EASILY one of the best shows this year and this thing is flying under the radar as far as I can tell which is a shame. The first five episodes in the hospital are incredibly transportive due to the cinematography, set design, and performances. Every actor embraces their role so well and everyone feels so real. This is probably the most grounded show this year while also being able to draw so many emotions out of you. I felt anger, fear, anxiety, endearment, and overwhelming grief and sadness in the first five episodes alone. Episode 5 in particular stands out as one of the most emotional and heartbreaking hours of TV I've ever watched. The only emotion that seemed to be missing was happiness or joy. It is really lacking in levity, but at the same I'm not sure that adding levity to a true story like this would be the right thing to do. I bet that any feelings of levity were severely absent for the real life doctors and patients of this story, and therefore the tone of this show feels like a faithful thematic adaptation. My one complaint was the juxtaposition between the first five episodes and the last three. The first five episodes in the hospital produced some of the most engaging and emotional television I have ever watched, and I just don't think the final three episodes was able to match this. The final three episodes are by no means bad, but they feel like they comprise a completely different of show and inherently the legal aftermath section of the show just isn't going to be as engaging or enthralling as the first five episodes actually in the hospital. Because of this the show dragged a good bit in these last episodes. Once we get to the final three episodes the show also narrows in on continuing Anna Pou's story, but most of the other characters get little to no screen time after being major parts of the first five epodes. I had gotten attached to those characters and there was a harsh cutoff for most of them after the fifth episode. I do, however, think that the final three episodes do a great job of adding complexity to Anna Pou's character and the entire situation at the hospital, as well as adding well-written new characters. Overall, even with the harsh transition after episode 5 I still found this show as a whole to be incredibly engaging and emotional. One of my favorite limited series.
2022 TV Shows Ranked --> https://trakt.tv/users/justinnumerick/lists/2022-tv-shows-ranked?sort=rank,asc
This is truly good TV! I've just finished the third season, and can hardly wait for the fourth. This series is based on the CARDINAL book series, by Giles Blunt, who "has received many awards from highly reputed associations for his writings. The first two novels of the John Cardinal series fetched him the British Crime Writers’ Asociation Silver Dagger and the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award respectively. He has proudly been compared with the likes of Ian Rankin and Cormac McCarthy and has been nominated for the Dublin IMPAC award two times." (https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/giles-blunt). Beyond really good writing, the series has fine performances by :flag_ca:Billy Campbell and :flag_ca:Karine Vanasse. The screenplays are evenly paced, the characters are credible law officers and solving the crimes is balanced with great character archs. This is a Bell production in partnership with :flag_ca:CTV (which will mean something to Canadians who will be able to catch it On Demand or through CTV's app) but internationally, it means you can expect beautiful :flag_ca:locations. I highly recommend this series and rate it a 9 (superb) out of 10. [Crime Drama] {Just finished the fourth and final season and found it a little slow and the soundtrack was horrid, but, Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse fill the silence between the very limited dialogue. This season dropped to a 7 (good) for me. Everything else in my original review stands.}
