A young boy who doesn’t know much about his mystical heritage, but is forced to come of age really fast when friends & foes from his family’s past are all coming after him, for he… is the chosen one. Be warned, this heartbreaker didn’t grow up under the stairs in a privileged British neighborhood and given the key to a goblin vault holding a fortune. This one cooks “E” to put food on the table if said table hasn’t already been repossessed because his junkie mom don’t pay any bills, while his estranged dad is a… ‘strange’ dad. This isn’t Harry Potter folks, this.. is Trickster.
The 6-part series, adapted from award-winning 2017 novel Son of a Trickster by Indigenous Canadian author Eden Robinson, centers on 16 year old Jared (play by chiseled-jaw newcomer Joel Oulette) whose already chaotic life in a small and poor indigenous community takes a turn for the creepy when he starts seeing strange things. One of those strange things is a drifter with ties to his parents whose quickly growing interest in the young man is both alarming and inevitable, for no one -and their intentions- are what they seem.
I often praise how Canadian television makes it look easy to be endearing and even addictive with barely a fraction of the production value on any given American Network show. Creator, writer and director Michelle Latimer however managed to infuse a style that defies either. It looks and feels like a bare-bones, no budget production, yet it conveys an ambiance and tone that scores on so many levels -from darkly humorous to downright terrifying- without ever holding your hand and force-feeding it to you. And when visual effects ARE called for, they feel jaw-droppingly natural and elaborate. And the music rivals any -ANY, a’ight- Netflix show’s multi-million soundtrack; You only THINK you like the Stampeder’s Sweet City Woman, wait until you hear the custom remix by Boogey The Beat!
Most of all is how flawlessly it deconstructs the reality of being an First Nations Canadian youth in the 2020s while infusing northwestern Indigenous cosmology and mythology. Even as a privileged white boy who knows little about such lore -and YES’ my grandmothers DID collect tiny spoons, NO I don’t know what THAT’s about- I was completely hooked and fascinated to know more hence I intend to read the book. Because hopefully it didn’t suffer some of the show’s short-comings.
Said failing are not many, but to me at least felt quite colossal. Despite the sheer quality of writing, directing and photography, the whole thing still rests on the shoulders of the young star. Problem is he looks 25, is supposed to be 16, and acts like he’s 10. Mind you, it could again be part of growing up with the constant trauma of being a First Nations heir in a world that still treats his kin the way mine has for centuries. But it felt unrealistic, and frankly a bit off, that such an Adonis acted like a overweight U.S. President who lives in Cloud-Coocooland. Same for his mother, who was the single most annoying character I’ve seen this year, fictitious or not.
The twists and turns and ambiguous ending however left me wanting more, and thank the Northern Door, more I Shall get; Michelle Latimer already confirmed being hard at work writing Season 2, while author Robinson announced book three’s impending release. Until it all materializes I firmly intend to soak volumes one and two, and to eventually re-watch with a more educated approach. Oh, and you’re not crazy, the fast-food joint owner does look like Nixon, because he played him in that time-travel X-men movie.
The Canuck Critick 