Freeze or Thaw? Season 4 of CARDINAL Challenges Isolated Main Characters Who Are ‘Comfortable in the Discomfort’

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede As the world is coping with self-isolation, some of the most compelling and haunting nuances of CTV’s CARDINAL have become more pronounced than ever. With the highly anticipated Season 4 debuting Monday, April 6, at 10 p.m. ET, it was pointed out to series stars Billy Campbell, who plays Detective John Cardinal, and Karine Vanasse, who plays Detective Lise Delorme, that the overriding theme of CARDINAL is essentially isolation – both the physical kind and the emotional kind. SPOILER ALERT: Some developments in Season 3 of CARDINAL are discussed below in very general terms. “I think that may be true,” said Campbell, referring to the isolation theme. “And the thing that makes Season 4 particularly interesting is that the reason for some of the isolation, or at least the obstacle that prevented Delorme and Cardinal from acknowledging their feelings, no longer exists. So it’s like the permafrost melting, and what’s going to come out of the earth? We just had such a wonderful time, Karine and I, playing with that energy.” Vanasse enthusiastically agreed, while admitting that the theme of isolation in CARDINAL has become crystal clear to her only in hindsight. “You know what? It’s amazing, because I myself never thought about it like that, but as I’m talking about it now, obviously, yes, that’s the theme of the show,” Vanasse said. “In Season 4, from Lise’s perspective, she thinks Cardinal is very isolated. He is isolating himself – but she’s doing exactly the same thing! Maybe Lise thinks that she’s really not like Cardinal at all, but I’m sorry Lise, you are.” Of course, with CARDINAL being set in the fictional Northern Ontario town of Algonquin Bay, the ominous atmosphere of physical isolation is always present as well. “You’re so right, and you know, this isolation, it fits perfectly with winter,” Vanasse observed. “Even during the times when we’ve been shooting in summer, winter is always present for these two characters. They’re almost more comfortable in the discomfort, in the freeze of winter, than they are in the summer.” The freeze-thaw patterns of Cardinal and Delorme’s personalities notwithstanding, a new season of CARDINAL also means a new case for the detectives to wrap their brains around. And as usual with this show, it’s a puzzler. “This mystery has a little bit of a feeling of an onion,” said Campbell, acknowledging that several layers need to be peeled back. “I think Cardinal and Delorme will end up being in mortal danger themselves because of this mystery. And in the end, it might cause the two of them to instantaneously decide what’s most important in their lives, and maybe realize how important they are to each other. But … there is a bit of a twist with it, with the case. It’ll be fun to see.” Vanasse said that it takes a little while for Delorme to get invested in the case, but once things start to accelerate, her focus intensifies. “Because of what’s going on with Lise personally, I think she’s a bit bored by this case at first, it’s hard for them to find the links, and she probably doesn’t take it seriously enough – but Cardinal does,” Vanasse said. “But then, okay, it is a major case, and whoa, it gets out of control fast. Then it becomes personal to her. She doesn’t think they’re moving quickly enough. But part of her frustration is tied to her own situation, which affects how she reacts. Eventually, we’ve rarely seen Lise as emotionally involved in a case as she gets in this one.” It sounds as if Season 4 of CARDINAL will be a real roller-coaster, for both the viewers and the characters themselves. The ride-along starts Monday. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv