Reviews

Unlike many I don't mind reading subtitles when the colloquialisms substitute for the French language as it evolved in Québec. This is a riveting and addictive series. The portrayal of the relationship between Berrof and his mother paints a classic picture of a dysfunctional middle class family of the region and one that seems to be repeated in old French-Canadian families right along the fur-trade route from Québec through Detroit and Sault St. Marie is much more common than one might suppose in kind if not in degree. The promiscuity between couples and open relationships is also more commonly visible in Montréal than elsewhere in Canada. The behaviour of the police in solving internal problems like the wife-abuser or the dealing with cops personal problems, alcoholism, and the tendency to sweep misdemeanors under the carpet is accurate. I am disappointed to have learned that it is being remade in English with a different cast. The language is one I am familiar with having spent some of my formative years in the city. Some of the local jargon I picked up during the show was quite funny and a lot of that nuance may be lost in translation in the "anglais" version, but I will try to keep an open mind. If it gets (typically) "sanitized" in order to appeal to the English Canadian audience, it will be a totally different series, and I may prefer to go on watching the Québec version if it was available.