"Due South" marathon

[Tom]

Sorry Tom, I should have stayed on track but once I started...

No problem. I am glad you enjoyed the series that much

[RossRoy]

Well, I'm restarting to watch Due South. I'm starting back at the beginning. I won't post episode per episode reviews though, but I'll take notes in a book about how I liked each episodes and what I thought were the highlights of said episode. I'll then post them in batches, when I come up to read how far along the conversations have come during my pseudo-absence

[Tom]

I also will have to continue with this marathon soon. I am at the beginning of season 3.

[RossRoy]

Here is what I watched today:

Pilot Movie [mr]4[/mr]
Great start to the series. Establishes the Fraser/Vecchio dynamics quickly, and they hit it off well in terms of chemistry. The story is good too.

Free Willie [mr]4[/mr]
Good first actual episode. A few nice jokes (especially those about the color of Canadian money) and a good story.

Diefenbaker's Day Off [mr]4[/mr]
Great episode, I loved it. Nice little heartwarming story. Still wonder why they had the dog's name in the title when he had so little to do though.

Manhunt [mr]5[/mr]
Leslie Nielsen's in it! What more could you ask for? Granted it's in a more serious role, but he still manages to get a some laughs, and I always like it when they take funny actors and place them in serious roles.

They Eat Horses, Don't They? [mr]4[/mr]
Another solid episode if you ask me. Nice, if a little gross, story. And Vecchio's sister is back!

Pizzas and Promies [mr]4[/mr]
What a treat! Vecchio's sister is back for a second episode in a row! Unfortunately, I found this episode to be really slow to pick up. Once they get to the car dealership, the story picks up and gets better, but the beginning of the episode is rather dull. I give this a 4 because of Ramona Milano, else it'd be a 3.

[Jimmy]

Leslie Nielsen's in it! What more could you ask for? Granted it's in a more serious role, but he still manages to get a some laughs, and I always like it when they take funny actors and place them in serious roles.

He was a serious actor before Airplane that had lead him to be typecast in those kind of role, not that I don't like him in some of those (Airplane and naked gun) but after a while it's an annoying waste of Canadian talent. Do you know that he was in Forbidden Planet, Day of the Animals, City on Fire (a Canadian movie that I've always appreciated that is sadly not release on dvd) and many western and drama since the fifties? Honestly one of our best canadian success in the world of entertainment

[RossRoy]

I knew about forbidden planet and of him being serious before being typecast. But, personally, I've known him mostly as a funny actor

[Najemikon]

He also did a nice spot in one of the Creepshow segments and only a few weeks ago I was channel hopping and there he was in Murder She Wrote of all things!

It is a shame he got so typecast, but Naked Gun was such a huge smash and his character such an icon, how couldn't he be? I know he'd done Airplane! already, but one film would have been fun, then back to drama would have been ok.

Still, I bloody love the Naked Gun films... 

[Tom]

3.03 I Could'a Been a Defendant (1997-09-28)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), Jeff King (Writer)
Director: Jimmy Kaufman
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Catherine Bruhier (Elaine), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Brent Carver (Bruce Spender), Ron White (Kevin Spender), David Gardner (Police Commandant), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Satori Shakoor (Reporter), Frank Pavolic (Elliot Wells), Paul Wildbaum (Dustin Mahoney), Jason Jazrawy (Michael Johnson)

A good episode. The dynamics between Fraser and new Ray are similar to season 1 Fraser and old Ray.
Starting with this episode Francesca will get a bigger role. She is taking over for Elaine at the police station.

Rating: [mr]4[/mr]

[Tom]

3.04 Strange Bedfellows (1997-10-05)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), R.B. Carney (Writer)
Director: George Bloomfield
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Anne Marie Loder (Stella Kowalski), Winston A. Rekert (Frank Orsini), David Storch (Dwayne Weston), Eugene Clark (Orsini's Assistant), Merwin Mondesir (Damon Reese), Susan Hamann (Diane Weston), Kedar (Tom Abbot), Paul de Silva (Dr. Tung), Christian Laurin (Chef)

An okay episode. Here we see Stella, Ray's ex-wife, for the first time. Also Fraser's dad will from now on be more of a fixture in the series. He "build" himself a office inside of Fraser's closet. This leads to a running gag where Fraser's boss (Thatcher) will catch him talking to himself standing inside of his closet.

