Arctic Air, CBC Television's new series, is only a few episodes into its first season, but this cold-weather Canadian drama is quickly taking off. Based in Yellowknife, the show follows the lives of the workers at a small-time flying companying, both in the air and on the ground.
Bobby Martin (Adam Beach) returns to Yellowknife after years of living in “the south.” Upon his return, he encounters a lot of old friends with mixed feelings about his return. Bobby may be a charmer, with nice smiles and nice words, but when he gets punched in the face during the first five minutes of the show, it becomes apparent that he has some bad history.
Krista Iverson (Pascale Hutton) is an old school-mate of Bobby's, and her father Mel (Kevin McNulty) is actually Bobby's business partner at Arctic Air, simply because Bobby inherited shares. They have a relatively good relationship with Bobby, but that can't be said of Bobby's old love interest Petra Hossa (Lexa Doig) and her father Doc Hossa (Micheal Hogan).
While over-arching plot elements focus on Bobby's past and present personal and family issues, each episode also contains a mid-air flight fright, whether that be a woman in labour, an electrical storm, or a small-scale hijacking. The showy adventures are fun to watch, but the family issues and half-cooked romances seem much more real than those high flying dramatics. It's the day-to-day problems that keep you hooked.
The show also explores bigger social, racial, and political issues. Bobby is a native and a former oil prospector who spent a good chunk of time in the south. More than once, he encounters racial slurs, anger towards the oil industry, and backlash against his supposed northern abandonment.
There are a few cheap thrills and chills, but there are also a few deep-rooted issues and breathtaking scenes of Canada's north. For a born-and-and-bred Torontonian, Arctic Air is as exotic and different in subject matter as it is in northern Canadian scenery. (For the rest of unsheltered Canada, this series is probably just a good bit of entertainment.)
Photo Credit: From CBC Revenue Group, http://www.cbc.ca/revenuegroup/arctic-air.html
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