Last spring/summer’s twist on the crime procedural, Motive, kicks off its second season tonight on CTV.
Our core crew returns for the action, and we have a couple of new faces coming into the homicide division to stir things up a little bit. The biggest change is the departure of Roger Cross (when his character is promoted out to superintendent) and the arrival of Alphas‘ Warren Christie as the new team leader, Sergeant Mark Cross. We learn pretty quickly that Cross has a history with Angie (Kristin Lehman) and she’s not at all happy to see him.
As part of a press day to kick off the new season, we had a chance to chat with Christie, Lehman, and Brendan Penny (Detective Brian Curtis) this afternoon about the new season. We’ll have the full interviews in the coming days, but here’s a sneak peek.
While all three have worked in and outside of Canada in the course of their careers, each has high praise for being able to work at home in British Columbia on a show that’s actually set in Vancouver.
“It’s such a cinematic place to make television and tell stories,” says Lehman. “I think our show benefits greatly and dramatically from tremendous vistas and the weather and the way we use the city. I’m proud of how we showcase it. It’s beautiful and I love all of our locations. It’s a really, really, really wonderful homage to that city.”
Penny enjoys the different aspects of the city that show up in the show. “It has so much to offer visually. If you want a nice, beautiful shot, you can shoot the ocean and the mountains, if you want a crazy, scary death shot, there’s so many creepy nooks and crannies,” he says. “It’s fantastic, it’s such a beautiful city. It’s so diverse.” Best of all, especially this year, he added that the West Coast location meant they didn’t freeze their butts off.
Christie calls Vancouver home, and the location was a big bonus when he joined the show. “It was amazing to…hop in the car and drive 15 minutes to work,” he says. “I love how [Motive] portrays Vancouver and shows it off. To see the city for what it is, and the beauty of Vancouver was a big selling point. I love the city. To spend a chunk of time at home is great.”
Check back tomorrow for our full interview with Kristin Lehman where we talk about Angie’s men and her car, and Lehman’s Canadian lifestyle website, This Fair Land.
Tonight’s premiere, “Raw Deal,” picks up four months after the first season finale with a new case, and guest stars a few familiar faces–Amanda Crew from HBO’s upcoming Silicon Valley (and who co-starred with Penny in Whistler), David Alpay from The Vampire Diaries, and Shawn Roberts from the Resident Evil films. It’s another compelling mystery where we think we know, but we have no idea.
Here’s what to expect: Detectives Angie Flynn (Kristin Lehman) and Oscar Vega (Louis Ferreira) investigate a suspected suicide victim who may have had some unwelcome help ending his life. The victim had been methodically looking for someone before his death, and finding out who he was searching for will lead the detectives to the motive. But Angie’s focus is compromised when charismatic Sergeant Mark Cross (Warren Christie) joins the team as the new Commander. He and Angie share a mysterious past but she’s not about to reveal any details.
Motive airs tonight at 10 pm ET on CTV.
