From Bill Brownstein of the Montreal Gazette:
Link: 19-2’s Adrian Holmes is at home on the streets of Montreal
“It’s been a great journey. I started in the business when I was quite young. My first job came when I was 17. There was so much shooting going on in my back yard in Vancouver, and I was lucky enough to be one of the chosen to make a career out of it. And I haven’t looked back.†Continue reading.
We’re mere days away from the Season 3 return of 19-2 to Bravo (with Season 4 already ordered), and the Canadian specialty network has released a synopsis and images for the first episode:
In the season premiere episode “Burn Pile†(Monday, June 20 at 10 p.m. ET), the squad waits for findings from a task force into Sergeant Houle’s case. Nick and Ben find themselves at the centre of the fractured squad, the only partnership that has endured. On the job, the squad face a horrific accident that puts multiple lives in danger.
As previously announced, new characters this season include Juliette Gosselin as foster child Martine, who claims to have information on Kaz’s death; Krista Bridges as Inspector Elise Roberge, stationed at 19 to wrap up the investigation of Sergeant Houle; and Joe Pingue as Charlie Figo, an old-school mobster who goads Nick into uncharted territory.
Check out images from the instalment and the teaser trailer to get you set for June 20. Are you as pumped as we are? Let us know in the comments below and keep an eye out for our interviews with stars Maxim Roy and Alexandra Ordolis in the coming days.
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19-2 returns Monday, June 20, at 10 p.m. ET on Bravo.
From a media release:
Bravo announced today that its award-winning drama 19-2 has been renewed for a fourth season, just weeks before Season 3 premieres on Monday, June 20 at 10 p.m. ET. Winner of three Canadian Screen Awards including Best Dramatic Series, the 10-episode, hour-long drama sees the return of CSA-nominated actors Adrian Holmes and Jared Keeso as beat partners Nick Barron and Ben Chartier. Together, the pair navigate the blurred-lines between Montréal politics and organized crime while the squad searches for redemption and begins to heal from Season 2’s traumatic events. Production on 19-2’s upcoming fourth season is expected to begin this fall in Montréal. Seasons 1 and 2 of 19-2 are available for streaming on CraveTV. Catch the dramatic 19-2 Season 3 launch promo here.
Season 3 of 19-2 sees a fragmented squad reeling from the revelation that Sergeant Julien Houle (CSA nominee Conrad Pla), once the glue that held them together, was a pedophile and a mole for organized crime. As Commander Gendron (CSA nominee Bruce Ramsay) scrambles to save his own career in the wake of this blight on the force, the patrollers strengthen their bond to help them through this shocking news. Meanwhile, Nick, still rocked by guilt over his involvement in a murder, seeks closure by trying to find out what happened to his missing cousin Kaz. Ben finds love and happiness with Nick’s sister, Amelie, but struggles with the family he thought he’d left behind.
Also returning this season are CSA nominee Laurence Leboeuf as scapegoated officer and Nick’s former lover, Audrey; CSA nominee Dan Petronijevic as angry beat-cop J.M.; CSA nominee Benz Antoine as struggling alcoholic, Officer Tyler Joseph; Mylène Dinh-Robic as Tyler’s former partner and now Acting Sergeant Béatrice; Bruce Ramsay as manipulative District Commander Marcel Gendron; and Alexander De Jordy as rookie cop Richard Dulac. CSA nominee Maxim Roy returns to guest star as Nick’s ex-wife Detective Isabelle Latendresse.
New characters recruited to 19-2 include Juliette Gosselin (Les Jeunes Loups) as manipulative teen foster child Martine who claims to have information on Kaz’s death; Krista Bridges (DURHAM COUNTY) as Inspector Elise Roberge stationed at 19 to wrap up the investigation of Sergeant Houle; and Joe Pingue (THE EXPANSE) as Charlie Figo, an old-school mobster who goads Nick into uncharted territory.
In the season premiere episode “Burn Pile†(Monday, June 20 at 10 p.m. ET), the squad waits for findings from a task force into Sergeant Houle’s case. Nick and Ben find themselves at the centre of the fractured squad, the only partnership that has endured. On the job, the squad face a horrific accident that puts multiple lives in danger.
19-2 is co-produced by Sphère Média Plus and Echo Media in association with Bell Media. Bell Media Production Executive is Michele McMahon. Tom Hastings is Director, Drama, Independent Production, Bell Media. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Tracey Pearce is Senior Vice-President, Specialty and Pay, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Entertainment Production and Broadcasting, Bell Media.
From Lorraine Carpenter and Alex Rose of Cult Montreal:
Montreal cop show 19-2 pulls no punches
“There was a carjacking and the suspects weren’t cooperating, they weren’t getting out of the vehicle, so they had to release the dogs, and my God. I was like, ‘Note to self: when the cops tell you to do something, just cooperate.’ Keep the peace, even if you think you’re in the right ’cause when they start throwing their authority around… It was pretty hard to watch.†Continue reading.
The second season return 19-2 on Monday night features a continuous tracking shot that sets the tone for a series that already set a high bar for drama in Season 1. “School,” directed by Podz, who helmed the episode for the original Radio Canada series, captured over 10 minutes of stunning, shocking television in a continual shot, following officers Ben Chartier (Jared Keeso), Nick Barron (Adrian Holmes) and the members of their squad as they track down a shooter loose in a Montreal high school.
Ben and Nick go from the front office area through the cafeteria as bullets fly and students flee around them. The camera continues to a wall of windows to show a squadron of police cars arriving while frightened students weep against walls and pillars, praying they survive. It’s the most dramatic episode of 19-2 so far, a big deal considering cop Audrey Pouliot (Laurence Leboeuf) was beaten to the brink of death by a group of thugs in Season 1.
Monday’s return also marks a new direction for the Canadian Screen Award-nominated Bravo series. There is the overarching theme of Ben being asked to spy on his partner, Nick, who is suspected of being a mole by the Sécurité du Québec (SQ)—a theme explored in the French series too—but it won’t follow the same trail to get there.
“We get to the same place, but we get there in a very different way,” says executive producer, showrunner and writer Bruce M. Smith (Cracked, Durham County) during an on-location press junket in Montreal last August. “We did that not because we didn’t like what the French did, but because of who our cast was and how they had developed over Season 1. They had become quite different people from their French counterparts.”
Smith is a huge fan of the original 19-2, and likens Bravo’s take to NBC’s version of the British smash comedy The Office; they were given a lot of liberty to make it different organic being based on the same DNA. Benz Antoine (Blue Murder), Smith explains, plays Officer Tyler Joseph in both versions of 19-2, but they’re very different characters. Speaking of writing, the room has expanded for Season 2 as well. First season scribes Smith and Jesse McKeown (Republic of Doyle) have been joined by Damon Vignale (Blackstone) and Nikolijne Troubetzkoy (Call Me Fitz), a four-person luxury Smith says is alien in Quebec where writers pen their scripts at home alone and then bring them to set for filming. Lynne Kamm has kept things realistic on 19-2, serving as a liaison between real police and the show, which has entailed dozens of ride-alongs.
Smith says he expects there to be a lot of talk among viewers following Monday’s return broadcast—there are many, many casualties in “School” and the overall story mirrors recent events around the world—but Bravo has stuck by the producers since Day 1.
“We see this as a cable show, and they have encouraged us to go there with the content,” Smith says. “We are, at times, much more realistic and darker, and we show these characters warts and all.”
19-2 airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on Bravo. The season premiere will air commercial-free on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.
