“You’re the One Who Wanted a Badge.” “But I Didn’t Know It Came with Paperwork.”
I’ve been charmed by Wild Cards during the first two season, so I was looking forward to season three. While I found the case of the week and the banter to be fun, the story arcs for the season were disappointing.
The premise isn’t exactly new. It’s another unusual amateur/cop mystery show. In this case, the cop is Cole Ellis (Giacomo Gianniotti) and his partner is semi-reformed conwoman Max Mitchell (Vanessa Morgan). Against all odds, their partnership has worked out. And, naturally, there is a spark between them as well. Not that true love comes easy in a show like this.
As expected, we start with the aftermath of the season two cliffhanger. And what a cliffhanger it was. Max was leaving to meet Cole to go to Mexico with him when she was interrupted at the door by her mother – her dead for years mother Vivienne (recurring guest star Tamara Taylor). Turns out she faked her death in order to keep Max and her father George (recurring guest star Jason Priestley) safe from a crime boss Vivienne ran afoul of. But, just as this happy reunion begins, the crime boss’s henchman shows up and demands they follow his orders or he will kill them all.
Meanwhile, Cole did take that vacation, but when Max didn’t show, he assumed she wasn’t interested in a romance, so he returned with a new girlfriend, reporter Jessica (recurring guest star Kaylah Zander).
But all this doesn’t keep Cole and Max from teaming up on new cases. Over the course of this season, they investigate when a 90’s boy band reunites to murder. They are called in when an ER doctor is stabbed in the middle of a busy shift. They travel to a nearby town where a serial killer copycat is on the loose. And they go undercover at a digital detox retreat to catch a killer.
As I said earlier, the cases of the week were still enjoyable. They may not be the most twisty mysteries you’ve ever seen, but they are engaging and keep me entertained. It helps that Max and Cole still have the banter I love. Cole is less annoyed by Max, which makes sense if they’ve been working together for a while. Well, and if they almost ran off on vacation together.
Unfortunately, the arcs for the season were very weak. Admittedly, it’s never been the strongest part of the show, but season one and two had better arcs than this one. I felt like they didn’t know what to do with Jessica once they introduced her. She got one good episode, but other than that, they really under used her.
But that’s nothing compared to the storyline with Max’s mom. The character development it brought about was good, and I appreciated it. But they spend most of the season working on something to get the crime boss off their back. Naturally, we get to see the plan go wrong in the final episode. But the revelations we got in that episode underwhelmed at best and made no sense at worst. Plus, the plan was just crazy even if…well I’m not going to spoil it.
This is a low-budget Canadian show, so keep that in mind when you go to watch it. The acting and production values can reflect that, but I don’t find it bothers me too much.
There are ten episodes in season three, which matches the previous seasons of the show.
I’m hoping season four bounces back from the disappointments I had in season three. Fans will still want to watch it, but it should have been better.
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