''Crossing Lines'' is a German-French-Italian-American action crime thriller television series created by Edward Allen Bernero and Rola Bauer. The series premiered on June 9, 2013, at the screening for the Opening Ceremonies of the 53rd edition of the

Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is held every year in June in the Principality of Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum, under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. The opening ceremony inaugurates each new edition, introdu ...

, the first time the festival opened with a television series. Its first television broadcast was in Italy on June 14, 2013, on the public broadcaster's channel

Rai 2 Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting ''TG2'' news bulletins, tal ...

. ''Crossing Lines'' was premiered in the United States on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on June 23, 2013. Bernero and Bauer are the show's executive producers. The show was renewed for a twelve-episode second season by TF1, and was released in its entirety on Amazon Prime Instant Video in the United Kingdom on August 15, 2014. NBC did not broadcast the show after the first season. Netflix carried the series' first two seasons, and announced the debut of season three on February 19, 2015. Canada's CBC aired second-season episodes during late-night hours. On 20 February 2015, the show was renewed for a twelve-episode, third season. The third season began on September 15, 2015.

Plot

Former

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

officer Carl Hickman's life has fallen apart after he was injured on the job; he has become addicted to morphine and works as a garbage collector at a carnival in the Netherlands. He is recruited to join the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to pro ...

's special crime unit (a fictional unit). Based in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, it investigates a variety of crimes that cross international boundaries. The unit includes an anti–organized crime expert, a covert specialist from Italy, a technical specialist from Germany, a crimes analyst, a human-trafficking specialist from France and a weapons specialist and tactical expert from Northern Ireland.

Cast

Main

William Fichtner William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on ''Invasion'', Alexander Mahone on ''Prison Break'', Carl Hickman on '' Crossing Lines'', and Adam Janikowski o ...

as Carlton "Carl" Hickman (seasons 1–2), Detective First Grade,

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

from the United States * Marc Lavoine as Louis Daniel (seasons 1–2), Major,

Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire Direction may refer to: *Relative direction, for instance left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down ** Anatomical terms of location for those used in anatomy ** List of ship directions *Cardinal direction Mathematics and science * Directio ...

from France *

Gabriella Pession Gabriella Pession (born November 2, 1977) is an American-born Italian actress. Biography Gabriella Pession was born in Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west ...

as Eva Vittoria (seasons 1–2), Sovrintendente (Sergeant),

Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza The ''Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza'' (NOCS) ( en, Central Security Task Group) is the police tactical unit of the Polizia di Stato, one of Italy's national police forces. It operates under the command of the ''Direzione Centrale della P ...

/ Sergeant, Europol from Italy * Richard Flood as Tommy McConnell (seasons 1–2), Detective,

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ') is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reform ...

from the United Kingdom * Tom Wlaschiha as Sebastian Berger, Kommissar (Detective), Berliner Polizei from Germany *

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films '' Citizen X'' (1995) a ...

as Michel Dorn,

from Netherlands * Moon Dailly as Anne-Marie San (season 1), O.P.J. (Detective),

Police Nationale The National Police (french: Police nationale), formerly known as the , is one of two national police forces of France, the other being the National Gendarmerie. The National Police is the country's main civil law enforcement agency, with prima ...

from France * Genevieve O'Reilly as Sienna Pride (pilot only), Police Inspector,

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

from the United Kingdom *

Lara Rossi Lara Rossi is a British actress. She is known for her role as Arabela Seeger in the German-French-Italian-American television series ''Crossing Lines'' as well as the Finnish sci-fi movie '' Iron Sky: The Coming Race''. She also played the part ...

as Arabela Seeger (guest season 1; main seasons 2–3), Inspecteur, Regiokorps Rotterdam Rijnmond from Netherlands *

Goran Visnjic Goran may refer to: Ethnic groups *Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa *Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East *Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of the southeastern Europe Other uses *Göran, a Swedis ...

as Marco Constante (season 3), Police Inspector, Milan from Italy *

Elizabeth Mitchell Elizabeth Mitchell (born Elizabeth Joanna Robertson) is an American actress known for her lead role as Juliet Burke on the ABC drama mystery series ''Lost'' (2006–2010). Mitchell also had lead roles on the television series '' V'' (2009–2 ...

as Carine Strand (season 3), Inspector, Senior Investigator of the International Criminal Court; former

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...

officer from the United States * Naomi Battrick as Ellie Delfont-Bogard (season 3), a recent forensic psychologist graduate, Metropolitan Police Service from the United Kingdom *

