. Which led to about eight more or less mediocre episodes in Season 2, where I seriously asked myself if the writer’s team was constantly on vacation because they did so good on Season 1. Now the last three or four episodes got some drive back, but still, the original mission was to find out what causes the worlds degradation and to fix it.

I loved Season 1, it was fast, well played, well written, with interesting characters, a surprise. Especially the concept itself elevated it from other time travel stories, since sending consciousnesses through time instead of matter, which would need a nearly infinite amount of power, simply made sense. We do that all the time by remembering. And my, was that (mostly) well done! Season 2, instead, went in the wrong direction. I fear it lost a lot of the audience. And when Simon came into the game, I was embarrassed because we had a mad, but genius time travelling engineer in Continuum, so, this character was completely copied from there. I did like Continuum though, but Kira’s constantly present “I wanna go home to my son”whining annoyed me, so I already may have had a bad feeling when MacLaren was announced to have a child.

Travelers made the same mistake as its protagonists; it got involved with too many details of our current world, losing the big picture that could bind us to the screen, waiting for every episode to reveal something terrifying and new. Which didn’t happen in the first eight episodes of Season 2, sorry!

Now with Agent MacLaren slapped in the face by his wife, that could be a proper allegorical conclusion, before the show gets a third installment that would ruin it completely. —Knotzers

I just love this show! Spoiler Alert: so, at the season finale, we see that both Simon and Vincent have taken over other bodies using the new machine that Simon has built. Assuming Simon built another machine just like the Director (since he built the first one in the future) does having a second machine now in the 20th century mean that the Director doesn’t exist? Will this machine replace the Director? Or do they both exist? Also, what will happen with Simon who has now replaced Vincent? Will he now assume some of the mad-man traits? Or is that purely 001’s traits? Can’t wait for Season 3! —Am

I have read and watched a lot of sci-fi and it’s normally quite difficult to let the plot holes and inconsistencies slide. On this show, I have been having difficulty spotting them. My only concern is that great sci-fi like this does not last more than two-three seasons (too much thinking involved for some folk). —John

 

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

 

 

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries, Travelers

Comments and queries for the week of December 22

I was very disappointed with last night’s Murdoch Mysteries. A Ponzi scheme, an autopsy on a dog, [First Nations] against the white man, the death of a man, greed, Megan Fellows’ inconsistent accent, dismal ladies’ clothes, falsehoods. Acting was somewhat stilted. First time that I’ve been disappointed. Not very cheery storylines for this season. Looking forward to 2018. Thank you for all of the past entertaining shows. —Lynda

I’m not a regular viewer of Murdoch, but I enjoyed this episode immensely. Just the right balance of making a serious point and light-hearted fair. I hope the producers do more of these episodes. —John

I’m finally getting caught up and I must say, I’m sad to see Jackson go. I’m hoping this can be a turning point for Higgins, though (haven’t fully caught up yet so I have a few episodes to look forward to, to see if that happens). Finally, I like the new detective (felt like putting a positive in there given the negative above me). I like that he’s quirky. And I sadly have to admit that I think Jackson was a good choice for the victim. We had just started to like him but he wasn’t one of the core characters. His loss therefore stings but isn’t a show-ending sting. Good emotional play without being overwhelming. So happy that this show has remained so awesome over the years. Keep up the good work! —Graymalk

I wish I were in beautiful Canada right now. We in the U.S. will not get to see it! Merry Christmas to everyone connected with the Murdoch show. It is so much fun to just sit and relax and enjoy a family show that has become an institution. I hope it never ends! —Sue

The Director [on Travelers] obviously let a lot of things happen—if it didn’t want the program exposed, it could’ve overwritten the five travelers at any time before things got out of hand. Vincent claims the Director has no compassion but if it didn’t, why did it let our five travelers do what they did to save their loved ones? To smoke out Vincent? Because of the change in future due to the Travelers program being revealed, does it mean that the Director is no longer necessary and that humanity’s future is secure even though these five may have paid a price? I suppose that’s one ending if the show is not renewed anymore. But otherwise, I think the Director saw this coming and it decided to let it go for specific reasons. Maybe the travelers will be accepted and welcomed after all. —Ram

I have to say this program really hit its stride this season. Although I watched and enjoyed Season 1, I wasn’t really invested in the characters or the show until this season got going. The only bad thing about Season 2 is that it is going to be over soon! —Bridget

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

 

 

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Featured, Mohawk Girls

Mohawk Girls — On:a

Last week’s episode of Mohawk Girls closed with everyone facing a critical decision that would affect their personal happiness. Would Caitlin choose Butterhead or Leon? Would Bailey choose to remain with James–a white man–or choose her responsibility to family and culture? Would Zoe choose to her needs or her mother’s ideal for a Mohawk citizen? And finally, would Anna, at long last, choose to accept herself and by doing so find her home in Kahnawa:ke?