Rating: [mr]3[/mr]

[Tom]

3.05 Mountie & Soul (1997-10-26)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), R.B. Carney (Writer)
Director: Steve DiMarco
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Ron Canada (Franco Devlin), Sharrieff Pugh (Levon), Jan Rubeš (Mort), Lynne Deragon (Desk Sergeant), Gene Mack (Mason Dixon), Andrew McLean (Deron Martin), Chris Collins (Jamal Martin), Jeremy Kerr (Duval Edwards), Omari Forrester (Rollin' 22)

Episodes about boxing do not belong to my favorite kind of episodes in any series. This one is okay though. But nothing special.

Rating: [mr]3[/mr]

[Tom]

3.06 Bounty Hunter (1997-10-19)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), George F. Walker (Writer)
Director: Steve DiMarco
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Wendy Crewson (Janet Moore), Hugh Thompson (Bradley Torrance), Jared Wall (Robbie), Cecilley Carroll (Annie), Hayley Lochner (Suzanne), Dean McDermott (Constable Turnbull), Bruce McFee (Deadeye Fineberg), Cliff Saunders (Ansell Ford), Layton Morrison (Wild Bill Jackson), Paul Saunders (Harvey Lopez), Ray Alexander (Lester Rivers)

This episode is mostly about a possible romance between Fraser and the guest character, the female bounty hunter. It is not bad, but I did not really care for the storyline.
One of the great things about this season is, that we get to see Francesca more often. Also it is now to see that there is a genuine friendship between new Ray and Fraser developing.

Rating: [mr]3[/mr]

[Tom]

3.07 Seeing Is Believing (1997-10-12)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), Michael Teversham (Writer)
Director: Steve DiMarco
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Polly Shannon (Judy Cates), Ross Hull (Keith Warren), Bruce Vavrina (Mike Bennet), Anne Marie Loder (Stella Kowalski), Yanna McIntosh (Candace Madison), Susan Coyne (Penny Morton), Sean Sullivan (Dennis Fagan), Mif (Johnny Maigot), Dolores Ettienne (Elderly Woman)

A really great episode. Ray, Lt. Welsh and Inspector Thatcher all witness the same crime, but their statements do not match. Now it is Fraser's job to get to the truth. This episode features a lot of great banter between the characters while they are trying to convince each other of each other's views. And Francesca is trying to get Lt. Welsh to buy a Cappucino machine for the station during all of this.

Rating: [mr]5[/mr]

[Tom]

3.08 Spy vs Spy (1997-11-02)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), David Cole (Writer)
Director: Paul Lynch
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Eric Christmas (Albert "H" Hanrahan), Susan Douglas (Ruth Henry), Martha Burns (Nada), Jan Rubeš (Mort), Maury Chaykin (Pike), Victor Pedtchenko (Yuri), Lon E. Katzmann (Karl Almazov), George Ghali (Taxi Driver), Andrew Dan (2nd Gunman), Milton Barnes (Boombox Guy)

A fun episode. An old man who says he is a former spy is involved in solving a crime.
Nice parody of old spy movies with the driving scenes with "Pike".

Rating: [mr]4[/mr]

[Tom]

3.09 Dead Guy Running (1998-01-04)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), Julie Lacey (Writer)
Director: George Bloomfield
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Richard Chevolleau (Stanley Smith), Anne Marie Loder (Stella Kowalski), Alex Carter (Agent Ford), Michael Ricupero (Dinardo), Greg Kramer (Adolph Kuzma), Jan Rubeš (Mort), Mark Melymick (Agent Deeter), Lynne Deragon (Desk Sergeant), Donny Burns (Drunk), James Kirchner (Guy Rankin)

A fun episode. Due South's version of "Weekend at Bernies". And again, I am really glad, that Francesca gets such a big role in this season.

Rating: [mr]4[/mr]

[Tom]

3.10 Perfect Strangers (1997-11-30)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), David Cole (Writer)
Director: Francis Damberger
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Dean McDermott (Constable Turnbull), Scott Hylands (General Bowman), Shawn Alex Thompson (Chad Percy (Maxwell)), Cedric Smith (High-ranking Mountie), Kenneth McGregor (Nick Evers), Mackenzie Gray (George), Marqus Bobesich (Sonny Dunlap), Tracey Hway (Shelley), Frank Nakashima (Businessman #1), Brett Heard (Businessman #2)

This episode is inspired by Hitchcock's "Stranger on a Train".
I especially enjoyed the scene where Fraser and Ray arrive in Canada.

Rating: [mr]4[/mr]