More than a few of you were shocked by the end of last week’s episode of MasterChef Canada when Thea and Mai’s well-meaning coaching of Justine and Matt lead to both of the strong home cooks to be eliminated. But, Justine and Matt and Alice did have the opportunity to return to the kitchen, as producers presented those two with one slot in the competition.
Whether you think it’s fair that someone cut from a competition show is certainly up for debate—I personally don’t—it certainly makes for some good TV when those still in it see someone coming back. That was the case for the Top 6, who were gobsmacked when Alice returned. For those who missed it, Justine, Matt and Alice fought for a spot back on the show in Redemption, an online exclusive judged by Claudio Aprile. Alice outlasted the other two—head online to see what happened to Matt—and was back in the action.
However, “Egg Showdown,” wasn’t a love-in, as the Top 7 donned black aprons and were informed no one was safe from elimination this week. Again, mad props to MasterChef‘s producers, who have amped up the challenges and made it tough for the cooks to advance this year. Thursday’s instalment tasked everyone with escalating tests involving the most basic of ingredients: the egg. Cooks would win a Pressure Test and be sent up to the gallery with the final pair fighting to stay on the show.
First up was a Scotch egg, that hard-boiled, sausage and breading encased mouthful, purportedly eaten in pubs. Making the job even tougher? Just one egg was given to each cook, meaning it had to be perfect. I think Thea’s hands were seizing up because of the ice water bath her egg was sitting in, but I’m no expert. Regardless, she got her egg done and fried alongside her competitors. Barrie, who said he’d never prepared a hard-boiled egg before, produced the best Scotch egg and was whisked to safety along with Aaron and Thea.
The next test? Eggs Benedict. Hollandaise sauce can be a killer, though Miranda thought she had it nailed down. Of course, the most confident person had issues and Miranda’s Hollandaise started to split. Still, she got it done and her plate looked good. What about taste? Undercooked bacon and broken sauce threatened to send Miranda home. An overcooked yolk sent Alice into the final test with Miranda while Trevor and Mai were safe.
It’s easy to tell when a television network is truly behind one of their projects. Clearly, CBC is fully supporting Save Me. How could I tell? A half-day of interviews for show creator, writer and director Fab Filippo and producer Lisa Baylin, and a Facebook Live session for the duo plus actors Amy Matysio, Emma Hunter and Suresh John, who co-star in some of the show’s 10 episodes.
Save Me is a web series, but it’s getting the same attention from the network Still Standing or Baroness Von Sketch Show would. There’s a reason: Save Me is damned good.
Now available on CBC’s website, Save Me follows Toronto EMT Goldie (Filippo) and his assorted partners (Matysio and John are two), as they arrive on the scene of 911 calls. The twist? The paramedics are the through line connecting the people making an emergency call rather than being the focus. That’s not to say we don’t get some back story into Goldie and his fellow EMTs lives—we do—but they’re not the focus.
“Lisa called me and said, ‘Do you have anything?'” Filippo recalls during a chat at CBC’s Toronto headquarters. “It wasn’t on HBO yet, but I had been watching High Maintenance and it had the structure of it wasn’t about the pot dealer, it was about the people who bought the pot. I loved that structure because it was an anthology but had the groundedness of wanting to tune in and see the same person every week.” The former Being Erica and Billable Hours actor has a friend—nicknamed Meeps—who is an EMT and Filippo thought that career could fit into a structure like High Maintenance. Baylin agreed. Filippo went on a ridealong with Meeps, made some notes, and bounced ideas around with Baylin. A year and half later and Save Me is online.
A shot from Episode 3 of Save Me, “Possible Anaphylaxis.”
“We produce a variety of shows and are known as trailblazers because we’re always testing different models in the digital space,” Baylin, vice-president of content and production for iThentic, says. “I really wanted to do an anthology series and was looking for the right story. When Fab mentioned the paramedics, we thought it had a very natural feel for an anthology show. We could have these great emergencies and opportunities to stunt cast.” Baylin describes fleshing out the stories of people from all walks of life across Toronto, crafting the characters and approaching actors to participate in one or two shoot days for a four to 10-minute episode.
Save Me‘s guest cast is a 46-person who’s who from the television and theatre world. Brent Carver, Michael Healey, Paul Braunstein, Jean Yoon, Sonja Smits, John Bourgeois, Tony Nappo, Mayko Nguyen and Sugith Varughese are just a sampling of the talent who drop by to play instantly memorable characters. A sample: Emma Hunter portrays Cora, a woman in Episode 1, “H.B.D.,” who grows increasing drunk at a birthday brunch and then suffers a grievously hilarious injury. But for every funny moment—and there are many like “Possible Anaphylaxis”—Save Me offers thoughtfulness and hope too; scenes between Goldie and Kevlar (Matysio) are downright romantic.