This week the cold open featuring Bailey (Jenny Pudavick) and James (Jeffrey Wetsch) nicely summarized all of Bailey’s fears as this young couple contemplated what their future could mean together. After lists and careful reflection, Bailey chose both James and Kahnawa:ke. To celebrate, she hosted a pool party to welcome James. Anyone who supported her decision was invited to attend; a test run of sorts. Initially, it looked as though no one was going to attend and then once they did, no one was interacting. In the end, James broke the ice and challenged everyone to a cannonball contest. Nothing beats a good competition, and bridges between families and communities were forged.

Meanwhile, with Ohserase’s (Shawn Youngchief) support, Zoe (Brittany LeBorgne) was finally, at long last putting her own needs first instead of quashing them until they manifested in unhealthy ways. She was simply unwilling to sacrifice her dance class to participate in an end-of-season garbage clean up. She chose herself first over her community. Recognizing that she needed a clean slate, Zoe decided to remove herself from her family and Kahnawa:ke entirely. She and Ohserase went apartment hunting and found her fresh start; Zoe is moving off rez and into Montreal.

Anna ( Maika Harper) took a stand and chose self-respect over Midas’ two-blowjobs-a-day requirements, and Midas showed her the door. Anna’s cousin quickly stepped up to serve his needs. Later at the bar, Anna also took a stand against Iostha (Ally Pratt), and publicly declared that she is white and Mohawk and is “damn proud of who I am!” Did anyone else catch that look of envy by Iostha? The ONLY complaint I have about this episode was the Iostha storyline. While I understand the desire to tie up all of the loose ends, I didn’t think it was necessary for Iostha to also have an epiphany and suddenly put her nastiness aside. Cue the Happy-Happy. It just felt too rushed. At any rate, with her declaration, and self-acceptance, Anna finally feels as though she belongs in Kahnawa:ke. Hat Girl is BACK!

And finally, the most satisfying conclusion for the series! Caitlin (Heather White) finally put it all together. After unleashing a long stream of consciousness on poor Watio (Jimmy Blais), Caitlin realised she was looking for validation through men instead of loving herself. Watio queried, “So what are you going to do about that?” Let’s just say that when Caitlin makes up her mind, she really makes up her mind. First, she broke up with Leon (Dwain Murphy), and then we got to savour that moment we have all been waiting for since Season 1. Caitlin said goodbye to Blockheaded Butterhead (Meegwun Fairbrother) for good!

If you recall back when the series returned for Season 5, I felt Mohawk Girls had come full circle; back to the beginning of Season 1. While this final episode “Warriors” served to complete the series, I think it also satisfied many issues raised back in Season 1, Episode 4, “Where’s My Warrior?”

“Where’s My Warrior?” focused on the choice between the search for the warrior who would always have your back rather than just settling for a guy. Butterhead had just betrayed Caitlin when he drunkenly treated Lollipop to the butter treatment, so Caitlin returned to Stoney where her father (Lawrence Bayne) promptly let her down as well. Bailey was dating Jack, another white man, who ultimately let her down because he could not handle the drama. Zoe was just beginning to travel down the path of sexual addiction. Her need to rebel against the pressures her mother placed upon her were proving too difficult to cope and her father never stood up for her. And Anna had just embarked on her path of discovery, relying on Thunder for the cultural knowledge and community status that her deceased father could not provide, in order to help her establish her position in Kahnawa:ke. All of our protagonists were looking outward to locate themselves and find their self-worth.

Now we have come full circle. Instead of looking elsewhere for strength like we saw in Season 1, this season all of our leading ladies found that strength in themselves. In the end we saw Bailey, but with confidence in herself, and with the support of her family and her community, facing a bright future with James. Caitlin chose to find her happiness and self-worth inside herself rather than relying on the men in her life. Zoe chose to separate herself from her dysfunctional family and from the demands of Kahnawa:ke as she focuses on her next stage of healing. And Anna finally chose to accept both sides of herself, the white and the Mohawk, just as her parents had done by choosing each other, and through that self-acceptance found her position in Kahnewa:ke. So, tonight also answered the question posed in Season 1 “Where’s My Warrior?” Your “Warrior” is you.

My sincere thanks go out to co-creators Tracey Deer and Cynthia Knight, and the cast and crew of Mohawk Girls for a truly insightful but hilariously fun look at life in Kahnawa:ke and life as a modern Indigenous woman in Canada today. Nia:wen for sharing your home with us, teaching us and doing so with laughter.

Niawenkowa!

How do you feel about Mohawk Girls coming to an end? Let me know in the comments below!

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