Tag Archives: CBC

Featured, Heartland

Review: Wolf pups and soul searching on Heartland

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I understand those Heartland fans who are upset that Ty and Amy have broken up yet again. I’ve gotten your emails, and I admit I’m kind of in the same boat. But as actress Amber Marshall explained a couple of weeks ago, Amy is basically starting all over again from the bottom and working herself back up again this season.

That means she and Ty are, yes, taking a break, which led to lots of awkward moments during Sunday’s episode, “Endings and Beginnings.” Those moments came courtesy of Georgie, who kept calling Ty with fake concerns over the orphaned wolf pup in hopes that once he arrived at Heartland the sparks would fly and the lovebirds would get back together again. Instead we were treated to awkwardness.

The most interesting of the characters to me in Sunday’s episode (and the season so far) was Ty. As a relative newbie to the show, I’m fascinated not only by Graham Wardle’s portrayal of him, but the direction the character is going. His business pairing with Caleb and job at the wildlife sanctuary is the mark of a young man trying to figure out his place in the world and what his passions are. Rather than just take the easy road by working for Tim, he has partnered with Caleb on what may be a dubious business venture. But if it does fail, he’ll at least have gained some valuable knowledge into the way the business world works. Or sometimes doesn’t.

Meanwhile, his discovery of the dead black bear mother devoid of her gall bladder unleashed an angry, environmental side of Ty. Enraged at learning the bladders are a hot commodity on the black market, he cut down the poacher’s camera. The hunters, of course, came looking for Ty and beat him up, but I have a feeling that won’t stop Ty from doing what he believes in. Sadly, he also believes that time away from Amy is what he needs to. As he told Jack, he doesn’t want to hold Amy back from the incredible opportunities her gift as a horse trainer (how great was she with Hustle and Flirty?) has afforded her.

But I think Ty wonders if Amy might be holding him back as well.

Other notes

  • I want a wolf pup.
  • What is it with Jade, Heartland fans? Has she been around for a few seasons? Is she a former friend of Amy’s?
  • Jesse Stanton is supposed to get on my nerves, right?

Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.

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Featured, Republic of Doyle

Review: Another Doyle drops by the Republic

Do things really happen in threes? Let’s hope not when it comes to CBC’s previously happy couples of primetime. Just three days after Ty and Amy called it quits on Heartland, Leslie was breaking up with Jake on Republic of Doyle. Here’s hoping William and Julia get married in two weeks as planned on Murdoch Mysteries.

Still dealing with the after-effects of being kidnapped by Blake Brogan, Leslie said she needed a break from Jake to figure out who she was. I’m thinking “copper” shouldn’t be one of them: she went way overboard arrested that low-level drug dealer. Still, by the end of the  episode Leslie had stripped down to sexy pjs and was wooing Jake, so maybe she’s going to be OK after all. But I suspect not. After all, she did pop some pills–and then denied taking any kind of medication–to the psychologist the RNC had assigned to her.

Unfortunately, the other major lady in his life was walking away. Jake was dismissed by Sloan, who he finally located after she was nabbed by Vick Saul. Turns out Vick was robbed by Sloan too, and was holding her for ransom. Vick demanded Jake get everything the police had on him before he would let Sloan go. Jake did, leading to an emotional moment in the GTO (that girl is still by his side) resulting in tears by both and Sloan saying goodbye to her father.

Meanwhile another Doyle–Shawn, last seen on Fargo–reprised his RoD role as Carl Maher, and brought some fun to “No Rest for the Convicted” (directed by actor Mark O’Brien). It was Carl who came up with the bail money to get Jake out of prison and the cash windfall came with a price: Carl wanted Jake to look into the woman he’d given $800,000 of his money to invest and hadn’t heard anything from in days. What appeared to be a quick case of Carl being a little slow in the smarts department turned into a case involving poisonings and Ponzi schemes. There were several great comic moments between Des and Carl, the best of which led to the destruction of the Doyle surveillance van; here’s hoping Carl is back before the series finale.

