Everything about Saving Hope, eh?

Book of Negroes, Dragons' Den, Saving Hope, Young Drunk Punk

Tonight: Saving Hope, Young Drunk Punk, Dragons’ Den, The Book of Negroes

Saving Hope, CTV – “A Simple Plan”
Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) finds herself under the thumb of her overprotective birth partner – leading her to wonder what kind of plans are truly worth making. When a patient comes in two days before he’s set to go to prison, Alex and Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) must sift through his many secrets to find out the truth about what really happened to him to help save his life. Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross) and Dr. Zach Miller (Ben Ayres) treat a couple on their way to see the Northern Lights, when a surprise diagnosis changes their futures forever – leading Zach to open up to Maggie about his own family secrets. Dr. Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies) enlists Dr. Shahir Hamza’s (Huse Madhavji) help to get a young bride ready to walk down the aisle. Charlie finds a spirit loitering in the halls, and when he discovers why, he finds himself facing a very emotional flash from his past. ETALK Anchor Ben Mulroney makes a guest appearance on this episode.

Young Drunk Punk, City – “The Van”
Ian (Tim Carlson) and Shinky (Atticus Mitchell) turn an old van into the coolest party wagon in town, but when the van threatens their friendship, the guys have to decide if they’d rather be friends with each other, or with the van. Meanwhile, Belinda (Allie Macdonald) and Lloyd (Bruce McCulloch) team up for some father-daughter crime fighting, and Helen (Tracy Ryan) takes up jogging – only to find that she’s exercising her eyes as much as her legs.

Dragons’ Den, CBC
One entrepreneur thinks he has the right skills to be an industry ringleader; a Dragon gets burned by a flashy product causing the other Dragons to breathe fire; and one product’s outlawed origins rear an ethical motive. Plus, a green product has two Dragons seeing red.

The Book Of Negroes, CBC – Part 5 of 6
As racial tensions boil in Nova Scotia, Aminata organizes a final journey back to Africa.

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Featured, Saving Hope

Three thumbs up for Canadian broadcasters

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There are times — many, many times — when I prod our Canadian TV industry to do better. Make more original shows. Schedule and promote them more wisely. Believe the Internet isn’t just a fad.

But sometimes, kudos are in order. This last week a few small actions made me cheer loudly:

  1. A few years ago, the previous CBC regime decided against picking up a weirdly hilarious pilot called Gavin Crawford’s Wild West. Like many a failed pilot in Canadian TV, it aired almost surreptitiously at some point, because a requirement of funding is often that a produced episode must see the light of day. Well, it’s back, less surreptitiously, in a smart use of existing content for their Punchline website. It’s been chopped up into sketches and given a second life, sitting alongside made-for-the-web series such as Bill & Sons Towing and online extras for CBC comedy series such as 22 Minutes and Schitt’s Creek. Check out Punchline here.
  2. In the battle of the online streaming services, Netflix wins for me hands down given it’s the only one accessible to me. It also has shows I can’t see anywhere else. For years I’ve pointed out that original content is the currency of the changing TV business and that Canadian networks were being left behind. But Bell-owned CraveTV has been doing something savvy with the content they do own. They may never want to produce originals just for the streaming service — Canadian broadcasters like to maximize their spending by spreading shows across all their properties — but they can entice Saving Hope fans to sign up for the opportunity to see episodes a day before they air on conventional television. Smart programming for a new platform.
  3. Sure, Bell gets a lot of credit for its Bell Let’s Talk campaign that raised over $6 million this year for mental health causes. But shomi, the streaming service owned by competitors Rogers and Shaw, gets the good sportsmanship award for joining the conversation:

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Featured, Saving Hope

Review: Saving Hope explains the unexplainable

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Sometimes when I’m watching Charlie interact with the spirits on Saving Hope, my eyes can’t help but wander to the background. Not because I’m bored by what’s going on, but to see if anyone else is noticing Charlie talking to, well, thin air, while we watch him help guide the spirits to a peaceful place.

That idea was at the forefront of Wednesday’s episode, “Remains of the Day,” as an unexplainable move in surgery made thanks to a spirit’s guidance was brought to the attention of staff at Hope Zion, with Dawn hoping Charlie could explain his miraculous move to his colleagues. Only problem? Charlie couldn’t do that without being hauled off to the psych ward.

Really the whole issue was due to a slightly neurotic, OCD spirit named Elaine, whose panic attack mid-surgery forced Charlie to address her spirit in the close proximity of surgeons like Maggie and Rian. It may have been just shrugged off as typical strange Charlie behaviour if Elaine didn’t begin to stroke out, forcing Charlie to use the spot her spirit was clutching as guidance as to where to perform emergency surgery. It certainly was a reckless move to everyone else–can’t say I wouldn’t be freaking right out knowing my colleague was about to carelessly drill into a patient’s head–that spiraled into a medical learning opportunity thanks to Dawn’s insistance (although I’m pretty sure she just wanted to get to the bottom of Charlie’s craziness once and for all). If it weren’t for Maggie and Rian’s elaborate detective skills (or was it simply their oh so desperate need for Charlie to help them study?), Charlie would be in a much different situation when he ended the episode.

