Tag Archives: Featured

Featured, Vikings

Review: Vikings fall short of their goal

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“Today went badly.” — Bjorn
“Yes, it did.” — Ragnar

That pretty much summed up the sad result of “To the Gates!” Ragnar’s attempt to plunder Paris. I have to say, things started out so well that I honestly thought the Vikings were going to make mincemeat out of Count Odo and his soldiers. But, thanks to history, we know this actually never happened. The Vikings waged three major attacks on Paris in the past and none of them were successful. That isn’t to say show creator Michael Hirst will stick with what happened in history, but he’s been pretty accurate in his dramatic re-telling so far.

For those who are interested, historical documents actually place Rollo at the centre of one siege on Paris and find him marrying a French princess, something that certainly seemed to be in its initial stages when Rollo and Princess Gisla made goo-goo eyes at each other mid-mayhem. And what mayhem it was. I can’t imagine how long it took to choreograph, rehearse and film the multiple angles of the siege, from  the waterline to atop the towers, from outside the bridge to the drawbridge leading into Paris. It was horribly magnificent to behold, that blood-soaked fight for control of the city.

I had assumed Ragnar was setting up Floki for failure, and that was confirmed during his very Shakespearean parley with Athelstan at the end of the episode. He gave Floki the responsibility, knowing the blame would fall on the  mad genius when things went south. Ragnar may be a patient man, but his damaged kidneys and broken ribs could mean his survival past the end of this season may finally be in doubt. Speaking of survival, I did—for a moment—wonder if Bjorn had been killed. Thankfully it will take more than crossbow bolts to put Bjorn Ironside into the ground.

Vikings airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on History.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Franklin’s lost ship found

I have a fascination with the Canadian north. What has made men and women trek to some of the most inhospitable land on earth? I’ve read the fictional works of Jack London and the real-life triumphs and tragedies of men like Ernest Shackleton and Captain John Franklin, the latter of whom is featured in Franklin’s Lost Ships, The Nature of Things’ season finale.

The news that one of Franklin’s ships, the Erebus, was discovered last year after being missing for 170 years was a discovery that excited and entranced me, and Franklin’s Lost Ships doesn’t disappoint in its exploration into how the Erebus was found. In 1845, Capt. Franklin and 129 men set sail from England  aboard two ships—the HMS Erebus and Terror—headed for the uncharted waters of the Arctic. None survived. Graves and notes left by crew members have been found since, along with Inuit tales handed down through  generations detailing what happened, but the ships remained tantalizingly out of reach.

Thursday’s documentary not only details the six-year search Parks Canada has been on for the duo National Historic sites, but the story of how Franklin and his crew ran into trouble in the first place. Franklin was a decorated war hero, but had failed in earlier overland mission to find the Northwest Passage. On his last mission, he not only had enough food to last three years, but warships Erebus and Terror had been fitted with central heating and propellors. It was expected that the elusive Northwest Passage would be traversed and mapped without problem.

Experts like Ryan Harris and Marc-André Bernier of Parks Canada, John Geiger of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, historian Huw Lewis-Jones and authors Ken McCoogan and Dave Woodman breathe life into the tale with help from re-creations, explaining not only how last year’s adventure was undertaken with state-of-the-art sonar and satellite maps paired with the last coordinates left by the crew before they perished.

Franklin’s Lost Ships is also a story of British arrogance, of a society that preferred—in the 1800s—to ignore Inuit reports of cannibalism among the crew and reports of one ship locked in the ice and sinking while another was carried south. In fact it was those stories, and luck, that caused last summer’s mission to be a success. Incredible footage of Erebus looming up in the murk, covered in seaweed and dwarfing the divers around her is dramatic stuff. But that’s just the first chapter in the story; future dives will venture inside the ship to search for documents, film and bodies for a more accurate telling of what truly went wrong during Franklin’s last expedition.

Franklin’s Lost Ships airs as part of The Nature of Things on Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBC.

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Featured, X Company

Review: X Company’s explosive season-ender

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“You’re going to tell me everything.” And with that, X Company closed out its first season with a cliffhanger. Yes, I did suspect Alfred was a captive of the Germans and this first season was a peek back at what had happened leading up until that point, but it didn’t take away from what has been one hell of a dramatic ride.

Written by series co-creators Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern, “Into the Fire” brought the conflicting sides in the war together into a tapestry woven of raw emotion and action. Tom quickly proved to Drabek the woman he’d trusted was actually readying to sell him to the Germans and after Tom dispatched her the men were on the run to the catacombs to prepare for an extraction. Drabek needed to let the world leaders know about the concentration camps, but he passed along the horrible details to Alfred in case Drabek was killed.

