DVD/TV Series Review: Due South: The Ultimate Collection

 

Due South was a buddy-cop series that ran from 1994 to 1999. The first two seasons aired on CBS and the final season(s), which was really one long 26-episode season) aired in syndication from 1997-1999. The show was mostly a case-of-the-week procedural but did have some serial aspects that carried over throughout the series.  The series actually started as a made-for-tv movie that aired on CBS, and when it did better than expected in the ratings it was picked up by CBS. The premise is that a member of the Canadian Mounties (played by Gordon Pinsent)  is shot and killed in the Canadian wilderness. His son, a straight-laced Canadian Mountie named Benton Frasier (played by Paul Gross) investigates his father's death, which leads him to Chicago where he enlists the help of the detective assigned to the case, Ray Vecchio (played by David Marciano). When Frasier helps Ray solve one of his cases, Ray agrees to help Frasier with the investigation. Fraiser ends up staying in Chicago, working at the Canadian Consulate and along with his wolf, Diefenbaker, helping Ray solve cases as a liaison to the Chicago police. During the series, Pinsent would return as a ghost or hallucination of Benton's and "help" and/or irritate his son. The show was a mix of comedy, action, and drama and did very well with the "fish out of water" as Benton was overly helpful and polite in the harshness of Chicago. The show blended elements of comedy, drama, and action perfectly.

The key to the show was that it was always well-acted. Even in the last season after David Marciano left and the story became a little more campy, the acting was always great. One thing I had forgotten was how many guest appearances were made on the show. Leslie Nielsen was the big one, who appeared in a few different episodes. But Ryan Phillipe and Mark Ruffalo also guest starred in very early roles for both of them, as well as Maria Bello, Carrie-Ann Moss, and Malina Kanakaredes. Callum Kieth Renne joined the series in the third (and if you count it, the fourth season) when Marciano could not agree on a new contract.

I originally thought that the show should have gone on longer, but after watching the series again from beginning to end, I think that the show went out at exactly the right time. It told as many stories as possible, without getting extremely repetitive. It was definitely a show that was always being kept alive. It barely got a second season on CBS, then survived a couple more in syndication. A couple of the episodes from the series are on my list of all-time favorite TV episodes. 

In the end, I felt it did a fine job wrapping up everyone's stories and leaving the "continued adventures" to the imagination. It was one of the best series on the air at the time. It did not rely on gratuitous sex and violence to be entertaining. The stories always had a point, and the acting was great. It was a very underrated series, is definitely worth watching, and deserves a spot in any fan's collection.