Really Surprised!

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

We enjoyed series 1 for the most part although we found it a bit over-the-top with the violence from time to time. We put up with it.Because we had enjoyed the acting of Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse in Series 1, we thought we'd give series 2 a try when it became available. Big mistake.I should explain that we are Canadian but now live overseas and we thought we'd enjoy the chance to view a bit of Canadiana. This is anything but.It took me a while to figure out what it was that annoyed me so much I'll try to put it into wordsWe've taken to watching lots of Scandinavian and French dramas the last couple of years and really enjoyed them for the most part. Part of the attraction of the European series is simply that they aren't American and don't try to do anything too American. And that's where series 2 of Cardinal goes terribly wrong.One other review described Cardinal as 'tedious'. Agreed. All too predictable after a couple of episodes. "Cookie cutter" American story-line? Absolutely.But worst of all, the thing that dawned on me this morning was the phrase "gratuitous violence" and I was glad to see at least one other had made the same complaint. It was so unnecessary. If you thought series 1 had a few borderline gratuitous scenes, then series 2 just takes it that much further.At one point a minor character is shot in the head by one of the bad guys. Does he go down? No. The victim complains of a sudden pain in the head and finds a bit of blood trickling from his neck. Bad buy complains about the useless gun. Fires again. Victim now complains he can't see anything but still doesn't go down. Bad guy curses and swears about the bullets. Ditches the gun and grabs a golf club and then proceeds to pummel the victim until the job is thoroughly done. Did we need to see all of this? No. Did we need to be convinced bad guy was a psychopath? Well, no. Earlier episodes had made that perfectly clear. Were there other ways to dispose of the victim that would have made the point without being so graphic? Absolutely.Was it made to appeal to the American audience who seems to love this stuff with an eye to selling the product south of the border? You betcha. Criminal Minds, Hawaii 5-0. It's all there and more.Oh, and one of the things that made series 1 so enjoyable was the brilliant winter scenery. That's gone in series 2, "Blackfly season". Could have been anywhere with a forest I'm afraid, and the Canadian feel disappeared with the melting snow.Will we be watching a series 3? No way. We'd already decided against it before watching the final episode of Series 2 but if we'd had any doubts, some of the atrocious plot holes in the final episode as well as the silliness of the motorbike scene added to the resolution of the subplot with Cardinal's wife ended the possibility for good.Give it a miss, Canadians, unless you enjoy gnashing your teeth.

I'll admit up front I usually do not like dark, overly graphic and sadistic stories. Despite that I did enjoy the first series of Cardinal for the stories within the main story. Series 2 was a disappointment. I thought most of the elements of the story were predictable. It again depicts very sadistic, graphic violence. I was suspicious of one of the characters almost from his first scene so I wasn't at all surprised when that character turned out to be corrupt. I saw the ending coming from the 2nd episode. The reason for some of the underlying sub-plot seemed unplausible to me. Not that it couldn't happen but that it would create the tension and amount of cloak and dagger behavior. I know there's a 3rd series coming. Not sure if I'll be on board. Possibly I'll be over my disappointment by then. I do like the two lead characters but I don't understand why the author or in this case the screenwriter hasn't included more dialogue between the two of them. Can they ride together and never really talk or open up about something?

Attn. Ed-Shullivan Re: Yr 26 Jan '17 The first episodes have just been shown on Belgian TV (Flemish channel) following your suggestion 1+2, 3+4, 5+6. As foreigner who visited Canada in 2016, we are sensitive to the apparent "equal opportunity" casting; however, this makes the plot and sub-plots richer. "One question still begs": how to survive Canadian winter, naked in cellars and car boots?

OK, not too many serial murders in that part of Canada but captures the look and feel of the Anglo/French/First Nations mix in the small industrial cities of the North, and in winter to boot.Nice static shots of snowy lakes and bleak cityscapes, moody theme music, the acting is also nicely played. Lead character mumbles a bit too much. Stories are nicely intertwined threads. 6 hours may be a little long here but makes for a good holiday binge watch.