| Series cast summary: | |||
| Billy Campbell | ... | ||
| Eric Hicks | ... | ||
| Karine Vanasse | ... | ||
| Alanna Bale | ... |
Kelly Cardinal
11 episodes, 2017-2018
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| Zach Smadu | ... |
Detective Ash Kular
10 episodes, 2018
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Cardinal is a Canadian crime drama television series, currently in production for a scheduled debut on CTV in the 2016-17. An adaptation of Giles Blunt's award-winning mystery novel Forty Words for Sorrow, the series stars Billy Campbell as John Cardinal and Karine Vanasse as Lise Delorme, detectives investigating the murder of a young girl.
I have to say, Canadian shows are catching my attention. It's the pacing as much as the quality of the production. American editing is a real problem for me as the scenes flick so fast I don't have time to take in the images and process to enjoy the emotions before you have to absorb the next image, and the next and next in split second action. I like lingering on a face (as long as you hired a real actor that is trained in the arts, not the couch) in order to capture what they are feeling. A technique that compensates for some lost book context if you have the right scene played out so you feel like you get inside their head. Non-American movies have always been attractive to me because of the more relaxed pacing that relies more upon acting. It's good to see this Canadian TV offerings as it captures you with a good story, moodiness and good character development. Except the young criminals. They are not as intense and believable as twisted, tortured beings. Next season will have new villains, and I hope they devote budget to those characters now that it's such a success. Also, perhaps second season bigger budget might mean more forensic realism and less relying on lingering dead body images. That's the one place I'd prefer the split-second images!