Stuart Martin Stuart Martin (born 8 January 1986) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles in the Channel 4 comedy-drama '' Babylon'' (2014), as well as the historical dramas '' Medici: Masters of Florence'' (2016), '' Jamestown'' (2017–2019), and '' ...

as Luke Wilkinson (season 3), Inspector, Metropolitan Police Service from the United Kingdom

Recurring

* Elsa Mollien as Rebecca Daniel (seasons 1–2),

from France *

Klára Issová Klára Issová (born 26 April 1979), sometimes known as Klára Issa, is a Czech film, stage and television actress. In 1997, she won the Czech Lion Award for Best Supporting Actress in ''Nejasná zpráva o konci světa''. She is the cousin of ...

as Shari (seasons 1–2), a carnival worker from Netherlands *

Karel Roden Karel Roden (born 18 May 1962) is a Czech actor, popularly known for his roles in ''Hellboy'' and '' The Bourne Supremacy'', and his voice work in ''Grand Theft Auto IV''. Life and career Roden followed his father and grandfather into acting. ...

as Lev Marianski (seasons 1–2), a Russian crime figure *

Kim Coates Kim F. Coates (born February 21, 1958) is a Canadian–American actor who has worked in both Canadian and American films and television series. He has worked on Broadway portraying Stanley Kowalski in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and in the lead ...

as Phillip Genovese (seasons 1–2), a convicted criminal and stalker from the United States *

Rossif Sutherland Rossif Sutherland (born September 25, 1978) is a Canadian actor. He, along with his brothers Angus and Roeg and half-brother Kiefer, are the sons of Donald Sutherland. Early life and education Sutherland was born in Vancouver, but lived in P ...

as Moreau (seasons 1–2), Lieutenant,

Prefecture of Police of Paris The police prefecture (french: préfecture de police) is the unit of the French Ministry of the Interior that provides police, emergency services, and various administrative services to the population of the city of Paris and the surrounding t ...

from France * Florentine Lahme as Kathrin Eichholtz (seasons 1–2), Hauptkommissarin, Berliner Polizei from Germany *

Marcel Iureș Marcel Iureș (; born 2 August 1951) is a Romanian actor. He is one of Romania's most acclaimed stage and film actors. He has acted in films and on stage both in Romania and internationally, and has played at least ten roles on Romanian and Briti ...

as Alexander Dimitrov (seasons 1–2), a gangland boss and drug dealer from Romania *

Ray Stevenson George Raymond Stevenson (born 25 May 1964) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He is known for playing Dagonet in the film ''King Arthur'' (2004) and Titus Pullo in the BBC/ HBO television series ''Rome'' (2005–2007). He has portrayed two M ...

as Miles Lennon (season 2), Police Superintendent,

from the United Kingdom *

Carrie-Anne Moss Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–present). She has starred in '' Memento'' (2000) for w ...

as Amanda Andrews (season 2), Detective,

from the United States *

Sophia Myles Sophia Jane Myles (; born 18 March 1980) is an English actress. She is best known in film for portraying Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in ''Thunderbirds'' (2004), Isolde in '' Tristan & Isolde'' (2006), Darcy in '' Transformers: Age of Extinctio ...

as Dr. Anna Clarke (season 2), a doctor from the United Kingdom *

Michelle Fairley Michelle Fairley (born 1964–1965) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is best known for playing Catelyn Stark in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2013). She has since appeared in the USA Network series '' Suits'' (2013), the ...

as Sophie Baines (season 3), Prosecutor,

from the United Kingdom

Production

''Crossing Lines'' was co-commissioned by France's TF1 and Sony for its

AXN AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Funded th ...

network of channels. This is

Tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

's first one-hour drama series, having previously produced miniseries, as well as its first project since being acquired by

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...

in 2012. The first season was filmed in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, with filming ending in February 2013. Locations in Prague were used for parts of Paris, Italy, the Netherlands, Berlin and Vienna. Audio post-production was done by SoundSquare in Prague while video post-production work was done by Universal Production Partners. Approximately

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

10 million was spent in the Czech Republic on the production of the first season. Bernero said that the show would "feel familiar and help viewers find their orientation, but the European locations will make it feel fresh and very new".

