“Nobody’s seen it before. Nobody has ever told a story like that before, the way it’s told,” co-creator Alexis Durand-Brault of crime drama The Sketch Artist. Keep this in mind when you start watching.
At one level, this 10-part French language Canadian series is, as the name suggests, about Eve Garance (Rachel Graton), a talented artist with a troubled past – including the disappearance five years ago of her baby son – who creates composite images to help the police catch criminals.
And that’s in part what Durand-Brault means – a crime show with a police artist as a central character brings a new twist to the cop show genre.
But The Sketch Artist is, to use the obvious comparison, like a work of art where you see more as you keep looking at it. If you’re not sure what’s going on as the first ep unfolds, stick with it. There’s a lot to enjoy.
Rachel Graton as sketch artist Eve Garance. Source: Also
For starters, while the story may be hung on the intriguing idea of a sketch artist with powers that go beyond the norm (her ‘pouvoirs extraordinaires d'observation de sorcière’, or extraordinary witch powers, as one of her colleagues says, accusingly), this is a tale of four people, not just one. And there is no way that Sophie Lorain, as Garance’s boss Maryse Ferron, could ever be considered a secondary character.
Lorain – also co-creator of the series alongside Durand-Brault (it’s a close working relationship: the pair are married in real life) is brilliant as Ferron, the director of a small investigation unit attached to a Montreal police department. She is quietly compelling as the perceptive detective who has her own issues to deal with, including a troubled relationship with her daughter and issues with her health. Facing degeneration due to brittle bone disease, Ferron is in a wheelchair (Lorain has this is in part a nod to the American crime series Ironside).
The grumpy colleague who tells Garance to keep her witch powers to herself is police investigator Bernard Dupin (Rémy Girard), the gruff old dog of the team (his nickname in the force is ‘Le Molosse’ – The Watchdog). He knows what he’s doing, and he’s not afraid to bend or break the rules if need be, but he keeps others at a distance, including the team’s newest recruit, Anthony Kamal (Adrien Belugou).
‘Anto’, who has degrees in biotechnology and analytical chemistry, joins the team as a crime scene technician, and as the early episodes unfold, his relentless enthusiasm and good cheer make inroads with Dupin, though not without some touchy moments. The son of immigrants – his father was born in Egypt, his mother is Cuban – Anto could have joined the family business, a restaurant, but wanted something different. But he’s got no idea just how shocking and emotionally challenging police work can be.
The team at work. Source: Also
Ferron (Sophie Lorain) and Kamal (Adrien Belugou) arrive at a crime scene. Source: Also
Adrien Belugou and Rémy Girard in 'Sketch Artist'. Source: Also
Ferron’s team handles cold cases and unusual investigations. Over the course of the 10 episodes, they are involved with a locked up serial killer who wants to find a thirteenth, previously unknown victim; a young woman who was kidnapped as a child, but whose memories of the experience have been suppressed; the discovery of five bodies in a house belonging to a cult; and the chase to stop what looks like a series of random murders across the city. In each, Gerard’s extraordinary ability to create images of the perpetrators and victims is crucial (the French version of the series title, Portrait-Robot, uses the French term for composite images or identikit pictures created by from eyewitness accounts). Each time she talks those involved through their experience, piecing together details to create faces.
Is it just brilliant artwork and observational skills, or is there indeed something a little supernatural involved? The way those images evolve – an unsettling, dark, wavy nimbus around a blank face, that gradually morphs into a recognisable image as Garand talks the victims and witnesses through their memories – certainly suggests there’s something more happening. Whatever it is, creating a story with a police sketch artist as the key storyline puts a fresh feel on the usual police drama.
But there’s more to Sketch Artist than solving cases. The show touches on many issues, from racial intolerance and sexuality to troubled family relationships. With four talented actors cast in the central roles, it’s a fine ensemble, and you’ll find yourself caring about Ferron, Dupin, Anto and of course the sketch artist herself.
Eve Garance (Rachel Graton) works on a portrait. Source: Also
A composite image takes shape. Source: Solo
For Garance, the re-appearance of her ex-husband in Montreal opens up old wounds; five years ago, their six-month-old son William disappeared. Stirring up the past might finally give her some answers, but it doesn’t help her bi-polar disorder. Ferron faces the harsh reality of what her future will look like as her disorder gets worse, Anto is figuring out who he is, and Dupin seems to be caught up in something shady. And both Anto and Dupin struggle with the emotional impact of the crimes they encounter.
But they are a team – “everyone is helping everyone here,” Ferron says at one point, and it’s true. Perhaps no more so than the efforts of Ferron and Dupin try to help Garance find out what really happened the day William disappeared.
Can Dupin's hard work help Eve Garance find out what really happened the day her baby son disappeared? Source: Also
That mystery will keep you guessing – and second-guessing – right to the end.
