This Is Wonderland

Congratulations to CBC for picking a real winner for once! Not that I dislike their other shows necessarily, but until now there hasn't been a Canadian series that could compete at an international level (with a couple of possible exceptions). This show is funny, smart, and grabs your attention. It's almost impossible to *not* watch until the end once it's started.

I'm praying real hard that it finds its audience because once it picks up steam, it could actually draw... my god... ratings. And I don't mean acceptable-for-Canadian-made-TV ratings. Actual numbers! Did I just say that? A highly rated CBC show?

Well I can dream, can't I?

This is really an excellent show. Despite being only an hour long the show manages to cram in wonderful stories and sub-plots without feeling rushed at all. It really is like Wonderland. Every character is insane, with their own personal, quirks, twitches and attitudes. The only exception is Alice herself (played by Cara Pifko). Unfortunately she has the task of playing the straight man, the one earnest character who isn't there for laughs but to balance out all the other weird characters. This makes her character remarkably dull. However since this show does have 3 to 4 plots going on at the same time it leaves little time for Alice and more time for the rest of the characters.

Don't flip the channel when you come across this show. It's one of the few shows worth watching.

When I had first glance at this series I presumed that this is some old American series about brave lawyer who fight for their clients, fight the system or do some other out-of-reality tasks. But after just few scenes I realized that this can't be old - there are too many modern things. Then I realized this can't American series - it's interesting. And at the end I realized that this can't be about lawyers - it's entertaining.

I don't know how to describe this series in other words than "great idea, good actors, interesting cases", etc. It's hard to point out any downsides of this series - it reminds me of US series "Queens Supreme" (which died too early) where you can feel that this is the real thing and real people in court with their real life problems.

And on the other hand creators have left aside lawyers private lives which would make the series sink instantly (like in Grey's Anatomy). Instead of the my-sad-personal-life stories there are loads of humor in scenes which makes the whole idea work just great, f.e. when Nancy Dao lost her first case:

NANCY (to her client): You see what you did? You made me lose my first case! And... to him! I hate you!

JUDGE: May we proceed to the sentence?

NANCY: Whatever...

After watching the final episode of series 2, I was somehow left with a feeling of sadness that this show might not be renewed. Sure it's quirky and oddball. Sometimes it feels like the actors are trying too hard. Sometimes it feels like it's going off the rails. But it always draws you back. It draws you back with poignant scenes filled with human tragedy. It draws you back with well written scripts. But mostly it draws you back with the passion that everyone involved in this production seems to feel for this programme.

It's rare these days that a television show gets the free reign to break away from the formulaic ideas that are making North American TV so boring and one dimensional. I'm just very afraid that it won't get the ratings that it deserves and it'll get cancelled. Or worse, it will be re-tooled and changed to be more acceptable to the masses. That would be wrong, the masses have enough to watch, this one is for the rest of us.

Please CBC, bring it back.

Even with the frantic pace, this courtroom comic drama takes just the right amount of time to tell its painful, and painfully funny stories. As art it creates its own universe and peoples it with highly original characters. As a piece of urban it seems to tell the truth. It is a highly inventive and revealing portrait that shows how peoples lives are affected by their dance with the court system. What is also revealing and truth-telling is the necessary manipulation of the judicial process in order that people actually get a bit of justice. A funny dramedy. CBC, you're on the ball.