''Cardinal'' is a Canadian crime drama television series, which was first broadcast on January 25, 2017, on CTV (in English) and Super Écran (in French)."CTV and Super Écran Partner on New Serialized Drama"
. ''Broadcaster'', February 11, 2016. The series adapts the novels of crime writer

Giles Blunt Giles Blunt (born 1952) is a Canadian novelist, poet, and screenwriter. His first novel, ''Cold Eye'', was a psychological thriller set in the New York art world, which was made into the French movie ''Les Couleurs du diable'' (Allain Jessua, 1 ...

, focusing on police detective John Cardinal ( Billy Campbell) and his partner Lise Delorme ( Karine Vanasse), who investigate crimes in the fictional city of Algonquin Bay. Across six episodes, the first season adapts the first John Cardinal novel ''

Forty Words for Sorrow ''Forty Words for Sorrow'' is a 2000 crime novel from Canadian novelist Giles Blunt, and the first to feature his protagonists John Cardinal and Lise Delorme. Blunt had previous published one other novel, ''Cold Eye'', but this was his first crim ...

'' (2000),"eOne, Sienna Gets Greenlight For 'Cardinal' Murder Mystery Drama at Canada's CTV (Exclusive)"
''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', November 13, 2015. which focuses on the investigation of the murder of a young girl. On February 28, 2017, CTV renewed ''Cardinal'' for a second and third season, each containing six episodes."CTV's Cardinal gets two more seasons". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', March 1, 2017. The second season adapts Blunt's third Cardinal novel, ''Blackfly Season'', while the third adapted the novels ''By the Time You Read This'' and ''Crime Machine'', the fourth and fifth novels in the series. The fourth and final season adapts the sixth novel, ''Until the Night''.

Premise

Season 1: ''Forty Words for Sorrow''

John Cardinal ( Billy Campbell) is a troubled and brooding police officer in Algonquin Bay, who was removed from the homicide squad as a result of chief Noelle Dyson's ( Kristen Thomson) belief that he had become obsessed with his investigation of a missing Native Canadian girl. When the girl's body finally turns up, he is reassigned to the case with a new partner, Lise Delorme ( Karine Vanasse). What he does not know is that Delorme has been assigned to investigate him as part of a corruption probe that has identified Cardinal as possibly collaborating with a local drug dealer. The investigation widens when another missing person case with similar patterns leads Cardinal to believe that a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

may be active in the area.

Season 2: ''Blackfly Season''

A young woman suffering from amnesia after having been shot in the head appears in Algonquin Bay. Soon mutilated bodies, in accordance with some occult religious rituals, are discovered. The bodies are members of a local group of bikers known for trafficking drugs. John Cardinal and the team suspect that someone is trying to replace the gang in the drug trade. The mental health of his wife still worries him. Musgrave thinks he has finally found the evidence he is looking for.

Season 3: ''By the Time You Read This''

The suspicious death of Cardinal's wife Catherine coincides with a double murder, and Delorme is ordered to take the lead in the murder investigation. Reluctant to believe that Catherine committed suicide, Cardinal begins investigating other possibilities, whilst dealing with a succession of anonymous letters blaming him for the event. Noelle Dyson, recovering from the death of her sister, tries to reason with another prospective suicide and is devastated when she fails to prevent him killing himself.

Season 4: ''Until the Night''

After a prominent politician's husband is abducted and then left to die from exposure, Cardinal and Delorme suspect that a hired killer is targeting those close to four people, out of revenge for a cover-up in their past. Cardinal and Delorme grow closer but this case will be their last together as Delorme takes a new job in Toronto.

Cast and characters

Main

* Billy Campbell as Det. John Cardinal * Karine Vanasse as Det. Lise Delorme * Kristen Thomson as Det. Sgt. Noelle Dyson * Deborah Hay as Catherine Cardinal (Seasons 1–3) * Alanna Bale as Kelly Cardinal * Glen Gould as Det. Jerry Commanda * James Downing as Det. Ian McLeod * Zach Smadu as Det. Ash Kular (Season 2 – present) * Eric Hicks as Const. Derek K. Fox * David Richmond-Peck as Sgt. Malcolm Musgrave (Seasons 1–2) * James Thomas as Det. Hannam (Season 1)

Recurring

Introduced in season one

* Brendan Fletcher as Eric Fraser * Allie MacDonald as Edie Soames * Robert Naylor as Keith London * Gail Maurice as Dorothy Pine * Conrad Coates as Coroner Barnhouse * Fiona Highet as Tammy Lidstrom * Trenna Keating as Kristin Baldwin * Lawrence Bayne as Francis *

Gord Rand Gord Rand is a Canadian actor and playwright. He is most noted for his recurring role as Det. Marty Duko in the television series ''Orphan Black'', for which he was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Performance in a Guest Role in a Dramatic ...

as Woody * Alden Adair as Josh * Kelly Van der Burg as Margo * Dylan Colton as Todd Curry

Introduced in season two

* Bruce Ramsay as Ray Northwind *

Alex Paxton-Beesley Alex Paxton-Beesley (born September 24, 1986) is a Canadian actress. She is noted for her acting roles in several TV series, including ''Copper'', ''The Strain'', '' Wynonna Earp'', ''Cardinal'' and '' Pure''. Early life Paxton-Beesley was bo ...

as Red * Jonathan Keltz as Kevin Tait *

Dan Petronijevic Daniel Petronijevic (born March 28, 1981), known professionally as Dan Petronijevic, is a Canadian actor who has appeared in various feature films, including the '' American Pie'' franchise, and in TV shows such as '' 19-2'', '' Playmakers'', '' ...

as Leon *

Kris Holden-Ried Kris Holden-Ried (born August 1, 1973) is a Canadian actor. Early life and pentathlon Holden-Ried was born in Pickering, Ontario. He studied at Montreal's Concordia University School of Business. He was a champion competitor in equestrianism, ri ...

as Lasalle * Kevin Hanchard as Det. Sgt. Alan Clegg * Brock Morgan as Toof * Kathryn Alexandre as Abby Harris * Nicolette Pearse as Rachel Wells * Greg Hovanessian as Zack * Asivak Koostachin as Jordan Akiwenzie * Stephen Ouimette as Dr. Bell

Introduced in season three

Aaron Ashmore Aaron Richard Ashmore (born October 7, 1979) is a Canadian actor. He is the identical twin brother of actor Shawn Ashmore. He is known for portraying Jimmy Olsen on ''Smallville'' (2006–2011), Steve Jinks on '' Warehouse 13'' (2011–2014), ...

as Randall Wishart * Susan Coyne as Helen Bell * Sophia Lauchlin Hirt as Nikki * Tom Jackson as Lloyd Kreeger * Rya Kihlstedt as Sharlene Winston * Jennifer Podemski as Wendy Duchene * Alex Ozerov as Jack * Nick Serino as Lemur * Devery Jacobs as Sam Duchene

Introduced in season four

* Carmen Moore as Sheila Gagne * Shawn Doyle as Scott Riley *

Linda Goranson Linda Goranson (born 1947 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian actress.Hugh Thomson, "Nude scene equals 750 phone calls". ''The Globe and Mail'', August 29, 1970. Career Linda Goranson is most noted for her performance in "The Spike in the Wall", ...

as Adele *

Currie Graham Currie Graham (born February 26, 1967) is a Canadian stage, film and television actor. While primarily recognized as a TV actor, he has numerous film credits, including the action thrillers '' Rancid'' and '' Assault on Precinct 13''. Early li ...

as Neil Cuthbert

Episodes

Season 1: ''Forty Words for Sorrow'' (2017)

Season 2: ''Blackfly Season'' (2018)

Season 3: ''By the Time You Read This'' (2019)

Season 4: ''Until the Night'' (2020)

Production

The first season was directed by Daniel Grou, and produced by Sienna Films and eOne Entertainment. It commenced production in Sudbury,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

in February 2016, with some additional location filming taking place in North Bay, Nipissing First Nation and Atikameksheng Anishnawbek. The first season was given a production budget of $1,800,000 per episode. Locations included the former studios of CBC Northern Ontario and the North Bay Public Library, which served as the Algonquin Bay police station. The second season was directed by Jeff Renfroe, and was produced primarily in North Bay. The show's theme music is adapted from the song "Familiar" by Danish singer-songwriter Agnes Obel. Background music featured in the series is composed by Toronto-based

Todor Kobakov Todor Kobakov (born September 19, 1978) is a Bulgarian-Canadian composer, producer, arranger and pianist based in Toronto, Ontario. He is best known for his film score for Brother, directed by Clement Virgo, his solo album, Pop Music, and his mu ...

. Vanasse, who is Québécoise and had previously appeared in the American television series ''

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

'' and ''

Revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

'', commented that ''Cardinal'' is the first time in which she is playing a Québécoise rather than a European character in an English-language television programme.

International transmission

Episodes from the second season premiered a day in advance of their television broadcast on on-demand service Crave TV. Filming on the third season completed in July 2018, and the season began airing on January 24, 2019. The fourth and final season was broadcast in 2020 with its finale airing on May 11, 2020. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

the series was broadcast on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

for the first three seasons and

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

for the last season. It was broadcast on C More in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, Calle 13 in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, SBS in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

(no longer broadcast), Magenta TV in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and Channel 11 in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. In

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, the TV series premiered on Universal+, streaming belonged to Universal TV, NBCUniversal's channel.

Reception

John Doyle of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' praised the series, calling it "a gripping, superbly made crime drama" which ultimately lands as "landmark Canadian TV". The series received 12

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

nominations at the

6th Canadian Screen Awards The 6th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 11, 2018, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2017.

in 2018. It won six awards, including Best Actor in a Limited Program or Television Film (Campbell), Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Program (Macdonald),"CTV's Cardinal cleans up on Night 2 of Canadian Screen Awards"
''

'', March 8, 2018. Photography in a Drama Series ( Steve Cosens), Editing in a Drama Series (Teresa De Luca), Music in a Fiction Program or Series (

) and Best Casting ( Jon Comerford and Lisa Parasyn). At the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019, the series won the awards for Best Limited Series, Best Lead Actor in a Drama Program or Limited Series (Campbell), Best Lead Actress in a Drama Program or Limited Series (Vanasse), Best Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series (Matthew Anas), Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-series (Renfroe), Best Music in a Fiction Production (Kobakov) and Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-series ( Sarah Dodd for the episode "Red").

References

External links

* * {{ACCT Best Dramatic Series CTV Television Network original programming Television shows filmed in Greater Sudbury 2017 Canadian television series debuts 2020 Canadian television series endings 2010s Canadian crime drama television series Television shows set in Ontario Northern Ontario in fiction Television shows based on Canadian novels Gemini and Canadian Screen Award for Best Television Film or Miniseries winners 2020s Canadian crime drama television series Gemini and Canadian Screen Award for Best Drama Series winners Television shows filmed in North Bay, Ontario