“The biggest challenge was the time constraint,” Filippo says. “Mixing the genres wasn’t tough for me because that’s what I love the stuff that’s dark and makes me laugh. I was studying short form content because I didn’t want this to be a slice of life where it ends and you don’t get resolution. I wanted to build each moment so, at the end, you went, ‘OK, I just watched a story.'”
At first glance, one would assume Canadian web series Forgotten Corpses is just another addition to the zombie genre. And, in some ways, it is. In the pilot episode, there is a farmhouse, a lot of mist, a guy and girl walking quietly, speaking in hushed tones … and then doing battle with a gaggle of undead brain-eaters.
But where shows like The Walking Dead and Z Nation are showing signs of serious wear, Forgotten Corpses sets itself apart not only for how professional it looks but the scope of the series. Don’t believe me? Watch the pilot episode below. These folks have lofty plans for their web series and seem to be on the right track. Their supporters are certainly insatiable: they blew past their Kickstarter goal and are plotting the filming of 13 episodes this summer.
“Caine Chow filmed the pilot episode and is the only original person to come over to the web series,” says writer Whitney Kitchur. “Everyone else is new.” Megan Laursen, who played a zombie in the pilot, has joined Chow as a producer and director on Forgotten Corpses. The duo had writers lined up by last December, including Kitchur, story editor Candice Wong, executive story editor Brandon Laraby and writers Michael Lake and Jessica Peng.
Forgotten Corpses focuses on Joyce (Lee Lawson) and James (Greg Willmot), two strangers who meet after the zombie apocalypse. They’re together, but only because they need to be. James is timid and not ready to fight anyone, let alone a zombie. James hasn’t adapted to the post-apocalyptic world yet. Joyce, however, is ready to kick some butt. In the world of Forgotten Corpses, we already know you take the undead down by a headshot and Joyce does it with aplomb.
“There are some twists that I can’t reveal,” Kitchur says of upcoming scripts in the 13-part web project. “But one of the biggest differences between this and other zombie shows is that we’ve taken modern science [into consideration]. There are some recent scientific developments and testing that will really scare people.” The other angle being explored? The mental health of folks ranging around a world inhabited by zombies. Season 1 will focus on the characters’ mental health and how they’re dealing, or not dealing, with this situation.
“We thought that eight-minute episodes were perfect,” Kitchur says. “We didn’t want to have a lot of filler story. We wanted to really focus on these two characters because we think that character-driven story is a lot better in this sort of situation.” Joyce and James will encounter other survivors during their Season 1 cross-country travels. Episode 1 begins with a survivor radio broadcast that launches the pair’s journey. Forgotten Corpses really is a guerilla project surviving on a shared love with everyone involved. Kitchur says almost everyone is currently a student, has a daytime job or a family; story breaking and writing was done after work hours or on weekends.
Next steps for Forgotten Corpses is a table read on April 15 with filming in May and release date on—fittingly—Halloween. A second season is also in the cards.
You can find out more details about Forgotten Corpses on their website.
Trevor Boris is probably most known from his days on MuchMusic’s Video on Trial and his standup years where he appeared on Conan, and Just For Laughs among countless other television appearances.
Now, Trevor is known more for his work behind the camera as a supervising producer on Big Brother Canada, a challenge producer on Big Brother U.S., and a director on Hockey Wives. Follow Trevor on Twiiter: @TrevorBoris
Big Brother Canada airs Mondays and Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global.
First off, I will admit that I am woefully lacking when it comes to the era covered by Sunday’s latest episode of Canada: The Story of Us: The War of 1812. I grew up in London, Ont., and know that troops marched through that area. And what Canadian has not heard at least something of the history of Laura Secord? Beyond that, I am tabula rasa. My elementary school history teacher found me utterly hopeless.
We begin the episode with the Shawnee warrior Tecumseh at the point when he recovered vital American intelligence. Now he has leverage with the British; support for Indigenous lands in return for the information he holds. Partnering with Major General Isaac Brock, Tecumseh and the men he has following him create a front of fear that works to psychologically defeat their opponent. Hull surrendered.
Next, we turn to a re-enactment of the battle for Fort York and its stockpile of munitions and black powder.  We learn of the bravery demonstrated by Captain Tito LeLièvre to ensure the stockpile does not make it to the American military. However, we also learn the Americans retaliated against the civilians of York, destroying the York library and the Parliament buildings of Upper Canada.
We cover the pivotal acts of Laura Secord and her alliance with Cayuga warrior John Tutela in her quest to warn the British encampment on the Niagara peninsula of an impending attack by the Americans. Their actions helped to thwart the advance of the Americans into Upper Canada.
