Tag Archives: Anthony Lemke

Featured, Frankie Drake Mysteries

Preview: A deep dive into Detective Greyson on Frankie Drake Mysteries

Up until now, Frankie Drake Mysteries fans have only gotten a glimpse of the man Detective Greyson may be. We know he’s a law-abiding man—a good trait to have when you are a cop—and that he has a bit of a soft spot for Mary and Frankie.

We get a better picture of Greyson on Monday during the newest episode, the cheekily-titled “Fifty Shades of Greyson,” written by Jessie Gabe and directed by Cal Coons. Here’s what we have for an official storyline from the CBC:

Mary’s (Rebecca Liddiard) job is threatened when she accuses Detective Greyson (Anthony Lemke) of hiding evidence. Has she overstepped her bounds, or is Greyson a dirty cop?

And, as always, a few more tidbits from me of the non-spoilery kind.

Titillating in the 1920s
Franke Drake begins downright saucily, with a burlesque dancer finishing her feathered fan routine in front of a rowdy crowd. That dancer is CiCi Storm. The sassy, self-proclaimed Baroness of Burlesque, played by Sidney Leeder, is accused of a crime and it’s up to Mary and the girls to collar the correct culprit. Aside from Leeder, look for Matthew MacFadzean and Elise Bauman in guest roles. Bauman is Muriel, a fellow morality officer from another precinct who has a taste for the macabre.

Bessie Starkman returns
I was hoping we’d see the cutthroat character played by Natalie Brown again. And boom, she appears on Monday in all her sarcastic glory.

Frankie’s motorbike is back
I was wondering last week where Frankie’s motorcycle had gotten to. Had she sold it? Crashed it? Had the writers decided she didn’t need it anymore? Nope, she uses it to get around on Monday.

Frankie and Greyson go toe to toe
It was hinted in the Season 2 press release that Frankie and Greyson would butt heads. There have been minor nods so far this season but “Fifty Shades of Greyson” turns into the kerfuffle we’ve been teased about.

Frankie Drake Mysteries airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Featured, Frankie Drake Mysteries

Preview: Frankie Drake Mysteries returns with a change in tone in Season 2

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There are changes afoot in Season 2 of Frankie Drake Mysteries both behind and in front of the camera. As its production company, Shaftesbury, and CBC announced earlier this year, James Hurst took over showrunning duties from Cal Coons. Co-creator Michelle Ricci, meanwhile, has moved on pen Hallmark’s Hallie Dean Mystery movies starring Kellie Martin.

Fans will notice changes in front of the camera. As Hurst told me recently, a shift in tone has taken place for the series’ sophomore season. Serious themes will still be addressed, he says, but there will be less heavy storytelling.

Here’s what the CBC has released as an official synopsis for “The Old Switcheroo,” written by co-creator Carol Hay and directed by Ruba Nadda:

In the Season 2 premiere, Frankie (Lauren Lee Smith) learns that her mother Nora (Wendy Crewson) has joined the board of the Royal Ontario Museum, promising to bring an influx of treasures to the museum’s fledgling antiquities collection. Frankie and Trudy (Chantel Riley) investigate a break-in but find nothing’s been stolen. Meanwhile, Flo (Sharron Matthews) and Mary (Rebecca Liddiard) are embroiled in a mystery of their own after discovering a body in the morgue has been intentionally misidentified. 

And here are more observations from me after watching a screener.

Is Nora going legit?
After a lifetime on one side of the law, can Nora exist on the other? It would seem that’s her goal. Though, her promise to bring more treasures to the ROM had me wondering how she’d get them while staying above board. Speaking of the ROM, it’s a stunning backdrop in Monday’s return.

An X Company star drops by
Yes, I still miss Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern’s excellent Second World War drama terribly. The hurt was tempered a bit by getting to see Lara Jean Chorostecki back on my screen. She portrays Marian Hartley, a woman whose past is tied to Frankie’s. As with Murdoch Mysteries, Frankie Drake often drops historical references into its fictional tales. Tonight we hear about Howard Carter and Hiram Bingham III. Learn a little more about them here and here.

Flo and Mary take on their own case
These characters are great together. They’re both quirky and unintentionally funny, a winning combination in my book. Seeing Mary struggle to say a certain French dish and the pair teaming to identify the body in the morgue is a real treat. See if you agree.

An adversary for Frankie is unearthed
I’ve been waiting for someone to seriously challenge Frankie since Episode 1 of Season 1. It arrives Monday in the form of Dark Matter‘s Anthony Lemke. He plays Detective Greyson, a veteran cop who gets under everyone’s skin. Also? Slasher‘s Steve Byers drops in to play Hiram Bingham III.

