From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:
X Company preview: To the Dark Side!
After taking a week to gather itself and slow the action down a bit, X Company returns in full force Wednesday night. Make no mistake about it, things are about to get very real for our team as major plans are set into motion that will have huge consequences both this week and moving forward towards the end of Season 2. Continue reading.
Sandra Chwialkowska found her reality mirroring fiction during Season 2 of X Company. Like the CBC drama’s lead character, Aurora, Chwialkowska was surrounded by three other men in a country she was unfamiliar with.
After working on series like Lost Girl, Remedy and Cracked, Chwialkowska joined X Company this year to contribute directly to what’s going on in Aurora’s head, expand Sabine’s role and introduce Resistance fighter Miri into the mix. We spoke to her about all that and got a sneak peek into her next episode, “Fatherland,” airing in a few weeks.
I wrote this a week or so ago, but X Company has really upped its game in Season 2. Aurora’s team is tight and their storylines are great. And, I can’t help but be drawn to Faber and Sabine’s story too.
Sandra Chwialkowska: That was one of the things that we kept checking in on. The actor that plays Faber, Torben Liebrecht, and the actress that plays Sabine, Livia Matthes, are such incredible people that it’s hard not to fall in love with them. But, at the same time, that’s something that was really important to Mark and Stephanie; to really explore the moral compass and how someone like Faber got involved in the Gestapo and everything. We talked about how maybe he joined the ranks as a way to impress Sabine’s father. He wasn’t a die-hard. He did what many men kind of had to do: join the party. Not to excuse any of his behaviour, but we’re really interested in the human side.
You joined X Company in Season 2. How did that happen?
I was on the last season of Lost Girl when Season 1 of X Company was done. I’ve been wanting to work wth Mark and Stephanie for some time. I’d heard nothing but rave reviews about how they’re the best showrunners in the country and I love learning from the best. I’m actually working on the development of my own series with Temple Street, who produce X Company, and the development executives asked me if I was interested in coming on board X Company. They recommended me to Mark and Stephanie, we had a meeting and we really hit it off. I think part of it was to maybe get another female voice in the room and they were just looking for writers who had experience.
This season is really about Sabine coming to the fore and opening her eyes a little bit. The relationship between her and Aurora is going to deepen.
Do you feel like you brought something to the writers’ room that wasn’t there before?
I would say that, in some rooms that I’ve been in before, I have been the only female. I have sensed tokenism in the past, ‘I’m here to put the words in the ladies’ mouths,’ and that kind of thing. In X Company, there was a real strong sense of getting gender balance, but not because we had to satisfy a network demand. It was Mark and Stephanie—who are incredibly passionate—saying, ‘Aurora is the leader of the team and we want to really get into her head.’ And. obviously, Sabine, as the show has become more serialized and delved into Faber’s domestic life, rose to the fore.
Some showrunners say they want a really opinionated, vocal room. Mark and Stephanie really want that. Our room has Denis McGrath, Adam Barken and Dan Godwin. When they know what they want, Mark and Stephanie are very firm. But when it’s an open question, they sit and let the dialogue go. It’s a true debate and a true discussion and the best idea wins.
What was it like working on Season 2 in Budapest?
I literally felt like I was Aurora. I shared an office with three men for four months. [Laughs.] I really felt like her. I felt like a stranger in a strange land, on assignment in a foreign country and you don’t know anyone. You just have this little posse. What’s fascinating about Budapest is that it’s a city that has been occupied by so many different regimes over the centuries; that’s why it works as a location for big Hollywood movies and X Company. One street looks like Paris and another looks like Berlin. It’s the bizarre melting pot of regimes that have occupied it. You really feel the war is a living history. You see bullet holes in buildings. And they have these things that are unique to Budapest called ruin pubs; they’re these old, ruined buildings that were bombed out during the war that have been turned into pubs. We would go there after work for dinner or a drink and really feel the history.
You’re a supervising producer on X Company. What does that title entail?
I wrote one and a half episodes this season. I wrote Episode 4 and co-wrote Episode 8 with Mark and Stephanie. It means that I’m a writer in the room but I’m also producing the episode, which means meetings all through pre-production in terms of costumes and wardrobe and location scouting. In the case of ‘Last Man, Last Round,’ that incredible fortress really dictated the story because they had to escape from that location. I’m also liaising with the director, the art department and casting. That was also the episode where we cast Miri and Klaus. There is a lot of producing that goes beyond the writing of the script. Being on-set is a huge thing too, dealing with fires as they come up, being the eyes and ears for Mark and Stephanie because they can’t be everywhere at once.
Let’s get to some storylines. Faber and Sabine’s relationship seems to be crumbling. Will that continue as the season goes on?
We’re going to spend a lot more time with their relationship and their marriage and the impact of losing Ulli. This season is really about Sabine coming to the fore and opening her eyes a little bit. The relationship between her and Aurora is going to deepen. There is going to be some pretty shocking stuff coming up between them.
And, looking forward to the next episode you co-wrote, Episode 8, entitled “Fatherland.” What can you tell me about that?
The title is really relevant because it has two meanings. One is it’s about patriotism and allegiance and that’s a big theme in the episode. What are we fighting for, where does our allegiance lie and why? The team will get a very visceral reminder of what they’re fighting for. The Fabers explore allegiance in that way, as to what side they’re on and why, and what that does to an individual.