We also learn of the effects of the privateers have on the American war effort by essentially cutting off their purse strings and, finally, we cover the Battle for Montreal. All of these events prove to the American military that Canada will not fall easily despite the lack of support from Britain due to their preoccupation with Napoleon. And once again, the show’s narration is assisted by commentary supplied by several celebrities and notaries including Candy Palmater, Missy Peregrym and Kristen Kreuk.
Overall, I found the episode to be just more of the same (perhaps this is why, for me, history was not a strong point), but I did enjoy learning more about both Tecumseh and Laura Secord.
As I promised last week, I again spoke with Elder David Plain of Aamjiwnaang to get his thoughts about this week’s episode.
Anaii. This week we explore The War of 1812, an era I know you have done a great deal of research on. Can you share with us your initial impressions this week? David Plain: The turning points they [producers] chose were good ones but their presentation of them did leave me wondering. The Chippewa weren’t mentioned as being at the surrender of Fort Detroit [by Hull to Isaac Brock]. But they were. One hundred from the Thames [Chippewa of the Thames] were there and Aamjiwnaang [formerly, Chippewa of Sarnia] warriors arrived the day after the surrender.
Nor did they [producers] give any credit to the Mohawks with the victory at Beaver Dams [Niagara Peninsula]. They always present Laura Secord as the heroine that rushed over through the bush to get to the British Lieutenant FitzGibbon and warn him so he could meet the Americans and he took all of the credit. Laura Secord did not give her warning to FitzGibbon first but to Dominique Ducharme, an Indian agent from Montreal who was leading 500 Mohawks from Kahnawa:ke. They headed out first and attacked the Americans, neutralizing them, then the British arrived later to help out and Chief John Norton’s Grand River Mohawks [now Six Nations] arrived at the end of the battle just in time to loot the supply wagons. The Kahnawa:ke Mohawks got incensed and withdrew back to Montreal. Norton would later say, ‘The Kahnawa:ke warriors did the fighting, the Grand River warriors got the booty and FitzGibbon got the credit.’ To this day, it is still James FitzGibbon who gets all of the credit.
Perhaps the producers should have devoted two episodes to the war. I know when you have such limited amount of time you can only hit the highlights. Highlights would be turning points of the war. Those times when something extraordinary happens or is done by someone and if it didn’t the whole war would have taken a different direction. It’s those times that present the opportunity to play the ‘what if’ games.
What do you feel were a couple of the significant ‘turning points’ that were critical in the War of 1812? Two major turning points occurred. One was the Surrender of Fort Detroit. That resulted in what is now the State of Michigan being annexed to Upper Canada for a year. This turned the advantage to the British.
The second turned the advantage back to the Americans and played a significant role on the western front: The Battle for Lake Erie in 1813. Tecumseh wanted to go back to Fort Meigs, located at the mouth of the Maumee River in Ohio. The British, led by Major General Henry Procter and Tecumseh with his warriors had tried to take the fort in April but failed. Tecumseh wanted to go back in July and try and take the fort again. He insisted on it. Procter said that he did not have the right size of guns. They needed heavier artillery to defeat the fort. But they went anyway, and they wasted a lot of time and effort along the way.
Meanwhile, the Americans were busy building a fleet of ships at what is now known as Erie Pennsylvania on Lake Erie. In August of 1813, the ships were ready and they sailed out. The British fleet sailed out of Amherstburg and they met and had a naval battle on Lake Erie. The British lost.
Because of this loss, the Americans now controlled Lake Erie. Lake Erie was how the British supplied the western front of the war; the Detroit theatre. This cut the British supply line off. Without supplies, Tecumseh and Procter decided to retreat. They destroyed Fort Malden at Amherstburg, and then they retreated up the Thames River. The Americans were chasing them and caught up with them just west of what is now London at Moraviantown. This is where they had the Battle of the Thames and where Tecumseh lost his life on October 5, 1813. As a result of this, the Indian Confederacy lost its leader and they disbanded. This loss basically took the natives out of the war, at least on the western front and meant that the independent state as promised to the Indian Confederacy by Isaac Brock never came to pass.
If Tecumseh and Procter decided instead to attack the naval yard in Erie, there never would have been a battle on the Lake and the British supply line would never have been closed off by the Americans.
Once again, chi miigwetch to Elder David Plain for taking the time out his schedule to speak with us.
Canada: The Story of Us airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
David Plain B.R.S., M.T.S., is the author of five books with a sixth, The Exmouth Chronicles: A Memoir due out later this month April 2017 by Trafford Publications. You can reach David on Facebookor Twitter.
