History Series / Cardinal

''Cardinal'' is a Canadian PoliceProcedural drama that premiered in 2017 as a joint-production between [=CTV=] (which airs it for the English-speaking audience in Canada) and Super Écran (which airs it for the French-speaking audience). Based on [[TheShowOfTheBooks the works of author Giles Blunt]], it stars Creator/BillyCampbell, Karine Vanasse, Kristen Thomson, Allie [=MacDonald=] and David Richmond-Peck.

* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: Algonquin Bay is a fictional counterpart for North Bay in Ontario.

* DuctTapForEverything: In the first series, it's how Eric and Edie tie Keith up and gag him.

* FictionalCounterpart: The OPD (Ontario Police Department) is based on the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police), but [[HollywoodCopUniform wear uniforms and patches that one can make them for being an officer from the Toronto Police Service]].

''Cardinal'' is a Canadian PoliceProcedural drama that premiered in 2017 as a joint-production between [=CTV=] (which airs it for the English-speaking audience in Canada) and Super Écran (which airs it for the French-speaking audience). Based on [[TheShowOfTheBooks the works of author Giles Blunt]], it stars Billy Campbell, Karine Vanasse, Kristen Thomson, Allie [=MacDonald=] and David Richmond-Peck.

* AffablyEvil: Woody is a criminal who steals other people's stuff for a living, but when he finds a tied up and tortured Keith, he tries to tie him loose and help him escape.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[Season 4 ends with Cardinal alone and heading into the darkness to once more investigate a murder.]]

* ShipTease: With John and Lise in series four [[spoiler: (after John's had sufficient time to mourn his wife's death, which occurred at the end of series two and was proven to be murder rather than suicide over the course of series three). While they do spend the night together when they go to Toronto, the show ends with Lise transferring elsewhere and John remaining in Algonquin Bay.]]
* ShownTheirWork: Whenever a police officer in Canada is suspected of being involved in a criminal case, the department or agency would depend on either an independent agency from outside the province/territory or have officers involved from out of the area.

* TheShowOfTheBooks: Every season is based on a different Cardinal book.

** In Season 2, Teri and [[spoiler:her brother]] Ryan. Teri is shot in the head in the middle of the woods, but she survives with amnesia. Then she is kidnapped, held hostage, and tortured by the gang, she's shot at multiple times by the gang members, but she is unhurt when Cardinal comes to save her.

* Gorn: Quite a bit.

** The presence of an Aboriginal-managed casino is real. They're used to help Aboriginals living in their territory get money as a means of sustaining the communities.

%%* Gorn: Quite a bit.

ButtMonkey: Constable Fox. He's forced by Cardinal to take his boots off at a crime scene on a frozen lake, and is later pranked into taking a dead frozen racoon into Dyson's office.

* HotCop: Detective Lise Delorme.

* WouldHurtAChild: The AB police is hunting for a serial killer who has no qualms in going after teens who go off the grid.

Set in Algonquin Bay, Ontario, the series follows Detective John Cardinal of the Algonquin Bay Police Department, a deeply burdened and troubled man, as he seeks to unravel complex mysteries and deal with his equally tangled personal life.

Season One, based on the novel ''Forty Words for Sorrow'', focuses on the discovery of the body of Katie Pine, a young female teenager of Aboriginal origin who'd been reported missing the previous year. Cardinal, who originally investigated her disappearance, is brought back to reopen the case. Cardinal is determined to find whoever is responsible for Katie's death and his resolve is only strengthened when he realizes that Katie is part of a pattern and that other young people have started going missing as well.

Simultaneously, Cardinal has to learn to work with Detective Lise Delorme, his new partner. Delorme herself is struggling to manage her career and her marriage. Complicating matters is that she is also helping the RCMP conduct a secret investigation into Cardinal to see if he was responsible for a leak that resulted in a botched police raid that left one officer dead.

Season Two, based on ''Black Fly Season'', follows the investigation of a teenager with amnesia soon leads to a case of two drug gangs, one biker and the one seemingly led by a Canadian Aboriginal man trying to make money by using the reserves as bases. Although it's not as it seems to be since there's also a serial killer on the loose who uses Afro-Caribbean religion as a basis.

Season Three, based on ''By the Time You Read This'' and ''Crime Machine'', sees the ABPD tasked to investigate the death of a married couple after a supposed home invasion. Meanwhile, Cardinal gets a letter printed from an unknown person, harassing him after Catherine had supposedly killed herself.

The fourth season is currently airing, which is set to be the last season.

The fourth season is currently airing.