8.8 /10 1 Votes
8.8/10 TV Composer(s) Nicolas Maranda Final episode date 1 April 2015 Number of episodes 30 | 8.7/10 IMDb Directed by Daniel Grou First episode date 2 February 2011 Number of seasons 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genre Police proceduralAction Created by Réal BosséClaude Legault Written by Joanne ArseneauDanielle DansereauRéal Bossé Starring Claude LegaultRéal BosséJulie PerreaultSylvain MarcelCatherine BérubéJean PetitclercVincent GratonMagalie Lépine-BlondeauBenz AntoineVéronique BeaudetRobert Naylor Nominations Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Series Cast Benz Antoine, Claude Legault, Sylvain Marcel, Dan Petronijevic Similar The Bridge, Shattered, Rookie Blue, Cracked, Blue Murder Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19-2 is the name of a French-Canadian police drama series and its English adaptation. Set in Montreal, the show centres around the professional and personal lives of patrol officers from Poste 19 of the Service Police Metropolitain (Montreal Police Department), a fictitious version of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal. The series name comes from the callsign of the patrol car of the main characters.
Contents
The original French series aired on public broadcaster Radio-Canada starting in 2011 and concluded in 2015. Its English adaptation premiered on Bravo on January 29, 2014 and continues production.
19 2 series 1 clip
French Version
Nicolai "Nick" Berrof and his partner Jean-Pierre Harvey are shot responding to a burglary. While Berrof is spared by his body armour, Harvey is shot in the head and left hospitalized for life. Replacing Harvey is Benoît Chartier, a veteran constable from the Securite du Quebec (a fictionalized version of the Sûreté du Québec), who transferred to Montreal to escape troubles in his hometown. As officers from Poste 19 deal with the challenges of police work, they struggle with their own personal challenges as well. Chartier is estranged from his family after he personally arrests his own father for drunk driving. Berrof struggles with his divorce with his colleague and wife Detective Isabelle Latendresse. Tyler Joseph struggles with alcoholism. Jean-Marc Brouillard abuses his wife. Commander Marcel Gendron struggles to protect the station's image in the face of pressure from the public and his superiors alike.
By the end of the first season, Chartier's former employer, the SQ, assigns him to find a mole within the station. The second season centres around his hunt for the mole with Berrof being the prime suspect. After being gravely wounded in a shooting, Tyler attempts to defeat his alcoholism. Brouillard and Pouliot build a relationship after having been partnered together. And Gendron's daughter disappears amidst the discovery of a child pornography ring.
The third season begins in the aftermath of the mole's suicide. Having taken the hunt for the mole to the extreme, Berrof must deal with the consequences of his actions. Chartier, betrothed to Berrof's sister, unwittingly becomes the target of Berrof's powerful enemies. Berrof becomes implicated deeper and deeper into Montreal's underworld as his crime-troubled past and law enforcement present collide.
English Version
The plot of the English and French versions for the first two seasons are generally the same, though the English series begins to diverge from the French series in the second season.
The second season begins with Barron and Chartier responding to reports of a snake at a daycare centre. Chartier encounters an armed civilian: Barron's cousin Cassie Clemont. Barron's unsavoury relationship with Clemont makes Barron the prime suspect of the SQ's investigation into the mole in 19. When Chartier brings Barron into the investigation, Barron and Clemont burgle a suspect's house and make a rash decision that endangers both of them.
The third season starts in the aftermath of the mole's suicide. The reputation of Station 19 has been destroyed by the revelation of the mole, along with other incidents such as the arrest of Brouillard for domestic violence. Cassie Clemont is discovered dead, having been brutally tortured for days. Barron and Chartier must now deal with the fallout of Barron's actions, as the station is scrutinized by an Inspector from Internal Affairs.
French version
English version
Episodes
The original French version started filming in 2010 and premiered on 2 February 2011 and ended on 6 April 2011. 39% of Quebeckers were watching the pilot when it aired. On 15 June 2011, the chain renewed the contract for another season, which was filmed in 2012 and premiered on 28 January 2013. It ended on 1 April 2013. By the end of 2013, Radio-Canada ordered a third season to be produced, which was filmed in 2014 and premiered on 28 January 2015. The series finale aired on 1 April 2015.
The English version was filmed by a different production studio for Bravo channel, who signed a two-season contract with it in 2013. The filming of the first season began in August and ended in October. The series premiered on 29 January 2014 on Bravo, with the first season ending on 31 March 2014. Season two was filmed from July until October 2014. It premiered on Bravo on 19 January 2015 and ended on 23 March 2015. On April 13, 2015, BellMedia announced that 19-2 was renewed for a third season. Filming for the third season was scheduled in the summer of 2015. Adrian Holmes and Jared Keeso reprised their roles as Nick Barron and Ben Chartier respectively.
Bell Media renewed the series for a fourth season in 2016.
French version
Reviews have been positive overall. Police officers in Quebec have liked the series, seeing a way to make viewers more aware of their daily lives.
During the first season, the show attracted about 1.3 million viewers per week, which made it the most popular series in Quebec of the winter. It peaked at 1,447,000 viewers on 23 February 2011, and the season finale got 1,302,000 viewers, the top in its time slot.
In its second season, critics unanimously praised the first episode, which was based on the 2006 Dawson College shooting. It was watched by 1,554,000 viewers, about 39 percent of the viewers that evening in Quebec.
The series has been nominated for several awards, including the Prix Artis and the Zapettes d'Or. The series, with 18 nominations at the Gémeaux 2011, and won 12 at the gala that took place on 18 September 2011.
English version
Radio-Canada's English sister network, CBC Television, announced in 2012 that it was working on an English adaptation of the series. CBC Television did not pick up the series for its 2013 season; instead, the English series will air on Bravo. The English adaptation stars Jared Keeso and Adrian Holmes. Season 2 of 19-2 premiered on January 19, 2015 on Bravo and featured a critically acclaimed 13 minute single shot with no cuts. On April 13, 2015, BellMedia announced that 19-2 was renewed for a third season. 19-2 is Bravo's number one original series, reaching more than 3.3 million viewers. Seasons 1 and 2 are now available on CraveTV. Season 3 of 19-2 premiered on June 20, 2016, and Bravo renewed the show for a fourth and final season.
The first season aired on Spike TV in the UK, where The Guardian said "This Canadian series, set in Montréal’s Precinct 19, boasts all the tropes of post-Shield police dramas: antiheroes, mavericks, shaky verité camerawork. Yet what 19-2 lacks in originality it makes up for in action from the off." In the United States, the series airs on Acorn TV, and was described by the New York Times as "a sort of tone poem, a slice of urban and police life carefully observed."