Intelligence

From the literally up-in-the-air first scene to the rueful end-of-the-day drink between reluctant allies, smuggler Jimmy Reardon (Ian Tracey) and his top-cop handler Mary Spalding (Klea Scott), in the series opener, this show moves with startling speed. Those who found last year's Da Vinci City Hall and the Intelligence pilot off-putting in their complexity should enjoy the series anyway. The pilot juggled maybe too many balls and sometimes felt jagged as a result. The show does not have that problem. It goes down smooth as Irish whisky.

The look is cool and different, with a sinuous style--think Miami Vice in 21st century Vancouver. Tracey is fascinating as the conflicted, but ultimately good-hearted, Jimmy. Talk about a guy trapped in a pit full of snakes. Scott is similarly fine as the professionally and personally beleaguered Mary. If you've been missing Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect, you'll quickly get hooked on Mary's tough, no-nonsense style. The fact that she's not your usual little-girl-lost blonde we seem to get in every cop show these days certainly doesn't hurt. It's really nice to get a modern noir story with protagonists you actually like. Jimmy and Mary, at least so far, are the good guys. It's just that they're very unusual good guys.

This is the kind of show that could claim a wide range of audience if it can get half a chance against the heavy-hitters on Tuesday night. Let's hope.

Found on Netflix by accident. I'm on the 2nd series and don't want it to end.

This show took me by surprise! This is a crime drama that does innovative things. For starters there is no good or bad. Or at least it isn't clear cut. Everybody has his own agenda. Inspector Mary Spalding uses informants from the criminal circuit in order to gather information and modernize the Canadian intelligence agency (to fight crime and international terrorism). But at the same time these informants get favors in return to maintain their business. Quite ridiculous if you think about it. But I guess that is needed nowadays. All is done for the greater good. The events are fast paced and demand that you stay focused. But losing the plot won't be a problem since it is so good that you will be drawn in. This show is filled with tense moments and makes it almost impossible to predict what is going to happen. This offers quite some interesting viewing! The whole cast is excellent with no exceptions. The way characters act and react to events are done so realistically that is very hard not to sympathize with them. But Ian Tracey (Jimmy Reardon) and Klea Scott (Mary Spalding) give that something extra to their characters that make the show even better. It is interesting to see how they handle matters and do their work. I never once got the feeling that it was made up or fake. Everything is so believable that it is a joy to watch. "Intelligence" is thrilling to the last minute and is without a doubt one of the best crime shows ever made. I am very sad that a show this good got canceled. At least they could have given the fans an extra episode for a decent closure.

I demand an explanation. This show is a winner in every way. A veritable needle in the haystack. Superb character development, convincingly acted, and plausible story lines.I was stunned when I discovered it was cancelled. Such a waste of cinematic acumen. Maybe it got a little too close to the truth.

I taped this show each week, and if I made the mistake of starting to watch the tape when I had other things to do, thinking "I'll just watch the first few minutes", there was no way I could stop. I had to watch the whole thing.

When the credits rolled on the season finale I swore loudly at the screen. I didn't want it to end, especially not at the point that they left it dangling at! Next season promises to be explosive.

"Intelligence" isn't just great character-driven storytelling, it's a fascinating view into the machinery of domestic intelligence-gathering in both Canada and the U.S. as well as the politicking and maneuvering within and between the variou intel organizations and the criminal organizations they're supposed to be monitoring.

But it's not all wiretaps and whispers, it's robberies, assassinations, and gang warfare. Make no mistake, this is exciting crime drama.

The characters are vividly drawn and so believable that I expect to run into them in the street on my next trip to Vancouver. They are textured with flaws and weaknesses, exhibiting flashes of decency and kindness one moment, ruthlessness and cruelty the next. There are no clear heroes or villains. There are sympathetic and repugnant characters on both sides of the law. Sometimes I felt sorry for those I had despised, or I felt betrayed by characters I had trusted. I'm invested in all their stories, and I'm dying to know how they resolve next season!

Hopefully season one goes to DVD shortly. As a tightly-paced serial it will be good to watch all of the episodes back-to-back unbroken by commercials. It would also be an opportunity for many, many more people to get hooked on this show!