Tag Archives: Shoot the Messenger

Link: Elyse Levesque talks Shoot the Messenger + a preview of “Strange Bedfellows”

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Elyse Levesque talks Shoot the Messenger + a preview of “Strange Bedfellows”
“I think [she] wants to get to the bottom of things. I do think there’s something that when you’re sober, you’re jonesing for a fix, some sort of excitement, looking for something else to curb the desire to drink or do drugs. I think the adrenaline she gets from putting herself in dangerous situations is [her fix].” Continue reading.

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Choices are made on Shoot the Messenger

I’m still reeling from that image of Judge Reeves and Orlandio shagging, and the quick recap ahead of Monday’s new episode further burned the picture into my mind. It also caused me to say out loud: what’s next on Shoot the Messenger?

“Careful What you Pray For” began like a gunshot, quickly and unexpectedly, with Khaalif feeling he’d avenged his brother’s death and all debts paid. Not so much, as it turned out. The police had the final say, breaking down the door and sweeping Khaalif and his crew up in a guns and gangs raid.

In the very next scene, Simon was saying goodbye to Cassie. She was off on a week-long business trip and before hopping in the cab uttered a line that is the basis for everything unravelling on Shoot the Messenger: “You always have a choice.”

Simon’s choice seems to be—at this point anyway—whether he’ll let little Simon take command of big Simon and head back into bed with Daisy. That didn’t happen, and perhaps it didn’t because that’s what I expected would occur, and Shoot the Messenger is unique because it doesn’t go with the obvious. Yes, Daisy was having an affair with Lutz and slept with Simon, but she appears to have stopped with the pillow talk; by episode end she and Simon shared a mutual respect. They’re going to need each other’s backs going forward because the video of Sam and Khalid in bed together is going to blow the roof off the story.

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It certainly pushed Judge Reeves and Orlandio to the background, and that was unexpected too. I assumed Reeves and her husband, Glen, were sexual deviants who would do anything to keep their bedroom tastes quiet—going to far as to murdering Khalid to keep it under wraps—but instead we were treated to a scene where they broke down and supporting each other, realizing their careers are likely in the gutter. (Also? I was convinced Mary was going to stifle what Daisy and Simon has uncovered.)

Juxtaposing scenes of grief, shock and resignation were a quiet few moments between Lutz and his son, Noah. Lutz was helping Noah get ready for school and the soccer practice afterwards; it offered a sweet respite from the drama swirling in the other storylines.

Production-wise, I love the camera angles Sudz Sutherland uses, especially during intense, loaded conversations. Everyone is always just off-centre, I imagine to show no one in Shoot the Messenger is being totally honest with the other and are always a little crooked.

Shoot the Messenger airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Link: Lucas Bryant talks Shoot the Messenger

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Lucas Bryant talks Shoot the Messenger
“So often, you get a tease in an episode that suggests something you’re about to explore in a subsequent episode. There’s a little more information that comes out, but it’s something that’s kind of left alone. I thought that was nicely ambiguous and adult.” Continue reading.

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Shoot the Messenger expands its world in Episode 3

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Shoot the Messenger. When I made an on-location visit during production on Season 1, I learned it was about a rookie news reporter named Daisy who landed a big story. Though Daisy was excited to write it, she needed help and that was where her co-worker, Simon, came into the picture. I also knew a cop named Lutz was having a relationship with Daisy and corruption within levels of government was involved.

But man, Shoot the Messenger is so much more than that, something evident by the time Episode 3 had closed. Daisy got a crash course in just how delicate the information she’s gotten is to some people. It did feel like she was a little blasé about everything last week and she’s certainly been reminded of that after the man from the car followed her into Hassan’s apartment and demanded the cell phone. When Hassan said he didn’t have it, the masked man gunned down Avril. Guess that was the wrong answer.

Much of the episode was spent following Daisy’s descent into an alcohol-induced haze. Prior to that she’d met with Anthony Telpher (Rick Fox), a friend she made in rehab when they were both addicted to cocaine. And though the talk with him seemed to do good, Daisy promptly went back to Chloe’s and drank a bottle of booze while surfing the Internet and seeing the type of kid Khalid used to be. Daisy’s actions not only estranged her from Chloe but Lutz too, especially after he advised he’d be distancing himself from her because she knew the men he was investigating the deaths of.

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And then Shoot the Messenger curved off in another direction that involved Sam Charles being feted for the Prime Minister’s office and Eric Lawson’s involvement with gangs discussed. Lawson has got a stink on him and Phil Hardcastle (Maurice Dean Wint) doesn’t want any of it rubbing off on Sam.

The stink of another sort—sex—was front and centre by episode’s end, as Simon and Daisy discovered Orlandio’s penchant for sleeping with older women. The revelation he bedded Judge Reeves not only takes Daisy’s story into even more dangerous territory but it pretty much guarantees Kevin’s warrant won’t be approved.

Last night’s episode boasted oodles of slow-motion movement set to music and a particularly strong, deeply emotional sequence as Khalid was being prepared for burial. It lends a feature film feel to Shoot the Messenger‘s gritty storylines.

Shoot the Messenger airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
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