THE GUARD
Global, 10 p.m.
A Canadian Coast Guard Search and Rescue team forms the backbone of this new series set on the West coast that balances its dramatic action scenes with the personal dramas of the rescue workers.
In tonight's premiere episode, the stresses and strains of a tragic accident that plunges a car into the river trapping a mother and her children inside unleashes some bad if understandable behaviour from the rescue crew. Hunky captain Miro (Steve Bacic) visits his online sex buddy; Andrew (Jeremy Guilbaut) verges on a breakdown with his crying jags; Carly (Zoie Palmer) hits a bar, gets drunk, picks a fight and picks up a guy; and first mate Laura (Claudette Mink) is all cool detachment except when it comes to Miro's handling of the rescue operation. Although Laura has an ill partner (JAG's David James Elliot in a recurring guest role) and a sulky teenager at home, both she and Andrew have stable lives.
Andrew's is seemingly picture perfect with an understanding wife and young family. It's Miro and Carly's imperfections that really rock the boat. Despite his good looks, Miro lives alone in a hotel room indulging a cybersex habit that costs him big time by the end of the episode. And Carly's one-night stand, Wendell (Ryan Robbins), a hippy-dippy dude living aboard a rustic boathouse, looks set to become a recurring character, divining the issues that drive Carly into the drink.