Cardinal 4 - Final season of the award-winning Canadian thriller series

The thriller series Cardinal picked up 12 awards at the Canadian Screen Award during 2018 and 2019. In addition to the award for best drama or limited series in the last two years, Bill Campbell was both times awarded for the best male role in a drama series. Likewise, his partner in the series, Karine Vanasse won the 2019 Best Actress award in the drama series. Anyone who has watched the Cardinal series knows that they both deserve the award. The chemistry between the two is undeniable. We saw something similar in X-Files (Scully and Mulder), where the partners have that sensual charge, which is felt in every episode - every season. Bill Campbell pointed out that the role of John Cardinal is the best in his whole career. And when a 60-year-old acting veteran (Dynasty, Tales Of The City, The Killing) says that, it means something.

In addition to the two main actors (Campbell and Vanasse), who are great, the magnificent Canadian landscape also plays a great role. The first season was filmed entirely in icy Canadian winter conditions. Like this final fourth. It is in the fourth season that viewers can witness the harsh beauty of the Canadian north. Namely, each time when detectives find a dead body in the wild, it is an ice sculpture. Beauty and cruelty are well utilized through the camera lens. The landscape is an integral part of this solid thriller series. Whether it’s the icy Canadian winter or the forests painted in the colourful colours of autumn.

Cardinal must catch a serial killer in the first season, at the same time, he is the target of an investigation on suspicion of corruption!

In the first season, Detective John Cardinal investigates the murder of a young Native Canadian girl. In the investigation, Cardinal- starring Bill Campbell, gets a new partner from Quebec, Lisa Delorme - starring Karine Vanasse. But what Cardinal doesn't know is that Detective Delorme is on a special mission. For her, John Cardinal is the target. Cardinal is under investigation for possible corruption. It is immediately clear that John Cardinal is an extremely just and moral man, with pronounced high ethical principles. Delorme soon realizes this, but she has to do her job as best she can. They are on the hunt for a serial killer, and the investigation has been complicated for suspicions of corruption. Besides, Cardinal has family problems. His wife is being treated for a psychiatric disorder. Her mental health is sometimes good, sometimes bad. Cardinal is tearing apart because of this during the first two seasons. As well as the obvious attraction he feels towards his young partner Lise Delorme.

In the third season, Cardinal copes badly with his wife’s suicide. He is convinced that she would never take her own life. No one supports him except Delorme. It brings them even closer in some way. Both, as partners and as detectives, who are perfectly suited to the way they conduct investigations. The investigation will resolve some of Cardinal's dilemmas, but Delorme has decided it is time to move on. He gets a job offer in Montreal.

The husband of politician Sheila Ganga was killed, tied with a wire rope to a tree, and left at night at - 40 celsius, in the middle of a wasteland!

The fourth season - Until The Night, began airing on April 6, 2020, and ended on May 11, 2020. It has six episodes, which is the standard of the series since the start of broadcasting. It was known in advance that the fourth season was also the final season. After all, the series is based on crime novels by writer Giles Blunt, which were written in a limited edition.

A cold, almost arctic day in Algonquin Bay revealed a horrific sight. The frozen corpse of Robert Quillen - starring Jorge Molina, the husband of a powerful politician Sheila Ganga, obviously killed terribly. He is tied with steel wire to the tree and left to die, during a harsh cold northern Canadian night. Frozen in a grotesque position. Like a kneeling sculpture of unspeakable horror. The investigation led by Cardinal and Delorme has not yet warm-up when a new corpse has been found. This time, Adele Leblanc, demented and innocent old woman, was left to freeze on an icy night. The frozen woman is the mother of Barry Leblanc - starring Duncan Ollerenshow, who is devastated and horrified. Barry calls Sheila Gagne - starring Carmen Moore, politician, and wife of the late Robert, and secrets from the past come to light. A horrible crime was committed 20 years ago. Now is payback time. Someone is taking revenge on the participants in the forgotten crime - by killing those closest to them. Cardinal and Delorme must find the killer as soon as possible because the bodies are piling up. Also, this is for Delorme the last case in Algonquin Bay. He is leaving for a new job in Montreal soon.

On the first day of filming Cardinal 2016, it was so cold - 40 C! The truck of the sound technician did not want to turn on, so it was recorded without sound!

Cold harsh Canadian winter. As the first season began, the last one is finished in a similar weather condition. With snow and ice, days shorter than a coffee break. Ice storms and frozen blood in the snow. The Cardinal series has brought nothing epochal to the world of TV thrillers. It leans on such popular Scandinavian thrillers, which dominate the European serial thriller scene. But other than the icy atmosphere Cardinal is a series that has a fine casting. All four seasons have roughly the same quality level, with no rise up a level. But also without any drop in quality. After all, series wouldn’t have picked up so many awards in Canada, had it not been for a very good accomplishment in the world of drama series. As many as 110 countries had the opportunity to enjoy the Cardinal series. From the British BBC, the American Hulu, to the Croatian Pickbox. It is never enough good thrillers, they are the dominant theme of the serial program for years, on all continents.

What kind of harsh weather was filmed over the years in the Cardinal series is best told by the following story? Julia Sereny, executive producer recalls the first day of recording Cardinal, 2016 in Sudbury: “It was about minus 40. It was so cold that our sound recordist could not get his truck started. So we had no sound because we had to go and pick him up from afar, ”she says. "When we tried to affix something - I can't remember what it was - to a camera car, the windows shattered because it was so cold… Welcome to the north."