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Featured, Saving Hope

Review: A mother’s touch on Saving Hope

Mother’s Day seems to have come early for the Saving Hope crew.

Wednesday’s all-new episode, “Fearless,” put matriarchs front and centre in the action (as moms rightfully deserve to be), as some end-of-pregnancy thoughts made Alex ponder the type of mother she’ll be and the poor relationship with her own mother, one she hadn’t even shared the pregnancy news with.

Of course, whenever Alex has something going on in her life, there always seems to be a medical storyline that coincides with it. Cue the world’s most rude mother. Theresa (if I caught her name right) was a real piece-of-work, bitter about the way her life and two daughters (who seemed perfectly normal on all fronts) turned out. It only took Theresa’s comment about throwing Alex down a flight of stairs to terminate her pregnancy for me to quickly realize no one would be able to reason with her all night, which was quickly proven the case. Yet, somehow, her two daughters were able to put their mother’s baggage aside and stay by her side throughout her hospital stay, which included trying to command nurses to take her to the operating room and nearly dying after surgery.

If Theresa’s daughters were able to put aside the angst with their own mother, Alex could try with hers, right? Wrong, although I wish we could’ve actually heard the conversation the two had rather than just see Alex crying over it. Despite being shut out from the actual conversation, at least we were given some context to the rocky relationship the duo share through Alex’s conversations with Joel and Dana, which only reiterated the support system Alex has with her hospital friends.

Speaking of Joel, let’s be thankful he didn’t go through with his seriously dumb plan to pop the question to Alex. However, it seems everyone in the hospital now knows his intentions (not the smartest idea carrying the ring in your scrubs, buddy), which means sooner rather than later that news will probably travel to Charlie. Other than nearly making the biggest mistake of his life, Joel helped save the life of a young hockey player named Hayden involved in a car accident. Joel did a great thing for the boy, but I really didn’t agree with his decision to listen to Hayden’s girlfriend and lie to his face that his best friend, Shawn, had also died in the accident.

Naturally the sprit of the best friend was what Charlie was dealing with predominantly, although Shawn seemed like a really cool dude–minus the texting and driving offense. And Shawn was able to appeal to Charlie’s good nature and help convince Joel and Shahir they could repair Hayden’s back so he wouldn’t be paralyzed. (Has Charlie ever really said no to a ghost’s request before? Can Charlie say no to anyone?)

The most intriguing storyline of the night, however, came when Sydney’s fiancé, Herschel, checked himself in to the hospital, believing he was dying. First of all, I forgot Sydney even had a fiancé, what with her fling with Maggie. The two had zero chemistry together, which was another obvious sign that Sydney shouldn’t have been marrying him. Luckily, Sydney came to her senses and came clean to Herschel that she was gay, and although I don’t blame him for being upset with her, there was no better thing for her to do for herself. And hey, maybe Hershel was just upset that he just had a tapeworm pulled out of his nose.

Will Sydney and Maggie become a thing? Will Alex make a final choice between Joel and Charlie? Will the gang pass their medical boards? The season finale is almost upon us, so expect these questions and more to be addressed as Alex gets set to head into labour.

Notes:

  • That tapeworm might have been the worst thing I’ve ever seen on this show.
  • Alex: “These are the most beautiful flower cupcakes.” Maggie: “Actually these are vaginas.”
  • If Herschel didn’t realize his fiancée had the hots for another lady from the amount of personal information Sydney shared with him about Maggie, he needs to open his eyes a little bit.
  • Congrats to star Erica Durance for giving birth on Tuesday!

Saving Hope airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV.

Thoughts? Hit is up below or via @tv_eh.

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Book of Negroes, Featured

Review: Book of Negroes takes a bow

It’s a shame for CBC that one of their biggest ratings successes lately is six episodes and done, but it’s a sign of hope that an expansive co-production based on Canadian literature could make such a splash.

Clement Virgo’s adaptation of Lawrence Hill’s novel comes to a close with an episode that sees Aminata reclaim her story once again.

It begins the Nova Scotia contingent still not so free in Freetown, the town they built from scratch, guarded by British soldiers who want them to stay in their little piece of Sierra Leone.

Their past flashes before their eyes as new captives stream past their town on the way to a life of slavery. Moses is killed trying to free a child, a grim reminder of the danger still around them.

Aminata remains determined to return to her village — the village Chekura helped steal her from, and he’s not terribly enthusiastic. “Why do you always make me chase you? We can love each other right here.”

