Due South - season two (ep. 9-18)

Should have posted this ages ago :] For continuity’s sake, it’s in same film review format as the other Due South reviews, but I think I’m going to make yet another change of format soon as this one just isn’t working *sigh*

{FILM DIARY}
Note: Please refer to this post for more details and links to other Due South reviews.

"Due South" (Canada/USA, 1994)

Finished Viewing: June 2010
Rating: +2 (Adored It)

Video

Episodes:
- 9: The Edge
Fraser and Ray team up with a Mexican secret service agent to protect international dignitaries at an upcoming NAFTA convention.
- 10: Starman
Pathological liar Ian McDonald claims his fiancée has been abducted by aliens.
- 11: We Are the Eggmen
The Canadian government gets sued for damages caused when Fraser tries to stop a truck full of eggs from falling into a trench.
- 12: Some Like It Red
Fraser disguises himself as a woman to go undercover as a teacher in a Catholic girls’ school.
- 13: White Men Can’t Jump To Conclusions
Ray and Fraser believe a black teenager involved in a gang shooting is covering for somebody else.
- 14: All The Queen’s Horses
A train full of singing mounties gets captured by terrorists.
- 15: Body Language
Ray and Fraser track down a female stripper after she gives Fraser a tip about a big crime.
- 16: The Duel
Charles Carver is released on parole and orchestrates a very personal sort of revenge on Ray, who put him into prison in the first place.
- 17: Red, White or Blue
Continuation of episode 14. The terrorists are brought to court, but not before they’ve taken Fraser and Ray hostage.
- 18: Flashback
Fraser suffers from amnesia.

Memorable Moments:
- Fraser’s nightmares about “losing his edge”
In episode 9, Fraser makes some crucial mistakes. He is then told that perhaps he is getting old and “losing his edge”. The thought stays with him and we get treated to a series of nightmares in which he is sort of dominated by three kids (I loved how Diefenbaker has an equivalent one about a little puppy taking his place). I thought it was one of the weirdest ideas of the second series.
- Thatcher ordering Fraser’s uniform off
She has good reason to do so, but as she doesn’t explain herself, the scene is very spicy ;)
- Fraser and Buck Frobisher talk through the toilet (video)
Just some very odd toilet humour *grin*
- “Ray, get in the closet!” (2.15) (video)
Not the first time that Ray and Fraser find themselves in a closet together, but it’s a great scene :)
- Mexican poncho (2.17)
Ray and Fraser find themselves in a courtroom under a Mexican poncho. It’s a very weird scene, both very funny and rather dramatic.

General Comments:
This is where Due South got very weird *grin* In the second half of season two, they started taking bigger risks and generally experimenting. The results were mixed IMO, but very interesting.
The humour got gradually more and more nonsensical and absurd (once Paul Gross started writing for Due South, even I didn’t quite get some of the jokes ;)). Some episodes were pushed into total farce.
The drama and melodrama was already quite strange I suppose, but IMO there were moments when they reached new heights ;) Notably, one of the strangest ideas IMO are Fraser’s nightmares about ageing and therefore “losing his edge” (ep.9). They didn’t execute it that well IMO, but the idea is bizarre and if they had found the right sort of style for it, it could have been very effective and “artsy”.

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