While Dawn was trying to expose Charlie’s mysterious ways, she was also attempting to juggle the return of Giselle to the hospital and the bond the two forged during their short time together. I’ve loved seeing Giselle go head-to-head with Dawn, since she’s one of the few characters who seems game for keeping up with Dawn’s bitter attitude all the time. It did feel like we were being hit over the head with the notion that Dawn would at least contemplate adopting Giselle herself, and although I was initially a little miffed she chose her work over the girl, it was probably for the best that Giselle is just staying with Dawn for a week-long trial period rather than anything permenant.

The other main storyline was certainly emotional, as Joel and Alex tried to figure out what exactly was wrong with a caring high school teacher. After years of terrible teachers, I think the storyline touched me so much knowing how much an engaged and invested teacher can shape a young person’s life and how much the dedicated English teacher was trying to give his students. When we finally heard the teacher had an uncurable disease my heart went out to the guy, and I found that doing the play in the hospital was a really sweet way to wrap up his sad story.

Something about what the English teacher said jogged Alex’s memory of her father, causing her hand to cramp up again. It was good of Alex to look into her father once and for all (although it felt like the whole thing was really breezed right over) but the most groundbreaking part of the scene was seeing Alex’s vision of her baby and Charlie playing together. Could Team Charlie be closer to edging out Team Joel in the baby game?

Notes:

  • “You see wonton, I see chaos.” I feel bad calling her insane because OCD isn’t something you can control, but Elaine was a lot.
  • That whole three-way vibe between Maggie, Sydney and James makes me very uncomfortable.

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

Thoughts? Drop us a line below or @tv_eh.

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Book of Negroes, Featured, Murdoch Mysteries, Ratings, Saving Hope, Schitt's Creek

Ratings: Canadian series rock the top 30 for January 12-18

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In the Numeris ratings for January 12-18, Canadian scripted series earned five of the top 30 spots, including both episodes of Schitt’s Creek‘s double-header premiere:

  • # 14: Book of Negroes – 1.607 million
  • #16: Schitt’s Creek – 1.581 million
  • #17: Schitt’s Creek – 1.554
  • #19: Murdoch Mysteries – 1.387
  • #20: Saving Hope – 1.384
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Book of Negroes, Dragons' Den, Saving Hope, Young Drunk Punk

Tonight: Young Drunk Punk, Dragons’ Den, Book of Negroes, Clara’s Big Ride, Saving Hope

Young Drunk Punk, City – “Working for Cowboy”
Determined to not end up like his father, Ian (Tim Carlson) takes a construction job with Shinky (Atticus Mitchell) but gets more than he bargained for when the boss turns out to be his sister’s scary ex-boyfriend.

Dragons’ Den, CBC
A protective product sparks a Dragon competition and turns heads in the Den; an entrepreneur exposes it all to have the Dragons weigh in; and a couple outlines their eco-friendly solution to a monthly problem. Plus, accomplished Canadian athletes hope the Dragons will join their team.

The Book Of Negroes, CBC – Part 4 of 6
After British defeat, Aminata registers Black Loyalists in The Book Of Negroes for an escape to freedom in Nova Scotia.

Clara’s Big Ride, CTV
Premiering in primetime on CTV during Bell Let’s Talk Day (Jan. 28), the original one-hour Bell Media documentary CLARA’S BIG RIDE chronicles an unprecedented 11,000 km bicycle journey across Canada by six-time Olympic medallist and Bell Let’s Talk spokesperson Clara Hughes. Throughout the journey, Hughes spreads a hopeful message designed to break the silence surrounding mental illness and helps create a stigma-free Canada. Directed by multi-award winning filmmaker Larry Weinstein (Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, Our Man in Tehran, TSN’s THE 13th MAN), the documentary recounts Hughes’ epic 110-day journey through 105 communities and 235 events in varied and often extreme weather conditions from coast to coast to coast.

Saving Hope, CTV – “Remains of the Day”
Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance), Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross), and Dr. Rian Larouche (Danso Gordon) could use a little help studying for their surgical board exams. So when a high school English teacher comes in for treatment, Alex finds herself receiving a few life lessons of her own. Meanwhile, Dr. Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies) is consumed with a patient’s vanishing bones. And a patient, who is very particular with her lists, has Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) working through a long list of medical reasons as to why she could be flatlining in the OR. Plus, the future of a teenage girl rests in Dawn’s (Michelle Nolden) hands – and a future she doesn’t know if she’s ready for weighs heavily on her heart.

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