Fortunate Son

It's ambitious.

I remember a lot of growing up in the 60s. I am in disagreement with the previous review, I find the premise intriguing, great acting and believable. A fresh and captivating story. I also loved Anne with an E. CBC is on the right track.

I've watched all eight episodes of the first season, and I'm so glad I stumbled upon "Fortunate Son" on CBC Gem. I was intrigued by the show's premise of the draft dodger experience in Canada during the Vietnam War. I feel like this is a story that hasn't been told before. I grew up next door to a draft dodger and his family, but I was always too polite to ask about their experiences and why activism was so important to them. Now that I'm much older, I have a greater understanding of what they must have gone through. What made me fall in love with the show was the writing. It was very clever to write a spy/thriller series with an American family as its focus and to show how activism puts a strain on their relationships with one another. I also appreciated how the characters are written smart--they sometimes make poor decisions, but I never questioned their intelligence. The actors also give topnotch performances. Stephen Moyer plays menacing so well, and Kari Matchett's Ruby is the heart and soul of the show. Darren Mann (Travis) and Kacey Rohl (Ellen) are young actors to watch, and I was impressed by the intensity they brought to their roles. The two cops played by Patrick Gallagher and Ty Olsson also inject some much-appreciated humour into the show with their witty asides ("Hippies--what did we do to deserve them?"). I also loved the attention to detail, from the episode titles based on songs of the sixties to the props (hey, I recognize those coffee cups). The ending was kind of left open (Ralph, watch out for those redheads!), so I hope CBC picks the show up for a second season. If you're on the fence about watching it, I say give it a try. The retro vibe of the sixties is fun to watch (the clothes, the music, the vintage cars), but it will be the writing and the characters that'll make you want to stay along for the ride.

CBC should be ashamed to air this show, it an insult to Canada with all of the ignorant mistakes. Ladner had only one brick building (the post office). The border crossing at Blaine is the Peace Arch crossing and was at this time a multilane crossing, not a tiny outpost as depicted. The investigations into the assault of the border guards would have been investigated by RCMP officers. The bank that the sister works at did not exist. there was no such bank as the British Columbia Treasury Bank. There ware no peace marches in Ladner. If you want film a show set in Canada at least get the facts right. these glaring errors put me off watching the next episodes!

That's one star apiece for each episode.

I was in high school during 1968 and what's portrayed here is pure nonsense. The plot is simply unbelievable on so many levels. It involves a conspiracy theory that even a hard-core conspiracy nut would say is far-fetched. For reasons I don't understand, CBC is heavily into doing "period" pieces and every one that they do is an absolute mess of anachronisms and basic stupidity. This one is true to form.

I was reluctant at first to watch this because of the low overall rating. Then I saw that it was low because of an ignorant and childish 1 given by someone with some weird issue.. believe the people who rated it 9+10. The story is clever, that cast superb. You will be hooked! I was gutted when it ended...