Cardinal (TV series)


Cardinal is a Canadian crime drama television series, which was first broadcast on January 25, 2017, on CTV and Super Écran. The series adapts the novels of crime writer Giles Blunt, focusing on police detective John Cardinal and his partner Lise Delorme, who investigate crimes in the fictional city of Algonquin Bay.
Across six episodes, the first season adapts the first John Cardinal novel Forty Words for Sorrow, which focuses on the investigation of the murder of a young girl. On February 28, 2017, CTV renewed Cardinal for a second and third season, each containing six episodes. The second season adapts Blunt's third Cardinal novel, Blackfly Season, while the third adapted the novels By the Time You Read This and Crime Machine, the fourth and fifth novels in the series. The fourth season adapts the sixth novel, Until the Night.

Premise

Season 1: ''Forty Words for Sorrow''

John Cardinal is a troubled and brooding police officer in Algonquin Bay, who was removed from the homicide squad as a result of chief Noelle Dyson's belief that he had become obsessed with his investigation of a missing Native Canadian girl. When the girl's body finally turns up, he is reassigned to the case with new partner Lise Delorme ; what he does not know is that Delorme is being assigned to investigate him, as part of a federal police corruption probe which has identified Cardinal as possibly collaborating with a local drug dealer who has repeatedly managed to elude arrest. The investigation widens when another missing person case with some similar patterns leads Cardinal to believe that a serial killer may be active in the area.

Season 2: ''Blackfly Season''

A young woman, suffering from amnesia after having been shot in the head, appears in Algonquin Bay. Soon mutilated bodies, in accordance with some occult religious rituals, are discovered. The bodies are members of a local group of bikers known for trafficking drugs. John Cardinal and the team suspect that someone is trying to replace the gang in the drug trade. The mental health of his wife still worries Cardinal. Musgrave thinks he has finally found the evidence he is looking for.

Season 3: ''By the Time You Read This''

The suspicious death of Cardinal's wife Catherine coincides with a double murder, and Delorme is ordered to take the lead in the murder investigation. Reluctant to believe that Catherine committed suicide, Cardinal begins investigating other possibilities, whilst dealing with a succession of anonymous letters blaming him for the event. Noelle Dyson, recovering from the death of her sister, tries to reason with another prospective suicide and is devastated when she fails to prevent him killing himself.

Season 4: ''Until the Night''

After a prominent politician's husband is abducted and then left to die from exposure, Cardinal and Delorme suspect that a hired killer is targeting those close to four people, out of revenge for a cover-up in their past. Cardinal and Delorme grow closer but this case will be their last together as Delorme takes a new job in Toronto.

Cast and characters

Main

Introduced in season one

Season 1: ''Forty Words for Sorrow'' (2017)

Season 2: ''Blackfly Season'' (2018)

Season 3: ''By the Time You Read This'' (2019)

Season 4: ''Until the Night'' (2020)

Production

The first season was directed by Daniel Grou, and produced by Sienna Films and eOne Entertainment. It commenced production in Sudbury, Ontario in February 2016, with some additional location filming taking place in North Bay, Nipissing First Nation and Atikameksheng Anishnawbek. The first season was given a production budget of $1,800,000 per episode. Locations included the former studios of CBC Northern Ontario and the North Bay Public Library, which served as the Algonquin Bay police station.
The second season was directed by Jeff Renfroe, and was produced primarily in North Bay.
The show's theme music is adapted from the song "Familiar" by Danish singer-songwriter Agnes Obel. Background music featured in the series is composed by Toronto-based Todor Kobakov.
Vanasse, who is Québécoise and had previously appeared in the American television series Pan Am and Revenge, commented that Cardinal is the first time in which she is playing a Québécoise rather than a European character in an English-language television programme.

International transmission

Episodes from the second season premiered a day in advance of their television broadcast on on-demand service Crave TV. Filming on the third season completed in July 2018, and the season began airing on January 24, 2019. CTV announced that the programme had also been renewed for a fourth and final season with its finale airing on May 11, 2020. Internationally, the series is broadcast on BBC Two in the United Kingdom, C More in Scandinavia, Calle 13 in Spain, Hulu in the United States, SBS in Australia, Magenta TV in Germany, Canvas in Belgium and Channel 11 in Israel.

Reception

of The Globe and Mail praised the series, calling it "a gripping, superbly made crime drama" which ultimately lands as "landmark Canadian TV".
The series received twelve Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018. It won six awards, including Best Actor in a Limited Program or Television Film, Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Program, Photography in a Drama Series, Editing in a Drama Series, Music in a Fiction Program or Series and Best Casting.
At the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019, the series won the awards for Best Limited Series, Best Lead Actor in a Drama Program or Limited Series, Best Lead Actor in a Drama Program or Limited Series, Best Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series, Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries, Best Music in a Fiction Production and Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries.