Third Season
TEN THINGS TO DO IF THE WORST HAPPENS ... AND RAY ISN'T IN DUE SOUTH By Elizabeth Lunney.
Collect pictures of Ray and make a collage. Use it to wallpaper your room or cover your books.
Photocopy your favourite picture of Ray 100,000,000 times and stick it on everything you own.
Stick one of these copies on the television screen when Due South is on and pretend Ray is on the show.
Enlarge a picture of Ray to life size proportions and pretend he has come round to your house for a break from Due South.
At the end of everything you say, repeat twice, 'I remember Ray...'
Watch all your videos of previous episodes and pause at the bits with Ray in.
Constantly read DA newsletters.
Buy a ghastly shirt like the one Ray wears in 'diefenbaker's day off' and think of Ray.
Constantly read DA newsletters - this is mentioned twice 'cos it's important.
Always remember that Ray will be back, hopefully...
AND RAY ISN'T IN DUE SOUTH
Write long wordy letters to Alliance demanding Ray's return.
Send Ray contributions to Elaine!
Rob a bank and send the money to David to subsidise his wage to what it was in the first two series so he'll come back to us.
Buy a dartboard and paste a picture of those responsible for Ray's absence to the board and vent your frustrations!
Create Ray stickers. Creep into shops and stick your stickers over any photos or pictures of the Interloper.
Wear mourning for the 1st Interloper episode - something tasteful in black - and read a fitting eulogy for the series in a solemn voice following said episode.
Re-script the Interloper episodes as though Ray had been in them.
Change your name by deed Poll to 'Vecchio.'
Name your pet hamster / otter / wolf 'Ray.'
Hang around HMV and say in a loud voice how good the first two seasons were whenever you see some customer about to buy third season Interloper episodes.
Shave your hair and sport a Ray-cut!
By Susan Williams.
Paul out of uniform and in more casual wear.
All episodes with Paul and David in.
No more Meg Thatcher, please!
More Buck Frobisher
wind and all.)
Ray keeping the Riv for the entire series.
And, as someone else said, us finding out what Milk Duds are!
By Julie Foster.
Summer!
Benny in shorts - so we see his legs!
By Gary Setterfiled.
Gratuitous female nudity!
Backing up Simon in last n/l.)
Much more Leslie Nielsen - with or without wind.
Benny and Elaine Bresbiss together...?
More story lines for Elaine.
Ray going undercover as a woman.
Ben going to Canada to solve crimes so we can find out what it's really like being an RCMP constable.
By Annalisa Boni.
Benny in the shower.
Dief finding a companion.
Ray staying in it.
More romance.
Ben telling Thatcher to grow up and stop being a bitch. I like her, she adds spice, but she's nasty to our Benny.
More scenes in Canada. oBen wearing casual clothes.
Me in the show acting with Fraser!
More Frannie - she's funny!
Seeing Gordon Pinsent fighting with Ray's dad. Seeing both dads more - and Leslie Nielsen who is so funny.
By Sarah Kutschera.
As David will only be in a few episodes, we should see more of the Vecchio family and maybe come up with another twist in the Fraser / Frannie sleeping arrangements. Did he or did he not, that's thequestion!
We should have more Ray and Benny togetherness. 'North' was a great episode, no co-stars, nobody interrupting them. They were all by themselves which worked great.
There should be more women chasing after Ray instead of Benny. Benny doesn't seem to notice anyway! I guess he is still stuck on Victoria. He might have been betrayed but he has to start afresh and find someone to share his life with - not just Dief.
There should be a lot more celebrities and guest stars. Leslie Nielsen brought a real spark to 'All The Queen's Horses.' It would be great if he could come back for another couple of episodes. Now that David won't be in many episodes, he could brighten the show up with his gas jokes!
By Jeanette Luker. First of all, I think we should see David in a lot more than two to four episodes. Although I think everyone knows this will not be possible with the way things are.I'd personally like to see a little more of the romantic side of both Ray and Benny. I think 'Victoria's Secret' and 'Juliet is Bleeding' are excellent episodes, not just for the rather nice romantic scenes but also for the great storylines.
My video of 'Victoria's Secret' is beginning to wear out!) I think there should be a little more of Francesca, considering the fact David won't be in as many episodes as we all would like - and anyway Francesca always adds a bit more sparkle. How about that scene in 'The Deal?' Did Frannie sleep with Benton? I think not! I'd like to see Benton in more clothes than his 'ironed to perfection' uniform. Whenever he is in his normal clothes I always think he looks strange because I'm not used to seeing him in them. So I think we should see less of the overused serge and more normal gear! More celebs! Leslie Nielsen proved to be a great success, perhaps he would be willing to do a few more episodes with a few less, um, well, of the bad smells. Before 'North' I'd never even heard of Red Green. I know he's some sort of star but, personally, I don't think he was noticed as a celeb here in the UK.
By Antoinette Robinson.
Fraser and Ray going back up to the Yukon. Perhaps they could chase a criminal onto Fraser 's home turf. Now that would be interesting! Make a difference to the Chicago police station.
Fraser letting his hair down - I 'd love to see him have a really good laugh.
More of the Vecchio family.
Ray and Angie developing more.
More bickering between Ray and Benny - I loved all those scenes from season one which seem to be lacking in season two.
More of Elaine - where has she been lately? Not much of her in season two - perhaps she could finally get her hands on Fraser!
More action - this was also lacking in season two. More car chases, jumping onto moving vehicles, running across rooftops.
By Simon Jones Anderson.
Gratuitous female nudity.
Some new number plats instead of RCW 139.
Frannie getting a strip-o-gram job.
More background characters.
Benny telling us what Milk Duds are.
By Rebecca Robb.
B enny must not wear his Mountie suit for one whole episode.
E laine
Catherine Bruhier) should finally go on a date with Benny.
N icer looking guys than Ben should appear on Due South - is that possible?
AND Diefenbaker should get a haircut like Ray 's - after all it will be summer soon.
R ay should be limited to one Riviera per season.
A ngie and Ray should get back together.
Y oung women fancying Ray more than Ben - Ben jealous of Ray for a change!
By Victoria Haslan.
The return of Victoria is probably inevitable but I 'd love to see her and Suzanne Chapin in the same {two part) episode! I agree with Jessica Hall that 'You Must Remember This ' is Ray 's equivalent to 'Victoria 's Secret ' and one of my favourite scenes in the latter is the one - there is only one! - between Victoria and Ray, in Frannie 's bedroom.
I 'd have Ray go missing - let 's have the Riv being dragged up from Lake Michigan while we 're at it - and Fraser teaming up with Suzanne to find him, only to discover that Victoria 's got him. I don 't believe in killing off characters but a little suffering is good for the soul and Ray is always at his best when going through emotional turmoil. Mean aren 't I?
By Anne Livesey.
More Ray. The idea of Due South without Ray is completely alien to me. Ray needs more to do - not less.
No Thatcher. Camilla did a very good job with this character but, let 's face it, she 's a hard entirely unempathic creation. I shudder at the mention of her name.
More Frannie! I love her bickering with Ray and her chasing of Benny.
More Ben-and-Ray together scenes. It 's no good splitting 'em up to pursue different strands of the plot, they need to be together, squabbling like kids.
Fewer girlfriends. Women crawling conveniently out of the woodwork is a rather cliched notion used by less innovative shows than DS. WHY WE NEED RAY By Jenny Gleave and Becky Grayson. Due South simply would not be the same without Ray. It would be like 'Superman' without Clark, 'Noel's House Party' without Mr Blobby, 'Tom and Jerry' without the lady whose ankles you see! In short, Due South is not Due South without Ray! Without Ray Due South has no realism. Where would all the funny comments, useless points and stunning dress sense come from?! We hope they are not planning to kill him off. How would Benny cope, he could never get over such a tragedy. This traumatic experience could, and probably would, scar him for life. Who would take over the role of a trusted yet 'I don't know how he became a detective because he can't solve crimes without Benny' sidekick? Elaine? Huey? Thatcher!? Surely not! They lack everything that makes Ray so loveable. Please Ray don't go, we need you!
BURNING DOWN THE HOUSES
Okay, as promised, the third season reviews. Kindly read the 'Boring Editorial ' for details but below are both negative and positive comments on 'Burning. ' The end. Full stop.
By Ed Wilson.
Wow! What was that all about. 'Burning Down The Houses ' is fantastic! I was worried that with Paul in charge, the show would suffer from a far less subtle sense of humour. After this initial episode, I have to say I am not nearly so worried. Simply put, 'Burning ' is meta-fiction. It 's a story that 's about itself. It 's an over-the-top spoof of DS.
Let 's look at the evidence:
The opening scene with the chase through the wilderness brings back the first time we saw Fraser in 'The Pilot. ' We only see the end of the chase with Fraser making a nigh on impossible jump but the description in the RCMP office later suggests a far longer pursuit than that of 'The Pilot. ' The criminal 's offence seems at first to be more trivial (littering as opposed to fishing over the limit) but turns out worse.
Fraser mentions that Buck Frobisher looks like Leslie Nielsen.
The criminal Fraser and the Interloper are chasing is a 'performance arsonist ' who destroys art but is in actuality destroying the old sets from the first two seasons. It was inevitable the Riviera would be destroyed because it is part of the old DS and had to make way for the new show.
All that business with 'The Lake they call Michigan ' concerns the fact that the show is filmed in Toronto not Chicago so the Lake is Ontario not Michigan.
The way Fraser crawls about the moving Riv is hilarious. He seems to fall off and then suddenly and impossibly appears right beside the driver 's window in an exaggeration of the many times he 's clung to moving vehicles in the past. Fraser stating that cars hardly ever explode and then the Riv exploding is obvious and not very funny but the Riv continuing to drive for miles as a furious fireball is. It is also a spoof of this rare automobile 's two previous fiery demises.