X Company airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
Murdoch Mysteries showrunner explains heartbreaking episode
I don’t agree with Peter Mitchell that “the mystery of where [Roland] came from was ultimately solved.†Detective Freddie Pink’s research was fuzzy on details that just did not add up. Example: there was an official record of the mother going into labour and a midwife attending, so how could the record also say, without raising eyebrows, that no baby was born? The record said that the mother went into labour “before her time,†but it must have been close to full term because Roland was a fully developed, healthy, energetic baby at nine months. (Julia made a point of saying he was physically “perfectâ€.)
Maybe the midwife, Joanne Braxton, pretended that the mother went into labour before the baby was developed and so it was a miscarriage, not a birth? OK, the birth took place on an “out-of-town†homestead, but it wasn’t all that isolated because a midwife was summoned from Brantford. Wouldn’t there be at least one person (a sister, mother, neighbour, friend, her husband) who knew the mother and would know how far along she was? Even if a baby is stillborn, it would have to be recorded as such and buried in a legal manner. With so many details not known, could it be that the mother did not have a complicated pregnancy after all, but Joanne Braxton, as midwife, murdered her in order to steal her baby? Murdoch should order the mother’s body exhumed. If the midwife’s report was correct, an autopsy would find the body of an unborn fetus in the mother’s womb. That would confirm that Roland was not Harold Connor’s child. An autopsy could also determine if a live birth took place, but not that the baby was Roland. The Braxtons were professional thieves and could have stolen baby Roland from any one of many couples, or from a hospital, orphanage, or even just bought him from a poor mother. —Patricia
I said on Twitter a few weeks ago that it is not just good Canadian TV, it is just good TV.
I do wish people spoke their native tongues all of the time. But, I imagine that would require the main cast to speak German and French which might be difficult. I think audiences are no longer afraid of subtitles (if they ever were).
Seek out Heavy Water War (a Norwegian show about the German nuke program) and Generation War (a German show about WW2, amazing), they are both excellent. —Dave
Why are there subtitles for the German speakers when they are, at times, not on the screen long enough to read? Of course the Germans speak German. I get that! The French speakers speak English! It seems an unnecessary frill that does not add to the story and, in fact, takes away the obvious struggle of emotions that the German officer and his wife are dealing with. And, to top it off, “The Corporation†will slap a banner ad across the bottom of the screen at the most inopportune times: when there is a subtitle being displayed. Otherwise, we both love the series. It was an amazing period of history when ordinary people became extraordinary and made huge differences to the outcome of the war. We have been aware of the Camp X/Oshawa/ Whitby/Bowmanville contribution to the war for years. Thanks for letting me gripe about the language thing. —DB
Wolverine documentary: A CBC-TV first
I always record The Nature of Things and in particular I like the wildlife docs. I’ve only seen a wolverine once in the wild, while at a place called Wolverine Lake, B.C. (maybe three hours north of Prince George) and it was swimming. It took me a while to figure out what it was because it was all wet and I was looking through binoculars but after it went on land it dawned on me. I also saw a caribou swimming in the lake as well later the next day. Having spent a lot of time up in the northern forests of western Canada, I’ve seen plenty of wildlife but that remains my only wolverine sighting and it was incredibly exciting. —Alicia
Got a comment or question about Canadian TV? greg@tv-eh.com or @tv_eh.
From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:
X Company writer on the struggles of seeing both sides of the war
“We think the more you see the second half the more you sense the tumblers falling into place…even if you can’t see what they are. We like to zag instead of zig. There’s also a note of real tragedy looming, because we as the audience have a luxury of hindsight that they do not; they look on the upcoming Allied raid as the turning of the tide. We, of course, know it’s only 1942, and Dieppe was anything but. So you’re going to start to feel the mounting tension and dread and suspense from that.” Continue reading.Â
Last season, I reviewed X Company on a weekly basis, commenting on the characters, story structure, etc. It was a lot of fun, and satisfied the part of me that loves history. I decided that, for Season 2, I’d step back a bit and wait before writing anything about it. The reason? I wanted to let X Company wash over me and percolate before I wrote anything resembling a review. Now, after four weeks of episodes, I’m ready to write something.
X Company @#$%ing rocks.
Season 2 is tighter, packing drama, danger, emotion and levity into every 42-ish minute episode. There’s action at every turn, consequences to every decision and an understanding of what every character is going through regardless of what side of the Second World War they’re on.
The Allied group, headed by Aurora, is a much tougher and cohesive team. Alfred, has quickly evolved from a man struggling to control his warring senses into one willing to die to save both his team or those in need. I said, “What is he doing?!” to myself when Alfred ran out to replace the fallen POW in Wednesday’s latest episode. He quickly assessed the Allies needed someone on the inside to figure out how to bust five men out and decided the best way to do it was from inside the prison. Aurora has evolved too. Yes, her emotions are still very close to the surface, but she can make sacrifices to keep “the good guys” safe. She proved that last week when she killed René to keep him from spilling more secrets to the Nazis.
Speaking of the Nazis, I’ve been silently cheering for Franz Faber and his wife, Sabine. The pair made the awful decision to kill their developmentally disabled son, Ulli, rather than send him off to be murdered by strangers. Now the repercussions of that decision, including Faber eliminating that jerk Forst, are beginning to close in. Seeing Faber and Sabine struggle puts a human face to the side of the Second World War the Allies viewed as evil. But, of course, they’re people just like us, regardless of who or what they were fighting for.
Heading into Season 2, Dustin Milligan told TV, Eh? “the shit has hit the fan” for the team. He wasn’t lying. Time is running out for Aurora et al. to get organized in time for the invasion at Dieppe, while the mysterious scuba man has arrived in Whitby, Ont., intent on targeting Duncan Sinclair. The Second World War has arrived on Canadian soil, and I’m not sure what will happen next.
I can’t wait to find out.
X Company airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