He relents, as do the British slave traders who can help them with passage to the interior, and who sip tea from silver pots as their slaves scrabble for food among their sick and dying.

“Why do you trade in men?” she asks. “Everybody’s doing it” is the less than impressive answer, both for its moral emptiness and its slightly clunky dialogue. “Was it really that bad for you?”

Captain Clarkson is one who knows how bad it is, and who encourages her to return with him to London to convince the government to abolish the slave trade. “We need your story and we need your voice.”

Though Aminata is determined to return to her birthplace, she learns it no longer exists just before she and Chekura are confronted with a group of captives they have the power to free, just as they had hoped someone would help free them as children. Chekura sacrifices his life for their freedom, and a prostrate Aminata is rescued by nearby villagers. “I seem to have trouble dying” she tells them in something of an understatement.

She and Clarkson bond over classic English literature like Gulliver’s Travels and Robinson Crusoe, and Aminata’s story is at least as epic a stranger in a strange land story as either of those, even when she returns to her birthplace.

With no ties to Sierra Leone anymore, she goes to England to meet William Wilberforce and his abolitionists, eager to hear the gory details of her life — and shape the narrative to best suit their purposes. Instead she pens her own story — The Book of Negroes — and helps them abolish the slave trade (though not slavery itself). In another last act of atonement, Solomon Lindo reappears with her long-lost daughter May, reunited with her now-elderly mother, as Aunjanue Ellis has played her convincingly over an expansive age span.

A weakness of the mini-series has been the compression of an eventful lifetime into 4.5-ish hours. But it’s been a captivating journey despite its flaws.

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Featured, Open Heart

Review: Open Heart goes for the heart

It’s been four weeks since the debut of Open Heart on YTV, and after being impressed with the first double-dose of episodes on Jan. 20, I decided to sit down and revisit the series. Not that I haven’t been watching—I have a day or two after the fact via PVR—but I wanted the series to simmer for a bit, for the characters and story to evolve before breaking it down and analyzing it. Are the characters still compelling? Is the mystery still interesting? Is anyone getting on my nerves? Has Open Heart kept up the drama it promised in Night 1?

Absolutely.

“In Plain Sight” picked up seconds after last week’s instalment, with Dylan making a quick list of the people who most likely knew about the drugs her father was taking. It was a short list: Nana, Papa, Mom and a big question mark after London. (Can I take a second to throw some kudos towards the on-screen messages that flash up every time Dylan is on a computer, tablet or cell phone? It’s an ingenious way of storytelling without wasting a camera shot over her shoulder all the time.)

What a doozy of an episode to pick to review. By the time the half-hour had closed out Dylan and London confirmed Richard was schizophrenic, taking meds and seeing a psychiatrist, they learned their mother was sleeping with Dr. K and Wes told Dylan he loved her.

It was a lot for Dylan to take in and I can’t help but worry for the girl’s health, both mental and physical. Discovering she could inherit her dad’s issues was bad enough, but uncovering his secret place—jammed with maps, sketches of a soldier, numbers, keys and the name Agent Sheppard scrawled over and over again—clearly rattled her. Luckily, London was there to support her both in the storage locker and when they confronted Jane about what she knew.

Speaking of London, I didn’t take any pleasure in her decking Dr. K. He had, after all, asked Jane to reveal their relationship to the girls. K just happened to be there at the wrong time and bore the brunt of London’s rage.

And while I’m happy Wes revealed his feelings to Dylan, I think Mikayla was too hasty when she told him to do it right away. With so much on her plate right now, Dylan could push Wes away until she can fully process her feelings toward him. Don’t get me wrong. I was thrilled that he built up the guts to do it—with some help from those cute seniors and Casablanca—but I worry she’ll spurn him and he’ll back off completely.

Notes and quotes

  • Despite initial reservations (I thought he was too geeky), London and Seth have turned into a fantastic couple.
  • I may be a little out of touch, but I’m pretty sure Mikayla was wearing Nikki Sixx’s pants from Mötley Crüe’s Theater of Pain tour.
  • I cried a little bit when Mikayla and Wes didn’t know what a VHS tape was.
  • “What happened to ‘Eat all the fries London?'”
  • “What in the hell?” I’d been waiting for that reaction from Dylan ever since Jane’s phone said she was at a hotel.

Open Heart airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on YTV.

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Featured, Podcast

TV eh B Cs podcast 13 – Tim Southam is Omnidirectional

TimSoutham

Tim Southam has directed dramas, comedies and documentaries exploring life on the land, life in politics and life in the arts. He has also worked as a director on several of the world’s most-watched series.

