Cold Squad, brigade spéciale

This WAS a top notch show. I'll state that i could not finish season 3. My wife and i rate season 1-2 as 9 out of 10, FANTASTIC! It was good acting, the cases were interesting, the actors were great, there was some good interpersonal tension, good mix of personal drama, and some really interesting long story arcs weaving through the seasons. Season three started and it was utter garbage. All the characters were hollywoodized, the interpersonal interaction was hostile and they ruined everything she worked for in the first 2 seasons. The actors were more U.S. glamorous, the focus was on personal lives, the cases not as interesting, and the characters were just felt corrupt and lame. Sad and pathetic. I was so sad the series nose-dived - the whole flavor changed. Julie Stewart was the only redeeming part of season three - and they took away her as a focus... she was still great.

Miami Vice, move over. Way over! Cold Squad encompasses the drug trade, prostitution, murder, child sex abuse and political corruption. All this is investigated with cold leads that are years, sometimes decades, old.

Ali McCormick (Julie Stewart) is among toughest of cops portrayed on North American TV screens and she leads a team of cops who investigate the grittiest of crimes in the Greater Vancouver area. As a cop with an erratic schedule, Ali decides to become a Big Sister to a pre-teen girl and then develops feelings for the father of the girl. This makes her work/home life more complicated.

The complexities of being a cop on Cold Squad are further complicated by the personalities and talents of other members of the team. There is the ambitious office assistant, Christine Wren, (Joely Collins) who embarrasses superiors with her correctness and knowledge, a former undercover RCMP officer Nicco Sevallis, (Gregory Calpakis), who mixes up his alliances, the hardworking, but not very careful Mickey Kollander (Tamara Craig Thomas) and the right-wing Christian fundamentalist, Len Harper, (Matthew Bennett) who listens genuinely well before making his thoughts known to Ali.

Stewart, who has played motherly and romantic roles in the past, can glory in her success as one of the most watched hard-edged lead roles on TV today as she enters another "seasoned" season.

If her performance and scope continue, in few short years she will take her place alongside actors like Helen Mirren. Go for it, Julie!

I like Cold Squad, I used to watch it all the time when I got satellite TV, back when CBC was a freebie. Julie and Matthew are top notch actors, I cannot say enough good things about them. The premise of this show keeps us guessing, and I hope that it continues on for a long time. The only problem I can see was a guest actor named Shayne Wyler. He was absolutely terrible in one episode. His movements were clumsy, awkward, and in general, he looked like he didn't know where he was going half the time. I found Shayne very annoying, he constantly mumbled what he said, didn't they teach him to enounciate at school? Really, I hope they don't hire him back. Shayne is better suited for theater, and theater only.

"Cold Squad" scores with its engaging plotlines, terrific acting (especially Julie Stewart as Sgt. McCormick), and taut direction. Hats off to CTV and the show's creators for creating and airing such a terrific Canadian police drama. For all of you Canadians who are disappointed with the quality of Canadian television series, and for TV viewers all over the world who want a good drama and are capable of receiving a Canadian show, this is for you. It's now on Saturdays at 9pm EST on CTV, so watch it! It's great!

Find a place to binge all seven seasons. If you don't care for one season, try another. Every one builds up to a dramatic peak, a cast shake-up and a complete revamp. Main characters get killed off, injured or transfer out (just like real-life). The only link is Sargeant Allie McCormick, head of a little hole-in-the-wall newly-formed operation in the basement of the police building. In the first season she drives a used BMW 2002, has a sick mom and a head of close-cropped florescent-dyed red hair. All of this atmosphere is gone by season three, but season 1 & 2 is full of it! These are my favorite episodes. Great jazz theme by Terry Frewer, darkly photographed, emphasis on forensics and psychology and cerebral. Personal back stories take a back seat to the investigation. This balance is tested and changed over subsequent seasons, with Allie's love life and numerous liasons weaving in and out up many episodes. As a character, Allie grows on you. She is a flawed human being trying to find her stance in life, growing, falling, always picking the wrong guy and trying new hair styles and colors. Along the way she has an termination of pregnancy, affairs with fellow officers and bosses and Russian police. What a girl! Unlike U.S. based series (where you find a formula and stick to it like cement) Cold Squad completely changed every season, bringing in the best actors in Canada to fill slots in the ensemble. All the little nuances eventually succumb to action sequences and fashionable style. It's turned into a guilty pleasure to watch.