Durham County: Season One, Durham County: Season One DVD review
Starring
Hugh Dillon, Helene Joy, Laurence Leboeuf, Greyston Holt, Claudia Ferri, Sonya Salomaa, Justin Louis, Patrick Labbe, Kathleen Munroe, Cicely Austin, Frank Schorpion, Sarah Smyth, Jean-Nicolas Verreault, Joel S. Keller
Director
Holly Dale & Adrienne Mitchell
Durham County: Season One

Reviewed by Will Harris

()

C

all it a case of taking our neighbors up north for granted, but there is a distinct tendency for comedies and dramas produced in Canada to either take forever to find their way onto American airwaves or, in many cases, never get shown here at all. There’s a BBC America. Why isn’t there a CTV America? Instead, Canadian series are either doled out to us through a variety of different networks, from CBS (“Flashpoint,” “The Bridge”) to SoapNet (“Being Erica”) to The N (“Degrassi: The Next Generation”), or via syndication, most recently seen with WGN’s failed attempt to sell “Corner Gas” to Stateside audiences. As such, it’s easy for some great programs from the Great White North to fall through the cracks – like, say, “Durham County,” which aired on Ion, a network far better known for its slate of reruns than for new programming.

Meet Detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon), a homicide detective from Toronto who moves his family to suburban Durham County in an attempt to recover from the death of his partner and start fresh in a new district. In addition to the troubles he’s battled in his professional life, he’s also struggling through difficult family matters: his wife Audrey (Helene Joy) is dealing with a diagnosis of breast cancer; his oldest daughter, Sadie (Laurence Leboeuf), has way too much interest in the darker side of his work; and his youngest daughter, Maddie (Cicely Austin,) likes to wear these incredibly creepy-looking masks. Like this isn’t enough, upon moving into his new home, Mike learns that the guy who lives across the street is Ray Prager (Justin Louis), a guy who was a pain in his ass all through his youth.

Oh, right, and Ray’s also a serial killer. But Mike doesn’t realize that right away.

You may recall how, during the course of the writer’s strike in 2007 – 2008, CBS decided to bring Showtime’s “Dexter” to primetime network television. It was only a short-lived experiment, but it lasted long enough for the Parents Television Council to throw a veritable shit-fit over a broadcast network daring to air such a thing. “The biggest problem with the series,” they said, “is something that no amount of editing can get around: the series compels viewers to empathize with a serial killer, to root for him to prevail, to hope he doesn't get discovered." There’s no report on how the PTC felt about “Durham County,” if indeed they were even aware of the series airing in the U.S., but at the very least, it’s fair to say only the most psychotic viewers would’ve found themselves rooting for Ray Prager. That dude is pure evil. So, then, is Mike pure good?

While “Durham County” is a really creepy series, it’s one which really shouldn’t be simplified down to a description of mere “good vs. evil,” as to do so involves setting aside the bits that really make it stand out. The relationship between Mike and Ray resembles the one between Batman and the Joker in Alan Moore’s “The Killing Joke”: they’re two sides of the same coin, with more in common than Mike would like to admit, though Ray relishes in the opportunity to point out their similarities. Mike may not be a killer, but as we learn in the first episode, he’s still quite capable of breaking the occasional commandment. The Mike/Ray relationship is one which serves to remind viewers that, no matter how far you’ve come in your life, all it takes is one encounter with someone who knew you way back when to remind you who you used to be – for better or worse. (In this case, it’s definitely for worse.)

The series isn’t just about Mike and Ray, though. It’s also about their families. In the wake of her breast cancer, Audrey is feeling less than beautiful, and when Mike gets caught up in a case in his new precinct, she quickly finds herself willing to accept Ray’s flirtatiousness, which stems mostly from his desire to piss off Mike at every turn. Ray’s own wife, meanwhile, suffers both verbal and physical abuse at the hand of her husband, leading her to try and leave him, a decision which goes over about as poorly as you’d think it would. Meanwhile, although Ray, Jr. quickly finds a kinship with Mike’s daughter, Sadie, her naturally suspicious nature leads her to question the actions of Ray, Sr.

At least one critic has described the series as a cross between “Twin Peaks” and “The Sopranos,” and that’s maybe not too far off, but “Durham County” strikes me as being more like “Dexter” as directed by David Lynch, which still leads one to imagine a pretty damned bizarre and disturbing series. Once you’ve watched these six episodes, I think you’ll agree that it more than lives up to the comparison.

Special Features: The pickings are relatively slim, but you can find a behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews with the director and actors, and a photo gallery.

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