Due South

Due South Title

Back in the mid 1990′s, I was a poor university student, living on my own in Glasgow, working part time, and generally trying not to screw things up, as I was prone to doing. One day, turning on the TV, I saw a program on BBC2 (these were the days before I could afford satellite) called Due South. The series revolved around a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) named Constable Benton Frasier, played admirably by Paul Gross. After the murder of his father, Frasier comes to Chicago in pursuit of a lead. There he meets Detective Ray Vecchio, also admirably played by David Marciano, a member of the Chicago PD that is the opposite of Frasier. They form an unlikely partnership that helped them go on and solve his father’s murder. That was the 2 part pilot – this went into a TV show that lasted for 4 seasons. I bought the DVDs for this show last year, but never actually saw them all again until this past week, where I have been catching up. It brought back a lot of fond memories!

I love this show for a number of reasons. The writing is fantastic, the stories are excellent, and the relationship between Ray and Frasier is enviable. I was very impressed by Frasier’s politeness, as that is something that I pride myself upon. I even started saying “Thank you kindly” as Frasier does. He’s also a decent, hardworking, simple man – someone that I aspired to be myself.

The music was also great – it was due to Due South that I was introduced to Sarah McLachlan. The first two songs were “Possession” and “Fumbling Towards Ecstacy”. Those are two of my favourite Sarah McLachlan songs.

The show is not all upbeat – there are dark moments, sad moments, moments of reflection, and moments of truth. It was a show that I enjoyed immensely. After the first two seasons, David Marciano left the show. Actually, the show was canceled by CBS, but resurrected a year later with funding from other countries – including the UK! Thank you BBC! Ray Vecchio went under cover, and another detective, Stanley “Ray” Kowalski, went undercover – acting as Ray Vecchio!! Marciano does appear in the first episode of season 3, and does reappear in the finale, but even though the show changed, I still liked it. Oh, and I forgot to mention Diefenbaker, the deaf half wolf that follows Frasier wherever he goes. Some folks say that Dief received the most fan mail!

Here’s a picture of Frasier, Dief and the original Ray.

They had a great chemistry – not just the principal characters, but all the supporting cast members too.

Francesca, Ray’s younger sister who had a huge crush on Frasier

Lt Welsh, Ray’s boss, who Frasier always calls “Leftenant”

Elaine Bresbis, the Civillian Aide at the precinct who also has a thing for Ray. She becomes a policewoman at the beginning of the third season and Francesca takes over as the civillian aide.

Huey and Lewis, the other detectives in the squad. Lewis is killed when Ray’s car is rigged with explosives in a very sad episode that also stars the very beautiful Carrie Ann Moss.

Inspector Margaret “Meg” Thatcher, who plays Frasier’s boss and sort of love interest

Constable Turnbull, the well meaning, simple minded guardian of the Canadian Consulate.

There are a lot of guest stars too, from Leslie Nielsen to Teri Polo, from Amanda Tapping to Melina Kanakaredes.

Next, we see the cast for the rest of the series. It takes a while to get used to the new Ray, and while he will never replace David Marciano’s Ray, Callum Keith Rennie does a stand up job! At the beginning of the third season, the real Ray Vecchio goes deep under cover, so Stanley “Ray” Kowalski goes undercover as Ray Vecchio, so as to protect his identity.

There are a lot of similarities between the two Rays, but they are each unique too. Paul Gross took up executive producer roles for the last two seasons, and the show actually improved.

Canadians, generally, are always stereotyped. This show plays upon the cultural differences between Canada and the USA, and highlights those stereotypes as well as dispelling some of the more negative ones. It did this really well. Nobody on either side would take offense, and I think that it opened some people’s eyes as to how different we are, while remaining the same too. Sounds weird, I know, but when you watch the show you will understand.

I can give you my own experience of Canadians – I’ve worked with a bunch of them for many years, and have nothing negative to say about any of them. The best example I can give you would be from my brief 2 month stay in Toronto, back in the spring of 2001. I lived in Toronto for two months, and arrived there in April of 2001, with my colleague Jamie Cai. We took a cab from the airport, and got out in front of the apartment building that our company had rented for us. After unloading our suitcases, I was standing and looking at my surroundings. Two middle aged Canadian women were passing by, carrying plastic bags containing their groceries. One of them stopped and pointed out that there was a hole in one of my bags. Not my luggage, but a plastic bag containing a few paperback novels that I had bought at RDU airport for the journey. Before I could do anything, she called her friend back, and transferred her shopping to her friend’s bags, and then insisted that I use her bag to carry my books. It was impulsive, heartfelt, and one of the most decent things I have ever experienced. Despite my protests, she smiled and then they went on their way. To me, that will always be the way that I will consider Canadians – kind, decent, and warmhearted.

Anyway, if you get the chance – check out this show – I can guarantee that you will enjoy it.

Here’s the opening video for the first two seasons:

Here’s the opening video f or the second two seasons:

Finally, here’s one of my favourite pieces of music from the show – it’s called ‘Cabin Music’, and it was written/composed by Jay Semko, who also created the theme music for the show: