From Richard Ouzounian:
It’s no wonder that Shaun Majumder feels right at home on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, which celebrates its 22nd anniversary with a special broadcast on CBC this Tuesday at 8 p.m.
“Our goal is to push the boundaries of comedy from a social and political perspective,†says the 42-year-old comedian over cappuccino at a downtown hotel, “and that is always what I’ve been about.†Continue reading.
Once again, I must tip my hat to Shawn Piller and the rest of the folks at Haven. Why? Because my assumptions about Duke and Mara–and a bunch of other things–were all wrong. Thursday’s newest episode “Chemistry,” one week before the season finale, revealed conclusions to a couple of stories while blowing the door wide open on one other. Let’s break it down, shall we?
Dwight and McHugh
A lot was made of the fact former WWE tag team champs Edge and Christian would reunite on Haven (me included), so I was a tad disappointed their meeting was A) short, and B) talk about girls. I know McHugh will be back with more to do next year, so I’m holding out hope he’ll do more than just dry glasses and sip beer. Also, McHugh successfully dethroned Nathan as the man with the lowest and most gravelly voice in Haven.
Duke and Mara
The controversial decision to have them sleep together ended up being what I had suspected was the case all along: Mara used sex to play Duke. Mara and William’s end-game was always to create a weapon of some sort, and now it appears she has one in Duke. Crying black tears (is it aether?) and able to absorb and pass along Troubles? Yeah, Duke just morphed into something equally cool and scary. What he does with these new powers will be very interesting. Will he punish Mara for what she did to him, or will he embrace the awesome powers he has been given? (How neat is it when Duke’s eyes turn grey?)
Charlotte and Dwight
It was super-cute to see Haven’s second most serious cop get jiggy with the town’s newest visitor. After alleviating some stress he was a lot more relaxed and–shocker–even joked with his cot-mate.
Charlotte’s real identity
After realizing she wasn’t from the CDC, Vince wondered if Charlotte was CIA, black ops or even a military contractor. Turns out he was wrong: she is Audrey/Mara’s mother. The repercussions of this reveal is stunning, the most significant of which is that Dwight slept with Audrey’s mother. Let that sit in your mind for a minute or two. Story-wise, it appears Charlotte (if that is even her real name) is intent on nothing but the best forAudrey and wants to take Mara down. Was it Charlotte who put Mara in the barn in the first place? Hopefully we’ll find out the answer to that, and more, next week.
Notes and quotes
Haven airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on Showcase.
From David Berry:
This Hour Has 22 Minutes may be celebrating its 22nd anniversary, but there’s only one person who’s been with it from the very beginning. Cathy Jones first got talked into a spot behind the anchor desk by CODCO castmate Mary Walsh, and has spent the last two decades (and a bit) bringing to life correspondents from unflappable flapper Mrs. Enid to space cadet entertainment correspondent Sandy Campbell. Ahead of the CBC’s gala celebration of the show, the National Post’s David Berry caught up with Jones to talk about her comic longevity, how making fun of politicians has changed over the years and why we’re in the days of speaking up. Continue reading.
It’s a credit to Saving Hope’s writers that fans of the series get so invested in the show’s relationships, with things even occasionally getting a bit nasty between Teams Joel and Charlie. Which is why it’s such a shame that Season 3 has rarely allowed viewers to enjoy those couples once they finally happen.
In between watching Dawn do an about-face on a boyfriend twice in seven episodes, having Gavin go on a bender and take off after he and Maggie derailed, and Alex waking up without any sense of her feelings for Charlie, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that things with Joel hit a rocky patch almost as soon as they started. We’ve barely had any screen time with the couple—which has been teased for over two seasons now—before another flashback triggered what I expect is the return of Alex’s feelings for Charlie.
Though to be fair, Charlie’s gracious acceptance of defeat went a long way toward making up for how I felt about him racing off to pick a fight over the issue at the beginning of the season. Seeing that side of Charlie, instead of the angry, jealous one might also have helped remind Alex of the time they were everything to each other before a series of comas, ghosts and other dramatics threw their relationship through the processer. And it’s hard to deny the heat between Selena and Joel, which was back for another round.
But again, after wondering for so long when the other half of the love triangle would get its day (as they always do), it’s a bit disappointing to have all that build up thrown out almost immediately. The payoff, even for fans of the obvious end game of Charlie and Alex, is always so small compared to the build up that it’s going to make it hard to let myself get too invested in the characters’ personal lives should the trend keep up.
Thankfully, for a series that’s making a thing of the three-day work relationship, Wednesday’s “The Heartbreak Kid†did a much better job of picking up the continuity with some returning guests and cases. As a fan of Lexa Doig from her work on Arctic Air, seeing her back as the brash and charismatic Selena was a pleasure and her clinic is proving to be a rich resource for a completely different kind of patient and practice. I’d settle for seeing Joel commit more time to it since it fits well with his character history, but I won’t deny it would be interesting to see the rest of Hope Zion’s doctors start helping out and getting a break from their usual clientele—and I’m wondering if that opening scene was enough to possibly lure Zach to its doors and give Benjamin Ayres something more meaty to chew on.
And even without Lara’s ghost to milk the birth of Ezra Zarb for all its devastating emotional potential, having Joris Jarsky back to show us how David has been holding up since deciding to keep his wife on life support for their son was another welcome return. It’s not often we get to see how Charlie’s patients and their families fare after their otherworldly intervention and this particular case was deserving of a follow up if only to see how far David’s come since from angry, wall-punching person he was when we first met him.
Which also tied neatly into the evolving relationship between Maggie and Katz as they revisited their first case together and Maggie tried to prove she could be the kind of doctor Katz wanted her to be. I feel like just about everyone knows Maggie is ready to move onto the next step and having Katz hold her back suddenly was as frustrating to watch as I’m sure it was for the character. I’m hoping that ending—as unexpected and random as it was—means Katz realized it too and might change her brusque black-and-white emotionless approach (which saw her encouraging David to punch a wall in the first place). As for what else that kiss could mean, I’d read into it but I’m sure they’ll break up soon enough.
Hope-ful moments:
Saving Hope airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV.
Last week Murdoch Mysteries offered up a bottle episode–a mystery contained within the station house–that was stellar in its drama and storytelling. This week Republic of Doyle kept things locked up tight in the constabulary as the Doyles, Des and Leslie were all called to the carpet by Inspector Picard (guest star John Kapelos at his dickish best) who suspected them all in the death of Barbara Warrick, who’d hired the Doyles to test her mansion’s security system.
Picard’s rapid-fire questions rattled off the darkened walls of offices and interrogation rooms between midnight and 8 a.m., making for sparse surroundings and a focus on everyone’s answers. Stripped down like that–there was no GTO and even Des’ usual manic state was more muted than usual–you couldn’t help but focus on the characters, their faces and their words. Marcus Robinson’s script of “Body of Evidence” painted a picture of folks in disarray. A cop who may bend the rules for the man she loves. A guy desperate to get his hands on money and escape town before his bumped-up court date arrives. A couple eager to get their hands on cash to pay off mounting debts. Even Tinny and Des looked like they were good for at least part of the crime.
Of course, we knew it was all going to work out in the end–Barbara Warrick accidentally killed herself while hiding her late husband’s money in a wall and herself in the attic–but none of that came out until very late in the episode when Jake, Leslie, Rose and Malachy met up and put the pieces together. With Doyle’s series finale coming up next week, this week’s penultimate tale was the perfect lead-in to what promises to be one heck of a ride.
Notes and quotes
The two-hour Republic of Doyle series finale airs next Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBC.