Notable quotes 

  • “I’ll watch Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Des. You do what you have to do.”–Malachy
  • “Don’t gets all sooky baby about it!”–Carl
  • “I’m really looking forward to getting some sleep in a room not full of 300 hairy-arsed men.”–Jake

Republic of Doyle airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Review: Murdoch Mysteries gets wild in Western themed tale

After having the first two episodes of Murdoch Mysteries deal with some pretty dark subject matter–human trafficking and the after effects of Brackenreid’s awful beating–I was glad for a rollicking good ride thanks to a couple of miscreants from the annals of history.

“Glory Days,” written by Peter Mitchell and Jordan Christianson and directed by star Yannick Bisson, welcomed Robert Leroy Parker and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh–also known as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid–to Toronto where they became embroiled in a storyline focusing on William Barclay “Bat” Masterson (Steven Ogg), the frontier lawman, gambler and sports writer who pulled a gun on the notorious duo moments before a prize fight featuring Canadian boxer George “Little Chocolate” Dixon. Higgins and Jackson were in the audience and tackled Bat before he squeezed off a shot in the packed room.

Bloody hell indeed.

With Bisson directing, the somewhat light-hearted episode turned its focus to not only whether the dastardly duo was in Toronto but to Murdoch and Julia’s upcoming nuptials. Turns out Margaret Brackenreid wanted to take over the planning of their happy day. Or something as small as taking care of the flowers. Anything, Brackenreid confessed, to get Margaret to stop talking about it during dinner. Speaking of the wedding, Julia wasn’t so sure she wanted to have the ceremony in Murdoch’s Catholic church, so she went to speak to Father Clements (Anthony Lemke) about it and was challenged to consider her own faith in the church.

As it turned out, the men Bat saw at the fight weren’t Butch and Sundance but the lawman (who took great pleasure in showing Julia his, um, six-shooter) wasn’t about to give up on the hunt. He grew only more bold when two men robbed the Bank of Toronto at gunpoint and were identified by the stuttering manager that Butch and Sundance were on the loose. Things got serious when a train headed to Simcoe, Ont., was robbed of its Grand Trunk Railroad payroll by the criminals and a man was killed in the process. It was then the truth came out: Butch and Sundance weren’t really in the city but Bat lied they were because he missed his “glory days.”

There were several funny moments during the chase, most notably Brackenreid, Crabtree and Murdoch standing outside a house of ill repute while Bat “questioned” a young woman who claimed to have seen the two. Murdoch Mysteries can be serious to be sure, but it can be very, very funny too. Who else howled when Murdoch stumbled into the table after he was proffered by the prostitute or snickered in anticipation of Crabtree’s bachelor party for the detective?

And a special thank you to Mitchell and Christianson for including “horseback ride” in Monday’s script; having the Toronto coppers play cowboy–complete with an expansive accompanying soundtrack–was a great nod to the wild West. And Murdoch’s football tackle of a baddie through the wall of a hay loft? Just awesome.

Murdoch Mysteries airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

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Featured, Heartland

Review: Heartland celebrates 125 episodes with fireworks and fistfights

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Heartland celebrated Episode 125–making it the longest-running hour-long drama in Canadian TV history–with fireworks. As Amber Marshall told me recently, Prince Ahmed isn’t the type of guy to take “no” for an answer. So I wasn’t really all that surprised when he rode up to Amy moments after she had waved goodbye to Ty at the beginning of “Secrets and Lies.” And there really was no sugar-coating his comment that Amy looked beautiful: the Prince was there to ride off with her heart.

I can’t help but think he knew exactly what he was doing when he insisted on accompanying Amy back to Heartland; those few minutes were enough to get Tim thinking of landing deals with the Prince, Georgie upset with Amy all over again and Ty steamed his royal rival was back. Things only got worse when Ahmed asked Amy to accompany him to check out some horses; he made a side visit to a mansion he’s thinking of buying. You know, so he can be even closer to Amy. Sheesh. I have to give him credit for saying “I love you,” and getting things out in the open but I was relieved Amy nipped that in the bud and severed her relationship with him. (Things got a little dusty at my house during the conversation between Georgie and Amy about the video.)

