Matt Shade (Jason Priestley) and Angie Everett (Cindy Sampson) are back in Private Eyes, but there are changes afoot in Season 2. Tonally, there is a different feel to Global’s whodunnit drama, returning to the network on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
The change is mainly because Shade and Angie are now equal partners at Everett Investigations. Yes, Shade is still trying to prove himself as a private investigator, but he’s much more adept and less time is spent on whether he can do the job. Meanwhile, Shade’s father Don (Barry Flatman) is struggling with retirement, and his daughter Jules (Jordyn Negri) is spending a lot more time with her mother, shaking things up on Shade’s home front. What Don decides to do post-retirement has an effect on everyone, necessitates a shift to a new setting and a new character in Shona Clement (Sharon Lewis). Det. Derek Nolan (Clé Bennett) and Det. Kurtis Mazhari (Ennis Esmer) are back and helping with cases, but things become more complicated due to romance … and Shade and Angie’s new assistant, Zoe (Samantha Wan). Zoe proves to be an important part of the team … and catches Maz’s eye. Throw in possible romantic targets for Shade and Angie in Melanie Parker (Bree Williamson) and Dr. Ken Graham (Mark Ghanimé) and these new 18 episodes prove to be quite a ride.
We spoke to Priestley and Sampson ahead of Thursday’s return—where Shade and Angie investigate death threats against a race car driver—about this season’s adventures.
It feels like these characters are getting away from the sexual tension that was there in Season 1 and focussing more on the cases.
Cindy Sampson: Most definitely. Season 2 is more about the guest stars and the cases.
Jason Priestley: We’re getting on with it now. In the first season, we were laying a lot of the groundwork. Now we’re getting on with it and getting into the life of the show.
Having a new set, the diner makes a more natural place for everyone to hang out as well.
Sampson: It’s just like The Peach Pit!
One of the things I wondered about was the mystery surrounding Angie’s father and the envelope Shade found taped to the bottom of his desk. I was concerned that would be drawn out, but it’s resolved almost immediately. And, you’ve got Samantha Wan joining these two. What can you say about Wan’s character, Zoe?
Sampson: Having Zoe has added a different dynamic. It’s not just us. We have someone to play off of in our space and to bounce ideas off of. There is foreshadowing and maybe a relationship with Maz and Zoe. It creates a lot of different ways to go.
Priestley: It also frees us up to not always have to go back to the office to do legwork and sit in front of our computers. We can lay a lot of that stuff on her and stay out in the field and get into trouble and be the best investigators ever.
Where is Angie and Shade’s relationship at going forward? Is it friendship, a true partnership?
Priestley: We tick a lot of boxes for each other. This season, Shade and Angie’s relationship sort of ebbs and flows. They come together and then move apart, come together and move apart.
Sampson: At the core of it is what’s always best for the agency. There is that common goal they have and it’s always the most important because it’s become their lives. But, Shade begins a relationship that could screw our professional lives, so … you know … he’s a man. He’s not really thinking that through…
Priestley: … which men are prone to do from time to time …
Sampson: Actually, it’s really funny. In Episode 12 the four of us go away on an adventure.
What can you tell me about Angie and her relationship with Dr. Ken?
Sampson: They were together for five years. He proposed and she didn’t want to be Mrs. Perfect and ran away and called off the wedding. He moved away for work overseas with Doctors Without Borders and she hasn’t seen him in a year. Then he moves to town and his clinic gets broken into and, coincidentally, we’re there to save the day. It’s a major coincidence.
Priestley: That never happens on TV, what are you talking about?!
What about the custody situation between Shade and Jules? They’re struggling because Jules is spending most of her time away from her father.
Priestley: It’s tough on both of them at the beginning of the season and as the season progresses that situation—because it is so stressful—changes and Jules spends more time in Shade’s house because that custody setup was not working for anybody. Putting Shade in that position where he was dealing with it was adding just another pressure point to his life and that’s the kind of thing we like to explore on this show. We don’t like it to be smooth sailing for the characters … ever.
Private Eyes airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global.
Images courtesy of Corus.
