Trickster (Canadian TV series)

Trickster is a Canadian coming-of-age supernatural thriller drama television series, which premiered on CBC Television on October 7, 2020.[1] The series is created by Tony Elliott and Michelle Latimer with Latimer also directing, and is adapted from Eden Robinson's 2017 novel Son of a Trickster.[2][3][4]

Trickster
GenreSupernatural thriller
Drama
Coming-of-age
Haisla mythology
Created byMichelle Latimer
Tony Elliott
Based onSon of a Trickster
by Eden Robinson
Directed byMichelle Latimer
StarringJoel Oulette
Crystle Lightning
Craig Lauzon
Anna Lambe
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
  • Michelle Latimer
  • Tony Elliott
  • Jennifer Kawaja
  • Julia Sereny
  • Penny Gummerson
Production companiesStreel Films
Sienna Films
Release
Original networkCBC
Picture format1080i (HDTV)
Original releaseOctober 7 (2020-10-07) –
November 11, 2020 (2020-11-11)
External links
Website

The series was renewed for a second season prior to the first season's premiere; however, these plans were eventually cancelled on January 29, 2021, after controversy regarding series producer Michelle Latimer arose.[5]

Premise

The series centres on Jared, an Indigenous Haisla teenager and small-time drug dealer in Kitimat, British Columbia, who becomes increasingly aware of the magical events that seem to follow him.

Cast

Main

Supporting

Episodes
No.TitleDirected by [3]Written byOriginal air date [7]Canada viewers
(millions)
1"Episode 1"Michelle LatimerTony Elliott & Michelle LatimerOctober 7, 2020 (2020-10-07)N/A
Underachieving high school student Jared sells MDMA drugs from the Tasty Bucket restaurant drive-thru to pay the bills for his parents, who separated a year ago. Both are jobless, and Maggie owes money to drug dealer Richie while Phil's girlfriend Destiny is pregnant. Jared begins cooking more drugs to sell at a party but he is attacked by a look-alike and robbed. Maggie attacks newly-arrived Wade at the Tasty Bucket, costing Jared his job. Jared sees his double again at the party and becomes sick, and later a crow talks to him. His friend Crashpad sells a gaming account to pay Richie, but they find Richie's trailer burned down – Maggie did it in an insurance fraud scam, and has invited violent Richie to live with them as her boyfriend.
2"Episode 2"Michelle LatimerTony Elliott & Michelle LatimerOctober 14, 2020 (2020-10-14)N/A
Richie bullies Jared as man of the house but reconsiders after experiencing Maggie's volatility. Wade claims to be Jared's father though Maggie denies this. In a flashback, Wade helps birth Jared in the back of Maggie's truck, then takes him to a mamathlteeasa, but Maggie screams, injuring Wade, and she leaves him for dead. Wade takes Jared to the mamathlteesa. Maggie threatens Wade, and later casts a spell which has a tree fall in front of his motorcycle. Also, Georgina and Edna confront Wade over unstated obligations, Jared grows closer to Sarah, and Phil gives Jared a mobility scooter for a food-delivery job.
3"Episode 3"Michelle LatimerPenny E. GummersonOctober 21, 2020 (2020-10-21)N/A
Maggie locates Wade's motorcycle but finds he has escaped death a second time. She goes to Sophia for help, explaining that voices have been telling her that Wade must die. They identify Wade as a trickster. Richie kicks Jared out of Maggie's house and threatens to burn his stuff, so Jared has Richie arrested for arson. Jared's visions worsen. He sees Georgina's skin crawl, making her realize that he is Wade's son. Georgina follows Jared to school – which has been emptied for Sarah's die-in protest of pipeline construction – and Georgina is fought by Wade who initially appears in the form of a crow. Jared flees to his cookhouse where Wade tells him that he is a trickster and Maggie is a witch.
4"Episode 4"Michelle LatimerZoe Leigh HopkinsOctober 28, 2020 (2020-10-28)N/A
In a flashback, Georgina demands Wade "open the north door" to let them go home, but he is enjoying a lifestyle of trading furs for whiskey. Wade urges Jared to lay low then accompany him to Vancouver. Jared meets Sarah while getting supplies; they do ecstasy and spend the night together. Georgina makes Wade hear the land screaming in pain, which incapacitates him. She abducts him and plans to force Wade and Jared together. Maggie and Sophia use a calling spell, and the hunters follow Wade to Sophia's cabin, where Jared is also called. A struggle breaks out and Maggie shoots each of the hunters, but Jared grows feathers and the hunters flee – as does Crashpad. Wade says that Jared must one day kill him to maintain balance. A flashback shows a trickster willingly drowned by teenaged Wade, while on the shore a skinless figure appears and witches sew it into a skin as Georgina, who guides Wade into his trickster powers.
5"Episode 5"Michelle LatimerStory: Tony Elliott, Penny E. Gummerson & Michelle Latimer
Teleplay: Penny E. Gummerson		November 4, 2020 (2020-11-04)N/A
Maggie traps Wade but he escapes. She finds the hunters, whose torn skins have been mended by Sophia, and learns that Wade may sacrifice Jared in his place. Jared spends the day with Sarah; although she likes Kitimat, she agrees to go to Vancouver with him. At the ferry, Jared tries to explain his nature but Sarah feels rejected. Jared is guided by Wade to the ceremony; flashbacks show an earlier ceremony in which Wade killed another son. Maggie interrupts and shoots each of them with a crossbow. Wade transforms and flies away as a crow. Jared has a vision of a burning world littered with bones, until brought he is back to the living by Maggie and Phil.
6"Episode 6"Michelle LatimerTony ElliottNovember 11, 2020 (2020-11-11)N/A
Wade follows Maggie and Jared as they flee; he is ambushed by Sophia and the hunters, but escapes. The hunters want to restrain Wade so Jared can kill him, but Maggie believes it's too dangerous and that Jared isn't ready. Wade captures Maggie, drawing Sophia, Georgina and Edna away from Jared. Wade then appears in the form of Sarah and lures Jared away from Crashpad's house. As they confront each other and advantage shifts, Jared pleads for another way out and Wade pleads to stay alive to preserve their traditions from cultural genocide. Maggie arrives and burns Wade alive, collecting his ashes in a mason jar which she gives to Jared – as only a trickster can kill a trickster. Feeling betrayed, the hunters pledge to make sure Jared kills Wade next time, and to protect their world by ending the trickster line. Maggie and Jared attempt sobriety, while Sophia leaves with the hunters. Sarah is taken away by Indian agents, and Jared takes a bus out of town.

