Cardinal Series 4 BBC2 Wednesdays 9pm

[stumbledin]

This is the 4th and final series of this Canadian Noir.

2 episodes a night and I think available to stream all www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09l5h8k/broadcasts/upcoming

And I am sure the announcer said previous series available.

Okay so I am really posting this not for weekly discussion as suspect if all available most will want to stream.

But I watched last night (forgotton just how grim it was) and seem to have lost a lot of detail from previous series.

So first of all, did Cardinal's wife kill herself?

Did him and Lise end up in bed at the end of the last series. She looks positively pleased to see him, whereas before I am sure she was more often than not irritated by him.

And I cant quite rememer about the daughter but something about suspecting her dad but now all made up?

This series has had terrible reviews. But as some reviewers only watched it because on BBC2 and didn't know the back story it probably didn't make much sense.

I will stick with it though think I am getting fed up with these unrelentingly miserable plots.

Must remember to stream the next episodes of Philharmonia to get some great colours and lavish sets and silliness for a bit of escapism.

Never seen it before, watching it weekly from now on, as enjoying it. Lucy Mangan in the Guardian gave it an excellent review last night.

Does that mean you haven't watched the earlier series. Did it make sense, the way the two detectives behaved towards each other. Maybe no knowing made it easier to just go with the story. I was half watching the plot and half trying to think back.

You would think they would do a quick edited highlights of previous significant moments for people like me with cotton wool memories!

Haven't seen any of the previous series, but will be watching the rest of this. Strangely I had never heard of it before! I can see there is a lot of backstory there, but I really like the low key atmosphere.

I've only watched the second series but found the way Billy Campbell whispered his way through the dialogue too annoying to watch any more. He was good in Helix though.
The Cardinal books by Giles Blunt are a (IMO) a good read.

I watched the first series and liked the characters/noir-iness, but the violence is too abundant/ detailed/ disturbing/ distracting for me

@stumbledin - this from the Guardian review - "currently grieving for his wife, Catherine (murdered last series by a rogue psychologist), and haunted by his inability to avert her death"

Thanks rosegoldwatcher. Just goes to show how much info I retain!

Murdered?! Rogue psychologist?!

I usually record series to watch late a night when it is quiet. May have to accept that this doesn't really work as I am obviously not as awake as I need to be.

But agree with the remark above. It is very violent and they put a lot of effort into portraying it.

I seem to remember that the psychologist some how talked her into suicide. There was something dodgy about the psychogist's method of treatment which showed up when Cardinal investigated previous patient history or am I thinking about another series?

Watched 4 episodes this morning. Was only planning to watch 2 but they kept on coming!
Really liking the storyline - not so much a whodoneit, more of a whydoneit.

Hoping that the handsome but odious Taj gets what's coming to him...

Ooo, excellent, I love Cardinal. The books are great too.

Thanks species - that sort of rings a bell. With these spread out series would like to think they could do a quick 15 minutes or so of going over the main points that might impact the new series.

I did think Cardinal and Lise had started some sort of relationships. One of the tv reviews commented how grim she was. And I thought you clearly haven't seen the earlier series as she is positively light hearted compared to the first series. But she was trapped in that hopeless relationship.

I watched all episodes back to back.

It has a Scandi-noir feel to it, helped by the chill chimes, don't you think?

I’m so pleased this is back on. My sister lived in Canada for a few years and was looking at buying a lakeside “cottage“ like in season 3, which made me love it even more.

I’ve watched all four of the series now and I think series 4 is the best. I admit to closing my eyes slightly at some of the more violent scenes, but overallI really liked the unknown aspect of why the murders were happening and also of course the snowy Canadian landscape. Shame there are no more to come.

She looks positively pleased to see him, whereas before I am sure she was more often than not irritated by him
In the first few series she's investigating him as a potentially corrupt police officer, which is probably a bit of a turn off.
It's interesting that their relationship is portrayed so subtly yet the violence is so explicit.

Thanks for that reminder of how the series started. Had totally forgotten that rather important aspect! ie her being very upright and correct and him being seen or potentially being corrupt.

I seem to remember that the psychologist some how talked her into suicide. There was something dodgy about the psychogist's method of treatment which showed up when Cardinal investigated previous patient history Yes, this is right. She DID kill herself, technically, but he had been basically making his patients feel worse about themselves rather than helping them to see themselves better.

Lise and John have not had sex as at the beginning of this series, but their relationship has been thawing since the first one.

John's daughter: don't know if she suspected him (do you mean of being corrupt?) but they've always had a difficult relationship as he is remote and distracted by work. And now doesn't want her to come to stay because (I think) he's ashamed of where and how he's living.

I just love this show. There's something sad and melancholy about it that I find really beautiful. I love Lise's character and the performances of both the leads. And those huge landscapes. Also love Sheila Gagne's house this series.

That's very true, isn't it, about their relationship being so subtle while the violence is the opposite. I really like the former but I'm not good with the explicit violence.
I watched the opening of series 4 last week and really enjoyed it and couldn't recall how three series on bbc4 had passed me by, so I looked for series 1 on iplayer and it all came back....I had started watching at the beginning but found the violence too explicit for my tastes. I persevered this time because I now feel interested in the characters, but was very grateful to watch series 1 using the little thumbnail tool so that I could skip all the bits I can't bear.

Was that definitely the last series?
I mean, it kind of ended as if it was... but then again I think it was left somewhat open to a return.

I've really loved it. Will miss it if there are no more.

@IntermittentParps I read somewhere that the lead actor suggested that if another book was written (upon which the previous series have been based) they'd make another season, so here's hoping.

It wasn't an entirely satisfactory ending, was it?

Oh, if that was the end of the books then fair enough, I suppose. But I would love a new one (or several).

I didn't mind the ending.
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Frustrating, yes (when John said 'Let me know when's good' DP was shouting 'NOW is good! Go with her!') but it felt like a true/believable ending.

Just watched them all from series one to the end. Loved it. But yes to the unsatisfactory ending. Is that really the last ever?

Re Catherine and the psychologist - I thought it turned out she’d photographed him approaching her on the rooftop, as in, he did actually kill her. The photograph only came to light much later.