The shooting is interesting. Greta Garbo rants that Zoltan is a fine painter and then shoots the interloper. Even though he got shot because he jumped in front of Fraser, Garbo shows no interest in trying to shoot Fraser again. She just looks pleased that she shot the new guy. So when she says 'he ' was a fine artist, was she talking about Zoltan or about David Marciano as she capped Callum Keith Rennie?
So, to re-cap, the whole thing is a self-aware spoof of itself. Paul Gross does almost everything but look straight at the camera and wink. He 's also a playwright so would be aware of characters who realise they are fictitious.
By Dawn Connor.
Before I watched this episode I have to admit that I was apprehensive. After all, the DS that we all know and love was coming back with a different Ray. I decided it was either not going to work or it was going to be okay. To my delight I found that it was a great episode and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I thought the telephone call between Ray and Benny was very nicely acted. It 's great to see Fraser senior and officer Turnbull back - especially the latter, he is such a funny character. I think we must all know someone like him in personality! Benny 's face is a picture when he first meets Stan. You can only imagine what 's going through the poor man 's mind!
There are some differences between Stan and Ray. Stan is a bit moodier and has more of a darker side than Ray. This does work though as the prison scene where he completely loses it is fabulous. Terrific acting! Stan is also not as quick on the uptake as Ray at times and the banter between Stan and Fraser works very well. They seem to hit it off. There are also some great one-liners flying about. The scene where Dief is licking Stan and he shouts AGet him off, exclamation mark!@ is funny and perfectly delivered. I really do think the third season is going to be a success, the acting is excellent as ever and I have to say Paul Gross look stunning. I 'm sure a lot of people are going to enjoy it as I know I am.
By Anne Livesey.
I watched 'Burning ' with both fear and trepidation. I love DS and I wanted to give the series a chance. I was disappointed.
Stan is a cardboard cut-out who I just cannot be bothered with. He has no saving grace. He is rude, violent - in a show which purports non-violence - and bland. The lines he was speaking were lines originally intended for David and therefore the real Ray. I think this was actually unfair to Callum. If you are going to invent a new character at least give him his own lines, his own pattern of speech. I found myself cringing as he spoke because I could hear David saying the lines and it served only in making me miss him more than ever.
Fraser was not in character. He sported stubble - even in 'North ' he was clean shaven - he was impolite to Stan (never!), rather short with Huey and Welsh and seemed to have forgotten his trepidation where Elaine was concerned. Not that that mattered because she seemed to have forgotten she was in love with him too! The gentle naivety was gone; he 'd grown up.
Ah, but he would grow up, I hear you cry. Agreed. In reality Benton Fraser would have learned the lessons of the city. True. But in reality he would have wised up one and a half series ago. He would have wised up with the old Ray. By choosing to have the character mature in this episode - the premier of the third season - was just stupid as it served to highlight the vaster difference between old Benny and new Fraser. Had it happened gradually over the course of the season, it would have been fine. What viewers needed was reassurance that what they were watching was still DS - and part of DS was Benny being innocent. Moreover, when does any television match reality? Just because real life dictates that Fraser would grow up, does not mean that DS should. It is Fraser 's naivety that makes him Fraser - that made us watch in the first place.
'Burning ' was a completely different show to DS. Elaine was out of character, Huey had a walk-on part and all the symbols of the old DS - Dief, the Riv, Ray 's apartment, the consulate, Thatcher, West Racine - were gone or changed. Fine, if that 's the way they wanted to go. If they wanted to make a clean break of it and say 'Okay, David has gone, Stanley is here - this is the new DS, ' I could have accepted it. But they didn 't. They gave mixed messages. On the one hand they were telling us 'the chapter is closed ' - with Ray 's departure, the Riv dying - and on the other they were trying to convince us everything was still the same - with Fraser discussing previous cases and Bob saying He is a good man, son. Have the courage of your convictions, third season - you can 't have it both ways.
In fact I found Fraser senior 's words insulting. How did he know Stan was a good man? He had acted like a jerk at Ray 's refusing to go in and rescue civilians and he roughed up (and meant it) a prisoner. Yeah, a very good man. Even more upsetting is the insistence that Stan is Ray. Okay, yes, to protect Vecchio 's cover, I can accept (lame excuse though it is) that Fraser would refer to Stan as Ray in company - but at the police station, at his apartment, in the car? Again, it felt like the producers were thumbing their noses at those of us who loved the real Ray. Had Fraser called him 'Stan, ' had he treated him with a touch of suspicion in the series, I could have watched it, I could have accepted it.
The story - well, there wasn 't one was there? I enjoyed Fraser 's attempts at collecting evidence, and Paul delivered those lines beautifully, but the Garbo plot was embarrassing in its simplicity and in the huge holes it left behind. Especially for a season opener! 'North ' was a simple story but with layers of plot, 'The Pilot ' was intricate - this was banal. For a premier show it left a lot to be desired. Characters should not - cannot carry a bad plot.
by Jenny Gleave & Becky Grayson
RAY!!
The return of the singing Mounties-we're hoping for an album and a tour later in the year!
Less female participation
More bed scenes so we can see Ben in his cute pajama-things!
More British-oriented episodes-preferable filmed in North Wales!
