On the cusp of a new TV season, CTV airs a terrific Canadian thriller this weekend.
The Investigation (Sunday, CTV, 8 p.m.) is a TV movie about the scrambled search for, and arrest of, Clifford Olson. In terms of style and production values, this is no masterpiece. Directed by Anne Wheeler, the Canada/U.K. production displays many of the hallmarks of a rushed, cheap production -- visual and aural flourishes are added to energize the show. But they really aren't necessary because this is a solid, hard-nosed story about cops getting increasingly antsy as they try to nail a serial killer.
The movie's best element is its creepiness. We don't actually see the face of Clifford Olson (Paul Coeur) until the final minutes of the drama.
When it opens, in the summer of 1981, the emphasis is on innocence. Over the opening credits and footage of the lower mainland of British Columbia, the sound of radio news tells us about Terry Fox and the coming wedding of Charles and Diana. Local RCMP officers are dealing with routine problems.
Constable Darryl Kettles (Lochlyn Munro) is dealing with a mother whose teenage daughter appears to have run away. Then he gets a call from a local man who says he's come across a weird guy who appears to be accompanied by a heavily drugged teenage girl.
The young constable questions Olson and realizes he's dealing with a disturbed, wily individual who babbles constantly and claims to be a friend of the police. A notebook belonging to Olson is confiscated and photocopied. It contains the names of many teenage boys and girls. The notebook's contents seem to disappear into the absurdly complicated police system.
Meanwhile, there is something terrible happening in British Columbia. Teenagers are disappearing. Bodies have been found. But, because the discoveries and investigations take place in a variety of jurisdictions, connections aren't made. The unwieldy hierarchy of the RCMP is shown here as a major cause of confusion and delay.
Another officer, Les Forsyth (Nicholas Lea, who was Alex Krycek on The X-Files) initially dismisses Olson as a suspect. But after he questions him, a firm suspicion is aroused. Like Constable Kettles, he finds himself battling a labyrinthine bureaucracy to get the resources to nail Olson.
While the internal battles progress, Olson cruises the roads and towns, picking up teenage hitchhikers. He entices them by saying that he has a construction company and is looking for workers. He rapes a young woman who escapes from his car but, because she's got a record for soliciting, the police don't take the case any further.
The Investigation builds slowly but surely as a tense, anxiety-inducing chase movie. This is one of those instances in which television can have more emotional power than a large-scaled movie. It's about dogged police work, thwarted junior officers and internal office politics, not about the eye-popping visuals of high-speed action and special effects. It's about frustration and fear and, because every Canadian knows about the horror that is Clifford Olson, the movie has a nagging power.
Also airing this weekend:
Toronto International Film Festival Director's Cut: Ten Wired Days (Saturday, Global, 7 p.m.) has a long title but it only lasts 30 minutes, I'm told. In that half-hour the entire TIFF is summarized. Perky Cheryl Hickey and pugnacious Mike Bullard are the reporters, apparently. There are highlights from press conferences and gems of wit from red- carpet encounters.
Debbie Travis's Facelift (Sunday, HGTV, 8 p.m.) is back and, heavens, it's now one hour long. Heavily promoted by HGTV, it must be something of a hit for the channel. Pert, wee Debbie is now an icon because she's stopped merely painting stuff and directs chaps as they merrily gut somebody's house. The money shot, of course, comes when some unsuspecting person arrives home to find that their cozy home has been transformed. Go figure.
Nip/Tuck (Sunday, CTV, 10 p.m.) continues to dramatize the perils of gutting and transforming people's bodies. In the second episode of this drama series, two young women who are identical twins come to cosmetic surgeons Sean (Dylan Walsh) and Christian (Julian McMahon) with instructions to make them look different. They say that people can only tell them apart when they're naked. Meanwhile, womanizer Christian goes for a tanning session and the bodacious young assistant at the tanning salon offers to help him relax during the session. There follows a bit of unlikely hanky-panky on a tanning bed.
The problem with Nip/Tuck is that it's all surface sizzle. Already in the second episode a format is exposed. Early on there is the obligatory gross-out surgery scene. Then Christian has sex with some hottie after engaging in cringe-inducing sleazy banter. There follows some scenes of Sean getting all worked up over his boring marriage. A lot of contrived and implausible conversation ensues which amounts to psychobabble. People say things like, "What if I can't put off stuff until tomorrow, because I don't get another tomorrow?"
This week, Sean moves out of the family home and goes on a date with -- wait for it -- a psychologist! Christian has a self-esteem crisis and there is a lot of talk about penis enlargement. The series presents itself as satire of a surface-obsessed American society, but it's as empty and vapid as what it pretends to mock.
This just in: On The Late Show with David Letterman (tonight, CBS, 11:35 p.m.), Simon and Garfunkel make an appearance. It's the first time they've ever appeared on a talk show together. That should set us all up for the weekend.
Dates and times may vary across the country. Please check local listings or visit http://www.globeandmail.com/tv