They didn't really get into his work on socialized medicine just yet. Guess they're holding that fight over for tomorrow night. I thought they did the period look rather well and people were subtle enough in the prairie accents that if you hadn't seen them in other things, you'd think that was the way they really talked.
Boy, Canadian tv doesn't paint the RCMP in a very positive light, does it?
There wasn't any way to sugercoat the RCMP's actions with the miners back then, and I'm glad that they didn't try. Although the line about Baptists not being held under water long enough was a little over the top.
I'm actually impressed with the production value of the show considering that Mind's Eye isn't really all that big of production company
"There wasn't any way to sugercoat the RCMP's actions with the miners back then, and I'm glad that they didn't try. Although the line about Baptists not being held under water long enough was a little over the top."
It was, but I've read some things from the U.S. labor wars that made that sound tame. Law enforcement officials did all of those things and far worse--especially when race was involved (as in, Asians and blacks, not white European immigrants). And I liked his reaction shot when Douglas and Charlie just turned around and looked at him. I thought that humanized him just enough to make it work.
I also thought the way they wrote Charlie Lawson as an unabashedly antigovernment socialist firebrand under a grey, taciturn farmer exterior was especially bold (and Ian Tracey didn't exactly shy away from portraying that). I knew a couple of guys like that in Africa and come election time, being associated with them as their "patron" was a scary thing, even though I agreed with them. I know that Canada's always a little further left than this side of the border, but if you look at even critical stuff like Good Night and Good Luck, recent criticism of government policies (any government's policies) in film and television has been a lot more muted than that. That's one angry mouse!
Overall, it was quite well done. I'm looking forward to tomorrow night.
I should add that Therriault as Douglas is pretty amazing. Very charismatic in a geeky, Baptist minister sort of way. I completely bought why some people loved Douglas so much and some must have hated him.
shareI should add that Therriault as Douglas is pretty amazing.
"They didn't really get into his work on socialized medicine just yet. Guess they're holding that fight over for tomorrow night."
The socialized healthcare fight didn't really start until he became Premier of Saskatchewan, which will be showcased tonight. After it became an early success here (even though in 2006, it's an unmitigated disaster due to shoddy management) it was set as the model for the federal health care system.
As part of a story, I liked the first part better. The fight for socialized medicine was very interesting, but they skimmed over a lot of his later career to focus on it.
Interestingly enough, a new Harvard study has praised the Canadian health care system, even in its current state, over the American system:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/30052006/2/national-canadians-healthier-better-access-health-care-americans-study.html