CTV announced yesterday it has picked up the new cop drama series MOTIVE (working title) which follows a feisty female Vancouver homicide detective who matches wits with killers in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game.
If you’re like me you’re probably thinking “seriously, another cop show?” With The Mentalist, CSI, Bones, Rookie Blue, and the dozens of others, at first MOTIVE sounds like the rest of them, but it claims it isn’t.
MOTIVE is an unconventional way to watch a crime unfold. Each episode begins by revealing not only the victim, but the killer as well. The homicide detective then begins to piece together clues. How did they do it? How are the victim and killer connected? What’s the motive? As the mystery unfolds, the audience navigates the twisted and complicated maze of each murder and solves the puzzle alongside the detective and her team.
Thirteen episodes of the one-hour drama have been ordered, and production will start shortly as they gear up for a 2013 launch. No stars were announced, but the series is to be produced by Foundation Features and Lark Productions here in Vancouver.
With the show airing on CTV, it might have decent production value (for a Canadian show). I am interested in how they will interpret Vancouver homicides. Will they play off the infamous East Hastings Street or use any of the current gang violence? Or will it just be simple fluff? In the end, the success of the show is with the strength of its writers.
One thing is for sure, MOTIVE is the only brand-new Canadian show that is officially attached to CTV’s upcoming season thus far. Homegrown favourites like The Listener and Flashpoint will return for their third and fifth, final seasons.
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Above photo: CTVs Flashpoint