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2013)

Season 2 (2014)

Season 3 (2015)

Broadcast

''Crossing Lines'' airs in Germany on Sat.1 on Thursdays at 9:15 pm, in the United States on

on Sundays at 10:00 pm (currently in off-season), in Canada on CBC on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm, in India on

every weekday at 9:00 pm (June 2016), and in France on TF1 on Thursdays at 9:00 pm. In the United Kingdom, the series was released on the

LoveFilm LoveFilm was a United Kingdom–based provider of DVD-by-mail and streaming video on demand in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany. Acquired by Amazon.com in 2011, the service had reached 2 million subscribers. It claimed ...

platform on October 25, 2013. The second season was released on

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

on August 15, 2014, with all seasons available on the platform as of 2019. It is now being shown on Alibi (2015). All 3 seasons are being shown on Netflix. (May 2018). In November 2020, Ovation announced it had acquired the American broadcast rights to the entire series and it returned broadcast in the United States on December 7, 2020. The show will air Monday nights at 7 PM ET, with 3 episodes back to back and episodes reran Tuesday afternoons at 4pm ET in the first season. The series returned for the second season on January 11, 2021. The series is second one to be picked up by the network in US to not finish its American run originally, after ''

The Code (Australian TV series) ''The Code'' is an Australian drama television program created and produced by Shelley Birse. Developed from a partnership between Playmaker Media and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, it premiered on ABC1 in Australia on 21 September ...

''. It also makes it the second series co-produced with and owned by Sony Pictures Television, after the Canadian-Hungarian spy thriller crime drama action series ''

X Company ''X Company'' is a Canadian/Hungarian spy thriller television series created by '' Flashpoint's'' Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern which premiered on February 18, 2015, on CBC Television. The series takes place during World War II, and foll ...

''.

Reception

Tom Conroy of ''

Media Life Magazine ''Media Life Magazine'' was an online publication that was started in May 1999 by Gene Ely. The publication covered all aspects of the media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or da ...

'' found the European flavour of the show, seen in such things as travelling by train to various cities, to be a refreshing change from the norm of American shows. He felt that Donald Sutherland was cast purely for the name-recognition factor and that he was given some lines in which he philosophically talks to pigeons as a means of justifying the cost of casting him. Overall, Conroy found it an "unimaginative procedural" that, despite its title, "generally colors within the lines".

David Wiegand Robert David Wiegand (May 19, 1947 – April 30, 2018) was an American journalist and short-story writer, head of arts and entertainment for the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. Life and career Wiegand was born in Rochester, New York, where he gradua ...

of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'' also found the location to be what sets ''Crossing Lines'' apart. He felt the presence of Donald Sutherland was a benefit to the show. Joanne Ostrow of Heritage Newspapers felt the show to be a "contrivance for foreign sales more than a serious drama". ''Crossing Lines'' has been criticised as misrepresenting the International Criminal Court's nature and purpose, which, in reality, only has jurisdiction over

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

, war crimes and

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...

. The International Criminal Court lacks an organization comparable to the special crime unit, and has no police force of its own.

Kevin Jon Heller Kevin Jon Heller is a scholar of international law, who is a professor of law at the Australian National University and has also taught at the University of Amsterdam, SOAS, University of London, and Melbourne Law School. Heller was described by on ...

, Associate Professor & Reader in international criminal law at the University of Melbourne, noted the show creates unacceptable misconceptions about the court's power and the way it operates, which depends on states consenting to its jurisdiction through ratification of the

Rome Statute The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the ...

and co-operating with the court to provide resources required to perform investigations and prosecutions. Without all the shooting, ''Crossing Lines'' is more closely related to the special crimes investigations unit of the first International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague in the Netherlands. These crime investigators from all over the world do indeed operate across national jurisdictional lines in connection with major crimes such as murder, rape, torture and kidnapping that occurred in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. John Cencich's ''The Devil's Garden: A War Crimes Investigator's Story'' (Potomac Books, Washington, D.C.) demonstrates how police investigators from Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, and many others worked pursuant to the authority of the United Nations Security Council, without relying on national police forces, to investigate and bring to justice some of the world's worst criminals.

References

External links

Official Facebook page

''Crossing Lines''
at

''Crossing Lines''
at Tandem Communications * {{IMDb title, 2427220, Crossing Lines 2013 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings 2010s American crime drama television series French crime television series 2013 German television series debuts 2015 German television series endings Television shows set in the Netherlands English-language television shows CBC Television original programming NBC original programming Television series by Tandem Productions Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series created by Edward Allen Bernero Sat.1 original programming Works about the Russian Mafia