Stumptown

I don’t watch a lot of TV, but there is usually one or two series running that I am keen to watch each week.  Over the last couple of years, these have included The Good Fight, Vikings, NCIS, and Endeavour.  These days, I am most attracted to Stumptown which is on tonight.

Set in Portland, Oregon, Stumptown is about a troubled PI and her bar-owning buddy. We are used to seeing hard-bitten and difficult men with a lifetime of regret playing the lead in this kind of set up. But here, the PI is a bi-sexual woman suffering from PTSD from her service in Afghanistan, who drinks too much and is not altogether clear on her personal relationships. The scripts are good, with enough humour, low-key action, and sexual tension to keep one interested for 47 minutes, and looking forward to the next episode.  I enjoy the ensemble cast and I most especially enjoy Cobey Smulders.

Having really fallen down on my knowledge of local talent, I was not aware until today that Smulders is from Vancouver.  Interestingly, one of my favourite shows from last year — New Zealand’s Brokenwood Mysteries — also starred an actress called Fern Sutherland who now lives in Vancouver.

 

Night Music: I Know There’s An Answer