Production

Despite being set in British Columbia, the majority of the show was filmed in and around North Bay, Ontario,[8] although some outdoor establishing shots were filmed in Kitimat.[9]

In advance of the television premiere, two episodes of the series was screened in the Primetime program at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival,[10] and at the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival in Sudbury.[11]

The first season was directed and co-written by Michelle Latimer. Following the emergence of questions about the legitimacy of her indigenous status, two of the show's producers resigned in protest,[12] and Latimer resigned from the series in December 2020.[13] The network did not immediately announce any decision on whether to replace her or simply cancel production of the followup seasons;[13] the show's cancellation was announced in January 2021.

Writer Drew Hayden Taylor criticized the network's decision to cancel the series, writing that "if the chief executive officer of a company does something questionable, you fire the CEO, you don’t dissolve the company."[14] He pointed out that a significant number of indigenous filmmakers are working in the contemporary Canadian film industry, who could easily have been hired to continue the show under new leadership: "The Indigenous film community is thriving, eager and capable of maintaining, maybe even improving, the framework that is already there and continue it forward. Just get a new showrunner. Showrunners come and go all the time in the television industry. I know three that are baristas."[14]

International broadcast

In the US, The CW acquired the broadcast rights for the series, where it premiered on January 12, 2021.[15]

The series airs on SBS in Australia, and is available to stream online via their SBSOnDemand service.[16]

In the UK, the show is broadcast by SyFy.

Response

In its December 2020 year in review, the Canadian film and television industry magazine Playback named Trickster the Scripted Series of the Year.[17]

Writing for The Globe and Mail, Drew Hayden Taylor positioned the series as a leading voice in the contemporary emergence of indigenous speculative fiction, alongside authors such as Cherie Dimaline, Waubgeshig Rice and Yvette Nolan. He linked the genre to indigenous storytelling traditions, which are often based on stories of the fantastical and mystical, and concluded that "Earlier, I mentioned that it was a genre we were interested in exploring. I may have been wrong. I think it’s a genre our Elders were familiar with. We’re just rediscovering it and putting new moccasins on it."[18]

References
  1. Hank, Melissa (May 28, 2020). "CBC announces new fall TV series, returning favourites". O Canada. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  2. van Koeverden, Jane (May 29, 2019). "Adaptation of Eden Robinson's Trickster series coming to CBC-TV". CBC. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  3. "Trickster – About the Show". CBC Media Centre. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  4. van Koeverden, Jane (September 18, 2019). "Cast revealed for CBC's upcoming series, The Trickster". CBC. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  5. "CBC says second season of Trickster will not go forward". The Globe and Mail. January 29, 2021.
  6. Mutabdzija Jaksic, Vanja (September 30, 2020). "Introducing the stars from CBC's Trickster". CBC. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  7. "Trickster – Listings". Next Episode. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  8. Jordan Pinto, "CBC drama The Trickster goes to camera in North Bay". Playback, September 18, 2019.
  9. David Friend, "'Trickster' actor Joel Oulette on the 'overwhelming' rise of CBC's new series". Vancouver Courier, September 15, 2020.
  10. Ahearn, Victoria (July 30, 2020). "TIFF announces all 50 titles for pandemic-tailored 2020 event". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  11. "Sudbury festivals adapting to COVID-19". Sudbury Star, September 2, 2020.
  12. Ka’nhehsí:io Deer, Jorge Barrera, "Trickster producers resign amid Michelle Latimer Indigenous identity questions". CBC News Indigenous, December 18, 2020.
  13. Barry Hertz, "Michelle Latimer resigns from CBC’s Trickster week after addressing questions of Indigenous ancestry". The Globe and Mail, December 21, 2020.
  14. Drew Hayden Taylor, "Why the CBC should reconsider cancelling Trickster". The Globe and Mail, January 31, 2020.
  15. Pedersen, Erik (October 29, 2020). "The CW Sets Season Premiere Dates For 'Flash', 'Batwoman', 'Riverdale', 'Nancy Drew', 'Charmed', 'Walker' Reboot & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  16. Kylie Northover, "Canadian Gothic tale is the scariest thing you'll see this Halloween". Sydney Morning Herald, October 30, 2020.
  17. Jordan Pinto, "Scripted Series of the Year 2020: Trickster: How the coming-of-age drama from Streel Films and Sienna Films has created a new narrative around Indigenous storytelling and become a red-hot commodity in an international marketplace hungry for new voices". Playback, December 14, 2020.
  18. Drew Hayden Taylor, "CBC’s Trickster shows how Indigenous storytelling has developed". The Globe and Mail, December 16, 2020.
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