School

Rarely do I take a night off from watching or thinking about hockey. Even tonight, I have been keeping an eye on the Flames-Kings game due to the fact that my brother is at that game. He's a die-hard Los Angeles Kings fan, so he took the opportunity to take in a game on his winter vacation. I don't blame him. However, an hour of my night was dedicated to Bravo's 19-2 which stars friend and regular guest on The Hockey Show, Mr. Jared Keeso. If you haven't seen 19-2, I highly recommend it. It's a gritty police drama based in Montreal that isn't afraid to dive into difficult issues. Tonight's season-opening episode was one of those difficult topics.

The episode, titled "School", is based on the Dawson College school shooting in 2006, and is, quite frankly, riveting as the cast and crew tackle this sensitive subject. Jared Keeso and Adrian Holmes, who star as officers Ben Chartier and Nick Barron, respectively, are outstanding in their roles, picking up where Season One left off with Ben trying to uncover the identity of the mole in Station 19 and Nick being the main suspect. However, things go off the rails pretty quickly when they are the first responders to the reported school shooting.

I had spoken to Jared about what to expect this season before Christmas on The Hockey Show, and we had discussed the 13-minute sequence with no cuts that was, in a word, amazing to watch. And the ending of the episode leaves viewers with many questions. Literally, I almost don't believe what I saw tonight, and I'm still shocked by what was seen in tonight's episode. In other words, it's fascinating television!

If you missed tonight's season-opening episode, fear not, readers. It will air tomorrow at 10pm ET on CTV, and I will be watching it again. You should tune in as well. Even if this isn't your sort of television program, the episode will give you an idea of the mass chaos and confusion that exists for police officers when an event like this happens. Major kudos to the cast and crew of 19-2 and to director Podz for this episode.

Rarely does Canadian-produced television outside of hockey telecasts have me wanting more. 19-2's opening episode of Season Two definitely has me wishing it was Monday next week already.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!