Series / Allegiance (2024)

Allegiance is a 2024 Canadian Cop Show/Police Procedural produced by CBC. It aired its first episode in January 2024 with the series shot throughout Surrey, British Columbia with the cooperation of Surrey City council. It stars Supinder Wraich, Enrico Colantoni, Stephen Lobo, Adolyn H. Dar, Brian Markinson and David Cubitt. The show was created by Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis of Flashpoint and X Company.

Sabrina Sohal is a recent graduate from the Canadian Federal Police Corps (CFPC)^note Corps de la Police Fédérale Canadienne (CPFC) police academy. On the commencement ceremony, her father Ajeet Sohal of the British Columbia Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General was arrested in public on treason charges under the Criminal Code. From there, Sabrina's forced to face reality on the Canadian justice system where she polices and protects the people living in Surrey while at the same time, find a way to free her father and look for reasons why he's been arrested.

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Allegiance contains examples of:

• A Day in the Limelight: "The Legacy" involves Tucker and Vince in locating a missing indigenous baby taken from her mother.
• Central Theme: The show explores the challenges Sabrina faces as a Sikh-Canadian police officer in BC from (implied) racism/bias and the challenges of diversity in Canada. Other aspects of the show explore class, power, and privilege.
• Fake Video Camera View: Sabrina and the other CFPC officers have body cameras worn on their vests to record incidents that happen while in the field.
• Government Agencyof Fiction: The CFPC is a fictional counterpart of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The production team did mention that the show takes place where the federal police does contract policing in Surrey, unlike in reality where the newly created Surrey Police Service (SPS) is created to police Surrey and the surrounding areas. Interviews with the production team mention that the show airing on CBC is a coincidence at the time when the RCMP is transitioning some of its policing responsibilities in Surrey to the SPS.
• Minority Police Officer:
  • The series centers on Sabrina Sohal, an Indo-Canadian police officer who's also a Sikh. Significant attention is given to her status as a minority in Canada, with implicit racism as a result along with other issues given this. Her father was British Columbia's Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General who'd been charged with treason, something that affects Sabrina deeply as she tries to clear his name.
  • The CFPC has African and Asian officers of various origins (Sikh, East/Southeast Asian, etc) who Sabrina and the rest of the new recruits interact with.
• Mob War: "Dawn to Dawn" has a gang war in Surrey between two Indo-Canadian gangs, the Atwals and Park City Kings. The CFPC has its hands full to arrest shooters from both sides.
• Myth Arc: The show's overarching storyline is for Sabrina and her family to get their father cleared of treason charges and find out who is trying to frame him.
• Ripped from the Headlines:
  • Gavin's claims in "Pilot" that he knows people in the CFPC are likely based on reports and arrests in the 2010s and 2020s in North America and Europe, where serving police officers were arrested for far-right sympathies/planned attacks towards minority communities.
  • "Supply Side" mentions the rise of auto thefts throughout Surrey. In early 2024, Public Safety Canada reported that they will work with various cities in Canada to combat auto theft.
  • "The Legacy" is for the issue of First Nations families who have lost their family/community members due to being forced to be assimilated into other non-FN communities at a young age.
• Shown Their Work:
  • Treason charges are identified under Section 46, Subsection 2 of the Criminal Code.
  • "The Legacy" shows how restorative justice is done in Canada, which usually involves a First Nations community.
• Two Lines, No Waiting: The show has two arc. While most of them consist of Sabrina and her fellow CFPC recruits policing Surrey as a whole, the Sohals try to find out why Ajeet was arrested and who's responsible for it, being framed for something he didn't do.
• Wham Episode:
  • "Pilot": Ajeet is arrested on treason charges. Said charges were never specified.
  • "Supply Side": Sonya and Ishaan find out that a far-right group called I.O.H. posted chat messages that Ajeet would be arrested on treason charges.
  • "Safe Harbours": Ishaan tells Sabrina that the CFPC has a leak from an officer who has far-right sympathies and would know about Ajeet's arrest even before it was public.
  • "8 x 6": The episode suggests that Doug's own son, William aka Richochet88, is the far-right source of Ishaan when he poses as a far-right sympathizer.
  • "Fallen Idols": Pam Dhillon died from his injuries sustained after he was shot. As such, the Kings and Atwals are now in a gang war.
  • "Dawn to Dawn": Charges of treason against Ajeet were formally dropped by the crown. Gabinski suggested that the Assistant Commissioner's in a conspiracy of far-right sympathizers to frame Ajeet and formally called for the charges to be dropped so that if Sabrina tried to push for Gabinski to be in court, it could force the Sohals to admit illegally acquiring evidence from the crown.