Ellis and Morgenstern—heck, all of X Company‘s writers—have been able to deftly mix emotion with action and Wednesday’s finale was no different, alternating between Aurora’s relations being probable victims in a camp and an impressive gunfight between the team and the Germans. You know, the bullet battle that ensued after Siobhan admitted to Harry that she’d betrayed he and the squad to the Germans. Everyone put up a good fight and took out several baddies, but Alfred was eventually captured and hauled away. For one fleeting moment it appeared Aurora would make good and ensure Alfred didn’t fall into enemy hands, but she couldn’t pull the trigger.

The only positive in Alfred’s capture is that Franz is the man in charge. After watching him choose to kill Ulli rather than see him trucked off to an institution, Franz’s emotions are raw and he may equate Alfred’s specialness with his own son. It’s not to outrageous a wish; we’ve seen throughout this season that not all Germans are cold-blooded killers.

The other loose end in the season finale is Tom’s fate. The last we saw of him, he’d taken a bullet to the stomach and Neil was trying to stop the bleeding. Will he survive, and what will become of Alfred? We’ll have to wait until Season 2 to find out.

Notes and quotes

  • “Four months ago, all I wanted to do was forget. Now I realize, if you remember something you’re responsible for it.” Wise words from Alfred.
  • So, Rene is alive and imprisoned somewhere. Has he been leaking information about the team too? And is he being kept anywhere near Alfred?
  • “In three … two … one.” — Aurora, before she unleashed a can of lead-filled whoop-ass on the German soldiers
  • Mayhew told Sinclair to focus on the upcoming Allied invasion of Dieppe for success. Unfortunately, we know that raid was a failure too.

What have you thought of X Company? Comment below or via @tv_eh.

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Featured, Polls

Corner Gas wins poll, defines Canada

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We asked you “What TV show best defines Canada?” and now the votes have been tallied. With a whopping 58% of the votes cast, Corner Gas apparently best contributes to our national identity. Little Mosque on the Prairie and Hockey Night in Canada/Rick Mercer Report/Trailer Park Boys were in distant second and tied-for-third places.

What TV show best defines Canada?

  • Corner Gas (58%, 1,313 Votes)
  • Little Mosque on the Prairie (6%, 146 Votes)
  • Hockey Night in Canada (5%, 122 Votes)
  • Rick Mercer Report (5%, 118 Votes)
  • Trailer Park Boys (5%, 104 Votes)
  • Red Green Show (3%, 76 Votes)
  • Hinterland Who's Who (3%, 63 Votes)
  • Degrassi (2%, 50 Votes)
  • This Hour Has 22 Minutes (2%, 46 Votes)
  • SCTV (2%, 43 Votes)
  • Due South (2%, 40 Votes)
  • Beachcombers (2%, 39 Votes)
  • Kids in the Hall (2%, 39 Votes)
  • Littlest Hobo (1%, 18 Votes)
  • Heritage Minutes (1%, 14 Votes)
  • Road to Avonlea (1%, 13 Votes)
  • North of 60 (0%, 10 Votes)
  • Slings & Arrows (0%, 8 Votes)
  • This Hour Has Seven Days (0%, 2 Votes)

Total Voters: 2,264

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Thanks to all those who participated in the fun (without asking too many questions about how a TV show can possibly define a nation) and to the redditors who posed the question and provided the baseline responses. If you’re on reddit, check out their Canadian TV hangout.

 

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Survivorman searches for Sasquatch

I’ve always enjoyed Les Stroud’s show, Survivorman. I know I’d be dead if I was left in any of the situations he has been in, but it’s fun as heck to watch him fight to survive in hostile settings like the Arctic, jungle and plains.

Stroud returns Wednesday for six special episodes on OLN that focus on a legendary creature I’ve been fascinated with since I was a kid: Bigfoot. Stroud was given special permission by a Native Canadian band to stake out a spot in Klemtu, B.C., an area known as such a hot spot for Sasquatch that it’s not even a question of whether the hairy beasts exist because townsfolk have seen them walking down the main street and in their back yards.

Small-screen searches for Bigfoot have been around for years—Finding Bigfoot may be the most popular—and none have captured real, tangible evidence of the animals save for screams in the night and plaster casts of footprints. And the same holds true for Survivorman, at least until the last segment of Wednesday’s debut. It’s then that Stroud, who is virtually unshakable in all of his survival experiences, catches a major case of the willies thanks to something happening that he can’t explain.

Unlike traditional episodes where Stroud is dumped in a location, sets up camp and starts recording with cameras right away, the premiere spends several minutes taking sweeping shots of the town with eyewitness accounts flashing on-screen. This isn’t about surviving on what he catches in the water or in traps, or about keeping warm, this is about encountering a Bigfoot. Along the way, Stroud outlines how hoaxers have, over the years, faked footsteps, and addresses Bigfoot naysayers who say the lack of any found skeletons means the animals don’t exist.

Does Stroud finally pull back the curtain on one of our biggest mysteries? You’ll have to tune in to find out.

Survivorman: Bigfoot airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on OLN.

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