If you’ve grown tired of the cop shows on network television, I have a gem for you. Its a Canadian series called “Intelligence” that I stumbled across in my Netflix recommendations due, no doubt, to my heavy viewing of British detective series like “Prime Suspect”, “A Touch of Frost”, “Wire in the Blood”, “Inspector Morse”, and so many others.
“Intelligence” revolves around the Organized Crime Squad (OCS) in Vancouver. Headed by Mary Spalding (Klea Scott), an ambitious black woman who’s smart enough to get ahead in the macho culture of a modern police department. Mary’s in line to be promoted to head the Asian/Pacific section of Canada’s nascent foreign intelligence service, but first she has to prove herself worthy. Toward that end, she develops her own group of confidential informants, the most important of which is Jimmy Reardon (Ian Tracey), a local drug kingpin whose rivals are constantly threatening his business. But at least Jimmy’s enemies are out in the open. Mary doesn’t have that luxury. The OCS is riddled with leaks. Ted Altman (Matt Frewer), her number two, is playing all sides against each other by plotting with Roger Deakins (Tom McBeath), who’s struggling to hold on to the job Mary’s after, and the CIA. Meanwhile, Jimmy’s got his own mole in the police so he can keep Mary honest. So everybody’s in bed with somebody, and often its hardly an exclusive relationship.
The storyline is complicated, but keeps you wanting more. I went through more than 10 episodes in less than a week because it was so compelling. The good guys are hardly as pure as the driven snow, and the bad guys aren’t all bad. You never know what’s going to happen next with this series.
If you’ve grown weary of the never-ending stream of “Law and Order” and “CSI”, where the outcome is never a mystery and the cops and criminals are cardboard cutouts with no depth, check out “Intelligence” on Netflix.