Tag Archives: Featured

Review: X Company’s explosive season-ender

“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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Corner Gas wins poll, defines Canada

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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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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TV Eh B Cs podcast 18 – Aaron Poole and the Charcoal Lemonade Conspiracy

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Aaron Poole broke out in his defining performance in Ed Gass-Donnelly’s This Beautiful City, a film for which he was also a producer. He’s played a recurring role on TMN’s Z.O.S: Zone of Separation and was featured in Atom Egoyan’s Adoration. After filming the third act to American indie hit, Circumstance, in Lebanon, Aaron teamed up with Ed Gass- Donnelly and producer Lee Kim once again for the feature Small Town Murder Songs.

Poole is an executive producer and one of the lead actors in The Conspiracy, a mockumentary thriller about secret socieities. Additionally he’s been in Showcase’s Crash and Burn, HBO Canada’s Living in Your Car, the Global series King, BBC America’s Copper, and most recently on CBC’s Strange Empire. He was also featured in Samuel L. Jackson’s The Samaritan, Jason Priestley’s Cas & Dylan, and Jon Cassar’s film Forsaken, starring opposite Kiefer and Donald Sutherland.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release.

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Review: Relapses and regret on Remedy

Back in 2000, an episode of ER shook me so much that I think about it every once in awhile. “Be Still My Heart” guest-starred David Krumholtz as a man who everyone brushed off in the ER. I felt dread during the first storyline, as Paul Sobriki (Krumholtz) showed signs of paranoia and instability and only Lucy Knight (Kellie Martin) knew something was amiss. By the end of that first episode, Paul had killed Lucy and John Carter (Noah Wyle) was stabbed in the back and clinging to life.

I drew an immediate parallel between “Be Still My Heart” and “Playing Doctor Conner,” Monday’s latest episode of Remedy, not because of the violence but because of the growing dread and ultimate shock I felt by the end. Having Griffin re-trace the steps he took with Jayne Baugher (Christine Horne) mounted up the tension. Slow to build the relationship between them—both were once in med school and in both cases “complicated” situations surrounded their departures—by the time Griff presented her file, and the diagnosis she had sarcoidosis on the road to progressive fibrosis, they had established trust.

I knew things would end badly for Jayne, but I didn’t expect what came next. After leaving Jayne alone for minutes—I’ll get to that in a second—Griff returned to find her missing. Deciding she didn’t want to burden her family with a long, drawn-out descent into death and her own awful experience of drowning in her own lungs, Jayne cut her wrists and faded away as Griffin watched. It was a tragic scene both because of what Jayne had done and—ultimately—what it forced Griff to do. Rather than tell Zoe the pain he was feeling and hand over the painkillers Linda had surrendered, he popped two.

Speaking of Linda, “Playing Doctor Conner” marked the evolution of her character. She may be a cold-hearted bitch, but she’s deeply troubled as well. The fact Griffin kept her secret—he was meeting with her when Jayne made her fatal decision—will build their relationship and for that I’m glad. It’s always nice to have a one-dimensional character to hate, but I prefer them with some substance too. (Let us also acknowledge the performance by Raoul Bhaneja as Eric, Bethune’s lawyer. I’ve never wanted to punch a TV lawyer harder in the mouth, so kudos to Bhaneja for that.)

Almost lost in the shuffle were the other storylines of the night. Allen once again proved older is wiser when he was able to diagnose a man suffering from chronic neck pain, giving Cutler a much-needed comeuppance and education in listening to patients rather than rushing them out the door. And who else cheered Sandy when she told Mel to back off regarding hiring a nanny? Mel needs to focus on something else. Like maybe Dr. Stubble?

Notes and quotes

  • “I’m starving. We should order Chinese. You’re not veggie, are you?” Eric was trying to come off like a nice guy …
  • “I’ve always been an early riser.” TMI, Griff.
  • “This is Butch. Boot to the groin. You’re welcome.” Cutler is fitting in just fine.

Remedy airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global.

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