His films include The Bay of Love and Sorrows, Drowning in Dreams, Trudeau: Maverick in the Making, The Tale of Teeka, Perreault Dancer, Satie and Suzanne and One Dead Indian. Recent series include Bates Motel, Bones and House.

He is developing his third feature, Hey 45 with writer Morwyn Brebner and producer Anna Stratton.

In addition to regular successes with audiences and critics, awards for his work include three best directing Geminis, two best program Geminis and nominations for the Genie, Jutra and Grammy.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Featured, Helix

Review: A Helix of legacies

I doubt “Densho,” the title of this week’s Helix, was referring only to Hatake passing on his legacy via the katana to Julia. As Sarah lay bleeding and gasping about her baby and Peter and Alan continued to feel the aftershocks of their troubled childhood, that Julia’s last resort when confronted with her imminent death was to sing Hatake’s song was just the final scene of an episode that really delved into what it meant to pass something on to the next generation.

And while Hatake’s dreamy break with reality got played up more for the twisted humour of the show—through an amazing, revert-to-childhood fishing trip—it also showed how Hatake was still trying to sort out his ties to his children: one of his flesh, as the series put it, and the one he’d raised and who died for a sister he didn’t even like. Considering everything about Hatake in Season 1 revolved around revealing himself to Julia and making her immortal, it’s fitting that his final preoccupation was whether or not what he’d passed on was actually as lucky as he thought it was. And that despite this—and the troubled times the father and daughter alluded to while sparring in the woods—Hatake’s last breaths were spent getting himself back to the table so he, Jane and Daniel could be together forever.

That same paternal discord could be felt between Peter and Alan as they struggled to work together despite years of mistrust. Except this time around, Alan’s only playing the trusting brother to Peter’s lies, knowing full well that it wasn’t a random blow to the head that brought him to that field. Although I doubt even this new, killer Alan could have expected Balleseros to be the person on the other end of that phone exchange.

As Hatake weighed his legacy—and then passed it onto Julia—it doesn’t entirely feel like a coincidence that Balleseros is involved with the island too. It’s another community where parental ties are dissolved at a young age and smacks of Hatake’s own kidnappings. Is Balleseros still on the hunt for Anana’s orphans, or is he back in Ilaria’s pocket? Either way, he’s looking less like the organization’s Doberman and more like a man in charge—though who between he and Peter is the least trustworthy one is still a hard call. But for all the answers that were dished out tonight, the pull the island has for immortals remains a mystery.

One thing that is starting to come together are Michael’s “girls,” as mother, daughter and grandmother faced a grilling over Soren’s fate. Michael seems to be just as in the dark as the CDC when it comes to the generations of women who have clearly been involved in protecting him and the island. If nothing else, it dropped a couple of hints about what Michael’s actual secret might be—and I don’t think it’s the one Kyle was alluding to when the doting cult leader stopped by to check on his bruises.

Still, whatever legacy the women are passing on, it’s growing more corrupt with each generation as Amy took matters into her own hands last week, leaving Anne and Agnes to try to reign her in this week. Despite appearances, Anne seems to be weakest of the three—making me slightly nervous about Michael’s habit of resting his hands tightly around her throat. But while she’s still trying to maintain the isolation of their colony in a way that’s putting her at odds with Michael, I suspect she just might be the only one in that family that’s still playing by the same rules he is. Whatever Amy is trying to accomplish with Landry’s help seems darker than anything her mother could dream of cooking up.

For a man who clearly can’t handle losing a smidge of power, Michael seems oblivious to the fact that he’s already lost control of the situation. And I’ve got a feeling that while Michael and the CDC play their little games with each other the real danger was standing right beneath him in that hall, awaiting her own legacy.

Other goo-dness:

  • Between Michael’s comments about grafting and humans and Mischa’s remark about her pregnancy, does anyone else suspect the cult of practicing eugenics?
  • Do Sarah and Kyle know Peter has a working phone? Because when your vectors go murder-y on each other being able to call for backup might be a good option to have.
  • The fact that Jordan Hayes is only listed as a guest star might make it a bit of a giveaway, but Sarah’s behaviour this season has me thinking she’s not going to immortal her way out of this one.
  • Again, that fishing montage was the series’ sick humour at its best. They need to find a way to keep Meegwun Fairbrother around again (like putting Tulok with Balleseros).

Helix airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on Showcase.

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