There are grim places to live, and then there’s Fermont. Located in the chilly wastes of far north Canada, it’s a tiny mining settlement in a landscape so cold and brutal most of the town is buried in a huge structure they call ‘The Wall’. Sealed off from the frozen outside, they rely on huge fans to draw air in – but when that air starts to smell seriously bad, it sparks an investigation that brings Detective Sergeant Céline Trudeau (Isabel Richer) to town.
She finds two things waiting for her after her long journey across French-speaking Quebec. One is the body of a dead stripper, stashed in a heating duct with a Chinese mask on her face. The other is local cop Alex Théberge (Alexandre Landry). He’s a likable do-gooder half her age; no wonder he falls for her almost right away.
There’s a lot to like about The Wall, starting with the striking setting. A claustrophobic maze of rooms and corridors, The Wall is a nightmare for anyone who’s even slightly claustrophobic. It’s only the fact that what’s outside is worse – and that there’s nowhere out there to run to, even if you did decide you couldn’t handle life inside – that keeps the locals huddled within as the town’s collection of fly-in, fly-out workers pass through.
Being trapped in a town with no easy escape is clearly a problem when there’s a killer on the loose. Most of the locals suspect Bruno (Patrick Hivon), a man known for his violent outbursts and who was in love with the dead woman. Wrapping the case up is high on the agenda for mine owner Jules Ricard (Marc Messier), who wants things to go back to normal as quickly as possible so he can lock in a juicy grant from the government.
The bad news for Ricard is that Trudeau isn’t the kind of cop you can push around. She doesn’t disagree that Bruno is linked to the crime, but she believes the connection isn’t his anger, it’s his dead son – because whoever killed the boy may have also killed the stripper. And everything about this case tells her the serial killer is getting ready to strike again.
Police officer Alex Théberge (Alexandre Landry) and Detective Sergeant Céline Trudeau (Isabel Richer) in ‘The Wall’. Source: Eric Myer
The frozen world outside ‘The Wall’. Source: Eric Myer
Bruno (Patrick Hivon). Source: Eric Myer
Making things more complicated is the surprise presence at The Wall of her estranged daughter Sophie (Maripier Morin). Trudeau had no idea she’d be there; her arrival is equally surprising to Sophie, who wants nothing to do with her mother. Whatever Sophie’s dubious and possibly criminal past, now she’s a mother and married to Louis-Philippe (Jean-Philippe Perras). He’s the son of the town’s power couple, Jules and the mayor, Diane Tremblay-Ricard (Elise Guilbault). And as it rapidly becomes clear, The Wall is no place to raise a family.
It’s a gripping start to a solid mystery, with plenty of twists and turns – and possible suspects – scattered throughout the chilly setting. The second season of The Wall is just as riveting. Alex is still around, but this time, Trudeau works alongside new partner Daphné (Naila Louidort) in a setting that couldn’t be further from the bleak functionality of The Wall as they investigate the bizarre murder of an engineer whose body is found cemented into a bathtub at Quebec’s famous luxury hotel Château Frontenac.
But what really puts both seasons of The Wall over the top is Trudeau herself.
Céline with estranged daughter Sophie (Maripier Morin). Source: Eric Myer
Céline’s season 2 colleague, Daphné (Naila Louidort). Source: Yan Turcotte
We’re used to television detectives breaking the rules to get results. But it’s just how much Trudeau gets away with, and how careless she can be to those around her, that makes her so compelling. Being able to figure out what makes other people tick is a useful skill for a detective; she’s not worried about using that insight to get what she wants in her personal life.
She doesn’t so much seduce Alex as reel him in. She knows exactly what kind of power she has over men – him in particular – and she’s completely okay with sitting back and letting him come to her. Which is probably for the best, as when she arrived he was a happily married man.
She may not be the most likable detective on television, but she’s definitely one of the more interesting. She’s smart, she’s insightful, she takes what she wants, and there’s more than a little mystery there too. After all, people can also have walls inside them.
Isabel Richer as Detective Sergeant Céline Trudeau. Source: Yan Turcotte
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