TV TALK

I guess it's probably moot already, since North of North has been in the top ten shows on Netflix since it's been released there, and everyone is reccing it left and right, but... I've been meaning to write this post for a while and so here it is!


North of North: Siaja is in trouble - like always ;)

North of North is a short comedy show about Siaja, an Inuk woman, living in Ice Cove, a fictional town in the far North of Canada, populated by a wonderful mix of characters, some loving, some eccentric, some traumatized. The show's humor is always on point, and even the embarrassing foot-in-mouth moments Siaja keeps stumbling into are played with so much love and charm that they don't feel squicky.

The show is produced by Inuk women, it has a wonderfully female vibe, most of the characters and all producers are women. It was shot on location in the town of Iqaluit where the lead actress Anna Lambe grew up, and most of the actors are Inuit.

Is this a rec? Yes, very much so!

Does it have a happy ending: Depends on what you expect? It's a slice-of-life show, very character-focused, no 'important' plot arc, so the question doesn't really apply? I personally found it satisfying to watch.

Where can I watch it? Netflix. If you're in Canada, it's also on CBC Gems. There are 8 episodes each about 23 minutes long.

I hope they will get a second season The show was renewed for season 2, I would love to spend more time with those characters!

more thoughts - with some spoilers

* Dang, I really wanted her and Kuuk to get together. Okay, it was obvious that he was her love interest the whole time - he was shown as desirable, so of course I'd jump on that ship. Also, he was extremely cute with those pigtails. (Is there a traditional name for that hairstyle? I couldn't find one. I tried.)

* The backstory of her mother was heartbreaking. I didn't really know anything about the Canadian First Nations' colonial trauma (the show actually contains a trauma warning in one of the episodes). I'm not surprised at what I learned (damn, colonialism, always the same shit), but I loved how the show approached it. I learned a lot. And there was never a sledgehammer or anvil in sight, different voices and different viewpoints from different characters. Very well done.

* I liked how the show played with cliches and prejudice, simply by being matter-of-fact about it. Shoot a caribou? Sure. Local football rules? Sure. White people who come to town just to fuck someone exotic? Sure. It was all in there, and the characters always made the best of the situation, going with the flow, picking what worked for them.

* I adored the goddess Siaja keeps meeting throughout the show. The goddess seems to be insulting her a lot. That's a fun way to play with religion/tradition, both of which Siaja is a bit estranged from - and none of that is ever judged. Siaja has to find her own way through that, just like through everything else.

* I loved Elder Night! I loved with how much respect the elders were shown, without them being a nondescript uniform group, while at the same time showing that Siaja doesn't speak Inuktitut (if she mentioned the actual name of the language, I missed it, sorry) well enough to really converse with all of them. Just like everything else, it was a nuanced portrayal.

* In general, how they showed life in a small community was spot on. Everyone knows everyone, and they have to help each other, and seeing that interact (I'm loathe to say clash, because that's not all it did) with Siaja's need for personal growth was great fun.

* I'm not sure what to think about the town's mayor, Helen. She seems to be white (and married to an Inuk man), and the neighboring town's mayor seems to be white, too. Is that another statement on colonialism? Both of these women were shown as power-hungry caricatures.

* We were predisposed to hate her husband, of course, but he really made it easy. :D If there's one flat character in the show, it's him. They managed to make him look good for one episode, though, and I liked that depth.

* I loved what we saw of Siaja's daughter. She doesn't have much of her own 'thing', she's mostly defined by the adults around her. But I especially liked how each of those adults brought their own unique characteristic to the way they're raising her.

and some spoiler-free screencaps here

My newest obsession! \o/



Morgane Alvaro and Adam Karadec on HPI
starring Audrey Fleurot and Mehdi Nebbou


HPI (Haut Potentiel Intellectuel) is a very popular French crime procedural in the general vein of the Sherlock Holmes genre. There are 32 episodes over 4 seasons now. Season five (another 8 episodes) will air this year, and it will probably be the last one.

Where?

The show has been exported to many countries, and you should be able to find it in your country, I hope? Prime has it, hulu has it..., it's everywhere! (There are remakes in different countries, too. The US one is called High Potential. Please watch the French original instead. <3)

Is it a rec?

OMG so much yes. By the end of season 2, I was hopelessly in love. Mostly with the love story between her and the detective (which is a lot of will-they-wont-they, but the writing supports the romance every step of the way, it's brilliant), and with Mehdi Nebbou's acting. The more I'm rewatching, the more I appreciate Audrey Fleurot's acting as well - she really put everything into this role.

What's it about?

Morgane (Audrey Fleurot) is a woman with an IQ of 160+, a single mother of three who struggles to hold a job or maintain any relationship because her brain is always running a mile a minute. She gets hired as a consultant to the police in Lille, much to the chagrin of commandant Karadec (Mehdi Nebbou). It has a bit of a Sherlock vibe, and a bit of a Monk vibe, and if you like other "consultant to the police" procedural shows, I think you'll like this one, too.

There are four seasons (and they keep getting better and better), and a fifth and final one will air this year. The only non-spoilery thing I could find in terms of reccable video is this hulu trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWRCpVZWNw8

The setup in the first season is very 'standard': he's rigid and all about the rules and a good police officer, and she's chaotic and draws all the attention and doesn't respect any rules at all. So, predictably, they clash a lot. But they're also attracted to each other, and it's a lot of fun to watch.

Morgane is definitely neuro-atypical, both highly intelligent and with some adhd traits, she is hyperfocusing on one side but easily distracted on the other, and never manages to follow the big picture. Its often sad to watch how she is her own greatest enemy in that sense. But I very much identify with her on the joy of solving puzzles! While her life is chaotic, she is generally shown as capable of juggling the challenges life throws at her. Of course she gets herself and the police into dangerous situations because of her disregard of the rules and her lack of patience, and I realize that if someone had told me that up front out of context, I would have said I'd hate her - but I don't. Not at all! I can't put my finger on what exactly they did right, but I think the character is very well constructed and I empathize with her very much.

Karadec is soft-spoken and very empathetic, and I for one loved that in the portrayal of a police detective. There's no arrogance, no better-than-thou attitude, no matter who he's dealing with. He is kind and caring with the suspects and the witnesses, and he takes his job seriously. What can I say, I love him.

From the start, the show doesn't get into a rut. The characters develop, nothing is easy, and they both make mistakes, hurting themselves and others. The writing never forgets about their romance, though. There are obstacles - a lot of them - but as a shipper, I always felt very loved by the writing. From the small things, like each scene taking the time to show the leads' reactions to everything, to the big things, like them actively trying to have a relationship, the show always delivered what I wanted.

As for the tone of the show, it gets both funnier and bolder as time goes on. Some of the secondary characters have comical storylines, and the show takes itself less seriously as time goes on. I very much liked that, too. If you take all of it seriously, it can get pretty tragic, but the humor balances it out nicely.

a few caps and my thoughts on the first two seasons

If you've seen HPI and want to discuss with me, click through to my journal (link above). I wrote down my thoughts on seasons 1 and 2 and would love to talk about them with you!