Frankie Drake Mysteries airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Dark Matter

Link: Interview: Anthony Lemke

From Jeff Fountain of Geek Chic Elite:

Link: Interview: Anthony Lemke
“My character clearly falls down on one side and is becoming a better person but he still is unpredictable, you don’t always know how he’s going to react and that is the essence of this character and I really hope that line is walked for the entire longevity of this series because then it ends up being fun to play, fun to watch and probably fun to write, too.” Continue reading. 

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Dark Matter, Featured

Dark Matter’s Melissa O’Neil and Anthony Lemke talk Season 3’s explosive return

When we last left the crew of the Raza on Dark Matter, things looked pretty dire. EOS-7 had exploded and we weren’t exactly sure who’d survived. Thankfully, we can confirm everyone made it out alive—you’ve seen this photo gallery, right?—but find themselves in varying states of distress and with a brand-new enemy to face.

Season 3 of Dark Matter returns with two back-to-back episodes this Friday beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Space until moving to its regular timeslot of 9 p.m ET next week, with “Being Better is So Much Harder” and “It Doesn’t Have to End Like This” setting the stage for what promises to be another 13-episode thrill ride from Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. (We don’t like to give much away prior to broadcast, but The Android flat-out steals two scenes in Episode 1.)

What’s in store for Two (Melissa O’Neil), Three (Anthony Lemke), Five (Jodelle Ferland), Six (Roger Cross) and The Android (Zoie Palmer) now that it appears Four/Ryo (Alex Mallari Jr.) turned against them? We got O’Neil and Lemke to give us the scoop!

Season 2 begins with the aftermath of the explosion at EOS-7 and our heroes are scattered. There is plenty of action and humour, but there are some very serious and emotional moments, including a nice one between Two and Six.
Melissa O’Neil: Two and Six represent both sides of the topic with regards to the enemies they face this season. I didn’t really think about it until now but it’s kind of a continuing Mommy-Daddy relationship that flows throughout the season. I really loved shooting that scene with Roger. In all of my scenes with Roger, we always get to talk about the big questions and what it means to be a good person. I love playing off of him; he’s so earnest and wonderful.

I never thought of the Mommy-Daddy angle before. It certainly makes sense. Then you have the ornery teen…
Anthony Lemke: … and the drunk uncle.

MON: No, you’re the ornery teen!

AL: Actually, Three is the teen and the parent. He’s both and he walks that line.

I love it when the crew is together, having dinner. That’s happened more than once in the past two seasons and we get it again in Episode 1.
AL: It’s funny. The table has been this push-pull. The directors come in and say, ‘OK, how do we shoot this room?’ And we’re like, ‘We sit at the table.’ When I watch the show I really identify with the idea that the family that eats together stays together and I think the audience responds to that. It’s important, those moments. They don’t happen every episode, they happen every once in awhile when it’s important.

MON: In Season 3 especially we have everyone going off on their single journeys and there were spans of time when we forgot that we worked with each other. Alex, we barely saw him, so it does feel important not only in the context of the story but as a cast thing.

Does that mean much of this season sees the team spread apart?
AL: I think it’s been an evolution since Season 1. The first season we were almost cloistered and were, literally, in almost every scene together. We tend to be on more isolated journeys than we were in the previous two seasons.

MON: Two has a big struggle with leadership, making choices and whether or not she should be the one to make choices on the behalf of other people, especially when the costs are so high when she makes the wrong decision.

The Android appears to be on an interesting journey as well. Her wardrobe choices in Episode 1 were outstanding.
MON: It’s massive too. The exploration of that is going to be a big fan favourite, I think.

What can you say about Three’s own journey or story arc?
AL: Three’s through-line story has been about his past and discovering that a bad guy isn’t all bad. We learned in Season 2 the root of that complexity; he is a caring and very soft person, but that bravado is real too. Both of those sides live within this character and that’s what makes it fun to play. When he says, ‘Let’s go steal stuff and kill some people,’ he means it. We continue on that journey in Season 3 and that will spin into Season 4 in a totally awesome way. So please, everyone, tune in a lot so that we can get a Season 4!

Dark Matter airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Space.

Images courtesy of Space.

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Dark Matter

Link: The Good, The Bad And The (Not So) Ugly – Interview with Dark Matter’s Anthony Lemke

From Steve Eramo of Sci Fi and TV Talk:

Link: The Good, The Bad And The (Not So) Ugly – Interview with Dark Matter’s Anthony Lemke
“We chatted about this year and I expressed certain wishes surrounding my character to Joe. He and Paul are both masterminds and the ones who decide where Three goes. Honestly, it’s been very rewarding this year, because they’ve managed to walk that fine line with keeping Three a scoundrel and selfish jerk – which can’t go away – while also revealing his grounded, sensitive and caring side.” Continue reading.

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