Who else was surprised Amy, Georgie and Lou didn’t pull Tim aside when he showed up with Ahmed to tell him about that admission of love? If they had, it would have saved everyone from that super-awkward dinner and the massive “I hate you!” from Georgie. And while I was more than happy to see Ty deliver a head-butt and a punch to the Prince, I can’t help but think Ahmed will make life hell for him by laying charges on Ty or something. Or perhaps all he really wanted was to drive a wedge between the engaged couple. He certainly accomplished that.

Meanwhile, Ty’s new gig at the wildlife sanctuary has become more than a full-time job and Ben’s laid-back attitude when he was trying to woo Ty has been replaced–so far at least–by a stressed dude with an iPhone. Best moment of the night: Ty being spit on by an escaped llama. Second worst moment of the night: mama wolf dying and just one pup surviving.

Worst moment? Ty saying the following to Amy while “Say Something” played in the background: “Sometimes we lose things and no matter how hard we try to hold on, and without even knowing it, we’ve lost it.”

Thoughts on 125 episodes, and last night’s episode

  • How lucky are these folks to film Heartland in such a stunning location? I jealously pine for the foothills of Alberta every Sunday night
  • Is it just me that has the show’s the theme music stuck in their head? Between that and Murdoch Mysteries, my mind is full of CBC show tunes
  • Do you think Tim should really go on the rodeo tour? Part of me says yes, but the thought of him being away from Heartland for an extended period of time would be a bummer. Who would Jack tease?
  • “I have a sore knee today Lou. And I bet if I looked up ‘sore knee’ on the Internet I’d find a bunch of articles and opinions making me think I have to have my whole damn leg taken off at the hip.” Reason No. 456 why I love Jack
  • I’m a little conflicted over Lou making such a big deal out of whether Katie was behind on her skills. I understand Lou wanting to make sure her daughter had all the help she needed, but she was going a little overboard, no?

Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.

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Featured, Republic of Doyle

Review: Republic of Doyle revs for the last time

Jake Doyle has a way of attracting a lot of attention, and it’s mostly bad. So, as Republic of Doyle sets a course for its series finale, it’s no surprise that Jake is surrounded by danger and uncertainty.

“Dirty Deeds,” written by Allan Hawco, threw everything but the kitchen sink into the mix–and I believe there would have been one involved in the prison fight if it was possible–by having Jake in prison and surrounded by men he and Malachy had helped put in there over the course of their careers. Kudos to Hawco and the producers for snagging Jason O’Mara in the role of dim bulb but oh-so-good-looking Seth Rankin. Last seen on The Good Wife, O’Mara was able to flex his comedic muscles as he elicited Jake’s help in a tit-for-tat agreement: if Jake helped keep Seth’s girlfriend, Molly, safe outside of prison then Seth would hand over some of the diamonds he had stolen to pay for Jake’s bail.

Throw in Taylor Gossad (who wants Jake dead), a prison superintendent (played by Megan Follows) who wants Jake to find out how drugs are getting into the prison, and Jake’s plate is pretty darned full. Add in the fact no one knows where Sloan has gone with all of the Doyles’ money and Leslie is in a coma and things are looking dire for the bestubbled P.I.

Speaking of Leslie, she may have ultimately been saved from Taylor’s long, deadly reach, but what was the deal with the gift-wrapped box the killer was carrying when he entered her hospital room? Tinny was there to put the collar on him before he cut Leslie’s throat, but no reference to the package was made before the episode ended. I can only imagine it pops up in the coming weeks.

Placing Leslie in a three-week long coma was a ballsy move and I’m glad it didn’t last longer. That means things will move at a brisk pace; she’s awake and can finger Blake Brogan for the death of Mayor Clarke, so he’ll need to move fast to keep her quiet. Speaking of brisk pace, fingers crossed Jake gets out of prison soon too. Having him in there is a nice departure setting-wise, but a contained Jake is a less entertaining Jake. It means he’s tooling around St. John’s in the GTO.

Favourite quotes

  • “Seth Rankin, of the Rankins. Not the band.” Oh Seth.
  • “I had to hide the key in my bum to get it in here.” Oh, Seth!
  • “Stay out of trouble, which I know is like asking you to take a vow of silence.” Malachy knows his son all too well.
  • “Des, we’re not making out in front of a coma-striken Leslie.” Tinny, always the voice of reason.

Republic of Doyle airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

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