Multilingual crime drama reflects urban reality
In OMNI’s original crime drama Blood and Water, which debuted Sunday, Vancouver has never looked more exotic. At least from the lens of television.
The victim in the show is Asian. The lead detective in the show is Asian. Her boss is Asian. Virtually all the protagonists, apart from Toronto actor Peter Outerbridge, are Asian.
If you’ve lived in Vancouver, which has a substantial Chinese-Canadian presence, hearing Mandarin on the street isn’t unusual. And the hypothetical situation of seeing an Asian cop and an Asian police lieutenant isn’t far-fetched. But we have become so used to TV reflecting another reality, it becomes jarring even though it shouldn’t be.
Blood and Water is the Canadian broadcaster’s first original crime drama produced in Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
It is not a salve to the long-term problems in the industry, but it is a significant first step.
The eight-part drama written by Al Kratina and Dan Trotta, and directed by John L’Ecuyer, is visually stunning. Too bad the storyline doesn’t match the exquisite imagery.
Someone is missing in a seaside town. Family members are in despair. There is an investigation. The crusty cop is played by Canadian-Australian actress Steph Song. Like David Tennant’s character in Broadchurch, Det. Jo Bradley is humanized through the spectre of illness.
In the premiere episode, after Jo is given a cancer diagnosis, she ends up getting the file of a complex homicide. The troubled drug-addicted son of a prominent developer has turned up dead and everyone, including family members, is a suspect.
Song’s restrained, cerebral performance is fine and compelling.
But the show is a slow boil to nowhere. It’s neither an action-cop flick nor is it particularly interesting drama. Mandarin and Cantonese scenes are subtitled but, apart from the language, there is very little cultural specificity. This could be any family, in any situation.
And perhaps that’s the point. How unusual is it, seeing Asian characters act like any other character you might see on a crime show?